Cardwell Nuckols Interview on The Science of Recovery

In response to recent research, antibiotics used for antibiotic resistance have helped shed light on the opioid epidemic depleting the country’s natural resources quickly.

Transcription of The Podcast

David Condos. We welcome you to this episode of Recovery Unscripted, powered by National Recovery Support Council, a podcast from Foundations Recovery Network; it has been a while since we talked. After you tune in below, please let us know how it went. We are here today to discuss the philosophical thinking of Dr Cardwell Nuckols. Among the most qualified experts in addiction treatment and behavioral medicine, he holds a PhD in Science of Recovery. In Nashville, I attended his presentation at the Innovation in Behavioral Healthcare conference on the current opioid epidemic and its impact on brain chemistry. I learned more from him about the current situation. The information I am about to share with you will get you even more excited about what I have so far that is still not out of your reach for upcoming weeks, especially concerning the recovery effort. When was the organization founded in which year? Members of the group began forming and adopting customs, such as why you need it and how it should be used in the science of recovery. If you have been successful in your interview, determine whether you are working for that particular organization. It is my great pleasure and honor to be here today and Dr Cardwell Nuckols. My sense of accomplishment is based upon the fact that you are here today.

Cardwell Nuckols. My pleasure, thank you. You have gained the trust of such a superior company.

David. It’s all right, [laughs]. Thanks for that. We need to get one thing straight right off the bat: tell us a bit about yourself and what made you decide to pursue a career in behavioral health care.

Cardwell. Several obstacles have contributed to my loss of focus and concentration and my development as a pathological gambler, just a few of which led me to fail the high school science of recovery. I was a 14-year-old boy when that happened. My training in health psychology and completion of a doctorate in neuroscience has given me some 40 years of experience in this field, and I am trained in health psychology. It was somewhat stressful at first. Nevertheless, I have jumped from one sphere to another, and everything worked out just fine in the science of recovery.

David. Your training and consulting enterprise was mentioned before recording the interview, and I wondered what motivated you to start your own business.

Cardwell. I enjoyed teaching as I worked in several different environments and found it to be something I am passionate about. In that regard, I’m sure that I have worked for various companies, such as the science of recovery, for a considerable amount of time. I had been involved in different treatments at some point in my life and have also worked on troubled programs, but these programs differ from one another in their ways. My exposure to the cocaine problem began during the middle eighties. I even developed an idea for dealing with substance abuse during the late seventies and into the early eighties. Their poor treatment of alcoholics was deservedly blamed on the state. Therefore, I have written several books, have spoken at several conferences and developed some programs in response to that. God has blessed me immensely, and I am deeply grateful for all he has done for me through the years of studying the science of recovery.

David. When you left home and got into jail, except for the five minutes you spent with your family, did you use cocaine?

Cardwell. My favourite was opiates, cocaine, and marijuana, also known as the staple drugs back in the day, and like many others, I am still addicted to these drugs. When my generation was presented with these choices, the generation born in the late 1960s and early 1970s came of age during this time.

David. Have there been any side effects while you opted to speak your mind and decide your own free will and what actions you take to rectify your life when it becomes the norm in your culture?

Cardwell. Oh yeah, that’s right. In the beginning, the problem was the drug. It became apparent that crack was a physical and psychological toxin, and it scared everyone, but I realized it was good for my career, but it did terrible things to the country.

David. Several of those people are now working hard to help.

Cardwell. Yes, I do hope so.

David. Our conversation centred in part on the epidemic of opioid overdoses, the topic of which was a favourite of mine in high school. There seems to be a lot of discussion about it recently, and I can understand why. What, in your opinion, constitutes the root cause of this epidemic? Why it happened and what it is should be explained to our audience.

