HELPFUL ADDICTION RESOURCES

Watch educational videos, listen to audio lessons, or browse helpful links on addiction, vaping, opioids, and much more.
 
 
Educational Videos

Let's Talk

Looking for a fresh take on current news in the healthcare arena? Join me for Let's Talk, a live webcast and podcast series where my guests talk with me about the burning topics on their minds, and how they relate to mental health!

 
 

Mindfulness Meditation

TLDR Video Series

Concepts in addiction and psychology broken down to small, evidence-based nuggets.

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Informative Media Appearances

 
Helpful Links

Links providing resources that are helpful in understanding addiction causes, consequences, and treatments.

Roll-over organization name in the right column—or bolded subject in the descriptive text—to select and visit related link.

 

General
Addiction
Information

SAMHSA, a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, is a comprehensive cache of information and resources, including a national (USA) treatment locator, a directory of evidence-based treatments, and a massive series of free publications related to treating substance use and mental health concerns. 

NIDA, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has a vast library of resources related to drug and alcohol use, both for professionals and the general public.

The Society of Addiction Psychology is the academic hub for psychologists researching chemical dependency and behavioral addictions. Of particular note on the website is The Addictions Newsletter (aka the SoAP Box), published quarterly and released to the public for free. A great way to stay up on current trends in addiction psychology.

ASAM is the national professional organization for Addiction Medicine, and a fantastic organization to join to keep your finger on the pulse of addiction science from the medicine side. Their free weekly newsletter is particularly useful, and helps to keep you abreast of addiction-related news.

The use of person-first language in behavioral health and medical settings is one of the significant cultural shifts in the field of addiction medicine over the past decade. Many articles have been published on the subject, but for a good overview, please see this brief from ONDCP.

A great overview of the vast majority of drugs of misuse seen today.

The NAS is one of the most respected scholarly bodies in the country, publishing large literature reviews on important medical issues. This report on marijuana helps to differentiate fact from fiction. Read the executive summary towards the beginning to help find the section of the report you are interested in.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine (NAS)—The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids

Marijuana

The RSMj is an academic community of marijuana researchers from a number of different disciplines. They publish a quarterly peer-reviewed journal, as well as hold an annual conference. 

 

SAM is a national advocacy group, with a goal to help guide the country towards more sensible and balanced marijuana policy than the addiction-for-profit model currently being pushed by the marijuana industry. SAM publishes a report each year, highlighting the peer-reviewed journal articles and government data that highlights the true impact of the current trend of marijuana commercialization in the United States.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)—Lessons Learned from State Marijuana Legalization 2019

 

Pregnancy and marijuana is a critically important topic, with new research in this space coming out monthly, and Sunshine Behavioral Health has done a fantastic job rounding up the most important information all in one place. This is a great primer, and isn’t too technical - is written in a way that’s accessible to just about everyone.

Sunshine Behavioral Health —The Effects of Marijuana on Pregnancy

Vaping

The NAS is one of the most respected scholarly bodies in the country, publishing large literature reviews on important medical issues. This report on vaping describes the basic science of vaping, the impact on public health, and helps to differentiate fact from fiction. Read the executive summary toward the beginning to help find the section of the report you are interested in.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine—Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes

 

Reuters produced an extremely illuminating report on the early days of JUUL, discussing the birth of the current vaping epidemic in the United States. Well worth the read.

Opioids

The PCSS website is the #1 place for medical and behavioral health professionals to go for the best information and mentorship related to treating opioid use disorder. Make sure to check out their Education and Training section—they have a vast library of updated resources (including webinars) on nearly every subject you can imagine related to opioids.

TIME Magazine published an incredibly hard-hitting piece of photo and video-journalism on the opioid epidemic. It is emotionally difficult to experience, but important viewing for understanding the breadth and depth of the opioid epidemic.

Alcohol

A BAC Calculator is an essential tool to estimate an individual’s BAC level after a given number of drinks and a given period of time

A division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIAAA is a wealth of information and resources related to alcohol and alcoholism

Youth Drug Prevention

Stanford Medicine has published free, high-quality prevention toolkits for cannabis, tobacco, and vaping, including full lesson plans and activities for prevention events. If you are looking for inspiration or new material for work in prevention or treatment, make sure to take a look.

Stanford Medicine Prevention Toolkits

Stand Strong Coalition, a drug-free community organization in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, published an extremely useful guide for parents to help their kids understand marijuana, and how to navigate the challenging social circumstances surrounding it. A fantastic resource for concerned parents.

The Truth Initiative is a non-profit focused on helping adults and adolescents to break nicotine addiction. They offer a free text-based support program for youth and young-adult vaping cessation called This Is Quitting—it is high quality, and one of the only tools of its kind available to the general public.  

The Truth Initiative—This is Quitting

Peer Support Resources

There are numerous 12-step fellowships available, with separate communities for different substances or behaviors (Alcoholics Anonymous for alcohol, Narcotics Anonymous for general drug use, Cocaine Anonymous for cocaine, Gamblers Anonymous for gambling, etc.), although many communities are accepting of those using substances other than that of their namesake. If you live in a large metropolitan area, consider also searching online for a local 12-Step Fellowship.

12-Step Fellowships 

The second-largest peer support community in the United States, Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) Recovery is a secular peer-support community founded around principles of self-empowerment and choice.

Refuge Recovery is a peer-support recovery community inspired by the principles of Buddhism, although attendees do not need to practice Buddhism to benefit. 

In The Rooms is a digital recovery community for numerous different concerns, including addiction of all types and mental health. Over 100 video support groups are held weekly.