SOMETHING IN THE AIR TONIGHT – June 22, 2022 – The FDA declined to comment on the report, while Altria and Juul did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. “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,” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer said. The looming verdict comes nearly two years after Juul had applied for approval to keep selling e-cigarettes in the country. The FDA’s review of the applications was based on…
Author: Leonard Buschel
SHE DON’T NEED NO 12 STEPS – June 23, 2022 – I took my last dose Saturday morning. I didn’t experience so much as any discomfort. On Sunday, I went hiking. On Monday, I went to a Pride Gay Skate event at the roller rink. And it struck me anew how little drug addiction has to do with the drug itself. There are some important caveats to my personal experience. I may be formerly incarcerated with mental health challenges, but I am not subjected to extreme poverty, racism or any number of other stressors that heavily impact people’s management…
A HIGH SO LOW – June 23, 2022 – This was not your average weed. The oil and waxes she bought from dealers were typically about 90% THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. But because these products were derived from cannabis, and nearly everyone she knew was using them, she assumed they were relatively safe. She began vaping multiple times per day. Her parents did not find out until about one year later, in 2019. “We got her in a program to help her with it. We tried tough love. We tried everything, to be honest with you,” Elysse’s father…
VIDEO – SO THAT’S WHERE ALL THE MEDICARE DOLLARS ARE GOING – June 23, 2022 – “That population is a missed population,” said Tammy Griffin, a nurse practitioner at DeCoach Rehabilitation Centre. The addiction team at DeCoach Rehabilitation Centre says this can likely be attributed to the many big changes that often happen for people in that period of their lives. The report states there also may be additional stress and anxiety for those over 50 due to: RetirementLoss of loved onesLonelinessSleep problemsFamily conflictsFinancial concerns This report shows that often, people turn to alcohol or drugs to soothe worries and…
COULD IT GET WORSE? – June 24, 2022 – Unable to rouse him, the paramedics administered the drug naloxone via an injection into his upper left arm. The drug, widely known by the brand name Narcan, is an emergency treatment for opioid overdose that temporarily reverses the depressive and potentially fatal effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Brack came to abruptly. He refused to be taken to hospital and became angry as the opioid withdrawals set-in. “I’m sober, I need a cigarette,” he said to Ellen as they drove off. America’s opioid crisis has reached epidemic levels. In Arizona…
POPULATION PATROL? – June 25, 2022 – Key drivers for the decline were COVID-19 and overdose deaths. The data vary by demographic group. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among Hispanics, as well as non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders and American Indian/Native Alaskans, the data show. Dr. Lilia Cervantes, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said she wasn’t surprised by the new numbers. “The Latino community makes up the majority of the essential workforce,” said Cervantes, who is a member of the Colorado Vaccine Equity Taskforce. “During COVID, they’ve…
IT’S NOT WORKING? – June 25, 2022 – The figures are reflective of the scale of the drug abuse menace across the world. While the United States usually tops the list of nations with most drug abuse deaths, the toll has been increasing in almost all other countries each year. Earlier this month, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs destroyed 42,000 kilos of illegal drugs across 14 locations in India as part of a ‘Drugs Destruction Day’ campaign. Before this, about 36 metric tonnes of narcotics were destroyed in December 2021. The drugs were estimated worth thousands…
HE CHANGED MY WORLD – June 22, 2022 – James Rado, who jolted Broadway into the Age of Aquarius as a co-creator of “Hair,” the show, billed as an “American tribal love-rock musical,” that transfigured musical theater tradition with radical ’60s iconoclasm and rock ’n’ roll, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 90. The publicist Merle Frimark, a longtime friend, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was cardio-respiratory arrest. So much of the power of “Hair” resided in its seeming raw spontaneity, yet Mr. Rado (pronounced RAY-doe) labored over it for years with his collaborator…
VIDEO – THERE IS A SOLUTION – June 15, 2022 – “Crystal meth has been a pandemic of my soul,” he added. “It’s been a destruction of my brain. It’s given me some of the ugliest nightmares that I could never even describe.” His struggles worsened on New Year’s Eve in 2020, after he’d relapsed on crystal meth. Herndon recalls sitting in his apartment, holding 27 Ambien tablets. “I’d been up for four days,” he said. “The windows were duct-taped. There was not a stitch of daylight in my apartment. … I was at peace. I was so calm.” Herndon…
A GOOD POLITICIAN – June 24, 2022 – The 24/7 sobriety program located on New York Street, provides drug and alcohol testing services twice a day to those who were sentenced for criminal offenses. Since 2005, the Sheriff’s offices across South Dakota have successfully administered more than 12 million breath tests and more than 600 thousand drug tests. Lucas Oyler, Director of the Pennington County Sheriffs’ Office says that there are multiple ways to test for drugs and alcohol. Oyler states “We test for alcohol, and we test for drugs. We can test for alcohol with a scram monitor,…
