GENIUSES – March 4, 2026 – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his department wants to address what he called a nationwide “spiritual malaise” underlying the “addiction epidemic.” The initiatives are murky on details, especially regarding funding and implementation. The Trump regime made deep budget cuts in several of the areas in which it now wants to address the crises. Conspicuously absent in the Trump administration’s plans were concrete steps to actually align various government entities, as well as nonprofits in the private sector to pursue long-term recovery care. And they appear to duplicate the work of an already existing White…
Author: Leonard Buschel
PILL MILL PRINCESS – March 2, 2026 – A Bayside woman was sentenced to seven years in prison after operating an “oxycodone pill mill” out of her Great Neck doctor’s office, officials said. She was sentenced after prescribing oxycodone pills without a legitimate medical purpose and fraudulently billing insurance providers for procedures that were never performed. Judge Brown imposed a fine of $150,000 and ordered Jafari-Hassad to pay $152,765 as restitution, the DOJ said. The Great Neck family practice doctor was convicted at trial in December 2024 of eight counts of prescribing oxycodone pills without a legitimate medical purpose, and…
THEY CAN’T – Mar. 4, 2026 – “We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,’” Kennedy told the applauding audience. “I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it.” It’s unclear if the administration will follow through on such demands and restrict sugary beverages at Dunkin’ and similar chains, despite Kennedy’s declarative comments at the Austin food-focused event, organized by an outside political group that supports his agenda. The Health and Human Services…
DECEPTION – In So Many Ways – Feb. 26, 2026 – Costco is falsely claiming its store-brand tequila as being made with 100% blue agave. However, tests showed that the tequila varieties actually contain high levels of non-agave alcohol. If it’s true, it means that the tequila is being marketed as higher quality than it actually is…customers are being deceived into paying a higher amount for it. According to tests ordered by the plaintiff, Kirkland Signature Blanco Tequila — which is labeled as “100% de Agave” — contained up to 40% non-agave alcohol. Only Mexico can legally make tequila, and Mexican…
NOT RECOMMENDED – March 4, 2026 – Billy Idol revealed the surprising substance that helped him kick his heroin habit. During an appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher, the “White Wedding” performer spoke about how smoking crack helped him wean off of the substance. “Once you’re trying to get off heroin, what do you go to? You go to something else,” said Idol, 70. He continued, “I started smoking crack to get off heroin. It worked. It worked.” In his documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which premiered at Tribeca festival in June 2025, the “Eyes Without a Face”…
TOO DAMM SAD – Feb. 28, 2026 – The “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star wrote on Instagram Friday night. Mary included an image of herself and a young Robert Jr., set to the song “Time After Time” by Jessica Mauboy. Many fellow “Real Housewives” stars flocked to the comments section to support the church leader. “It’s amazing that a certain photo can remain your favorite because of context…,” Bozoma Saint John from “RHOBH” penned, “whatever you were saying or whatever you were doing when this photo was snapped is one that comes instantly rushing back when you see…
VERY COST EFFECTIVE – Mar. 5, 2026 – Life House was launched almost three decades ago by a pastor, Mark Stermer. He was mentoring men who were in prison and was frustrated by the frequency with which they kept coming back. They might get clean in prison or enter a treatment facility when they were released, but soon enough they were back in the throes of addiction, seemingly unable to break free. The more he looked at the treatment system they were entering, the more obvious the problems became. Money — who got paid and how — was a big…
CRAYON OF CREATION – March 2026 – Filling in geometric patterns or mandalas, show measurable reductions in anxiety and stress levels. Researchers believe this occurs because focused coloring activates areas of the brain associated with mindfulness while calming the amygdala, the region linked to fear and stress responses. For individuals in recovery, where stress is a leading trigger for relapse, this effect may be particularly valuable. Dr. Cathy Malchiodi, a leading voice in expressive arts therapy, has long argued that art-based interventions can help individuals access emotions that are difficult to verbalize. Although her work spans trauma and mental health…
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES? – Mar. 5, 2026 – Elizabeth Arambula said her husband’s dependency issues have worsened over time. “When his gaming was interrupted, he became angry and irritable. On a typical day, he spent much of his time using his THC pen, drinking whiskey and playing games on his iPad, taking a few meetings scattered throughout.” She said she had to drive Arambula to work because of his sobriety issues, and that government drivers would take him home. She added that Arambula cannot detach himself from video games or cope without smoking or drinking. After he exited the…
