MORE REAL EVERY MONTH – Feb. 9, 2023 – On Tuesday (February 7), Kyle answered fan questions about her diet and health changes on her Instagram story. One curious follower wanted to know if she really stopped drinking and if she missed it. “Truth is I don’t miss it at all,” she replied, according to People. She added that she isn’t sure if she’ll ever drink again and has no time table in place. “I feel amazing so don’t see the point right now,” Kyle explained. The revelation comes amid speculation about Kyle‘s body transformation. She recently responded to speculation…
Author: Leonard Buschel
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE – Feb. 9, 2023 – Anyone who has ever struggled with addiction has likely been through a painful relationship. Yet, there are practical ways to stay sober and enjoy the day if you place any significance on its meaning. Initially, counter the culture and make the day your own. If you place significance on the day, create your own traditions with parents, friends or family members. Use the day as an opportunity to celebrate other forms of love. Do something for yourself, such as taking yourself out for dinner and a movie or…
WRITE A POEM – Feb. 10, 2023 – Deciding to drink less alcohol often comes with unexpected challenges. Major holidays are one of them. You might have found that celebrations you once enjoyed have become white-knuckle rides you must endure. Valentine’s Day is no exception. With glamorous commercials telling us that having a fancy dinner and fine wine is the only way to create a memorable night, it’s no wonder you’re apprehensive about surviving your first dry Valentine’s Day. However, a dry Valentine’s date is possible; it just takes some planning. But to be fair, what kind of memorable romantic…
AUDIO – SO IS BLOOD PRESSURE – Feb. 4, 2023 – It’s easy to forget that older people can suffer from what doctors call “substance abuse disorder” just like everyone else. They’re hardly immune. “We normally think the age of highest risk for substance abuse is the 20s and 30s,” said Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., director of the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions at University at Buffalo. “And overall, the problem tends to decline with age. But over the last 15 years, we’ve seen an increase in addiction in older people.” Leonard, 68, speculates that some people of his generation…
TRADING PLACES WITH DRUNKS – Feb. 3, 2023 – She also credited her sister and a colleague with offering those hands of help: “The community of people in recovery have been amazing,” Curtis concluded. The actress has been very vocal about her sobriety. In 2018, the Halloween series star revealed to People that her addiction to pain pills began in the late ’80s and lasted 10 years. “I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic,” she said at the time. “I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one.” She says she was initially prescribed…
ANOTHER BIG PHARMA VICTORY – Feb. 8, 2023 – That requirement had been in place for two decades, and its reversal had been a priority for some activists because the policy discouraged doctors from prescribing the drug. To get the waiver — known as an “x-waiver” — providers had to do either an 8- or 24-hour training, depending on their levels of experience. Once they’d obtained the waiver, they were subject to random Drug Enforcement Administration audits and the number of patients they could prescribe buprenorphine for was capped. One study found that just 10% of primary care providers in…
AUDIO – GOD BLESS YOU – Feb. 4, 2023 – I accumulated my most embarrassing professional moments during this first career chapter—saying the wrong things at the wrong times, behaving unsuitably by playing spades and hanging out with the women, rather than acting like a professional who was responsible for maintaining strong boundaries. All those experiences shaped and nurtured me. I quickly realized these women were teaching me and helping me grow as much as I was with them. If I’m being honest, I felt more like a student than a teacher during those formative years. Click@Newsweek
VIDEO – CREATIVITY FOR ALL – Feb. 6, 2023 – Jenna Lawson is sharing her journey to sobriety through ‘The Sober 20-Something’ podcast. Click@YouTube
GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD – Feb. 3, 2023 – He was at the center of a Supreme Court ruling in January 2022 that raised the bar for what prosecutors must prove to secure convictions of doctors accused of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis by turning their medical practices into “pill mills.” Kahn’s lawyer, Beau Brindley, said in a statement Friday’s decision “should pave the way to finally ending the practice of unfairly scapegoating doctors for an opiate crisis for which they were never responsible.” Kahn, 56, has been serving a 25-year prison sentence after a jury in Wyoming…
GETTING HIGH, AND LOW – Feb. 4, 2023 – Don works in a company that processes central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions. He did not want to use his real name and wishes to remain anonymous because he fears his comments could spark a backlash from investors. He says he went on a “downward spiral” in the middle of 2022 – and that’s when he decided to seek help. The solution came in the form of a four-week stay at The Balance, a sprawling rehabilitation centre with dozens of staff on the Spanish island of Majorca. Don lived in a…
