I first heard of Maia Szalavitz from the Citations Needed Podcast episode 99, The Cruel, Voyeuristic Quackery of Rehab TV Shows. Her book Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction basically contradicts everything I'd ever thought I knew about addiction to mind-altering substances before involvement with supporters of recreational and medicinal cannabis legalization and decriminalization, who opened my eyes to the compound hypocrisies and harms of prohibition and incarceration.
Where did I get my ideas about addiction? My earliest, strongest recollection came from The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley. (full text)
Finally, vitally, this addict will decide for himself that he wants to go on cold turkey. This means to endure the physical agonies of abruptly quitting dope. When this time comes, ex-addict Muslims will arrange to spend the necessary days in around-the-clock shifts, attending the addict who intends to purge himself, on the way to becoming a Muslim. When the addict's withdrawal sets in, and he is screaming, cursing, and begging, "Just one shot, man!" the Muslims are right there talking junkie jargon to him. "Baby, knock that monkey off your back! Kick that habit! Kick Whitey off your back!" The addict, writhing in pain, his nose and eyes running, is pouring sweat from head to foot. He's trying to knock his head against the wall, flailing his arms, trying to fight his attendants, he is vomiting, suffering diarrhea. "Don't hold nothing back! Let Whitey go, baby! You're going to stand tall, man! I can see you now in the Fruit of Islam!" When the awful ordeal is ended, when the grip of dope is broken, the Muslims comfort the weak ex-addict, feeding him soups and broths, to get him on his feet again. He will never forget these brothers who stood by him during this time. He will never forget that it was the Nation of Islam's program which rescued him from the special hell of dope. And that black brother (or the sister, whom Muslim sisters attend) rarely ever will return to the use of narcotics. (pp. 300-1)
Rereading the passages before and after this, Malcolm X described other vital steps, but for some reason only this passage of restraint during undergoing withdrawal stuck with me. I also forgot completely "this addict will decide for himself."
And then of course I had the Health & Safety class in High School where they showed pictures of livers from people who had cirrhosis from excessive alcohol consumption or hepatitis from intravenous drug use. And, growing up among Muslim families talking up how great Islam's prohibition of intoxicants was, I subconsciously bought into the idea that many of the non-Muslims around me were in thrall to alcohol, cocaine or opioids.
And don't get me started on films and TV. Spike Lee's Jungle Fever with Samuel Jackson as an addict. New Jack City with Chris Rock as "Pookie" the addict. Scarface. Drugs were bad, and, once you were hooked, you were hooked.
In this book, if pop culture indoctrinated you like it did me, you'll learn that almost everything you think about this topic is incorrect. When I began to make a list of the people whom I thought should read this book, my list became lengthy: a friend who suffers from alcoholism; another friend with, in my mind, counterproductive compulsive behaviors; public school teachers; the imam at my mosque who almost certainly encounters people with substance abuse issues; policemen & prosecutors in our congregation; the Internet figures who resist cannabis decriminalization; counselors; municipal politicians and school board members; etc.
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