Tuesday, July 8, 2025
ISSN 2765-8767
  • Survey
  • Podcast
  • Write for Us
  • My Account
  • Log In
Daily Remedy
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Podcasts
    Your Body, Your Health Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Singer

    Your Body, Your Health Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Singer

    July 1, 2025
    Unlocking the Secrets of GLP-1 Medications

    The cost structure of hospitals nearly doubles

    July 1, 2025
    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    The Fight Against Healthcare Fraud: Dr. Rafai’s Story

    April 8, 2025
    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    April 4, 2025
    The Alarming Truth About Health Insurance Denials

    The Alarming Truth About Health Insurance Denials

    February 3, 2025
    Telehealth in Turmoil

    The Importance of NIH Grants

    January 31, 2025
  • Surveys

    Surveys

    What concerns you most about your healthcare?

    What concerns you most about your healthcare?

    July 1, 2025
    Perception vs. Comprehension: Public Understanding of the 2025 MAHA Report

    Perception vs. Comprehension: Public Understanding of the 2025 MAHA Report

    June 4, 2025

    Survey Results

    Do you believe national polls on health issues are accurate

    National health polls: trust in healthcare system accuracy?

    May 8, 2024
    Which health policy issues matter the most to Republican voters in the primaries?

    Which health policy issues matter the most to Republican voters in the primaries?

    May 14, 2024
    How strongly do you believe that you can tell when your provider does not trust you?

    How strongly do you believe that you can tell when your provider does not trust you?

    May 7, 2024
  • Courses
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Support Us
  • Official Learner
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Podcasts
    Your Body, Your Health Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Singer

    Your Body, Your Health Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Singer

    July 1, 2025
    Unlocking the Secrets of GLP-1 Medications

    The cost structure of hospitals nearly doubles

    July 1, 2025
    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    The Fight Against Healthcare Fraud: Dr. Rafai’s Story

    April 8, 2025
    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    Navigating the Medical Licensing Maze

    April 4, 2025
    The Alarming Truth About Health Insurance Denials

    The Alarming Truth About Health Insurance Denials

    February 3, 2025
    Telehealth in Turmoil

    The Importance of NIH Grants

    January 31, 2025
  • Surveys

    Surveys

    What concerns you most about your healthcare?

    What concerns you most about your healthcare?

    July 1, 2025
    Perception vs. Comprehension: Public Understanding of the 2025 MAHA Report

    Perception vs. Comprehension: Public Understanding of the 2025 MAHA Report

    June 4, 2025

    Survey Results

    Do you believe national polls on health issues are accurate

    National health polls: trust in healthcare system accuracy?

    May 8, 2024
    Which health policy issues matter the most to Republican voters in the primaries?

    Which health policy issues matter the most to Republican voters in the primaries?

    May 14, 2024
    How strongly do you believe that you can tell when your provider does not trust you?

    How strongly do you believe that you can tell when your provider does not trust you?

    May 7, 2024
  • Courses
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Support Us
  • Official Learner
No Result
View All Result
Daily Remedy
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics & Law

The War on Drugs is a War on Right Thinking

Daily Remedy by Daily Remedy
February 22, 2022
in Politics & Law
0
The War on Drugs is a War on Right Thinking

So much of the war on drugs is a war on right thinking. When we discuss drug policy, particularly the opioid epidemic, many of the disagreements arise from nothing more than in the way we think.

Sometimes we think economically, sometimes medically, but the way we think leads to the conclusions we make. And this is the source of the problem. We cannot solve the opioid epidemic, or drug use in general, through siloed thinking alone. Meaningful solutions can only come from combining these ways of thinking into a coherent policy.

In the past, when we tried to combine different ways of thinking – clinical care with individual rights – we created conceptual leaps. When we would discuss legislation on drug access or drug use, we would first think medically, and then in terms of individual rights, and then protecting or restricting those rights.

But we often stumbled when making these leaps, which manifested as gaps in logic that produce erroneous conclusions, leading to more harm than good.

For example, addiction is a medical condition in which people can behave irrationally. This is inherent in the definition of addiction – a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain.

Yet the war on drugs focuses on reducing supply, using economic principles of supply and demand to justify restrictions – principles that rely on the assumption that people will behave rationally when making decisions.

By this logic alone, addiction should never be understood through economics. Yet curtailing drug supply in the hopes that it will reduce demand is the entire basis for restricting opioids, and much of the focus among federal law enforcement agencies.

Whenever we try to reconcile these different forms of thinking, and the ensuing gaps in logic, we end up talking about substitution patterns, as though all of human behavior is an opportunity cost. But the substitution patterns that we assume to be true do not reflect the actual behavior seen. The Iron Law of Prohibition would suggest as much – as law enforcement becomes more intense, the potency of prohibited substances increases.