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES – Feb. 6, 2023 – The aim is to “destigmatize addiction and to support recovery” through measures including “supporting new ways for sober fans to enjoy shows, ensuring touring musicians and crews have access to resources on the road, and engaging in conversations about sobriety that are free from shame and stigma and full of possibilities”. The initiative already has backing from RIAA’s Mitch Glazier, A2IM’s Richard Burgess, Downtown Music Holdings’ Molly Neuman, Merlin’s Jeremy Sirota and Oak View’s Francesca Brodie among other industry executives and artists. Click@Musically
“Persons who have no desire to live have a very slight chance of recovery. We can continue to extend to them our love, sympathy, and prayers; but ultimately we must respect a person’s decision to die.” – Michio Kushi, 1926–2014
ON EVERY CORNER? – Jan. 29, 2023 – There is, on average, a death a week from opioids in Vine Grove and surrounding Hardin county – not atypical for a region hard hit by the worst drug epidemic in US history. Mattingly thought it would be a good idea if everyone who knew someone addicted to the drugs had naloxone on hand. But how to get what was technically a prescription drug into the hands of the general public? Watching the news one evening, the police chief was struck by a report about a hospital in Indiana installing a vending…
VIDEO – ACT NATURALLY – Jan. 22, 2023 – At the same time, he spent more time with friends such as the hard-partying Harry Nilsson, The Who drummer Keith Moon, and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. In the mid-1970s, Ringo lived with Nilsson and John Lennon in his former bandmate’s rented house for a time, where he continued his hard-partying lifestyle. When he found sobriety in 1988, Ringo admitted people were right to call his post-Beatles life sad. The good news of getting sober, aside from overcoming addiction and living a healthier life, was that the drummer started making music…
COMPLIMENTS MATTER – Jan. 25, 2023 – Royce Da 5’9″ has been sober for over a decade after going cold turkey one morning in 2012 and deciding to fully ditch alcohol and drugs. “I just woke up one day and I had an overwhelming feeling. It was time to stop,” Royce told SiriusXM in 2020. “I was drinking tequila — Patron — every single day … I just woke up that day and I’m kinda a universe hippy in a way. I kinda like to follow the signs.” He admitted a conversation with close friend Eminem — who has been…
IT’S NOT WORKING EITHER – Jan. 28, 2023 – The Taliban tried banning poppy cultivation in 2001, but it was found that Mullah Omar had purchased a huge quantity of opium from the market at a low price just before the ban, and after the decree was issued, the prices shot up. This allowed the Taliban leadership to make a handsome sum of money, which sets a bad precedent in analysing the Taliban’s current claim about acting against illicit opiates. Sara Hakimi, a former Afghanistan Foreign Ministry official specialising in counternarcotics, told the authors that “the Taliban’s statement on eradicating…
ALLAH POWER – Jan. 27, 2023 – I’ve been running around dealing with these issues with families within our community for nearly nine years,” he told the ABC.” [I’m] getting phone calls from parents who are concerned about their kids and reaching out for help, or husbands and wives. While there is no data on illicit drug use in the Muslim community, Mr Hamza says the issue is “bigger than we think”. The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey estimated that 9 million or 43 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over had illicitly used a drug. The survey…
NOTHING VALUABLE – Jan. 30, 2023 – That summer was hard. I spent a lot of time questioning my decision. Every declined drink felt like an opportunity missed, but later I was always glad I had skipped it. We spend summer weekends on a small barrier island with no cars. People stumble from bar to house party to bar, as if in a drunken parade. Late Saturday nights, the atmosphere can be chaotic, people staggering around, arguing, getting lost. Once, my friends walked home behind a man who was peeing while he zig-zagged his way up the sidewalk. We often…
AN ANOMALY? – Jan. 26, 2023 – The prosecutor on Kaitlyn’s case, the Jefferson county attorney Andrew Paul, argued for a different route, telling the judge he thought Kaitlyn needed clinical addiction treatment. He asked Hope Center’s then admissions coordinator, Ashley Drake, what kind of doctors the organization had on staff at the house where Kaitlyn would be going. None, Drake replied. But she said the program would transport residents off-site for any necessary mental health care needs, medication or diagnoses. “But you would agree with me that medical staff would be appropriate for somebody who is chemically addicted to…
VIDEO – WHEN DOES IT END? EVER? – Jan. 30, 2023 – When you lose a child, finding ways to ensure they are remembered and that the same tragedy doesn’t befall other parents becomes a priority. I lost my son, Tyler, to an accidental overdose in 2020. Since then, I’ve met parents grieving the loss of their children who battled substance use. It’s a struggle no parent should endure, and it’s made even more difficult by those in power who, in our children’s name, push policies rooted in punishment over solutions rooted in compassion and public health. The Drug Enforcement…
