Facts & Resources
“On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside;
but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole
Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly
beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is
more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial.
It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
– “A Time to Break Silence,” Martin Luther King, Jr. at Riverside Church, April 4, 1967
“To destroy another life for the sake of justice is as though a man,
to repair the misfortune of losing one arm, should cut off the other arm
for the sake of equity.”
– Leo Tolstoy
Videos
The House I Live in (available on Netflix and Amazon)
John Oliver (discussing the US prison system)
Gabor Mate’s TEDx talk (addiction)
Ethan Nadelmann’s TED Talk (war on drugs)
Podcasts and Radio
Kings Last March By American Radio Works
Articles and Reports
Cheap Crack Pipes,Free Heroin,and Free Booze: The Evidence for Helping Addicts By Maia Szalavitz
Why Punish Pain? A hit of compassion could keep drugs from becoming a crime problem By Gabor Maté
What Really Goes on In Drug RehabsBy Maia Szalavitz with author Anne Fletcher
State Spending on Addiction and Risky Use
Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population
States in Brief – Massachusetts
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues At-A-Glance
Dimensions of Recovery
SAMHSA has delineated four major dimensions that support life in recovery:
- Health—overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms—for example abstaining from the use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and non-perscribed medications if one has an addiction problem — and, for everyone in recovery, making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being
- Home—having a stable and safe place to live
- Purpose—conducting meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteer-ism, family care-taking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income and resources to participate in society
- Community—having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendships,love and hope