Addiction expert Alan Marlatt dies

SEATTLE -- For years, the prevailing approach to confronting addiction in the United States could be summed up as, "Just say no." Abstinence was the only goal; addicts had to agree to quit drugs or booze entirely as a precondition for treatment.

The pioneering work of Alan Marlatt, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington, profoundly changed that attitude in recent decades.

Marlatt, director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the university, died yesterday from complications of melanoma. He was 69.

Marlatt advocated "harm reduction," an approach that meets addicts "where they are" instead of demanding immediate detox and abstinence.

Counselors strive to reduce drug or alcohol consumption, for example, while minimizing public-health costs through programs such as needle exchanges.

It's a model Marlatt called "compassionate pragmatism instead of moralistic idealism."

An internationally respected researcher, Marlatt wrote or edited more than 20 books and hundreds of scientific journal articles, and received major awards for his contributions to the fields of alcoholism and substance abuse.

While now widely accepted, some of Marlatt's ideas were considered heretical when he first started writing and talking about them decades ago, colleagues said.

For example, counselors once shunned discussion of relapses when talking with alcoholics, believing it would only encourage further drinking. Marlatt challenged that as unrealistic. His research showed it was more effective to acknowledge the likelihood of relapses and help patients cope with them.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Marlatt was a Canadian and U.S. citizen. He received his bachelor of psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1964 and his doctorate in clinical psychology from Indiana University in 1968. He joined the University of Washington faculty in 1972.

Besides his wife and son, he is survived by daughter-in-law Ashley Rachel Marlatt; half-brother Robert Whitehead; stepdaughters Melanie Miller, Charlotte Miller and Iara Coltrim; and stepson Colin Maclay.