VIDEO – IT’S COMPLICATED – July 31, 2023 – According to staff emails obtained by 16 News Now, Landmark executives say the furlough comes after the company’s Medicaid insurance contracts were canceled. All patients at the Mishawaka, Carmel, and Bluffton facilities are expected to be transitioned out or discharged by this Thursday. Just last week, Indiana’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction revoked licenses for the Landmark facilities in Mishawaka, Bluffton, and Carmel. The Mishawaka location has been under fire since three deaths were reported there earlier this month. As those death investigations have unfolded, numerous allegations of misconduct…
Author: Leonard Buschel
ALL SAD ENDINGS – Aug. 3, 2023 – A number of mental health experts told TheWrap that although suicides among the general population rose during the pandemic, people who work in entertainment can be particularly vulnerable. “Entertainment is already an occupational group that’s at increased risk,” said Colleen Carr, director of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, citing a study conducted by the CDC in 2016 that demonstrated people who work in entertainment, sports and media had suicide rates significantly higher than those of the general population. “Suicides among famous people are up because suicides among everyone in…
PROGRESS FOR LIVING – Aug. 1, 2023 – Though UCC is known for being one of the more socially progressive churches, the proposal met resistance from those espousing the common misconception that harm reduction encourages drug use. But people with lived experience of drug use had been pushing for what Reverend Erica Poellot, UCC minister of Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention Ministries, described to Filter as a “more loving and just church.” Ultimately, the resolution found support in its emphasis on healing and justice for the people most impacted by the drug war, namely in communities of color. It…
SO IS MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS – July 31, 2023 – Darren Weiss, president of Verano, a cannabis company operating in 13 states, agreed that public health and industry officials should not dismiss the potential for cannabis to be abused, but maintained that concerns are often overwrought. “Addiction is a fact of life,” Weiss said. “There are folks who are addicted to caffeine, to sex, to all sorts of different things.” The rise in marijuana use among teens has been highly publicized, along with concerns about the effects of more potent products on the developing adolescent brain. In May, the National Institute…
VIDEO – ONE LUNG AIN’T ENOUGH – August 1, 2023 – Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said the labels are meant to discourage teens from picking up the habit as well as to aid those looking to help family members kick the addiction, as reported by CTV News. “For youth who experiment by ‘borrowing’ a cigarette from a friend, it’s going to mean they will see the cigarettes — even if they may not see the package — where the warnings appear,” Cunningham told CTV News. “It’s going to prompt discussion, including by smokers…
“If you see someone without a smile today, give ‘em yours.” – Dolly Parton
VIDEO – Till Creme de Meth Do We Part – July 19, 2023 – More details are coming out about the split between Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello. WATCH@Fox2Detroit
TASTING FREEDOM – July 25, 2023 – “Don’t know if sobriety is forever or not but I can’t imagine going back to how things were,” Lennox noted, as she recalled “bad” instances of “passing out in the airport or having my emotions more heightened than needed.” Now that she has abstained from alcohol, Lennox wrote that she feels “more in control of my emotions. More stable. More happy. More alert. More safe. More accepting of things I can’t control and more responsible with things I can.” “I have less anxiety socially and when I’m ready to go, I go.…
VIDEO – MOVIE STAR SHINES – July 26, 2023 – “I remember going home and having kind of a white light experience that I saw myself either dead or in jail or losing everything I had, and I didn’t want that,” he recalls. “I was in a band,” he adds, “and we got a record gig … They broke up the night they got it, and they broke up because of me, because I was not reliable.” What saved the Houston, Texas native was returning to his Christian roots. Addiction forces people “to fill a hole inside us,” Quaid…
NOT SERVING ANY DUI’s – July 27, 2023 – If anyone had asked if I thought something was missing from my drinks, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed it was the alcohol. This was, of course, a detail created by design. At Eight Row – named for the largest cherry size on a standard measuring guide for the fruit – intentionality is written on the menu and displayed everywhere you look. At the bar, beer taps are made from repurposed pruning shears, and an expansive collection of non-alcoholic wine and spirits is displayed alongside mainstream alcohol brands. The vegetable-forward menu reads…
ALL SOBER NOW – July 26, 2023 – He continued, “To not be able to be present or in the moment to remember one of the greatest memories or moments in your life, is something that, I’ve forgiven myself, but it’s really hard.” The family of four, which also includes son Wyatt, 2, and wife Ashley, has since moved out of Orange County. The couple, who tied the knot in 2013, welcomed their first child, on Aug. 21, 2017, with the new mom writing on Instagram at the time that she was feeling “a love like no other.” They…
