VIDEO – JUDGE NOT… – July 5, 2024 – Despite warnings that her strange craving could kill her, 20-year-old Shannon developed a habit of drinking gasoline daily. Horrifying footage shows her trudging into her bathroom as soon as she wakes up and reaching for a red petrol canister stashed under the sink, before tipping its contents in her mouth. It goes without saying that consuming petrol can have horrifying consequences on your health. Aside from causing nausea, vomiting and intense stomach pain if ingested, the toxic liquid can damage your digestive tract and well as your heart and lungs.…
Author: Leonard Buschel
ONE IS FOREVER – June 29, 2024 – Maree McLean has published her much-requested follow up to her first book, The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober. Now with the No Bullshit Guide to Staying Sober ( $29.99) she hopes to help people quit alcohol for good. Q: Throughout your process of getting sober, when did you decide you wanted to collate your efforts into a book? A: I didn’t ‘decide’ anything at any point in a formal way; the process for me isn’t that I come up with an idea then ground it into reality. I am just…
FREE AT LAST – June 29, 2024 – Cochran rose to a prominence in college football, he battled debilitating headaches. His doctors tried multiple medications until, in 2010, eventually landing on a solution: oxycodone … On April 10, 2020, Cochran’s wife Cissy found him after he overdosed while at his computer on a Zoom call. Since it was 2020, the Cochrans sent Scott to rehab in Massachusetts without telling anyone. “I got this thing licked,” Cochran thought upon his departure 30 days later. Except when the covid restrictions lifted, Cochran returned to campus and immediately returned to his old…
GUIDING WOMEN TO A NEW LIFE – July 1, 2024 – Lori Murphy has overcome alcoholism and other struggles. Now she wants to help others. Murphy hosts the “Influential Women” podcast and serves as an empowerment coach for women. “It just hit me. I’m a coach like it was a calling. I have just been following that calling and finding my way into it. That dream is your calling. That dream is meant for you. That’s why you keep dreaming,” she said. Murphy lost 150 pounds and really started focusing on health and wellness. MORE: “Influential Women” podcast CONTINUE@WNYT
PHOTO GALLERY – June 30, 2024 – Columbus, OH, USA; This Must Be the Place founders Ingela Travers-Hawyard and William Perry distribute Kloxxado, a medication that can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, to festival-goers from their booth at ComFest. CONTINUE@Dispatch
IT’S BUSINESS NOW – July 2, 2024 – Tim Robinson, CEO of Kentucky’s largest substance treatment provider, says his for-profit company “had to grow to survive.” He was photographed June 27 at Addiction Recovery Care’s headquarters in Louisa.Around the office at Addiction Recovery Care, or ARC, Vanessa Keeton is still known as “Client One” — marking her status as the first client of the first recovery center the organization opened as a group home in Lawrence County. But her official title is vice president of marketing for ARC, where she has worked since 2012, a little more than a…
TO BIG PHARMA’S DISMAY – July 5, 2024 – That’s according to new data from the CDC, which found that in 2022, 4% of U.S. adults needed OUD treatment. While more than half of the adults who needed OUD treatment received care, about 30% of those with an OUD were enrolled in a treatment program that did not include MAT. MAT, which can include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone, is typically considered the gold standard for treating OUD. “Expanded communication about the effectiveness of medications for OUD is needed,” the authors of the research wrote. “Increased efforts to engage persons…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 1967 – It looks good and dirty on shiny light strip – And if you don’t get beat you got yourself a tripYou can see the walls roar, see your brains on the floor – Become God, become cripple, become funky and split Why was I born [Verse 2] Oh baby, I saw the devil and he’s smiling at me I heard my bones cry devil why’s it got to be Devil played with my brother, devil drove my mother Now the tears in the gutter are floodin’ the sea Why was I born…
THE GOOD ARE DYING YOUNGER – July 5, 2024 – The first time my son, Zack, died was just after his 18th birthday. The kind, funny, charming young man who never failed to light up a room, died slowly. Though his physical body remained, the person I knew and loved gradually slipped away while being replaced, piece-by-piece, by a burgeoning addict. It is like watching a terminally ill cancer patient who, despite best medical efforts, cruelly suffers and fades away until they are no more; meanwhile, we as parents are forced to stand by helplessly and witness their heartbreaking…
ONE PILL MAKES YOU SMALLER… – July 1, 2024 – Public interest in microdosing marijuana and psychedelics has been spiking amid the reform movement in the United States. Google searches related to the dosing technique grew by 1,250 percent from 2015-2023, according to a new, federally funded study by the American Medical Association (AMA). The study, published in JAMA Health Forum on June 28, utilized an event-time difference-in-difference model to investigate a potential casual effect. Researchers looked at monthly and annual changes in microdosing searches before and after a state or locality enacted a drug policy change. “Searches for…
