I just finished reading the march 3 "Statewide View" column, headlined, "We're getting it all wrong with policies on opioid addiction." It was a useful and informative article that pointed to the confusion that is endemic to current drug-treatment policy.
In many ways this is an improvement over previous policy that falsely argued that AA and 12 Step was the best and only solution to drug treatment. It's an understatement that 12 Step probably has done more to increase the drug problem than solve it.
Thus, I would encourage the News Tribune to devote more attention to the organized and formal alternatives to 12 Step, such as HAMS (Harm Reduction for Alcohol), SMART Recovery, LifeRing Secular Recovery, and others. I'd also urge the paper to consider covering in more detail why AA and 12 Step tend to fail those who try them rather than the idea that 12 Step promotes that those who don't do well with its vision of powerlessness just don't work the program hard enough.
Silver Damsen
Duluth