VIDEO – NOT HIS FAULT? – July 26, 2023 – The couple spoke on the addiction in their 2021 audio memoir Stronger Together about how his negative relationship with porn almost ruined their marriage, which was also addressed in Crews’ 2014 memoir Manhood. “He’s the hero of our story, in my opinion,” Rebecca told People. “He made the choice to take this battle on and really become a better person.” Check out the Armchair Expert episode below. Terry Crews caught a lot of flack back in 2020 for his comments about Gabrielle Union being fired from America’s Got Talent. The…
AND PLAYING HOCKEY – July 20, 2023 – Smid commended Galchenyuk for his bravery while letting his followers know he recently found himself in a similar situation. “Just wanted to comment on Alex Galchenyuk,” Smid wrote. “I know what happened looks bad and I’m sure he doesn’t feel good about it. But thank god nobody died and nobody got really hurt. He apologized and asked for help, that’s all he can do for now. He acknowledged and accepted he has a problem. Unfortunately something bad has to happen for us to realize that we are just human beings and need…
MOST OF THEM – July 20, 2023 – According to Sedena, the use of synthetic drugs has increased compared to traditional drugs (Photo: AP / Jae C. Hong) In area drugs spreading There are two main classes of drugs: traditional And synthetic. According to the Mexican authorities’ warning, one of these groups has a greater potential for addiction, in addition to severe physical and psychological consequences for its users. Traditional drugs are mostly opium And drug, whose cultivation intensified in the 1960s in the north of the country, for example, in Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango. Since 1980, the rise…
SAVE THE CHILDREN – July 13, 2023 – Thursday’s report is the first since then released by the center focusing on this topic. From 2019 to 2021, rates of intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder did not increase by a statistically significant amount. The report found 1.65% of children had an intellectual disability and 3.05% had autism. The only category that increased significantly was parents reporting having been told their child had an “other developmental delay” — a grouping that can include a range of other issues, like cerebral palsy or struggles forming words. That group increased from 5.08%…
AND A WHOLE LOT WORSE – July 20, 2023 – Geisler was arrested by city police June 8, 2022, after her 3-month-old son was taken to a hospital for breathing problems. Tests showed the baby had somehow ingested cocaine. Lanzo said his client is a deserving candidate for probation. He said she has no prior felony criminal record, and since her arrest, she has been drug-free. She has taken parenting classes and drug treatment and is now allowed unsupervised visits with her son. “This is how far she has come, your honor,” Lanzo said. Lanzo admitted his client was…
VIDEO – SMOKING KILLS THE MOST – July 19, 2023 – A landmark decision issued late last year will these health warning requirements at thousands of stores that sell tobacco products. WATCH@NBCBoston
NOT GOD – July 26, 2023 – Importantly, the drug was able to reduce oxycodone intake and relapse without disrupting other reward responses in the brain, which could result in negative side effects. The team published their findings on July 20, 2023, in the journal Neuropharmacology. OUD is estimated to impact more than two million people in the U.S. alone, and more than 70,000 people die of opioid overdoses each year. Semi-synthetic opioids, such as oxycodone, are responsible for almost 20 percent of these deaths. Current OUD treatments, such as methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone are effective in the short-term, but…
NOT GOOD – July 21, 2023 – “We observed associations between cumulative marijuana use and multiple epigenetic markers across time,” says Lifang Hou, a preventative medical doctor and epidemiologist from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Cannabis is a commonly used substance in the United States, with 49 percent of people trying it at least once, Hou and a team of US researchers report in their published paper. Some US states and other countries have made it legal, but we still don’t fully understand its effects on our health. The researchers studied around 1,000 adults who had participated in a…
OH CANADA! – July 25, 2023 – Morgan, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Coun. Susan Stevenson are asking for other councillors’ support to advocate for a provincial addiction rehabilitation centre in London. “It would mean a great deal for those in our community who need affordable addiction treatment. We know across the province there is a lack of affordable options. There are many options available for those who have the wealth to be able to move into that space but for those who need more support, it’s just not there,” Morgan said. Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the pledge…
NEW JERSEY TRAGEDY – July 27, 2023 – Somewhere along the line at Boston College, Odom’s not sure exactly when, her son started to spiral, first with signs of mental illness — schizoaffective disorder, she says — and then drug use. He became combative and argumentative and was eventually asked not to come back. At home in Jersey City his mental health and drug use only got worse, and he found himself in and out of jail. Until May 24, 2022, when the 26-year-old didn’t come out of the Essex County jail. “‘We are calling to let you know…
