Moving the needle

“[A] combination of realism and open-mindedness among residents—an underlying belief in the city’s potential, despite its frustrating challenges.” This is one of the responses I received when I asked Baltimoreans what they believed were the city’s strengths. Over the past two months, I have had the amazing opportunity to experience some of this realism and […]

Help for recovering individuals just a click away

What if we combine supportive housing with low priced but high tech video counseling using computers connected to the internet for individuals leaving formal treatment to remain in close contact with their counselors and recovery support services? Why does treatment fail? The answer is a complex one but the top three reasons on anybody’s list […]

Have you seen these signs?

For the first time in many years, drug addiction treatment slots are available to city residents. For years individuals who needed treatment had to wait for long periods of time until a treatment slot became available. OSI-Baltimore grantee and partner, Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems (BSAS) has launched an outreach campaign to fill the free slots, […]

Affordable health care for everyone

Few things would be more audacious than for everyone in Baltimore City to have quality, affordable health care, including full access to prevention and treatment for addictions. This would surely help the tens of thousands of Baltimore residents who have no health care coverage and suffer physically, emotionally, and financially as a result. It would […]

Obstacles even with health insurance

When talking about insurance coverage for substance abuse and mental illnesses, people often assume that the problem is limited to the poor. That assumption is way off the mark. Even for those families with “good” health insurance, coverage is far from easy to obtain. In my own experience, when trying to obtain coverage for residential […]

The failed war on drugs

Editor’s note: Following National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, we’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the war on drugs. *** “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein I have worked for over 30 years in […]

Addiction recovery is not just for the addict

Editor’s note: Audacious Ideas is featuring a special month-long series in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. We’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the failed war on drugs. *** When we sent our son to an in-patient addiction treatment program, we were spinning with doubt about the […]

What recovery means for a teenager

Editor’s note: This September, Audacious Ideas features a special month-long series in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. We’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the failed war on drugs. *** Being addicted when you are a teenager does not seem believable. You think people who tell […]

The war on drugs

Editor’s note: This September, Audacious Ideas features a special month-long series in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. We’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the failed war on drugs. Franklin Dyson is the second in our series. *** “The crisis that’s killing our city” is how […]