NO NARCAN THERE? – June 19, 2022 – Even if Alabama’s prisons and jails are especially overrun by drugs, death, and violence, their problems are not unique in the U.S. Within three weeks this spring, incarcerated people died of overdoses in Illinois, Oklahoma, New York, and the District of Columbia. The alcohol and drug overdose death rate increased fivefold in prisons from 2009 through 2019, according to a recent study from the Pew Charitable Trusts — a surge that outpaced the national drug overdose rate, which tripled in the same period. As the opioid crisis ravages America, overdose deaths are…
Author: Leonard Buschel
GOOD QUESTION – June 28, 2022 – Dear Working It, You have no legal or moral obligation to tell your boss why you need medical leave. (One hopes that this continues to be the case.) And rest assured, going to rehab is medical leave. Treatment for alcohol- and drug-abuse disorders is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act; it requires employers to allow for up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to, in part, seek care “for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.” What’s…
COKE CAN KILL – July 1, 2022 – Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Maryland, said Mr. Ferguson’s death had been ruled accidental. The Baltimore police previously said that detectives were investigating and had not ruled out the possibility of an overdose. Detective Vernon Davis, a police spokesman, said on Friday that the investigation was continuing, and he declined to answer further questions about the case. The authorities were called to a North Baltimore home on June 21 just before 11:30 p.m. to investigate a “questionable death.” When they arrived, Mr. Ferguson, 26,…
THE BIG GET-OFF – June 20, 2022 – “If you are reading this message, you’ll know that I’m gone. I’ve asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing.” His former lawyer, Fritz Clapp, confirmed the death and said the cause was liver cancer. For decades, the stocky, muscular Mr. Barger stood not only as the founder of the original Oakland, Calif., Angels chapter in 1957, but for decades after that also as the public face of a nationwide counterculture tribe of bearded, denim-clad road warriors memorialized in literature and film — roaring down the open highway and through…
NOT WITH HEROIN IT DOESN’T – June 28, 2922 – Proponents say that by choosing some drugs over others, they’ve been able to relax and expand their mind without suffering the pitfalls of addiction and other problems associated with substance abuse. Popstar Demi Lovato was perhaps the most high-profile advocate — they even wrote a song about it — but later said that “sober sober” was the only lifestyle that worked for their long-term recovery. So in weed-friendly California, is this kind of selective sobriety a path forward for folks who want to change some, but not all, of their…
THAT’S DEPRESSING – June 27, 2022 – Their rationale for conducting the study was their belief that “Despite plenty of effective antidepressant (AD) treatments, the outcome of major depressive disorder (MDD) is often unsatisfactory, probably due to improvable exploitation of available therapies.” As the researchers put it, the problem is not that antidepressants are ineffective but rather that these treatments are simply not used enough. They argued that the “available therapies” need to be “exploited” more. Their study tested this proposition. In a real-life setting, people with MDD were given these treatments as needed, including multiple medications, hospitalization, and…
VIDEO – FIRST AMERICANS DYING – June 22, 2022 – Ollinger was right. Her 33-year-old son, Justin Lee Littledog, died March 7 of a fentanyl overdose. She says his autopsy’s toxicology report showed there was 15.5 mg of the drug in his system. The estimated lethal dose of fentanyl in humans is 2 mg. “I feel that I have lost a huge, big part of me, and I fight for that daily when I wake up in the morning and I go to bed at night. I lost my child. He made me a mother,” Ollinger said. She’s now on…
L’CHAIM – June 29, 2022 – Deaths associated with alcoholic cirrhosis have tripled in the last 20 years, according to a recent study. Using data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the researchers compared trends in mortality related to cirrhosis in the United States from 1999 to 2019 in 10-year age groups. Included were individuals aged 25 years to 85 years or older. Mortality rate and mortality rate ratios (MRRs) were calculated per 100,000 people. In 180,408,769 patients included from 1999, the researchers found 6007 deaths from alcoholic cirrhosis, with a mortality rate of 3.3 per 100,000 persons.…
VIDEO – ARTISTIC LICENSE – June 28, 2022 – He went on to talk about how he called his fiancé Megan Fox during one particular episode where he tried to take his own life. He continued: “I called Megan, I was like, ‘You aren’t here for me’. I’m in my room and I’m, like, freaking out on her… Megan’s, like, dead silent. That was kind of where I started realising, like, something’s not right.” After seeking help, MGK said he understood that he needed “to kick the drugs”. He said he initially replaced drugs with work, and that developed…
GO TO ALANON – June 28, 2022 – Fox originally posted four images, writing alongside them, “Also @machinegunkelly this was my favorite fit of yours so far on tour. Watching you rap your a– off wearing a tight green chain mail scoop neck tank top, looking like Link if he had abandoned his quest for Zelda and instead become an elven underworld prince with a moderate to severe drug addiction…was just.” The Jennifer’s Body actress added a zany face emoji and water drops emoji. See how fans criticized Fox for her comment on social media below: more@WMMR
