Maia Szalavitz

Maia Szalavitz is a reporter and author who focuses on science, public policy, and addiction treatment. She's the author of the New York Times bestseller Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction.

Drugs

Pain and Isolation Are Driving America’s Lockdown Overdose Surge

The pandemic is causing a surge in drug overdoses due to increasing isolation, desperation, and erratic supply.
Maia Szalavitz
2.18.21
High Wire

Brain Implants to Treat Addiction Are Dangerous and Promising

The U.S. is conducting clinical trials of deep brain stimulation for opioid addiction, but ethical questions abound.
Maia Szalavitz
5.5.20
addiction

People Who Take Opioid Painkillers Are Getting Screwed Thanks to Coronavirus

Quarantined people have to go out to get their prescriptions and can't get a backup supply.
Maia Szalavitz
3.24.20
Opioids

A Vending Machine in Canada Is Dispensing a Drug Twice as Strong as Heroin

Hydromorphone, aka "Dilly," is now available to people who aren't ready or able to quit opioids.
Maia Szalavitz
2.10.20
High Wire

What Happens When a 'Progressive' Democrat Refuses to Help People with Addiction

If New York's Governor Cuomo doesn’t sign these laws, he is literally condemning hundreds of people to die for the sake of insurance-company greed.
Maia Szalavitz
12.20.19
High Wire

Doctors Are Still Denying People Pain Meds and the Results Are Deadly

Insurers and state governments haven’t gotten up to speed with federal recommendations, and pain patients are paying the price.
Maia Szalavitz
11.4.19
High Wire

The Bankruptcy Money From the Makers of Oxycontin Might Actually Save Lives

Grassroots addiction groups could get tens of millions of dollars and start a long-overdue revolution in the way we care for and treat drug problems in the U.S.
Maia Szalavitz
10.24.19
High Wire

The DEA Shares Blame for the Opioid Crisis

The Drug Enforcement Agency's role in the opioid crisis makes clear that law enforcement shouldn't be regulating medicine.
Maia Szalavitz
9.16.19
High Wire

Weed Is Way Stronger Than It Used to Be. That's Why It Should Be Legal

OK, maybe it's not "your father's weed."
Maia Szalavitz
9.12.19
High Wire

Democrats Are Racing to Look Progressive on Drugs

Sanders and Warren supporting safe injection sites shows how far we've come since the 80s.
Maia Szalavitz
8.30.19
High Wire

An Unprecedented Drop in Overdose Deaths Is Sadly Not Reason to Celebrate

We know that politically, when turning points in crises are identified, both attention and money are drawn away from the issue.
Maia Szalavitz
7.22.19
High Wire

Facebook Is Censoring Posts That Could Save Opioid Users' Lives

Facebook appears to be blocking people who warn users about poisonous batches of drugs or who supply materials used to test for fentanyl.
Maia Szalavitz
7.2.19
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