BE FOREWARNED – Mar. 5, 2026 – While each person may experience unique symptoms for different illnesses, most people develop symptoms that are considered common (e.g., sneezing, coughing, and a runny nose for a cold). So when Reddit user William_Narso asked: “What’s a sign from your body you should never ignore?” I thought it would be helpful to share what they said below: 1. “Any sudden severe headache that’s way worse than anything you’ve had before could be a stroke or aneurysm. Your brain isn’t something to gamble with.” 2. “Blood in stool or urine.” 3. “Sharp chest pain, especially…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – ETERNAL – Photo with Stephen Sondheim lounging – After Laura’s huge burst of creativity when she recorded five well-received albums and well over 40 original songs, she retreated from the limelight. Musically, this begins the “mellow period” that Nyro stayed with for the rest of her career. It continues her fascination with mysticism with exotic instruments and arrangements. WATCH HERE
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – March 10, 2026 – Rabbi Michael Perice is known nationally for his advocacy work on addiction and mental health and publicly shared his own story of recovery from opioid addiction in 2021. Rabbi Perice has served as an advisory board member for Safe House, an overdose prevention non-profit, and the City of Philadelphia through the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services on issues related to addiction and mental health. Rabbi Perice is committed to ending the stigma of addiction in the United States. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s)…
SOBER AND FAITHFUL – MARCH 3, 2026 – Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix says sobriety and faith are the two things he spent most of his life trying to avoid and the two things that ultimately changed him. “The two things I never wanted to be in my life was sober and a Christian,” Shaddix said on the “Dumb Blonde” podcast with host Bunnie XO. “Here I am now: A follower and a sober guy.” Shaddix described a long, messy road that included relapse, doubt and what he called repeatedly ending up in a “deep dark hole” after taking his…
VIDEO – POTTER AND HOTTER – Mar. 2, 2026 – “I don’t look like a person who would be a fitness freak, but I’m pretty intense about it,” Daniel told WSJ. Magazine in an interview published March 2. “I feel like I’m a cliché of a former alcoholic or anyone who had any kind of addictive personality and then switched that addiction to being about the gym.” Meanwhile, the 36-year-old admitted that his investment in his long-term health goes beyond the weights, circuit training and cardio. “I used to run on coffee and cigarettes all day, and then I gave…
ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD? – Mar. 5, 2026 – A Philadelphia Inquirer investigation found that some Pennsylvanians who were recruited by The Rehab Specialist last year didn’t see doctors or nurses and had minimal medical care as they went through withdrawal at Gev’s Recovery. Gev’s Recovery did not immediately respond to a BDN request for comment. An employee told the Inquirer the center has medical staff on site and offers medication for withdrawal. The treatment facility pays for flights, Tarrant said, while his company sometimes helps with food and other basic needs and uses donations to get someone housed…
WHY SLEEP? – Mar. 5, 2026 – “I am burnt out. All the mental health deteriorating that I used to scoff at is real, miserable, scary, and dangerous.” When OpenAI researcher Hieu Pham shared those words while stepping away, they struck a nerve across the tech world, not because burnout is rare, but because it’s widespread and often minimized … Burnout rarely begins with collapse, it starts subtly, with decision fatigue, detachment, and reduced clarity, early signs that your nervous system is overloaded. And burnout is not black and white – you have it or you don’t. There are degrees…
THEY NO LONGER BAFFLE US – Mar. 5, 2026 – While the three-martini lunch seems improbable today, workplaces still can be boozy places. After-work happy hours, corporate parties and client meetings at fancy bars are still expected in many areas of American corporate culture. Talking about sobriety with managers and colleagues therefore can be daunting for people in recovery from alcohol addiction. Professionals in some industries fear being judged for needing help or missing out on career advancement opportunities if social drinking is encouraged as part of a job. Treatment professionals and individuals who have navigated careers while abstaining from…
GAME CHANGER? – Mar. 4, 2026 – The new results suggest — but don’t prove — that the weight-loss medications may be able to target the underlying source of cravings that affect the more than 48 million Americans with substance use disorders. “They’re actually working against the root cause of all these different addictions,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly,- Previous studies have suggested that the drugs known as GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, could reduce addictions by targeting the brain’s reward pathways. But those studies have been small and often limited to one substance. For this study, one of the…
FROM BAGGIE TO BAGGED – Mar. 5, 2026 – In 1974, Janssen Pharmaceuticals chemists synthesized a compound so potent a few micrograms immobilized an elephant or rhinoceros. Marketed as Wildnil for wildlife anesthesia, carfentanil was used for decades to tranquilize large animals. Commercial production ended in 2003, and the drug vanished from veterinary supply chains. For years, it seemed destined to remain a historical footnote in veterinary pharmacology. However, in recent years, carfentanil has reemerged as a clandestinely-manufactured powder infiltrating human drug markets. Its clinical danger lies in its extreme potency. According to the DEA and investigative reporting, most illicit…
