Tag Archives: Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg still doesn’t understand addiction

Three years ago when Mark Zuckerberg traveled around the country, his biggest surprise was learning the extent of the addiction crisis.  He was genuinely concerned about the problem, realizing that he comes from a position of privilege, and that he didn’t face economic loss like so many other Americans. Perhaps his awakened awareness had something to do with why he and his wife donated $500,000 to pass Measure 100 in Oregon this year, the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative

The choice of the donation reflects a naiveté similar to the naiveté he had in 2017.  It doesn’t appear that Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan consulted treatment and addiction specialists before donating the money.  People who work in recovery are concerned the measure would largely eliminate the court system’s ability to mandate treatment for people.  The couple’s intentions Continue reading Zuckerberg still doesn’t understand addiction

US Created Drug Problem by Overdoing ADHD, Drugs

As we hear of more and more drug overdoses, kids in addiction treatment, marijuana psychosis and sudden deaths with designer drugs, we need to ask how did the United States get itself into such a mess? How did we send our youth down this dangerous path?

Between 1979 and 1992 marijuana usage among American teens went down. The Parents Movement and “Just Say No” campaign had an impact. What has gone wrong since that time?
We can look to a few big changes in the 1990s:

1) In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark piece of legislation that encouraged inclusiveness and has made life better for a large number of people with disabilities. CHADD, a group representing people with Attention Deficit Disorder lobbied successfully Continue reading US Created Drug Problem by Overdoing ADHD, Drugs