CHAMPAIGN DREAMS AND SOBRIETY REALITY – July 21, 2021 – “I’m pretty sure I’m a doppelgänger for Alan Alda,” E! Online reported that Fox said of herself in an interview with Giuliana Rancic, the former E! Live from the Red Carpet co-host, before then calling herself a transphobic slur. Yikes. “Now I don’t drink and this is why,” Fox told “Who What Wear” about how this incident led her to quit drinking. In addition, when Rancic asked Fox if Brian Austin Green, her then-fiancé, was with her, according to E!’s research Fox answered, “He doesn’t want to be here. He…
Author: Leonard Buschel
WATCH – ANYTHING TO STOP DRIBBLING – July 21, 2021 – Generic ketamine isn’t specifically approved as a depression treatment, but U.S. doctors are often allowed to prescribe Food and Drug Administration-approved medicines “off-label” for another use. A growing body of evidence has shown ketamine, which has been used since the 1970s in the field of anesthesia, can be successful in treating depression and suicidal behaviors. In fact, ketamine is part of a growing field of research into whether drugs that have traditionally been viewed as illegal psychedelics or party drugs could, in certain contexts, help people with depression, post-traumatic…
TOO SOON, TOO YOUNG, TOO SAD – July 20, 2021 – Taliaferro, 28, died in December of what was described as a heart attack. A spokesperson with the York County Sheriff’s Office said Taliaferro was transported to the Riverside Doctors’ Hospital in Williamsburg, where he was pronounced dead. In a statement last December Ravens coach John Harbaugh said this: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lorenzo Taliaferro,” “Lorenzo was a kind, smart, respectful and determined young man — someone always committed to his teammates and well-liked by everyone in our organization. We extend our heartfelt…
EVIL INCARNATE – July 23, 2021 – “Every time he stuck that needle into someone else’s arm, he was playing God,” she said. In closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors the evidence against Buck was overwhelming: graphic videos he took of naked men smoking and shooting up meth and of him touching their genitals while they were asleep or unconscious; Buck’s text messages inviting men to use drugs; 911 calls he placed when Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean died in his apartment; testimony that he injected meth into the arms of men who were passed out. Buck “used these human beings…
FOLLOW YOUR GUT…IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION – July 20, 2021 – Have you ever had a “gut feeling” about a situation? Or maybe you get butterflies in your stomach when you’re nervous? You may even feel like you need to run to the restroom when your anxiety kicks in. Our gut has a lot to say when it comes to our mental health, and it plays a key role in our overall well-being. Your intestinal wall stores 70 percent of the cells that make up your immune system. An unwell gut will lead to more health problems down the…
MILLIONAIRE KILLERS GO FREE – July 14, 2021 – Though they are widely reviled for profiting from a public health crisis that has resulted in the death of half a million Americans, they have used their money and influence to play our system like a harp. It is hardly news that our society treats people like Mr. Washington with sledgehammer vengeance and people like the Sacklers with velvet gloves. But it’s worth asking: How did they pull this off? For a long time, the families of Raymond and Mortimer Sackler simply evaded scrutiny, pruning their public image so that people…
WE NEED A STUDY TO FIGURE THIS OUT? – July 20, 2021 – Currently, the mechanisms why humans receive mental health or cognition benefits from nature exposure is unknown. Scientific research on the role of the human senses is key to establish a causal link,” Maes, a PhD researcher at University College London’s school of Geography, Biosciences and Imperial College London School of Public Health, told CNN. Maes said in an email that one possible explanation for the link between woodland, cognition and mental health could be that audio-visual exposure through vegetation and animal abundance — which are more…
THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF “PUSHERS” – July 20, 2021 – Algorithms are pushing teenage girls who even briefly engage with fitness-related images towards a flood of weight-loss content, according to new research which aimed to recreate the experience of being a child on social networks. Researchers adopting “mystery shopper” techniques set up a series of Instagram profiles mirroring real children and followed the same accounts as the volunteer teenagers. They then began liking a handful of posts to see how quickly the network’s algorithm pushed potentially damaging material into the site’s “explore” tab, which highlights material that the social…
IT’S AN INSIDE ‘JOB’ – July 21, 2021 – By 30, Coderre said, he had risen in his career to become the executive director of a large non-profit agency. “On the outside, everything about this man’s life looked normal. Some would even say perfect,” said Coderre. “However, on the inside, he was tortured. So he turned, first to alcohol and then to drugs to cope with the stresses he was experiencing.” Coderre added, “Underestimating the power of these substances and not understanding the neurological consequences of taking them, he quickly became addicted.” He lost his spirit. In the end, he…
WAS THE DRUG WAR ACTUALLY A SUCCESS? – July 21, 2021 – But where the “failed war on drugs” rhetoric goes from nonsensical to offensive is when Democrats speak as if the race disparity in drug-related arrests wasn’t intentional.“For decades, our federal government has waged a War on Drugs that has unfairly impacted low-income communities and communities of color. … It is time for Congress to end the federal marijuana prohibition and reinvest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.” These are the words of Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who along with two other…
