Understanding the Social Determinants of Addiction—Aaron Ferguson and Zach Rhoads—Social Exchange Podcast

"There are benefits to all mind-altering activities or substances…and it can almost be radical to even recognize that in a culture that seems hell-bent on convincing us all that drugs are evil and that drugs are the cause of the problem. What we've tried to do with The Social Exchange…is to broaden the definition of addiction beyond just drugs and to broaden it beyond just an over-medicalized mentality around it," says Aaron Ferguson, co-host of The Social Exchange podcast.

On today's episode, he is joined by his co-host Zach Rhoads to discuss the creation, development, and goals of the podcast, as well as what they've learned by interviewing countless experts and pain patients who've experienced addiction on a firsthand basis. Among many topics, they discuss differing viewpoints and arguments surrounding the concept and experience of addiction, the philosophy of harm reduction, and chemical dependency versus environmental influences.

Tune in for all the details of this compelling and passionate conversation.