VIDEO – HAVE TIME FOR A POEM? – 2022 – Blake’s genius sprang from his unusual spiritual disposition. Both drawn to and discomfited by religion, he chose instead to live in a world of abstract spirituality, amid a self-created cosmogony, agnostic and often unabashedly antagonistic to scripture. His was an irreverent reverence, intellectually daring and contemptuous of dogma yet animated by unflinching faith in the human spirit, in our capacity for self-transcendence, and in the ability to ameliorate the sorrowful finitude of our lives by contacting eternity through the supreme conduits of truth and beauty — truth and beauty that…
LIVE AND IN PERSON! – July 5, 2022 – Watch the video and see what goes on behind the scenes. 14th Annual REEL Recovery Film Festival, October 21-27, 2022, Laemmle NoHo Cinema, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 more@YouTube
AND BOOZE DOESN’T HELP – June 27, 2022 – Did you know that women who have a healthy relationship with their fathers tend to grow into healthier, happier and stronger women? Unfortunately, for many of us, those healthy relationships don’t exist. If you are one of the lucky ones, good for you! If you are one of the rest, like me, then you know what I mean. My father was absent. He was one of those dads who worked a lot and left the child care to my mother. He was around but not present. And when he was…
HOW CAN THINGS GET WORSE? – June 1, 2022 – In powder form, ISO can appear yellow, brown, or off-white in color. DEA regional forensic laboratories have seen this drug mixed into heroin and/or fentanyl (and marketed as common street drugs) with deadly consequences. However, in other parts of the country, ISO has already been seen pressed into counterfeit pills and falsely marketed as pharmaceutical medication (like Dilaudid “M-8” tablets and oxycodone “M30” tablets). ISO’s high potency comes with an increased risk of overdose – a big issue the DEA Washington Division is currently working to tackle. According to provisional…
JUST CALL THEM DIGITAL DRUGS – June 29, 2022 – I am a dad of two teenage sons, the only ones in their respective grades without smartphones. Their images — and “cool factor” — take hits because I won’t let them have these digital drugs. As a psychologist with decades of experience in the field of addiction, I tell my kids, “I care about your brains, not your images.” Contemptuous eye rolls and sulky withdrawals predictably follow. Today’s teens spend up to nine hours a day on screens or smartphones, while children ages 8 to 12 are on for…
WOULD THEY EVEN NOTICE? – June 28, 2022 – “Unlike tobacco, there is some uncertainty or controversy regarding the adverse health impacts of cannabis. Some individuals may perceive that cannabis has some health benefits and is otherwise benign. Our research highlights to those using – or considering to use – cannabis, that this behavior is associated with important negative health events.” While recreational marijuana is still illegal in the U.S. under federal law, at least 19 states have passed legislation to allow sales of the drug. Almost every single state in the country has legalized some form of…
EDUCATION IS PREVENTION – June 2022 – Symptoms of use and abuse disorders and developing addictions include these behavioral changes: Impulse control issuesLack of motivationDisinterest in previous things that were of interest or brought joySecretive behaviorsChanges in social circlesMood changes, mania, depression, and irritabilityUnusually high levels of energy or lethargyAppetite changes and sudden weight lossSleep disordersAnxiety and other mental disordersChanges in teeth and hair colorSmelly breathPhysical changes and disinterest in appearance more@HarlemWorld
SAVE THE CHILDREN – June 22, 2022 – “This clearly comes as a surprise to the market … we would expect that Juul would appeal the decision, and remain on the market through that process, which would likely take a year or more,” said Vivien Azer, an analyst with Cowen. The looming verdict comes nearly two years after Juul applied for approval to keep selling e-cigarettes in the country. The FDA review of the applications was based on whether the e-cigarettes are effective in getting smokers to quit and if so whether benefits to smokers outweigh health damage to…
AUDIO – LIFE WITH RESERVATIONS – July 2, 2022 – MORGAN TALTY: (Reading) Riding over the bridge to the island, I sense that even though their problems were their own, there was no escaping how those problems shaped us all – no escaping the end, like the way the ice melts in the river each spring, overflowing and creeping up the grassy banks and over lawns, reaching farther and farther toward the houses until finally the water touched stone, seeping inside and flooding basements – insulation swelling, drying only when the water has receded. But what remained was a…
“I teach my children to approach the world with a grateful Spirit. We don’t look down on or talk down to others and we show respect for all mankind.” – Ketanji Brown Jackson
FACE TO FACE, SORT OF – June 22, 2022 – In a report released Wednesday, the White House office laid out steps for broadening telehealth access for individuals struggling with addiction. The plan calls for the federal government to weigh legislation or other steps to knock down barriers between state licensing systems for medical professionals that ONDCP says stand in the way of enacting nationwide telehealth efforts. It also asks that the government make permanent and expand telehealth regulatory changes made available during the public health emergency, such as the US Drug Enforcement Administration permanently authorizing qualified professionals to…