“There is a potential heroine in every woman.” ― Jean Shinoda Bolen
HONEST, OPENMINDED AND WORKING – July 13, 2021 – The extraordinary effort to combat and end the COVID pandemic included a massive public information drive to educate and inform people about the disease and how to protect against it. That effort paid off, and the nation is opening up again. But there is another health crisis that continues to threaten business and the nation: alcohol and substance use disorders (AUD and SUD, the new official names for addiction). However you want to define it, the fact is that addiction in the workplace costs U.S. businesses and organizations $81 billion a year in lost…
WATCH – SOBER LISTENING – July 13, 2021 – “If you are talking to someone who drinks consistently, maybe doesn’t even have any problems, but you are talking about alcoholism, there is always a wall that goes up, an offense taken,” recovery and wellness coach Robbie Shaw said. Shaw is trying to break those barriers. He hopes the name of his podcast will attract people, instead of scaring them away. He has gone through his own two decade-long battle with alcoholism. It started when he was in high school and continued into college. “I failed out of college three times.…
LOCKS ON EVERY MEDICINE CABINET? – July 13, 2021 – Opioid misuse and overdoses are a major problem in the United States. One factor that may be leading to the rate of heroin dependence is the growing population of youth with a history of nonmedical use of prescription opioids. However, there is a paucity in research examining the association between the prospective use of medical and nonmedical opioid misuse during adolescence, and future heroin use in adulthood. This quantitative study analyzed self-reported responses about drug use from 11,012 adolescents over 17 years in the national Monitoring the Future study.…
BACK OF THE METHADONE LINE? – July 13, 2021 – The results, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provide insights that policymakers and medical providers can act on to improve access to quality care for opioid use disorder, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The analysis was possible because of the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network, a unique network that partners academic institutions — including Virginia Commonwealth University — with state Medicaid programs to overcome barriers to data-sharing between states. In its analysis published in JAMA — compiled by using standardized data…
WATCH – AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT – July 16, 2021 – Lifestyle leading to ‘death or penitentiary’ At home growing up, it was just Asher and his dad, who was addicted to drugs — his mother and brother lived out of state and weren’t in the picture. By the time he was a teenager, Asher found himself falling into the same habits as his father. Asher married and had two children, a girl and a boy, but his addictions persisted, driving a wedge between him and his family. He separated from his wife, and for a span of…
YOU CAN TAKE THE MAN OUT OF FLORIDA, BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE FLORIDA OUT OF THE MAN – July 15, 2021- A Palm Beach County drug testing lab and 10 South Florida treatment centers worked together to fraudulently bill more than $141 million in unwarranted urine testing of drug addicts, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Tuesday. Aronberg said 15 people have been arrested in Florida, increasing the total number of arrests by the county’s Sober Homes Task Force to 85 since 2016. The task force coordinated its work with law enforcement in Pennsylvania, where 20 people have…
ENDLESS TEARS – July 15th, 2021 – Experts told The 19th that the numbers underscore the need to not only assist women’s needs inside the jails, but to also implement systemic reforms, services and programs that can reduce their arrests. “I think as long as we refuse to put money into those places that we know can help people, there will continue to be people with some really acute needs. We’re going to keep wanting to put them somewhere, and the place that we put them will be jail, and some of them will die there,” said Wanda Bertram,…
BOOTS ON THE GROUND? – July 16, 2021 – The campaign is designed to empower individuals impacted by addiction to use their connections to friends, family members, health professionals, and other organizations, to find help and support in their treatment and recovery. Part of the funding to support the campaign was awarded to New York State through the federal State Opioid Response grant. “This extraordinarily difficult past year has taught us the importance of staying in touch with loved ones, friends and neighbors,” Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul remarked. “The new ‘Connections’ campaign not only helps get the word out on…
LOOK WHO’S TAKING OVER – July 13, 2021 – President and CEO of Nashville Recovery Center, Ryan Cain added, “Since 2019 the Nashville Recovery Center has helped over 25,000 people step out of addiction and into recovery. Partnering with BRC Healthcare will allow us to reach and help even more people, and we know the positive ripple effect that sobriety will have on them, their families, and our communities.” Rothermel added, “The April 2020 investment by Veronis Suhler Stevenson and NewSpring Health Capital is helping us rapidly expand, but we aren’t a company that believes in growth for growth’s…
