Nothing Urgent
Treating Opiate Addiction
This week on Nothing Urgent, Derek Evers and Christopher Robbins are talking about treating opiate addiction with Anna Merlan and Keegan Hamilton. Both Anna and Keegan recently wrote articles for the Village Voice about getting clean, but from very different perspectives. Anna focused on a drug called Suboxone, a partial opiate agonist that rivals methadone. Suboxone, like all opiates, is highly addictive, and is being abused on the street. Keegan's article touches on a substance called Ibogaine which provides a heavy hallucinogenic experience, but also can potentially interrupt opiate addiction. Tune into this discussion to hear the cast talk about pharmaceutical companies, and why they provide so few treatments for opiate addicts. Why is addiction so stigmatized and often dismissed as being an actual disease? Find out all of this and more on this week's edition of Nothing Urgent! This program has been brought to you by Tekserve.
"This is the cycle: you get hooked on pain pills, then you get put on Suboxone, and then you might have to be on it for life... It seems like a pretty good business to me." [8:30]
-- Anna Merlan on Nothing Urgent
"When working with lab rats, there is data that Ibogaine interrupts and temporarily blocks opiate addiction." [15:30]
-- Keegan Hamilton on Nothing Urgent