COUNTRY IN CONSTANT MOURNING – Feb. 21, 2024 – 125 million American adults know at least one person who died by overdose. For many, it was a devastating loss. 40% of Americans know someone who died of a drug overdose, and about one-third of them say it upended their lives. In reviewing a national representative survey of American adults, researchers noted that the lifetime exposure to an overdose death is more common among women than men. It also is more frequent among married participants than unmarried counterparts, U.S.-born survey respondents than immigrants and people living in urban settings as…
Author: Leonard Buschel
BABIES DEFORMED AGAIN – Feb. 22, 2024 – Since the 1970s, it has been known that sodium valproate can harm babies in the womb. So why was it prescribed to pregnant women? “My kids are fabulous, but I’d known for years that something was wrong,” she says. “They weren’t meeting milestones. There was delayed speech, slowness to crawl, not walking. There was a lot of drooling – that was really apparent. “I knew there was something wrong and I’d say it to doctors, to friends, to family, but no one was listening. I was told: ‘It’s a phase.’ ‘You’re reading…
SEMANTICS SHMANTICS – Feb. 19, 2024 – We’ve seen multiple societal changes in our lifetime, from fashion trends to laws, to name just two, and as I wrote in my last post, there have been a number of changes to the thinking in the addiction field. To accommodate those changes, it appears that the meaning of the word “sober” has changed. According to a February article in the New York Times titled “What Does Being Sober Mean Today? For Many, Not Full Abstinence,” to be sober previously meant totally abstaining from alcohol and all other intoxicating substances. Today, it’s…
MOTHERHOOD AIN’T EASY – Feb. 7, 2024 – About one in 10 people who can become pregnant worldwide deal with mental health issues during pregnancy and the postpartum period, according to the World Health Organization. Of these, the most common conditions are depression and anxiety, both of which fall under the umbrella of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. While most perinatal mental health issues are treatable, these conditions often go undiagnosed and untreated, especially among marginalized populations. For instance, data shows that 60% of perinatal women with depressive symptoms do not receive a clinical diagnosis, and half with a diagnosis…
“Most importantly, keep smiling. Because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” – Marilyn Monroe, 1926-1962
WHO DOESN’T? – Feb. 12, 2034 – During a recent executive program, we conducted a micro-experiment. Participants opted to surrender their mobile phones for one evening and get them back the next morning. During the experiment, they reflected on their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The next morning was full of discussion: Some had noticed themselves reaching for their phones mindlessly, coupled with jolts of “panic” when finding it missing; some felt irritable or frustrated about not being able to look things up on demand; some were nervous to wander the city’s streets without their GPS; while others rationalized the…
VIDEO – WHY? – Feb. 9, 2023 – “People are desperate,” said Pattie Vargas, a California mother who took out a second mortgage to pay for a spot at a facility for her son Joel, who was addicted to meth as a teen and to heroin as an adult. They want to save their loved ones, so they just kind of grab any life raft that’s out there.” Joel relapsed after that stay, cycling in and out of jail. In 2017, he died before his 36th birthday. Vargas now works as a counselor for other grieving parents and has…
THEY’RE CUSTOMERS FIRST AND FOREMOST – Feb. 16, 2024 – Growing numbers of children and adolescents are being prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs to take simultaneously. The phenomenon is increasing despite warnings that psychotropic drug combinations in young people have not been tested for safety or studied for their impact on the developing brain. The study looked at only one state, but state data have been used in the past to explore this issue, in part because of the relative ease of gathering data from Medicaid, the health insurance program administered by states. At the same time, some research using nationally…
WRITING IT ALL DOWN – Feb. 9, 2024 – I was one of life’s strong people. I soldiered on, no matter what. Whatever the world threw at me, I could cope with it. I was the least likely candidate for a breakdown. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few turbulent years, it’s that mental health issues don’t discriminate — and that they have nothing to do with how ‘strong’ you are. it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone, and I hope that sharing my experience might help someone who is suffering similar…
WHAT GOES AROUND… – Feb. 10, 2024 – Barry Bannon, who almost “lost himself and his family due to addiction” is pounding the tarmac for 100 consecutive days in his third year of giving back to the charity that not only changed his life, but that of his family. Recovering alcoholic, Barry Bannon, began this year’s challenge on January 26 and will be completing a 10k run every day from now until May 4, alongside his supportive wife, Rachael, who will be completing 100 5k walks. Thanks to the unwavering support of Newry-based aftercare addiction centre, Davina’s Ark, the father-of-two received…
