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LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

Health

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

A Different Type of Rehab

A new LA rehab clinic is changing the way people are fighting opioid addiction. Through innovative cannabis replacement programs, this clinic is looking to work with the 75% of individuals who decide against addiction treatment in an abstinence-based setting. High Sobriety’s treatment plan focuses on a “moderately warped 12-Step construct, and subsequently, view and attempt to treat the 75% through an antiquated, clinically misaligned, and nonscientific lens.”

Isn’t it Hypocritical?

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

A major argument against what this rehab clinic strives for is that it sounds hypocritical. Don’t you go to rehab clinics to get off of drugs? This concept plays off of the idea that cannabis can instead serve as a gateway drug OFF of opioids. With no known lethal dose, patients are able to recover with no increased risk. Eventually, they are able to work their way off completely if they so choose.

Although controversial, this method works with the idea of harm reduction. This idea challenges the ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to rehab and strives to instead limit the harm that people do to themselves and others when using drugs. This occurs through varying types of treatments and therapies, with High Sobriety’s cannabis detox being an example of one.

Are People Buying In?

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

It’s no secret that it will take time for this method of detox to stick. However, the whole idea of it seemingly makes sense. People need to begin to stop looking at it as another drug to take. Instead, remember the health benefits that the cannabis plant can provide.

As of right now, High Sobriety is still working to grow their list of patients. The ‘selling’ point for many of their users stemmed from fear of coming off of opioids ‘cold turkey.’ It is possible for all of the horrible symptoms experienced during the withdrawal period to have alleviation. The detox process offered at High Sobriety does just that, working to reduce long-term drug dependence.

It Could Just be the Start

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

High Sobriety is not the only entity interested in using medical marijuana to treat opioid abuse. Studies done at Oxford University have yielded results revealing that cannabidiol can actually reverse some of the brain changes associated with heroin use (take that, Chris Christie).

Steps are also headed in the right direction in government. In March of this year, the Rolling Stone reported that the New Mexico State Senate passed HB 527, a “GOP-sponsored House bill aimed at modernizing the state’s strategies to combat multigenerational opioid abuse.”

Another huge jump in the right direction came in the form of a 395-page report from the National Academy of Sciences. This report refuted the “gateway drug” theory that using marijuana can lead to opioid addiction (You listening, Chris Christie?). The report also included evidence of the health benefits provided by the cannabis plant.

Shifting Addiction

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

This rehab clinic truly believes in what it does. Too many people are dying from addiction, and that should be preventable. As stated on their site, High Sobriety’s form of clinical programming works to “shift the addiction treatment paradigm to include harm minimization as an option. An option that will save more lives, include more people, and help our clients achieve a sustainable state of recovery that is not only safe but humane & self-defined”.

After speaking with Joe Schrank, the founder of High Sobriety, it was easy to see the passion and even an admirable level of frustration with the state of medical marijuana in the U.S. Why is it that even after official reports and laws passed regarding health benefits and legalization advances with cannabis that people still hold on to their now-prehistoric beliefs?

As Schrank put it, too many people are still dedicated members of the ‘flat earth’ society. Groups of people who still label cannabis users as criminals, a view that too many people share. These shared views are greatly affecting success in moving forward with controversial ideas like those proposed by High Sobriety.

Making a Change

LA Rehab Center Tests Out Cannabis Treatment for Opioid Addiction

It basically boils down to one fact. Regardless of how large the sphere of influence is or becomes, the type of clinical programming proposed by this rehab clinic has helped addicts recover. This supposed contradiction between using cannabis and recovering is something that needs to become a focus.

As stated by Schrank, these two things should be friends! It creates a safer detox process than any other prescription medication can provide. Ultimately it should appeal to everyone, not just abstinence advocates. High Sobriety’s most important goal is safety.

Too many people are dying from opioid abuse, meaning the treatments currently set in place are not sufficient enough. It’s critical to ignore the outspoken voices that have no knowledge or influence in the world of health advocacy.

The voices of people like Chris Christie and Jeff Sessions should be as trustworthy to you as a martian telling you how to run your planet. Find the trustworthy sources, the facts. Be open to learning new information. The numbers don’t lie. Something needs to change in the world of addiction, and it’s places like High Sobriety that are going to make the difference.

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