“People fall into these communities of substance, centred around drugs,” Dr. Mehl-Madrona pointed out. “You can fall into communities around alcohol or cocaine and whatever. Everyone has a need to belong. Unless people have another community, an alternative community that provides them with more belonging, being wanted, and purpose, the so-called treatment always fails. What seems to work here for aboriginal people is to switch their allegiance to an alternative community, modern but honouring traditional values. As long as they can maintain their position in that non-using community, they are
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