VIDEO – SHARING THE GOLD – July 23, 2023 – Tom Felton turned to alcohol during the years after the Harry Potter franchise ended and shared that his team held a “painful and humiliating” intervention and suggested he go to rehab. Then, while he was there, he “escaped” less than 24 hours after checking in. “My lawyer, whom I’d barely ever met face to face, spoke with quiet honesty,” he said. “‘Tom,’ he said, ‘I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a nice guy. All I want to tell you is that this is the seventeenth intervention…
REAL WINNERS OF 90210 – July 19, 2023 – “Sitting outside reading all your DM’s regarding my last post,” Richards noted. “It seems many of you have similar stories and want to go that route but are unsure how to. We are so programmed to think that we have to drink when we go out to socialize. Many of us are just on autopilot. And so many of us are accustomed to not being fully present these days anyway.” She shared encouraging words with fans and followers who might want to travel the same path but haven’t taken the first…
INNOCENT FOR INDICA – July 24, 2023 – The legalization of marijuana in Minnesota marked the end of an era for the canine officers of the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office. Jango, a 9-year-old German shepherd, and Cobra, a 10-year-old Belgian Malinois, are set to retire soon after the legislation goes into effect Aug. 1, Capt. Ryan Mangan said. They are the department’s last K-9s trained to detect cannabis, a skill the department stopped teaching new dogs years ago and likely never will again. Mangan said Jango and Cobra, who were already reaching the end of their careers, will be relegated…
VIDEO – PROFITEERS OUT WEST, AGAIN – July 26, 2023 – Residential homes, short-term rentals, and motels are fair game for unlicensed providers to house victims as long as Medicaid money is coming in, despite offering the bare minimum amount of health services. Or, none at all. Here’s what we discovered as tribal police led us to a Tempe hotel property. “What you would normally see of a standard hotel that has vehicles parked there, there’s nothing all the way around,” said Harland Cleveland, special operations coordinator with Navajo Nation Police Department. It doesn’t take long to realize things…
PRESS RELEASE FROM LANDMARK – July 27, 2023 – And earlier this week, a lawsuit was filed by former patients of the Mishawaka facility. The licenses have also been revoked at the company’s Carmel and Fort Wayne locations. Praxis Landmark Recovery has released the following statement. Landmark Recovery is disappointed to announce that the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Mental Health and Addiction has revoked our license at three of our facilities. We respectfully disagree with this decision and believe it is based on misinformation. We are working with our legal counsel to explore the next steps…
STOCKHOLDERS SAY SHUSH – July 18, 2023 – How many clinical-trial studies in medical journals are fake or fatally flawed? In October 2020, John Carlisle reported a startling estimate1. Carlisle, an anaesthetist who works for England’s National Health Service, is renowned for his ability to spot dodgy data in medical trials. He is also an editor at the journal Anaesthesia, and in 2017, he decided to scour all the manuscripts he handled that reported a randomized controlled trial (RCT) — the gold standard of medical research. Over three years, he scrutinized more than 500 studies1. For more than 150 trials,…
PRESCRIPTIONS RUN OUT – July 21, 2023 – As so often happens, Zac’s surgery to remove the tumor introduced him to strong painkillers (opiates), prescribed by his medical team. Tayshia Adams’ ex-fianacé said the drugs not only took away his surgical pain, but he experienced “a high that I had never felt before.” “Despite the fact that I loved to party in college and after college,” the addiction recovery counselor admitted, “this was new and it was exciting and I felt great.” Even though he’d just had a growth “chopped out of [his] dome,” everything was great. But then…
WTF? – July 21, 2023 – The research, published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, underscores two major challenges: allowing U.S. health care providers to provide addiction medications, and then convincing them to actually use the medications to treat patients. “The number of people getting the modified waiver was going up, but the number of people getting buprenorphine prescriptions really wasn’t changing,” said Chris Jones, the study’s lead author and a longtime federal addiction policy official currently serving as director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s injury prevention division. “This survey allowed us to dig into: All right,…
VIDEO – START REJOICING EVERYDAY – May 2023 – Dr. Gabor Maté is a renowned speaker and bestselling author and is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics, including addiction, stress, and childhood development. Dr. Maté has written several bestselling books, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection, and Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It and has co authored Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. For…