VIDEO – NO ONE IS IMMUNE – Dec. 9, 2022 – The rise and fall of their grand ambitions were captured in the critically acclaimed 2012 documentary based on their plans for the 90,000-square-foot behemoth near Orlando, FL. In 2016, the Siegel’s world changed forever when their then 18-year-daughter, Victoria, died of a drug overdose. This tragedy has trajected them into a new life purpose: to save lives through drug prevention programs. As a result, the Siegels have created a foundation in Victoria’s memory called Victoria’s Voice. Its purpose is to bring drug prevention education into the schools, offer…
Author: Leonard Buschel
BBC TV REVIEW – Dec. 7, 2022 – Using recent technological developments, the faces of those participating are digitally altered, thus maintaining the principle of anonymity. As one woman, known here as Niam, puts it: “It doesn’t matter that it’s not my face.” The story is what counts. Alcoholics Anonymous has reached its 75th anniversary, and Inside Recovery carefully outlines its origins and ideals. It begins with its very first meetings in the US in the 1930s, and there is archive footage. In the UK, the first meeting was held at the Dorchester hotel, and advertised only in the Financial…
AUDIO – ATTENTION! – Dec. 9, 2022 – These images, which circulate around the world, can evoke anger, fear, and frustration. They also shape opinion about what should be done and galvanize support for harsher, tougher crackdowns on drug dealing and drug use. Some believe that sharing these photos on social media is necessary to document this ongoing problem. Others say they only show one side of drug addiction, and leave those photographed without agency in how their stories are used. Click@KQED
VIDEO – THE BEST ARMY TO JOIN – Dec. 8, 2022 – Captain. Robert Coriston has a passion for serving his clients at the Midland Salvation Army. He was once in their shoes before. Click@YouTube
VIDEO – GOOD NEWS – Dec. 8, 2022 – The painful and widespread impacts of the opioid epidemic persist in New Jersey. Efforts to stem the tide have been bolstered by more federal money and better education about the dangerous cocktails of drugs available on the streets. Statistically, new statewide figures out Thursday show fatal drug overdoses are beginning to decline, but in its place is a troubling new trend. Click@YouTube
GOOD TO KNOW – Dec. 7, 2022 – Alcohol consumption rapidly affects the body. After being absorbed through the lining of the stomach into the bloodstream, it spreads into tissues throughout the body and reaches the brain in about five minutes, according to Northwestern Medicine. Euphoric effects generally kick in within the first 10 to 15 minutes and are correlated with transient changes in the brain’s electroencephalographic activity (EEG) activity. Essentially, as blood alcohol content (BAC) rises, marked changes can be seen in the electrical activity of the brain. During the early stages of drinking, the brain releases more of…
AUDIO – OBSERVING THE TRACKS – Dec. 8, 2022 – The website also won’t include information from hospitals, schools, businesses non-profits and academic programs that collect non-fatal overdose information. “This does not include every part of all the overdoses that occur,” Gupta said. “This is the beginning of a system build-out.” He said the data collection system would improve over time. Despite its limitations, some addiction experts praised the new program. “I think it’s a big step and an important first step,” says Erin Artigiani with the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland. “I think…
VIDEO – GETTING DOWN DOWN UNDER – Dec. 10, 2022 – Ironically, Mark was working for an online betting company for some of that period. By the time his compulsive gambling was discovered, he had accrued significant debts and alienated friends and relatives with his secretive behaviour. Now 34, Mark has been able to rebuild his life by going cold turkey on gambling for almost two years. It has not been easy, given the visibility of gambling ads and continuing contact from betting companies trying to lure him back. He credits the unwavering support of Maddy and his friends and…
YOU NEED A MEETING – Dec. 10, 2022 – And speaking of celebrations — oh, the parties and their awkward, alcohol-sodden conversations. Most people don’t give a thought to the glass of seltzer I’ve been holding all night, because fixating on someone else’s drink is generally something non-alcoholics don’t do. But there have been the occasional persistent types who truly wonder if no drinking really means no drinking (it does), or if the holidays mean a holiday from sobriety (they don’t). Rarer yet — but extremely bothersome — are the self-styled contrarians eager to needle me about the usefulness…
DON’T JUDGE THE JOURNEY – Dec. 8, 2022 – With one glug of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill wine, my world changed. I felt euphoric and relaxed, a lovely state my brain encouraged me to reproduce. So, I got drunk frequently, then added weed, then pills, then acid. At 16, I found my drug of choice, methamphetamine. With the initial snort, I experienced true joy for the first time, but this bliss was short-lived. Within a year, when this high wasn’t sufficient, I shot up. I lost so much weight you could count the bones in my back. I picked at…
