Dr. Sarah Wakeman

So when we think about prevention for children, you know, often people have looked at like education, like, you know, telling people, telling kids that drugs are bad, that doesn't work. What does work is actually building resilience among young people. So building resilience, building connection. So what does that look like? That looks like affordable housing.

So when we think about prevention for children, you know, often people have looked at like education, like, you know, telling people, telling kids that drugs are bad, that doesn't work. What does work is actually building resilience among young people. So building resilience, building connection. So what does that look like? That looks like affordable housing.

That looks like parks where people can get outside and play sports and exercise and build relationships. That looks like supporting families so that families can stay together. And so those early relationships and attachment can be well-formed.

That looks like parks where people can get outside and play sports and exercise and build relationships. That looks like supporting families so that families can stay together. And so those early relationships and attachment can be well-formed.

That's like the true prevention work is trying to break the cycles of intergenerational trauma, poverty, substance use, and actually supporting families, communities at the very start.

That's like the true prevention work is trying to break the cycles of intergenerational trauma, poverty, substance use, and actually supporting families, communities at the very start.

Yes. Yeah, Rat Park is a great example of that.

Yes. Yeah, Rat Park is a great example of that.

Yeah, so Rat Park was a series of experiments that were done where essentially they took, they're trying to understand kind of drivers of addiction using rat models. And so they took rats and they had one model where rats were isolated in their own cage with nothing to do and no human connection.

Yeah, so Rat Park was a series of experiments that were done where essentially they took, they're trying to understand kind of drivers of addiction using rat models. And so they took rats and they had one model where rats were isolated in their own cage with nothing to do and no human connection.

And they had access to a substance like morphine or cocaine where they could push a lever and get more of it. And those animals, when they were deprived of connection and isolation, anything to do, used more of the drug. It gave them relief. It gave them pleasure.

And they had access to a substance like morphine or cocaine where they could push a lever and get more of it. And those animals, when they were deprived of connection and isolation, anything to do, used more of the drug. It gave them relief. It gave them pleasure.

They took those same animals and they put them in this amazing cage with, you know, areas to play and like wheels to climb on and lots of friends and other rats. And all of a sudden they saw the same animals were no longer kind of pushing the lever and trying to get more of the drug.

They took those same animals and they put them in this amazing cage with, you know, areas to play and like wheels to climb on and lots of friends and other rats. And all of a sudden they saw the same animals were no longer kind of pushing the lever and trying to get more of the drug.

And so, you know, it's a somewhat simplified model that there's lots of – it's probably oversimplified, but it demonstrates that so much of addiction really is around this idea of connection, restoring sort of the world around us, the community, the interrelatedness that we all have, the opportunities and purpose and meaning and hope. So I think that's the real prevention.

And so, you know, it's a somewhat simplified model that there's lots of – it's probably oversimplified, but it demonstrates that so much of addiction really is around this idea of connection, restoring sort of the world around us, the community, the interrelatedness that we all have, the opportunities and purpose and meaning and hope. So I think that's the real prevention.

And then there's how do we actually address folks who are having a problem? Yeah. And I think, you know, what I would do there is first make addiction treatment widely available immediately when people need it.

And then there's how do we actually address folks who are having a problem? Yeah. And I think, you know, what I would do there is first make addiction treatment widely available immediately when people need it.

So the minute you walk into your general practitioner's office or an emergency room, you get treated with compassion, with science, with people asking you what can they do to help and offering you effective care the same way they would if you had a new cancer diagnosis or a new diagnosis of a heart problem.

So the minute you walk into your general practitioner's office or an emergency room, you get treated with compassion, with science, with people asking you what can they do to help and offering you effective care the same way they would if you had a new cancer diagnosis or a new diagnosis of a heart problem.