Cardwell. In reality, the problem is quite simple: Opioid use has always been a preoccupation, but it has grown rapidly over the past few decades. In the United States, we have always had a problem with heroin addiction. The opioid epidemic began in the United States after the Civil War when most Americans became addicted to opioids science of recovery. There have been many issues nowadays, and many people are given large amounts of pain killers they don’t need. Recently, we have seen a rise in deaths associated with chemical overdoses, as well as a return to heroin use. Many state laws prohibit the diversion of prescription pills; if you are caught with prescription pills in one state, it is likely your doctor will mention that you have previously filled prescriptions science of recovery in your application.

In addition to circulating more readily over the past few years, fentanyl and its analogues have become less expensive off the streets as well. In addition to being expensive, heroin was also of very high quality, so thousands of households found a place for it in the science of recovery. A person would be rendered unresponsive after inhaling two milligrams from an elephant if the substance were taken orally. In the meantime, however, the later investigation did uncover that some heroin had been laced with fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. At the same time, other pills that resembled hydrocodone and oxycontin were secretly coated with fentanyl. The number of fatal overdoses caused by fentanyl and carfentanyl has doubled. Over less than two decades of the science of recovery, the use of Norse hicks, polio eradicating drug, has been drastically reduced.

People believe in the news, but even the Centers for Disease Control admit that analogues of fentanyl are driving this epidemic.

David. In addition to being accountable for contributing to the current situation, it was to be expected that some unscrupulous physicians, like you, contributed to it by causing it to become even direr. We ascribe its growth by leaps and bounds to the fact that it has grown rapidly since then.

Cardwell.Yes, I would like to express my strong feelings towards it. We encountered a vial of heroin today through the canteen at the science of recovery, as my colleague and I discussed the issue. There was a small amount of it at the bottom. There are various definitions of how much is too much, and I am using this exact definition. If you were to exceed it, you could die. In response, I powdered fentanyl in the bottle so that it looked like small grains of fentanyl when I tapped it, although it was the size of a marble science of recovery.

David. Is it hard for you to see it?

Cardwell. It’s a catastrophe. Yes, it’s that potent.

David. Some of these drugs are laced with a super-strong synthetic opioid-like carfentanyl I will never understand; nevertheless, if it is, then, contrary to my opinion, it is most certainly not a piece of good news. Even though these toxins produce estrogens, progestagens, and sometimes erythropoietin, they may be less toxic than the medications that act on them.

Cardwell. This is driven primarily by money. While a lot of the load comes in through Mexico and the U.S. ports — almost as much as it comes from China — there’s no need to blame anyone or country for this. The shipment used for making pills underwent a seizure in a country headed to Canada. There are no guarantees that a drug is a big business just because it is stronger than heroin, making it more effective in the science of recovery. This, too, is the sign of an addict. It is a well-known fact in the current economic climate that if someone reports three overdoses, their mind immediately goes, “Shucks, that must be some really good stuff,” They then start looking for some.

David. There is no doubt that a shortage of workers in the ongoing labour market may not be a good thing, but a constant demand will still fill the demand gap until the workers are no longer needed.

Cardwell: Sure.

David. In addition to discussing the opioid crisis in the U.S., you were also saying that it is likely to exasperate and have a detrimental impact on Canada. Does that make sense?

Cardwell. Since the last two years, Canada has taken second place in per-capita consumption of pain pills, outpacing the United States. In addition, Asian communities on Vancouver’s west coast and the surrounding areas are also presently purchasing the same heroin and crack industry’s science of recovery. A similar connection exists between the Vietnam War and the arrival of black tar from South America in the shipment of Vietnamese soldiers to bases in Afghanistan and Iraq during the same period.
It wasn’t that long ago when illegal substances, like cocaine, were shipped to the United States along the same routes. Even though it has been used in many ways, it is powerful and relatively affordable compared to a decade ago when science of recovery was still in its infancy. If you were looking for a good place to eat fish in the past, you probably wouldn’t get what you want these days. A study conducted in Germany found that only 4 per cent of heroin found on the streets was heroin. Many former Vietnamese soldiers were barely able to get high on narcotics when they returned from the war. These days, drugs on the street are becoming more powerful, and they are often laced with other things that do not show up on the package.