YES! APPROVE IT FAST – July 3, 2024 – Now, researchers have found an approach that could extend naloxone’s lifesaving power, even in the face of ever-more-dangerous opioids. A team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Stanford University and the University of Florida have identified potential drugs that make naloxone more potent and longer lasting, “Naloxone is a lifesaver, but it’s not a miracle drug; it has limitations,” said co-senior author Susruta Majumdar, PhD, a professor of anesthesiology at Washington University. “Many people who overdose on opioids need more than one dose of naloxone…
GENERATION ILLITERATE? – July 4, 2024 – I am writing this in light of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s op-ed in The New York Times and the recent article published about that op-ed by ABC News. Many current youngsters are struggling to express their thoughts and beliefs in a coherent way, to problem solve, to interact with others, etc. It is feasible that these apps were designed to deliberately stress or take advantage of users. I am deeply concerned about the issue of social media addiction among young people. I strongly believe that while these platforms are useful at times,…
TURMOIL & CHAOS – July 3, 2024 – Those abrupt closures coincided with the suicides of two corporate executives in five days; the stiffing of hundreds of employees on their latest biweekly paychecks; the mass transfer of patients out of Retreat’s care; and growing corporate financial woes in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Florida. In laying a foundation for the plaintiffs’ legal claims against Retreat, the lawsuit details a timeline of late — and then missed — payments, and corresponding corporate communications, in the runup to the collapse of the company in late June. The lawsuit claims that Retreat paid its employees late, on May…
VIDEO – CONFUSING – July 2, 2024 – Behind the unmarked doors of a small storefront was what NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda described as a million-dollar illegal weed operation, one that included the packaging of marijuana and edible candies, and the use of chemical flavors among other potential toxins being mixed with concentrated THC. “Everything that we say presents a certain danger to children and to the health of the people who want to legally participate in the market is at this location,” Miranda said. The sheriff-led task force, which now has the power to padlock illegal weed shops…
DON’T BET THE DOG – July 6, 2024 – “I didn’t steal unless I lost my money,” said Rebik, 63, a former Nevada prison corrections officer. “You know, I had to keep the addiction going.” On the way back to jail in Las Vegas, with a sympathetic police officer who was also a drug and alcohol counselor … In Las Vegas, he went through Gamblers Anonymous group meetings and the program at what’s now known as the Dr. Robert Hunter International Problem Gambling Center. That was about 21 years ago. But recently amid family turmoil, Rebik relapsed, winning $17,000…
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES – July 6, 2024 – This spring, a group of New Haven students documented the episode’s impact on the neighborhood where some of them live and have family in a 45-minute film. “It destroyed a lot of Newhallville.” “It destroyed the people, more so. The community.” “Mostly Black people,” added Ynyce Gallishaw, a rising ninth grader at Hill Regional Career High School. In 1970, Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act, which classified drugs into schedules based on risk for addiction and abuse. That’s when police focus turned to hard drugs like crack cocaine…
CONVERSATIONS MATTER – July 2, 2024 – Mr. Towne’s Academy Award was part of a phenomenal run. He was nominated for best-screenplay Oscars three years in a row; his “Chinatown” win, in 1974, came between nominations for “The Last Detail” and “Shampoo,” both directed by Hal Ashby. He had also worked as an uncredited script doctor on “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) and “The Godfather” (1972). He was widely regarded as a master at writing dialogue, though he was less gifted at meeting deadlines — he was notorious for delivering long, unshapely scripts way past their due dates. The film…
FILL IT WITH LOVE – June 30, 2024 – The High School Musical star added, “I mean, you’re in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you. I wouldn’t take anything back; I needed to learn everything I did.” He joined Alcoholics Anonymous at that time and shared how much it changed his life. Zac revealed that he is much more comfortable in his skin now and things are easier. ac Efron skyrocketed to fame in 2006 with his role as Troy Bolton in High School Musical, capturing the hearts of teenagers…
WELCOME ABOARD – July 4, 2024 – Bertinelli’s boyfriend, writer Mike Goodnough, revealed that they’ve been on the same journey together. He commented on her post, “Funny how we both just randomly decided to stop drinking only weeks before we met each other.” Bertinelli and Goodnaugh met through Instagram several years ago and met in person in January 2024. She captioned the make-up-free selfie, tagging the Reframe App — an application designed to help reduce alcohol consumption that she’s been using ever since she participated in ‘Dry January’ earlier this year — as she shared the impressive milestone with…