NOT IN COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION – June 27, 2022 – The justices ruled 9-0 in favor of Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn, who had argued in appealing their convictions that their trials were unfair because jurors were not required to consider whether the two physicians had “good faith” reasons to believe their numerous opioid prescriptions were medically valid. Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the court, said that once defendants produce evidence that they were authorized to dispense controlled substances like opioids, prosecutors must prove they knew they were acting in an unauthorized manner. The justices sent the two…
BUY AND BUY AND DIE? – June 21. 2022 – “Despite the prevalence and societal costs of pain in the United States, investment in pain medication development is low, due in part to poor understanding of the probability of successful development of such medications,” said the authors of a study published in Anesthesiology. “The opioid crisis has highlighted the need for new therapeutics with low abuse potential to treat chronic pain,” they said. “While pharmaceutical companies recognize this need, because of the subjective nature of pain … the conduct of clinical trials for new drug approval is a lengthy…
MONEY MAKES A DIFFERENCE? – June 17, 2022 – “Behind every overdose death is a family and a community,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “When we fund partnerships that increase access to effective, evidence-based treatment for rural residents, we not only save lives, but also support families and strengthen communities. Addressing the overdose and addiction epidemic is an urgent priority for the Biden-Harris Administration, and we will continue doing all we can to support those struggling with substance misuse across the nation.” Drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioids rose 376 percent from 3,442 in 1999 to 16,416 in 2020. The…
VIDEO – AND ONLY COSTS $2.00 – June 21, 2022 – Here are some signs that indicate you could be an alcoholic: “Your family and friends are telling you that you drink too much,” said Pamala, AA public information spokesperson. “You’re saying you’re only going to drink this amount and then you end up drinking more. Going into blackouts. Always thinking about alcohol. Always thinking about that drink. And then once you take that drink, you can’t stop.” To find out more about meetings in this area, you can go online to aa6wv.com or call (304) 231-5867. more@WTRF
DOESN’T EVERYONE? – June 22, 2022 – “I don’t have that ability to do just one or two [cigarettes] a day,” said Pitt. “It’s not in my makeup. I’m all in. And I’m going to drive into the ground. I’ve lost my privileges.” Prior to getting sober, Pitt and 47-year-old Jolie —whose marriage ended in 2016 and jumpstarted a lengthy custody battle involving their six children — purchased a Provence vineyard, Château Miraval, in 2008. The Academy Award-winning actress just sold her stake, a move which Pitt said earlier this month sought “to inflict harm” on him. While Pitt left…
NO WORDS NECESSARY – June 24, 2022 – A post-Roe America means millions of women seeking abortions will face a new set of mental-health challenges, three national organizations said in a joint statement on Friday. They also said the inability to get an abortion could increase the risk of domestic abuse, as research has shown evidence of a strong relationship between unwanted pregnancy and interpersonal violence. Furthermore, it could put those who are forced to stay in contact with violent partners at risk, as well as their children, they added. At the same time, the organizations said the court’s…
VIDEO – WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY… – June 20, 2022 – “Drinking in your house and not leaving is one thing,” said Marisa Silveri, a neuroscientist at McLean Hospital and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “But as people go to bars, as people are driving places, that’s going to impact traffic-related fatalities. Our systems – our physical systems – there’s already been an increase in liver-related deaths, including in alcohol-related cancers.” Silveri is not only analyzing the damage of pandemic-era drinking; the single mom of two young kids admits she, too, experienced the urge to drink…
WILLING TO FIGHT FOR HIS SOBRIETY – June 23, 2022 – “But, yeah, I don’t know what the difference is [between the drinking culture in Europe and that in the U.S.]. All I can say is from my own personal experience that I’m grateful that I put all that stuff down, have the support and the camaraderie with that sort of community and love speaking freely about it as well. A big, strong, tough dude, alpha male like me talking about problems gives hope to other strong, hard-headed dudes to be able to open up and look at their own…
THE EXPERT – June 19, 2022 – As a child, I suffered from cripplingly low self-esteem and insecurities. I was the subject of ‘banter’ at school, being called ‘chubby’ and people constantly pointed out my negatives. So, when I was introduced to cocaine at the age of 18 from a close friend that I trusted, I experienced a sense of internal, overriding confidence immediately and euphoria that lifted me from myself. After that first line, I became the person I always wanted to be. I was always externally confident; I had more front than Brighton Beach, but that was just…
“We lived, as usual by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.” ― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
