Maia Szalavitz: Addiction Isn't About Drugs. It's About Pain
6/16/20261 hr 5 min
**What actually helps people recover from addiction?**In this powerful episode of We're Out of Time, Richard Taite sits down with NY Times bestselling author, journalist, and leading voice in addiction science Maia Szalavitz to explore recovery, trauma, harm reduction, and the role of compassion in healing.Drawing from both personal experience and decades of research, Maia challenges common assumptions about addiction and explains why shame, punishment, and stigma so often fail to create lasting change.
This episode covers:
• Maia's journey from addiction to recovery and becoming one of today's most important addiction author
• Why addiction is often rooted in pain, trauma, and disconnection
• The debate around harm reduction approaches
• Why compassion may be more effective than punishment
• What actually helps people get — and stay — better
• The future of addiction policy and care
At the heart of it all, this is a conversation about why these approaches matter and creating more paths to recovery.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMaia Szalavitz· Guest0:00
America locks up more people and arrests more people for drug possession than any other country in the world. We also have the worst problem in the world. So if this was going to work, it should have worked by now. It doesn't work because we don't arrest people for alcohol possession, we don't arrest people for cigarette possession, and we managed to dramatically reduce the harms related to those drugs. Now, if you catch somebody with possession of something that is dangerous, you may wanna take that thing away from them, but that doesn't mean you need to be a police officer, and that doesn't mean you need to put a person in jail.
Speaker 20:35
[upbeat music] If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call One Call Placement. That's 888-831-1581, and if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. Please, we're out of time. One Call Placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers.
Richard Taite· Host1:14
Today on We're Out of Time, I'm joined by Maia Szalavitz, one of the most important voices in addiction today. She's a New York Times best-selling author and journalist known for her expertise in neuroscience and addiction.