LISTEN – THE FAMILY AFTERWARD – July 15, 2021 – On March 11, 2020, though, Suzanne grew worried. Jameson, 30 at the time, was slipping in and out of consciousness and saying he couldn’t move his hands. By 11 p.m., she decided to take him to the emergency room at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina. The staff there gave Jameson fluids through an IV to rehydrate, medication to decrease his nausea and potassium supplements to stop his muscle spasms, according to Suzanne and a letter the hospital’s administrator later sent her. But when they recommended admitting…
WATCH – WHAT’S WRONG WITH INSTAGRAM? – July 13, 2021 – Two Southern California call centers that facilitated illegal drug deliveries distributed at least $2 million worth of heroin before a federal grand jury indicted 19 people in connection with the scheme. The 13-count federal indictment charges the defendants with offenses tied to narcotics and money laundering. Twelve of them are in custody and expected to be arraigned in federal court in Santa Ana on Tuesday; it was not immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf. The remaining seven are being sought. They face charges…
’CAUSE W. VIRGINIA WAS A BEACON OF PREVENTION – July 13, 2021 – The Biden administration is tapping Rahul Gupta as its top drug policy official, charging the former West Virginia public health commissioner with leading federal efforts to combat a spiraling addiction crisis. Gupta, if confirmed by the Senate, will take on the drug czar post amid record levels of deadly drug overdoses, spurred by surging use of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and methamphetamine. The social isolation and economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated the problem, public health officials say. Gupta, who was…
TO DISHONOR AND PERV – July 23, 2021 -That tip arrived in early 2018, Special Agent Daniel Wright said during the sixth day of the corruption trial of former Detective Christopher Collare. Collare and another Carlisle officer, who has since died, were named by the informant of carrying on relationships with the same heroin-wracked woman, Wright said. At the time, Collare was a member of the Cumberland County Drug Task Force and a special task force of the FBI, the agent said under questioning by prosecutor Philip Caraballo-Garrison. Wright said the investigation after agents interviewed the woman at the Cumberland…
AND CHICAGO DOES GET COLD – July 16, 2021 – But that winter it also cost him the last roof over his head. It was only then, faced with homelessness in the frigid cold of February as his health deteriorated, that Eugene Burnett began his comeback. “Sometimes, you have to hit rock bottom before you can pull yourself out,” Burnett told me. This is a story of one man’s redemption, his salvation, if you will. We met at a going away party for two top officials from the Salvation Army. Nancy Powers, the now former director of the Salvation…
SO DID BILL AND BOB – July 16, 2021 – The move was particularly important following the community’s April liquor plebiscite, in which not enough residents voted for regulating the sale of alcohol to change the status quo, Qiyuaryuk said. After he reached out to the community on Facebook for somewhere to hold the meetings, the a local pastor contacted him. “I couldn’t find a place to do the meetings so he suggested we could do it at the Roman Catholic Church,” said Qiyuaryuk. Aaron Solberg, Reverend Deacon at St. Aidan’s Anglican Parish, just moved to Baker Lake last year.…
LISTEN – EVERYONE IS ON DEATH ROW – July 17, 2021 – JENKINS: Essentially treating one illicit drug with another – not the way doctors would have treated him, but Olivares-Pelayo credits his friends with saving his life. That was in 2010. But access to illegal drugs in prisons continues with more dire consequences as powerful drugs like fentanyl have taken over, and the cost can be seen in the prison mortality rate. The nonpartisan advocacy group Prison Policy Initiative recently reviewed federal data collected from 2001 to 2018. They focused on unnatural deaths. That includes homicide, suicide and…
WATCH – LITTLE HIT VS BIG HIT – July 16, 2021 – She feels after five years she should be at the point of getting off Suboxone and being done with the daily sickness. Joehlin says she even feels pressure to get off the medicine from her family and her sponsor. “Unless we really understand the true nature of the disease that’s where a lot of confusion comes,” Dr. Vin Shukla said. Dr. Shukla is not Joehlin’s doctor but he is an addiction medicine specialist with OhioHealth. He says the active ingredient in Suboxone is buprenorphine. It is a partial…
NO SUSPECT IN SIGHT – July 17, 2021 – I’m really struggling to believe that no one has seen anything,” Powers Smith said in tears. More than a year later, no witnesses appeared and the suspect was not detained. Murder is still a priority, but is hampered by lack of evidence, Akron police lieutenant Michael Miller said. “I want to let my family know that no one in this department has forgotten about Mr Powers,” Miller told 3News. “We want to give them a sense of justice and closure in connection with this very tragic loss.” For the Powers…
WATCH – RIDING TALL! – July 13, 2021 – Moya reflected on his harrowing journey while seated in the stable office of trainer Anthony Margotta, whose own heroin addiction cost him everything before slowly rebuilding his personal and professional life over the past seven years ago. Related: Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun breezes at Monmouth Park in Haskell prep A Newark native, Moya began riding at the urging of his father, Ramon, who trained horses until 2018. His mounts earned nearly $5.4 million before what began as an addiction to painkillers sidetracked a once-promising career. more@App