Elizabeth Brico

Witnessed Urine Screens in Drug Treatment: Humiliating and Harmful

My heart drummed in time to my racing thoughts, which repeated an increasingly urgent command. Just. Fucking. Pee. But instead…

October 28, 2019

If We Wrote About Caffeine Like We Do Other Drugs…

Genelle Chaconas can’t go a day without caffeine. They consume the powerful stimulant in the form of coffee—a psychoactive drink…

June 10, 2019

Our Irrational Cruelty to Pregnant or Parenting People Who Use Drugs

Keri, now 35 and studying to become an addiction treatment counselor in Illinois, learned she was pregnant in 2016. In…

April 13, 2019

A Cop at My Bedside: The Nightmare of Disclosing MAT Before Giving Birth

I gave birth to my elder daughter in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2014. She was delivered by paramedics after…

April 5, 2019

“Junkie” Caricatures Make Us All More Vulnerable to Addiction

I shot heroin for the first time because I wanted to write poetry about it. I'm cringing just writing that…

March 5, 2019

Sex, Heroin and Survivor’s Trauma Are Interlinked for Many Women

The first time I had sex after ending my abusive relationship in 2008, I loved it because it felt like…

January 29, 2019

Judges and Lawyers Ignorant of MAT Require Urgent Education Efforts

When Jarrod* went before a Clinton County, New York judge in November 2017 to address a no-contact order violation, he…

January 7, 2019

Let’s Embrace the Christmas Miracle of Naloxone

It does one thing and one thing only. It brings people back to life. It's a miracle." Julia Negron doesn't…

December 20, 2018

Stigma and Strip Searches: We Still Treat People on Methadone as Less Than Human

Have you ever noticed how quiet a cold morning feels? Something about the coldness works its way into the sound…

November 19, 2018

Six Months Since My Daughters Were Taken, Here’s How the System Punishes Past Drug Use

The ground feels unsteady, like there's some dark ocean lurching beneath the wide flat floor tiles. I don't want to…

October 25, 2018