BETTER THAN DRINKING! – Feb. 9, 2024 – “The gen Z book sphere is incredibly broad,” says Hali Brown, the 28-year-old co-founder of Books on the Bedside, a popular TikTok account dedicated to gen Z reading habits. “There is a lot of appreciation for literary fiction, memoirs, translated fiction and classics in particular,” says Brown. READ@TheGuardian
NO MORE STIGMA – Feb. 23, 2024 – Harold Jones, PhD, SOBRLIFE Clothing stands for shattering the stigma around addiction and the resilience of recovery. Dr. Jones, himself a testament to the transformative power of sobriety, envisioned a brand that not only celebrates the journey of recovery but also breaks down the social taboos surrounding it. “At SOBRLIFE Clothing, we believe that one’s journey to sobriety should be celebrated and embraced,” remarked Dr. Jones. “Our collections are not just about clothing; they’re about making a statement, fostering community, and spreading hope.” The Hope Fiend collection embodies the spirit of…
VIDEO – ZERO TO HERO – Feb. 13, 2024 – In 2016, a former restaurant manager was struggling with his addiction to alcohol. “I know exactly the kind of person I was. I mocked sobriety when I was drinking that much,” said Tony Kost. Seven years sober, Kost said he lives a happy, healthy life. Every Wednesday, Kost helps lead the Ben’s Friends meetings at Porco Lounge & Tiki Room on W. 25th Streeet. “It’s always the best day of our week. I always leave here feeling empowered.” said Kost. According to the American Addiction Centers, 11.8% of food service…
MALPRACTICE? – Feb. 17, 2024 – Pediatricians responded to the survey by saying they don’t have enough patients to justify learning about this type of care, or don’t think it’s a pediatrician’s job. “It’s seen as something that’s a very specialized area of medicine and therefore people are not exposed to it during routine medical training.” Camenga and Hadland say medical schools and pediatric residency programs are adding information to their curricula about substance use disorders, including how to discuss drug and alcohol use with children and teens. But the curricula aren’t changing fast enough to help the number…
VIDEO – NO SHAME NO BLAME – Feb. 15, 2024 – Patrick Christys and Emily Carver have thanked GB News viewers for their support after opening up on Patrick’s battle with alcoholism. The GB News star said the response has been “overwhelming” while Emily Carver urged anyone who needs help to reach out.“GB News viewers and listeners came through in their droves”, he said.“So I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, it really did mean the world to me. So thank you very much. ”Patrick said to Stephen Dixon and Anne Diamond on Saturday: “I was…
GOOD NEWS – Feb. 15, 2024 – With the encouraging decline as a backdrop, Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday announced a $95 million plan over the next three years to increase services for addicts. The drop is a welcome relief for a state that had seen overdose deaths skyrocket over the course of a decade, as more people became addicted to prescription painkillers, mirroring a national trend. Overdose deaths tripled from 1,096 in 2012 to more than 3,000 in recent years, Health Department data showed. About half of the opioid settlement money will go to programs run by state government,…
LIKE SEAT BELTS FOR USERS – Feb. 15, 2024 – “While we are flattening the curve for some, we are not flattening the curve for all,” Baston said. “As we’ve seen the numbers drop off for white New Jerseyans, we’ve actually seen them continue to rise in the Black and brown communities in our state, which is unacceptable. Addiction recovery providers and advocates applauded the news. The funding is just the first batch of more than $1 billion pharmaceutical companies are expected to pay New Jersey over the next two decades to settle national lawsuits over their role in…
BETTER START SOON! – Feb. 115, 2024 – Gupta: When we look at these types of epidemics across the country, where we find successful examples is where there’s a really good balance of both expanding treatment, accessing life-saving drugs, like Narcan, which actually are an opioid antagonist and connecting people to treatment. And one of the things that needs to be done is to ensure that naloxone (the generic name for Narcan) is available in more public spaces — malls and schools and restaurants and other offices. But at the same time, also going after the sort of the…
VIDEO – AIN’T NO CURE FOR THE SUMMERTIME BLUES – Feb. 14, 2024 – “It scares us just as much as it scares you,” ASAC Giordano tells Channel 11 News. “Do not think that this can’t happen here because it’s already here. We have to be out there in front of the mothers who are losing their children, in front of the fathers losing children, in front of the schools, telling these people this isn’t a scare tactic.” Deadly doses of Xylazine, often mixed with fentanyl, and sometimes pressed into a tiny pill, are killing people. And one pill can…
VIDEO – TAKING ADVANTAGE – Feb. 14, 2024 – After KARE 11 reports about questionable billing, the Human Services Inspector General confirmed an investigation of Kyros and Refocus Recovery. WATCH@KARE11
OATMEAL, WHO KNEW? – Feb. 15, 2024 – “Chlormequat is primarily used on grain crops like oats, wheat and barley,” Alexis Temkin, a senior toxicologist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) and lead author on the study, told Newsweek. “[However,] in the U.S. only imported varieties of these crops are allowed to have chlormequat residues.” “EWG also tested nine wheat-based products and only found chlormequat in two products at low levels.” To test for the prevalence of this compound in humans, the team took urine samples from 96 individuals in the U.S. between 2017 and 2023 and tested them…