VIDEO – ESSENTIAL VIEWING – Dec. 8, 2022 – “I really found my niche in terms of finding viral videos that were happening that had information that was totally bogus,” he said. Bogus, or in slang terms, “Cap.” Dr. Brian made a name for himself through busting health myths and lies posted on TikTok, but he quickly fell victim to the addictive nature of views, likes, shares and followers. “I didn’t expect that and I mean, when I say addictive, I mean it was interfering with my relationships with my daughters and also with my wife,” he said. “My…
KEEP THAT TOOLKIT FULLS – Dec. 10, 2022 – As I sit, surrounded by water in the ships comfort approaching Abaco Island, writing trails about my bittersweet holidays, 71-years of memories thick with emotions of tradition, children, husband and family come rushing, begging for my attention. I thought those were the times of my life, and to an extent, they were. But those times were also mired thick with delusional, troubled thoughts, situations and delusional reflections of what should have been and never was. Most of all, what could have been–and never would be. It’s Hell in the Hallway…
AUDIO – FILM REVIEW – Dec. 9, 2022 – After introducing us to a cast of supporting characters who seem like figures out of a Hallmark Channel adaptation of Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio”, the film jumps to the middle of a family intervention. Sounds like a sobering drama, right? However, as directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky (who co-wrote the screenplay, based on Ann Leary’s 2013 bestseller, with Thomas Bezucha), the fraught subject gets puts on the back burner in favour of rustic charm. Click@IOL
VIDEO – DANNY TREJO HONORED Dec.8, 2022 – The glitterati of the clean and sober world in LA came together last night to honor Danny Trejo for his astounding memoir, “My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood” with Donal Logue. (picture above is presenter Courtney Friel, producer Leonard Buschel and the one and only Danny Trejo. At the Skirball Cultural Center. Ed Begley Jr. hosted, eight time Grammy Award winner, Philip Lawrence performed, Joanna Cassidy and Mackenzie Phillips presented and Paula Poundstone headlined! . watch VIDEO HERE
FROM LESS THAN ZERO TO MORE THAN A MILLION – Dec. 7, 2022 – He recalled becoming addicted around the time he made the 1987 film Less Than Zero. “It was just a wild era,” said Downey Jr. “That whole world, it gets tied into creativity. We were all altering our consciousness with substances. I was just kinda playing a game of just wanting to self-soothe or just stay loaded rather than deal with the fact that things had gone off the tracks a little bit.” “Honestly, more than anything, I look back and go, ‘It’s shocking that a…
TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD – Dec. 10, 2022 – When asked by Ferrell if she wonders about her legacy, Curtis got emotional and said she often thinks about how it intertwines with her sobriety. “Being sober is going to be a legacy, for sure. Because you’re stopping what has been a generational issue in my biological family. It will be the single greatest thing I do, if I can stay sober. I mean, without question,” she said. “Because generations of people have had their lives ruled and ruined by alcoholism and drug addiction. For me, sobriety first. Always.” The…
THE ULTIMATE HAT TRICK – Dec. 10, 2022 – In Philadelphia Flyers orange and black, defenseman Chris Therien cut an imposing figure on the ice, a stalwart physical presence for over a decade in the NHL. But by the end of his playing career, he was concealing a much greater battle with alcoholism, which bled into his professional and family life. The book Chris Therien: Road to Redemption, written by Therien with longtime Flyers beat reporter Wayne Fish, chronicles this struggle. In it, the player and former TV/radio hockey analyst opens up completely and candidly, reflecting on his life…
SHALLOW BREATH – Dec. 8, 2022 – The FDA declined to comment. Lawyers for the companies – which include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, ITG Brands LLC and Liggett Group LLC – did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The disputed rule, which the FDA finalized in March 2020, would require the use of 11 graphic images, such as images of diseased feet with amputated toes that show possible consequences of cigarette smoking. The warnings must occupy the top 50% of the front and back of cigarette packages and the top 20% of ads. The tobacco companies sued in April…
GO SEE A GOOD MOVIE – Dec. 2, 2022 – “It’s not a biodoc in any standard sense, thank God — Poitras, whose own career has revolved around the War on Terror, is much too ambitious a filmmaker to box herself into such an inherently stuffy format. ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ is instead an incandescent work that examines Goldin’s personal life, her evolution as an artist, and her later turn toward harm-reduction advocacy, and understands them to be part of the same journey. At the film’s center is always Goldin’s determination to pull back the curtain of…