VIDEO – RECOVERY TUNES – June 21, 2022 – His current album peaked at #45 on the Billboard Top 100 Albums Chart and to date has sold over 3,000 hard copies and 4,200 cumulative sales. Billboard listed AW at #31 on their Breaking and Entering Chart for the week of September 25. His most recent release to country radio, peaked at #65 on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart thanks to legendary promoter, Regina Raleigh and making rotation on 104.9 KBOE in Oskaloosa, Iowa and KIX 101.1 out of Marshalltown, Iowa. His music is a combination of the 90’s vibe…
VIDEO – IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD(S) – June 2022 – Things could have played out very differently for Leonard Lee Buschel. A powerful combo of early-childhood trauma, temperament, a “professional” opportunity, and luck combined to foster a 27-year drug dealing career that might have gone disastrously wrong. In fact, a great many things did go wrong, which became undeniably clear when Leonard looked at the Top 10 catastrophic close calls he was asked to list while in rehab. “I read it and thought, ‘Whoever wrote this is crazy and suicidal,’ ” he says, recalling the wallop of…
DO MOSQUES HAVE BASEMENTS? – June 11, 2022 – The attendees are largely Somali and range from as young as 13 to as old as in their 60s. The mosques that host the groups prefer not to publicize that they do so. The support groups don’t advertise publicly and instead spread information through word of mouth. Often, parents ask mosque leaders for help with a child, whom imams then refer to Maalimisaq. Maalimisaq, 34, went through her own journey of accepting that alcohol abuse was an issue in her community. She was visiting a Minneapolis detox center in 2018 as…
SHARING IN A SONG – June 10, 2022 – Lovato has been extremely candid when it comes to their drug addictions, and the struggles they have gone through. In July 2018, the singer suffered a near-fatal opioid overdose where they suffered three strokes and a heart attack, leaving them with permanent brain damage. They discussed the details in the 2021 YouTube docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil. Lovato revealed in the docuseries that they would be going “California sober,” using weed and alcohol in moderation, but as of 2021, Lovato explained that “California sober” would no longer work…
ADVICE COLUMN – June 11, 2022 – I also realise my past relationships were also disastrous. As I engaged in sexual activities, I began to realise I was keen on porn and sometimes had difficuty maintaining an erection during intercourse. I realise I need professional help. I am ashamed to put Dr G on the spot to enquire about my porn problems. Can you tell me whether pornography addiction is real? How do I know whether or not I am addicted? Can porn addiction cause erectfile dysfunction? Can anything be done to help someone like me? Am I doomed…
RYAN HAMPTON OPINION – June 13, 2022 – I went to many treatment centers in my area but was told that without the “right” insurance I would have to wait for a scholarship bed to become available. The list filled a thick, three-ring binder. Pages and pages of names were before mine. When a bed opened, the front desk staff would start calling. The first person to answer was admitted. I remember the sense of hopelessness I felt as I saw the hundreds of names. What if I missed the call? What if I died before I could get the…
HARROWING – June 13, 2022 – Disturb delves into methamphetamine addiction through the perspective of a kuia (grandmother) experiencing first-hand the drug’s hold on her moko (grandson). “So understanding what it is when they come in, when they come down; what the family needs to do to deal with it; if the person stays in the house or out of the house… “A lot of families have to avoid their child because they can’t take it anymore. So that was my best research, was to talk to someone who had been through this.” The film did not claim to…
WHO DOESN’T? – June 13, 2022 – In Australia, the drug is approved for use in a “comprehensive treatment program for alcohol dependence”. This involves taking one dose, every day, as part of a wider strategy to maintain abstinence. Since 2001, the medication has been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, currently with an out-of-pocket cost of $42.50 per month. Kate discovered this potential while scouring the internet for a remedy. Since her mid-40s, she had fallen into a familiar rhythm of finishing up to two bottles of whiskey a week, and while she didn’t know whether naltrexone would address…
WEARING YOUR CHIP ON THE OUTSIDE – June 15, 2022 – Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the scheme, which was rolled out in Wales last year, will target at least 1,900 prison leavers over the next two years. According to the MoJ, the rollout of the scheme in Wales saw offenders on tag sticking to their alcohol restrictions 97% of time. Criminals caught breaching their alcohol restrictions could face being sent back to jail, the Ministry of Justice said. An extra £183 million will be funnelled into electronic monitoring by 2025 to almost double the number of offenders tagged at…
IT AIN’T GOOD – June 15, 2022 – In particular, lesions positively connected to the cingulate and insula and negatively connected to the medial prefrontal cortex were more likely to be associated with smoking remission in patients. Conversely, legions with opposite connectivity profiles were the least likely to lead to remission. To determine the generalizability of their findings, the researchers also examined 186 patients with brain lesions who had completed an alcoholism risk assessment. They found that lesions associated with lower alcoholism risk had similar connectivity to lesions that disrupted nicotine addiction in the first group of patients, even…