CONTRADICTORY? – Feb. 15, 2024 – While the number of adults who injected drugs increased during that period, the data now points to a high number of people who are smoking drugs. The latest research is the largest look at how Americans took the drugs that killed them. Reports came out of California found smoking fentanyl was more common than injecting it. Early research has suggested smoking fentanyl is somewhat less deadly than injecting it because it’s not as concentrated as it is in a syringe, the AP noted, but both methods carry a risk of overdose and it’s…
VIDEO – RUFF TIMES – Feb. 15, 2024 – The 36-year-old rapper recently appeared on The Art of Dialogue podcast and opened up about going through withdrawal after heavily using lean, also known as sizzurp — a combination of promethazine and codeine-based cough syrup with soft drinks. “I was on lean. I was sipping so much syrup,” he said on the show. “I was drinking that s— like crazy. If you go back and watch The Road to Platinum series on BET, you’ll see so many white styrofoam cups. I was losing my f—ing mind. That lean s— had me…
HEARING VOICES – Feb. 9, 2024 – One rainy November night, while sitting on the side of the Highway of Tears by herself just outside of Quesnel, Val West heard her mother yelling at her. “My mom, Lillian Squalian, had died of cancer seven years ago by then.” West distinctly heard her mom tell her, “I raised you better than this. It was those six words that inspired the Williams Lake woman to get sober for her three children. She was using drugs because she felt emotions about the loss of her mom and was not ready to go…
NEW YORK TIMES ESSAY – Feb. 14, 2023 – Twenty women with felony records and a history of drug use are standing on the stage in a crowded auditorium in Tulsa, and the audience is rising in a standing ovation. The women are teary as they see the cops who arrested them, applauding wildly. It’s the happiest of graduations, and through the raucous cheering one glimpses a better way of dealing with drug and alcohol abuse. You see, against all odds, this is an uplifting article about America’s curse of addiction. The graduation was from the single best program…
NO ONE IS IMMUNE – Feb. 25, 2024 – Supervisor Catherine Stefani, left, has been critical of the nonprofit HealthRight 360. Hamilton’s death report states he was found dead in his office at 12:15 a.m. on Oct. 4 after ingesting fentanyl and cocaine. His coworkers told investigators that Hamilton had “no complaints” during the day and they last saw him alive at 11 p.m. At that same facility, in March 2023, a client died of an overdose. HealthRight 360 reported last week that it was under investigation by the California Department of Health Care Services after two of its clients…
CORPORATE MISTAKES? – Feb. 9, 2024 – California officials are investigating the recent deaths of two men who fatally overdosed while seeking drug treatment at Walden House, a longtime San Francisco facility for those struggling with addiction. “We’ve had two unfortunate overdose deaths in the program, which as you can probably understand has been pretty traumatic for both the clients and the staff,” said Gary McCoy, a spokesperson for HealthRight 360. “Treatment programs are not immune to the outside world.” The deaths come as San Francisco struggles to get a handle on its worsening opioid epidemic. The city reported…
IMPORTANT – Feb. 5, 2024 – A frothy beer or a glass of wine can enhance a meal and settle the mind. But what does alcohol do to the trillions of microbes living in your gut? As with much of microbiome science, “there is a lot we don’t know,” said Dr. Leggio, a physician-scientist who studies alcohol use and addiction. That said, it’s clear that happy microbes are essential for proper digestion, immune function and intestinal health. And as scientists begin to explore how drinking may influence your gut, they’re learning that overdoing it could have some unhappy consequences. Most…
HUMAN TRIALS SOON – Feb. 10, 2024 – “Parts of the brain that drive eating behaviors overlap extensively with the drive to use alcohol or other substances,” explained Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., and Leandro Vendruscolo, Pharm.D., Ph.D., two of the senior authors of the study. They added that there is also overlap between the brain mechanisms that regulate overeating and those that contribute to the development and maintenance of substance use disorders, including AUD. Dr. Leggio is Chief of the joint NIDA/NIAAA Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section. He also serves as the NIDA Clinical Director and Deputy Scientific Director. Dr.…
THE GROOVE IS IN THE HEART – Feb. 11, 2024 – There are both risks and benefits to being in a relationship while in recovery. If you are at a crossroads, and unsure what avenue to explore, there are practical tips and advice to consider. Initially, you’ll want to assess your personal readiness for dating in sobriety. This involves self-reflection … Looking inward helps you determine your emotional stability and self-awareness to begin a healthy relationship. Moreover, you’ll want to evaluate your motives for dating. This will ensure they align with a genuine connection you are seeking and not simply…