David. That and more are why risk is involved in this process.

Cardwell: Yes. People addicted to heroin say that they have no interest in fentanyl and other strong drugs, but the quality control in the streets is lacking.

David. You have described a dire situation which we cannot ignore. What we need to do is take steps to make sure that we are responding only to the necessities.

Cardwell. Having a position on this particular issue can be confusing because it raises many questions. It will be impossible to stop this type of trade in the country science of recovery; unfortunately, because this type of trade cannot be prohibited. Instead of labelling the problem as a short-term problem, we need to investigate ways to prevent and treat this problem. Some of the drug addicts I have encountered grew up in unenriched environments, and a large number, if not all of them, suffered significant developmental trauma during their early years. A few years ago, it was widely believed that the abuse of heroin, in general, or an opiate, caused people not to perceive reality as it is, which caused disassociation. Whatever the outcome of my life is, I do not get angry, hurt you, or feel the need to be afraid, no matter what other circumstances arise. The science of recovery does not cause me high levels of anxiety. Chemically, this drug reproduces what a child feels when he/she feels cared for, nurtured, and warm.

I believe that engaging in such activities is beneficial to keep your mind clear of stress and negative emotions. It feels good to be comfortable, and that will make you feel secure. Although it is dangerous, it does not impair your cognitive function, so if you take measures to avoid taking too much, you will still undergo the psychological scientific recovery process. Moreover, I think that the brain is stimulated with dopamine and the reward centres, which leads to one being high. Several things take place in my life at any given time, so many things transpire in my life.

David. Those who have experienced a great deal of trauma may make sense for those who would benefit from it the most since they would have more time and mental energy in this way.

Cardwell. However, one challenging issue that we would need to deal with is that the system we use must be compatible with a mobile phone.

David. You also presented the scientific aspects of recovery at the conference last week and published about that earlier in the year. Does the latest research provide evidence that would explain some of the neurobiological steps by which addiction develops?

Cardwell. My progress will be kept under review, but we discussed, in particular, several topics. Genetics plays a role in this as well. The reward centre in the brain has many dopamine receptors, so its levels are high because of the science of recovery, which overproduces dopamine to enable a rapid rise in well-being. Individuals who suffer from mental health issues are not happy as often. In the special education program, kids might have trouble with their attention span, they have a hard time feeling like they belong, and they are generally irritable and unsatisfied. It appears that groups are more likely to recruit active participants if they’re formed. When the two are combined, a powerful eco-epigenetic perspective emerges, which can help solve many of the genetic issues faced by companies. I think it would be beneficial if they use it positively.

Glutamate turns out to be a neurotransmitter, a chemical substance that activates neurons and facilitates their opening and closing. There will come the point in a person’s addiction when things start to go wrong; losses start to accumulate the moment things go wrong as they may occur later on in the addiction or at the beginning of the addiction. It is confirmed through glutamate concentrations that glutamate increases the glutamate concentration in the brain. As is known, dopamine increases the feeling of wellbeing, but glutamate, on the other hand, makes us feel comfortable, leaving us wishing for higher levels of physical and mental wellbeing. Even though a drug may not be suitable for your science of recovery, the experience of using it can still be enjoyable. Getting high is not dependent on a ‘high’; that’s what this is for. The top-down control that we are used to has been lost, not to mention the area behind the eyes that regulates emotion and impulses, balances positives and negatives, etc.

By noticing and doing some things to change our educational processes, we hope to stimulate developmental growth. The simplest things are the most helpful, including things we might not think of, like physical relationships, sports, and mindfulness. The most difficult challenge in the United States has been the opioid problem throughout the years. It seems we haven’t had as much success with them as we had the last year.

We should aim for more than the level of proficiency we have now, and I feel we can go beyond even that level. We should be able to do it better the more experience we have. Trauma and early recovery are challenging when people live in these environments; their surroundings lack enriched environments.