IT’S SHOCKING! – June 19, 2022 – The scale of which ECT is being used in England has been laid bare, and found to be disproportionately prescribed to women who make up two thirds of patients. NHS data – obtained via a Freedom of Information Act by Dr John Read, and seen by The Independent – showed 67% of 1,964 patients who received the treatment in 2019 were female. Dr Read, a leading expert on ECT and professor at the University of East London, and his team found the therapy was performed on women twice as often as men across…
NO TKO – June 17, 2022 – Now, he hosts a weekly podcast for people experiencing homelessness. His goal is to move out of the Salvation Army. “I always tell people to wait on your miracle because your miracle’s coming. You just have to wait until it arrives,” said Pace. And now Pace’s miracle is here. He recently received the news that his own apartment will soon become available in St. Petersburg. Just a mile or two from the daughter he once lost touch with. “When life gets you down and it seems like you’re going to lose, go…
OVER THE RAINBOW CONNECTION – June 19, 2022 – “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters, “An Olԁ Fashioneԁ Love Song” by Three Dog Night, anԁ the lyrics to “The Love Boat” theme are among his other songwriting creԁits. He was also a regular on “The Tonight Show,” appearing in all three “Smokey anԁ the Banԁit” films anԁ making guest appearances on shows such as “The Oԁԁ Couple” anԁ “Fantasy Islanԁ.” Williams collaborateԁ on “The Rainbow Connection” for “The Muppet Movie.” Williams ԁiԁ not recognize his illness until he was 49 years olԁ. “I askeԁ for help from people,”…
THEY DO MAKE MONEY – June 20, 2022 – His examples are psychiatry’s two mainstays of treatment, antidepressants and antipsychotics. For instance, he notes that antidepressant treatment increases suicide attempts, at least in some populations—and doesn’t decrease them in any: “It is well-known that standard antidepressants do not reduce overall suicide rates in so-called major depressive disorder (MDD), and in fact increase suicidal ideation and attempts in younger adults and children, based on randomized data,” he writes. Likewise, he notes that antipsychotics don’t improve the course of illness and instead have neurotoxic effects that reduce brain volume: “In most…
VIDEO – BOND GIRL GETS SOBER – June 25, 2022 – As well as being famous for playing Anya Amasova in tonight’s Bond film, she is also known for her eventful marriage to The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr – who she has been in a relationship with since 1981. In the foreword to a 1992 book by Derek Taylor – the band’s press officer – called Getting Sober, Starr depicted their relationship as riddled with alcoholism. Starr, who met Bach in 1980 on the set of the film Caveman, wrote: “We used to go on long plane journeys, rent huge…
HEALING INFORMATION? – June 16, 2022 – On June 13, the city council of Amherst, Massachusetts, declined to advance a measure decriminalizing entheogens, or naturally occurring psychedelics. These include psilocybin, mescaline, ayahuasca and ibogaine. Ibogaine is derived from iboga, a shrub native to West Africa. Indigenous peoples have a long history of using ibogaine in ceremonial settings, but over the past few decades ibogaine has increasingly been a subject of interest for people from the United States and Europe looking to “cure” substance use disorders. In the US, ibogaine is a Schedule I narcotic. But an industry of ibogaine…
SO MANY PRISONS – June 20, 2022 – A man has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter after an inmate died of a drug overdose from drugs that the man smuggled into the jail, according to the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office. According to the sheriff’s office, 23-year-old Cory Cantrell, an inmate of the Scioto County Jail, was found Saturday unresponsive and was later pronounced dead after being transported to the Southern Ohio Medical Center. An investigation into Cantrell’s death revealed that he overdosed on drugs, believed to be fentanyl, brought in by Perry Steele, 43, who was in jail…
PLAYING FOR KEEPS – June 10, 2022 – Rock to Recovery was born. The therapeutic music program harnesses the transformative, healing powers of playing to non-musicians in treatment. “It’s been the biggest gift. I retired from the endless grind of touring, yet music is still at the core of my life.” Geer trains fellow musicians to use their musical to help heal. Geer also launched the book Rock to Recovery: Music as a Catalyst for Human Transformation, chronicling 18 stories of people who have overcome trauma addiction and mental health issues through his program, available now on Amazon. On…
ONLY 3? – June 20, 2022 – Nothing is impossible when you learn how to manifest, and regularly practice the good habits that go along with that. If one of my clients is committed to setting goals and making their dreams come true, I advise them to adopt three habits to truly transform their lives. The keyword here is habits. These are not things that you can do just once and see a change. You have a goal and, now, you reach for it. If you want to become a manifesting master, you have to commit to doing these things…