If we restrict drug use, then we assume that we will curtail addictive behavior. Instead we make addictive behavior more risky. In the same vein, when we restrict access to drugs, we assume that we will curtail drug use. Instead we increase the potency of the drug supply.

Addiction can be best described as irrational, complex patterns of behavior. Yet we seem bent on defining it through simple cause and effect relationships, creating overly simplified models of substitution patterns.

However irrational addictive behavior may appear, it is far less irrational than forcing complex patterns of behavior into a simple cause and effect relationship.

Inevitably, whenever we discuss the opioid epidemic, and the misguided ways of thinking about it, we are forced to confront the Law of Unintended Consequences. But the law is more than saying unintended consequences cause harm, that much is obvious. At its most fundamental level, it is about the relationship between the complex and simple, society and the individual.

This is difficult for policy makers to understand – and why most drug policies fail.

When we enact drug policy, we try to do what is best for society as a whole. But individual behavior always reacts to the uncertainty in the policy. Hence we see the substitution patterns. Then we try to predict the patterns, so we enact policies that assume a cause and effect relationship, only to create false equivalencies and more uncertainty. And on it goes – trying to predict and simply something unpredictable and complex.

We need to think about drug policy more sensibly. Recognize the complex patterns of behavior, the actual substitution patterns that appear, and resist the trend to compartmentalize everything into a cause and effect.

ShareTweet
Daily Remedy

Daily Remedy

Dr. Jay K Joshi serves as the editor-in-chief of Daily Remedy. He is a serial entrepreneur and sought after thought-leader for matters related to healthcare innovation and medical jurisprudence. He has published articles on a variety of healthcare topics in both peer-reviewed journals and trade publications. His legal writings include amicus curiae briefs prepared for prominent federal healthcare cases.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Videos

In this episode of the Daily Remedy Podcast, Dr. Jeffrey Singer discusses his book 'Your Body, Your Health Care,' emphasizing the importance of patient autonomy in healthcare decisions. He explores historical cases that shaped medical ethics, the contradictions in harm reduction policies, and the role of the FDA in drug approval processes. Dr. Singer critiques government regulations that infringe on individual autonomy and advocates for a healthcare system that respects patients as autonomous adults. The conversation highlights the need for a shift in how healthcare policies are formulated, focusing on individual rights and self-medication.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Jeffrey Singer and His Book
01:11 The Importance of Patient Autonomy
10:29 Contradictions in Harm Reduction Policies
20:48 The Role of the FDA in Drug Approval
30:21 Certificate of Need Laws and Their Impact
39:59 The Legacy of Patient Autonomy and the Hippocratic Oath
Your Body, Your Health Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Singer
YouTube Video _IWv1EYeJYQ
Subscribe

RFK Jr.’s Overhaul of CDC Vaccine Policy

Visuals

Official MAHA Report

Official MAHA Report

by Daily Remedy
May 31, 2025
0

Explore the official MAHA Report released by the White House in May 2025.

Read more

Twitter Updates

Tweets by DailyRemedy1

Newsletter

Start your Daily Remedy journey

Cultivate your knowledge of current healthcare events and ensure you receive the most accurate, insightful healthcare news and editorials.

*we hate spam as much as you do

Popular

  • The Grey Market of Weight Loss: How Compounded GLP-1 Medications Continue Despite FDA Crackdowns

    The Grey Market of Weight Loss: How Compounded GLP-1 Medications Continue Despite FDA Crackdowns

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The First FBI Agent I Met

    3 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Retatrutide: The Weight Loss Drug Everyone Wants—But Can’t Officially Get

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Generative Scribes and Pervasive Errors: The Promise and Pitfalls of AI-Driven Clinical Notes

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Continuous Care, Continuous Data: How AI-Powered Remote Monitoring Redefines Diagnostics

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 628 Followers

Daily Remedy

Daily Remedy offers the best in healthcare information and healthcare editorial content. We take pride in consistently delivering only the highest quality of insight and analysis to ensure our audience is well-informed about current healthcare topics - beyond the traditional headlines.

Daily Remedy website services, content, and products are for informational purposes only. We do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All rights reserved.

Important Links

  • Support Us
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Newsletter

Start your Daily Remedy journey

Cultivate your knowledge of current healthcare events and ensure you receive the most accurate, insightful healthcare news and editorials.

*we hate spam as much as you do

  • Survey
  • Podcast
  • About Us
  • Contact us

© 2025 Daily Remedy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Podcasts
  • Surveys
  • Courses
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Support Us
  • Official Learner

© 2025 Daily Remedy

Start your Daily Remedy journey

Cultivate your knowledge of current healthcare events and ensure you receive the most accurate, insightful healthcare news and editorials.

*we hate spam as much as you do