Journalist Maia Szalavitz on drug addiction and recovery myths

Guest: Maia Szalavitz

Journalist MAIA SZALAVITZ became addicted to heroin and cocaine when she was a college student, injecting herself multiple times a day. She overdosed and was arrested for drug dealing, but every time she tried to quit she would relapse. Her struggles with drug abuse led her to question our assumptions and reexamine the science around addiction. In her book Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Szalavitz argues that addiction is a learning problem not a disease or sign of moral weakness. She tells Marty it’s time to challenge the myths about treatment and recovery.