VIDEO – ACTIVISM SAVES LIVES – Dec. 7, 2022 – As the opioid epidemic rages on across the U.S., impacting Canada as well, Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras is telling the story of renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin’s journey to hold the Sackler family (owners of Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin) accountable for profiting off this crisis with the film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. It’s a deeply personal and affecting documentary that shows how Goldin has used her influence in the art world to expose the Sackler family and shame museums taking money from the Purdue Pharma owners,…
VIDEO – CRUDE RUDE AND SUED – Dec 7, 2022 – An Albany woman battling a drug addiction said her fight for sobriety was nearly derailed by an angry and abusive psychiatrist. Now Dawn McGrath is suing the doctor and St. Peter’s, where she said the abuse took place. Click@YouTube
VIDEO – CORPORATE CON JOB – Dec. 7, 2022 – In her new book, “Corporate Rehab: Ditch the Hustle Culture and Thrive Again,” Jennie Blumenthal shares how to live a more balanced life. Click@YouTube
FOR BOOK WORMS ONLY – Dec. 8, 2022 – Abraham Verghese – For many of us in health care, 2022 felt like a gift compared to the two preceding years. Still, I was restless, anxious about Covid-19’s next chapter. “The Family Jewels,” by the Irish stand-up comedian/writer Caimh McDonnell. was just the medicine. It’s the most recent volume in his Dublin Trilogy … which has seven books. (I know.) For which I am grateful, because I couldn’t get enough of Detective Bunny McGarry and gang —their adventures are poignant, suspenseful and gut-bustingly funny. Hearing the audio version read by an…
“You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected.” – Amanda Palmer
HIGH-lights – Once I was back home, selling the hash was no problem, until I was dealing my last quarter ounce to some guys in a friend’s basement in the Kensington and Allegheny neighborhood of Philadelphia. Instead of reaching into their pockets and pulling out money, they each reached into their belts and pulled out a handgun. One of them put a revolver to my head. The other pressed a .45 automatic to my heart. I remember looking at the revolver pressed at my temple, seeing bullets in all the chambers, and deciding not to give them an argument, or…
STILL ANONYMOUS? – Nov. 28, 2022 – In an otherwise excellent article about pending House GOP probes into the administration, the entire description of Hunter Biden consisted of his “long history of drug use and other difficulties” This single clause left the erroneous impression that Mr. Biden still uses drugs and alcohol. In fact, he has reported that he is sober and in recovery. This is no easy feat. I don’t have an opinion on Mr. Biden other than to say that people who have struggled with substance abuse disorders are not defined by their disease, and their successes should…
VIDEO – ONLY A CONCERN – Nov. 2, 2022 – Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General, says the mental health crisis is the biggest concern facing the country because it impacts so many people and different facets of life. He’s on “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations.” This was recorded Oct. 26. Click@Bloomberg
LIVE VIDEO – CAN YOU HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD NOW? – Nov. 2022 – We tend to believe that normality equals health. Yet what is the norm in the Western world? Joining us live on stage in London, the renowned physician, addiction expert and author Gabor Maté dissects the underlying causes of this malaise – physical and emotional, and connects the dots between our personal suffering and the pressures of modern-day living. Over four decades of clinical experience, Dr Gabor Maté has found that the common definition of ‘normal’ is false: virtually all disease is actually a natural reflection of…
YOU CAN’T INHALE A PLACEBO – Nov. 29, 2022 – This corroborates the results of a 2021 meta-analysis. In fact, this 2021 meta-analysis also found that higher-quality studies with better blinding procedures (where both participants and researchers are unaware of who is receiving the active substance) actually had higher placebo responses. This suggests that some placebo-controlled cannabis trials fail to ensure correct blinding, which may have led to an overestimation of the effectiveness of medical cannabis. Our study also revealed many participants can distinguish between a placebo and active cannabis, despite having the same odor, taste and appearance. If…
CHEWABLES? – Nov. 28, 2022 – Yet a class of drug known as GLP-1 analogues sold by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly appears to be almost as good. The U.S. group’s Mounjaro, for example, reduced patients’ weight by more than 20% in a recent trial. The drugs target receptors in the brain that reduce appetite and help people feel fuller for longer. Analysts reckon Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy drug will bring in nearly $9 billion in revenue by 2030 while Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro could generate $21 billion in sales by 2030, according to Visible Alpha. By then, the obesity market could…