I also had my own addiction to cocaine and heroin in my 20s. I knew that it was driven not by the things that the drug workers were telling me; in fa…

- Maia Szalavitz

When President Nixon declared war on drugs on June 17, 1971, about 110 people per 100,000 in the population were incarcerated. Today, we have 2-3 mil…

- Maia Szalavitz

We have a system that was devised by racists to create racist ends.

- Maia Szalavitz

The best outcomes that are seen for therapy intervention and for other psychological interventions is where the therapist really connects and the per…

- Maia Szalavitz

Marijuana is not not harmful, but is the least harmful psychoactive substance that we have, with the possible exception of caffeine.

- Maia Szalavitz

Science could never get you to make alcohol and tobacco legal and marijuana illegal. Only racism can do that.

- Maia Szalavitz

Because addiction is a developmental problem, the developmental stage is important, things like employment are important, things like having a sense …

- Maia Szalavitz

Incarceration is as useful for addiction as it is for diabetes - i.e., not useful and potentially harmful, particularly for kids.

- Maia Szalavitz

Addiction is when you fall in love with a drug instead of a child or a lover and the learning that takes part in that part of the brain is designed b…

- Maia Szalavitz