A largely unrecognized population is emerging in the United States—individuals who have sustainedrecovery from substance use for decades and are now aging into their 60s and 70s.In New York City, this population reflects a unique historical trajectory shaped by punitive drug policies,the expansion of peer-based recovery through Narcotics Anonymous in the early 1980s, and the […]
This article traces a recurring pattern in United States addiction history: the repeated hope that one drug, regulation, or medical innovation could solve the harms produced by another. The Civil War helped create the nation’s first large-scale opioid crisis when morphine and opium were widely used to treat battlefield injuries, amputations, chronic pain, diarrhea, and
Why do some individuals sustain recovery for decades while others struggle to maintain it over time? Mutual 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have quietly provided one of the most enduring and accessible recovery supports in the United States. Unlike time-limited treatment models, these programs offer continuous, peer-based engagement that extends across