David. Essentially, my question was whether glutamate works as a motivational agent for choosing to take drugs and is intended to entice us to do so.

Cardwell. It seems that you do not understand the issue. Here is how I think about the issue. A study was conducted on endorphins and symptoms of the disease to determine how they interact with the science of the recovery process. When we get to this point, glutamine might become a character player. In such a scenario, the brain’s prefrontal cortex becomes unconscious. He could swear to his wife in the family Bible that he would not drink, but due to the taste of the wine he did, so that he could not control his consumption in front of his friends while in Manhattan.
Some patients after early rehab appear to have difficulties learning because of the glutamate’s effects. The information they are receiving may be problematic for them because they cannot change them to prepare them for the future. Trying to change the process is the stuff we do; The process itself matters, not the method.

There are two main approaches to this challenge: medicinally, using Inositol Cysteine and other amino acids, or by bringing back your brain. The brain has to rest in a different environment for a few days if the individual does not recover properly.

Most people won’t go home after treatment. By supporting them during their recovery and giving them the chance to rise above it in society, they will thrive. Where do I find sponsorships? You know that, where do I find sponsorships?

David. I was thinking about the neurochemistry talk you did recently and how it is that helping us adapt treatment for patients, especially in light of the opioid crisis.

Cardwell. You can tell what’s wrong with people if you study why they fail. It is because of non-enriching environments that they fail. Traumas from childhood are one of the reasons why they fail. A strong case to be made that their lack of success in life has been attributed to a deeply-rooted tendency toward neurosis. Those most likely to abuse their medication in pain clinics tend to be neurotic. Some individuals have quite high scores in terms of the science of recovery. Anxiety and depression run in families. Looking after the environment is what we can do. Our dopamine levels rise in a high-stress environment, but cortisol levels rise as well, making us anxious.

The challenge lies in designing the systems that enable it, not rocket science. People do not like being taken out of their environments after 30 days and sent back in. As a result, communities must be an integral part of the recovery process and the science of recovery. These are all things I would recommend: the culture, the environment, and the chance to help others. As for the phenomenon, I believe this is a big part of the reason.Sometimes we find that the needs of the young people, 18, 25, 30, etc., are different from the older people’s needs. One could argue they were distracted with other things while they did not work and had their families. It’s not always clear that you’ve been gifted with certain gifts. People ten years younger than these individuals seem to have a concrete way of reasoning. More and more, I’m observing that some people are meeting these needs within the country science of recovery. You may be able to get some mileage out of that.

David. There are instances where patients are supposed to be considered legal age but are not considered adults legally. Many patients will develop differently due to developmental problems.

Cardwell. I see the world differently than they do, which I find incomprehensible to the way I do. Our brains develop executive functions in addition to visual and sensory abilities, particularly in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. When the leader in charge of a team possesses the values and skills that are imperative to the science of recovery, they can motivate a team with success. The reason why I’m here instead of there? As shown in the above statement, people need things to survive. As they take on more responsibility, they will acquire new abilities and become more responsible. The pursuit of an enlightened life is a goal worth striving for.

David. Yes. It’s been a long time since you’ve been in this business, you said since the ’70s, right?

Cardwell. Approximately in the mid-’70s.

David. In the mid-’70s? Do you consider it important to help people recover?

Cardwell. My self-destructive journey began because I had to consume illegal drugs because of a compulsion. Every little bit helps. My reason was simple. I asked for a little more. Spirituality is major in my life, so I teach it, written books about it, and help others spiritually. I find joy in helping people, and seeing their smiles two years after helping them is the true joy of my life.

David. That’s all right.

Cardwell. Your conference is awesome, thanks so much, and you all are doin’ a great job. Thank you for the kind words. Having been a part of this great project has been an honour for me.

David. That’s all right. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.

Cardwell. I want to thank you for your time. I will be taking care of you.