I found the article well written - as an op-ed / blog type piece and marketing for his book. Not as med/psy findings type piece. The writer clearly has dealt with several people in his life who have had addictions, and researched the war on drugs for his book. But the war on drugs isn't the, or a, cause of addiction. It may be a factor in addicts not getting help and and in exacerbating the problem, but it's not a cause. And being knowledgeable in one doesn't make one knowledgeable in the other.
The thing is, while rats may be content with gilded and cush-y cages filled with supplies of food and toys, in humans happiness and contentment is an inside job.
Nothing I do can make AXH happy if he is determined that he is miserable. Nothing I do can make AXH feel connected to others. He has to figure out where those 'switches' are and how to flip them. If he doesn't know how to be happy or content with the life he has, I can't make him be.
So even if the premise of the article is correct, there still is no way for the loved ones of addicts to make them get better. And I think the loved ones' detachment from the addiction would still apply, in that it may 1. give the loved ones the space they need in order to still be able to feel love for the addict, and 2. give the addict the space they need to find those switches, IF they are so inclined. And, for the sake of the loved ones, that love may need to be offered from a distance.
IDK. It felt over-simplified and rose-tinted. Like Florence, I would like to hear his follow-up on how/if his xBF's recovery progressed and on his own-health and well-being after tying "the addicts in [his] life closer" to him.