VIDEO – ONE BAD APPLE? – Jan. 30, 2023 – RC did not respond to specific concerns raised by McKegney. But in an emailed statement, Mandy Baker, president and chief clinical officer of BRC Healthcare, said that many of the complaints patients and former employees shared with KHN are “no longer accurate” or were related to COVID safety measures. But addiction researchers and private equity watchdogs said models like the one used by BRC — charging high patient fees without guaranteeing access to evidence-based care — are common throughout the country’s addiction treatment industry. The model and growing demand are…
AUDIO – WORTH A LISTEN? – Jan. 31, 2023 – David Kerwin is a life coach who specializes in addiction recovery and behavioral health. He spoke to Community Voices about the path to addiction recovery, the lasting effects of childhood trauma, and how families can help their loved ones struggling with addiction. Click@NPR
AN AMENDS IN THE WORKS – Jan. 29, 2023 – Smith apologised ‘profusely’ on December 13 and blamed the incident on long-standing problems with alcohol and bipolar disorder. He made the apology as he revealed he had checked himself into a mental health facility. ‘I have a recurring problem with alcohol … it sends me manic,’ he said. ‘I am in a facility receiving professional help to deal conclusively with my abuse of alcohol and solve this once and for all, without qualification … it can and will be done.’ His wife Susie Burrell moved out of the couple’s home…
SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO ESPRESSO – Feb. 2023 – The authors of the case report noted that the man did not show signs of a substance use disorder when he was taking prescribed opioids, but his use of poppy seed tea was what became problematic. The patient was prescribed buprenorphine-naloxone, a combination meant to block his opioid receptors and help him end his dependence on the tea. He experienced some withdrawal symptoms, including an upset stomach, and cravings for the tea during his first few weeks of buprenorphine treatment. After two months however, the patient reported that he had better…
AMAZING VIDEO – NO PRIVATE ROOMS – Kabul, Feb. 2, 2023 – The anti-narcotics deputy ministry, a department of the internal affairs ministry, says that currently there are around 3.5 million drug addicts in Afghanistan. In an attempt to respond to the situation, the fundamentalists have forcibly institutionalized over 6,000 Afghans as part of a long-term campaign. “So far we have collected and admitted around 6,350 addicts in 32 provinces of the country in 18 rounds campaigns for treatment,” Nasir Menqad, a spokesperson of the anti-narcotics department, told EFE.The campaign, whose effectiveness raises doubts in a country that produces the…
BUSINESS AS USUAL – Feb. 2, 2023 – It’s despicable, but it’s not enough to shake our fists. We must organize and fight back — and keep fighting because the industry doesn’t let up, as Californians have seen first-hand. Its whole business model is centered on selling addiction. In 2020, the California legislature passed a law prohibiting the tobacco industry from selling flavored products, which are used to lure children. The industry waged a campaign and lobbied ferociously against the bill — and failed. It then sponsored a ballot question to overturn the law and lost again, by a nearly…
USING TECH TO STAY SOBER – Feb. 1, 2023 – Outside of research settings, wearables are not widely used in treatment in large part because there are no clear, scientific connections between the most common data wearables track — heart rate and movement — and addiction itself and addiction treatment interventions. “I think that the value in a wearable is if you are changing your behavior as a result of the information you’re getting,” Hobelmann said. “The information has to be provided in a way that people can understand it, and then understanding how their behavior can improve that.” Ashley…
MARCHING FOR RELIEF – Feb. 2, 2023 – More than 200 people gathered outside the Capitol for a rally to raise awareness about Oregon’s addiction crisis, which has affected thousands and included young and old and residents of urban and rural areas. The event, organized by the Portland-based advocacy group Oregon Recovers, was held amid grim data: The state has the highest rate of illicit drug use nationwide and ranks last in access to treatment, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. “These stats have not changed in five years,” Mike Marshall, director of Oregon Recovers,…
COMING UP FOR AIR – Feb. 23, 2023 – “Every single time, because it was so awful, I would just promise myself with every single cell in my body that I would not use drugs again after that competition. And every single time I just couldn’t keep that promise to myself, because being inside my own head was so unbearable. “There’s something quite soul destroying about making a promise to yourself with absolute conviction and not being able to keep it,” he explains. “There’s something quite soul destroying about making a promise to yourself with absolute conviction and not being…
PUBLIC FRIEND – Jan. 30, 2023 – Flavor Flav is opening up about how his drug addiction controlled his life. After celebrating two years of sobriety in October, the Public Enemyfounding member, 63, said he “never really let people know exactly” what was going on with him at the height of his addiction as he appeared last week on the Off the Record with DJ Akademiks podcast. “There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day… for six years straight, you do the math,” he said. “That’s how much I spent on drugs.” During the worst…