VIDEO – REMEMBERING SETH BINZER – JULY 5, 2024 – Late Crazy Town frontman was sober and happy a few months before his accidental drug overdose … and seemed committed to staying on the wagon. Shifty’s friend and sober coach, Tim Ryan, says he was living in a tent in downtown L.A.’s MacArthur Park after relapsing, and was homeless when he died. He also said music was always his therapy, and joked about recovering addicts being the best artists. Unfortunately, Shifty wasn’t able to stay sober … he was found dead last month and his manager says he died…
THE TASTE OF RECOVERY – June 29, 2024 – “Bizarre Foods” TV host Andrew Zimmern has been sober for 32 and a half years, and often uses his platform to talk about mental health; he’s vocal about his experience online and eager to share his perspective in interviews. “Sobriety was my route to happiness and wellness, and saving my own life,” Zimmern told Aspen Public Radio during the Classic on Saturday. Zimmern has been coming to this event for more than a decade, with the experience of a “longtime sober guy,” but he also knows just how hard it…
VIDEO – HAPPILY PLUMP? – July 2, 2024 – Users of escitalopram (which is sold under the brand name Lexapro), paroxetine (Paxil) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) were 10% to 15% more likely to gain at least 5% of their baseline weight than sertraline (Zoloft) users. Bupropion (Wellbutrin) users were 15% less likely to gain weight than sertraline (Zoloft) users, while fluoxetine (Prozac) use was not associated with a weight change. The study’s authors describe these as “small differences,” but hope the findings will help patients and providers make more informed treatment decisions. “Patients and their clinicians often have several options…
FUNNY PUNCH LINE? – July 6, 2024 – In April 2019, after his parents confiscated cash he’d planned to use for drugs, Luka became enraged, shattering a glass against a wall. He spit in his mother’s face and tried to cut himself and his stepfather with a shard of glass. After nearly 6 years, 7 psychiatrists and 5 therapists, Luka, now 20, is in a healthier place. His mom wrote I Can Fix This. And Other Lies I Told Myself While Parenting My Struggling Child. LUKA KUZMIC As a kid I loved making people laugh. But I was bullied…
VIDEO – NO FLAT TIRES – July 1, 2024 – LT Weaver, a person in recovery and founder of the nonprofit Recovering Addict, is pioneering a different approach that emphasizes peer-oriented practices. In September, National Recovery Month, he’s planning to embark on a bicycle ride from Salt Lake City to St. George, to raise awareness of his recovery method and attract more Utahns to his recovery program. Weaver told St. George News his most recent practice ride was 122 miles. He is currently riding 500 to 700 miles per month, as he knows he will soon almost match the…
DOING THE RIGHT THING – July 2, 2024 – On July 1, the Canadian actor, 57, shared a photo of a countdown board on Instagram alongside a card that read, “You are literally the most amazing person. A special thanks to @_harmonyplace J,D and H for saving my life. If you’re struggling with addiction, just surrender and ask for help,” he added, referencing his drug and alcohol addiction treatment center “We’re here waiting for you, to love you, until you love yourself. A beautiful life awaits you. Just reach out your hand. #recovery #change,” McDermott concluded. Last week, the…
VIDEO – ALMOST DEAD – July 1, 2024 – Sarah Nazorek remembers the scary experience when she saved her son from an overdose by using Narcan. One of the people sent us the video as others worked to wake up the unconscious man, with what looks like drugs seen sitting on his lap. “It demobilizes you. You lose your speech. My son lost hearing in one ear, and he couldn’t talk. It’s like he had this blank stare,” Nazorek said. She lost her son to fentanyl two years ago. Now, she’s an advocate for Keep NM Alive to bring…
VIDEO – PRISON FOR LIFE! – July 5, 2024 – Daniel Christopher Hyden, 44, has been arrested and charged with drinking under the influence after he allegedly drove his truck through the Water Street and Jackson Street intersection, over the sidewalk and into people — including kids, He held his head down and ignored questions about the deadly crash from reporters as officers walked him out of the NYPD’s 7th precinct Friday afternoon. He also faces charges of driving while intoxicated and for not having a valid license, as well as eight counts of assault in the second-degree. Hyden…
OH THE EVIL WEB WE WEAVE… – July 4, 2024 – The investigation now includes the LAPD, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Postal Inspection Service. Through the investigation, officials are hoping to find out who gave the beloved actor the lethal dose of ketamine. A second celebrity, an anonymous woman, has been linked to his death, according to InTouch. A source told the outlet that this woman and Matthew appeared to be sober to those around them but were “walking pharmacies.” The source claims the two had various late night talks about their lives and struggles…
DESERVEDLY SO BRAVO – July 4, 2024 – Still living a full life, the Heroin Diaries author continues to tour the world with his band, writes new music and has been getting involved in more TV and film projects, not to mention more charitable endeavors, like donating money to nonprofits like Covenant House to help make music programs accessible to all. he dad of five, who is married to Courtney Sixx, 38, mom of his youngest, Ruby, 4, shared his celebratory post on Instagram with an inspiring message for others out there who may be wanting to kick the…
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” — Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917