SOBRIETY TRANSFORMATION – February 26, 2026 – The belief in transformation isn’t abstract for Delevingne; it mirrors her own evolution over the past several years. Delevingne has been open about how sobriety has reshaped her life, and even her sense of self, since she checked herself into rehab in 2022 and entered a 12-step program. A year later, she told Elle UK, that quitting alcohol has “been worth every second.” “For a long time, I felt like I was hiding a lot from people who looked up to me. I finally feel as though I can be free and myself,…
VIDEO – UBER ANYONE? – Mar. 6, 2026 – Sources with knowledge tell TMZ … Britney fired the sobriety coaches after she signed a deal selling her rights to her music and after she returned home following a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico. Britney was arrested in Ventura County, California for DUI. She was pulled over near her home and then taken to a hospital to have her blood drawn and tested. During processing at the jail, Britney was emotional and crying. We’re told Britney mostly just dances around naked all day wherever she is — which lines up with…
AI Therapist – March 4, 2026 – I’m using ChatGPT as a therapist. Nothing says “modern mental health” like crying into a chatbox, after all. Plenty of people are now doing the same – but can it really replace human support? I hope so. I had to stop seeing my therapist because I fell in love with her. (Note to self: this isn’t your actual diary. And don’t fall in love with ChatGPT. That would be pathetic.) Halfway through the its answer, I start crying. It comes up with a seven-point care plan for me, a triage system to prioritise…
WHY DO WE? – Mar. 6, 2026 – Rosy didn’t love her videos, Doucleff realized. Nor did she love the ultraprocessed Ritz crackers she begged for at the grocery store. Rosy was caught in a wanting feedback loop. The more she watched and ate snack foods, the more she wanted to watch and eat. There’s a separate, second system in our brain that makes us like what we’re wanting and feel satisfied when we get it, Doucleff told NPR. Modern technology splits the systems apart, so we’re left always wanting more, even when whatever we’re doing — whether it’s scrolling…
Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation…The other eight are unimportant.” – Henry Miller, b. 1891, Manhattan, NY – d. 1980, Big Sur, CA
GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FU’UN – Feb. 27, 2026 – Nearly two decades ago, Anna David explored addiction, denial and recovery in her novel “Party Girl,” which centered on a young woman navigating the highs of Hollywood party culture and the long, complicated road back from substance dependence. Before that, Marian Keyes’ hilariously covered an Irish girl’s journey through alcoholism, rehab and recovery in her classic novel “Rachel’s Holiday.” Both “Rachel’s Holiday” and “Party Girl” arrived well before the explosion of what is now known as “Quit Lit” – a category that has since grown to include bestselling memoirs such…
SO SAD – Feb. 12, 2026 – Lantz Tucker came home from work exhausted and ready for bed. Before turning in, the 22-year-old from Kansas took what he believed was an oxycodone pill. He never woke up.His mother found him dead the next morning. Toxicology results later revealed the pill he took was not oxycodone but fentanyl. “You know, he literally is the epitome of the ‘one pill can kill,’” his mother, Crystal Tucker his mother, said. “So if it can happen to us, it can happen to anybody.” Read More
VIDEO – THE LAW MATTERS – Feb. 19, 2026 – The New Life Dream Center is facing an uncertain future after a state lawmaker withdrew funding for its expansion, and county records revealed that the property is zoned for agricultural use, which does not legally allow a rehab facility to operate without rezoning. Neighbors Kaye Molnar and Autumn Roy have expressed their desire for the center to be shut down, Molnar said, “It’s quiet back here, and we take a walk through this area.” She added, “Convicted felons! There’s a lot of kids in our neighborhood.” Roy echoed the sentiment,…
ONLY ONE STEP? – Feb. 19, 2026 – These drugs aren’t a panacea — like all medications, some things work for some people and not others. But they’re an important tool in a toolbox to treat a condition that affects millions of Americans and takes thousands of lives each year. “The challenge here is to really treat addiction the same way we treat diabetes, hypertension, cancer, Parkinson’s, depression, and the list goes on and on,” Leggio says. At a basic level, the medications used to treat alcohol use disorder do something quite simple: they make drinking less appealing. Read More
VIDEO – WHY? – Feb. 12, 2026 – Six people were hospitalized after a suspected mass overdose in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday morning. Read More
VIDEO – ALL CAUGHT ON FILM – Feb. 21, 2026 – The graduation dress was black. René Patla had picked it out with her daughter Olivia weeks earlier, the two of them imagining the walk across the stage, the diploma, the wide-open summer ahead. Olivia never wore it to commencement. Her parents buried her in it instead. Olivia Patla was 18 years old and a single day shy of her Clovis North High School graduation when she died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021. A 17-year-old friend, according to the family and law enforcement sources, let her die – refusing…