DYING TO STOP – June 24, 2021 – Cannabis use has been associated with a higher likelihood of thinking about suicide in young adults, according to a study from the US National Institutes of Health published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Women with any level of cannabis use in the past year had a higher prevalence of past year suicidality, when compared to men. The survey study examined data from more than 281,000 adults ages 18 to 34, who participated in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2008 to 2019. These adults answered questions…
Author: Leonard Buschel
CHUMP CHANGE – June 26, 2021 – “Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today they’re committing to leaving the opioid business — not only in New York, but across the entire country,” she said. “Opioids will no longer be manufactured or sold in the United States by J&J.” The New York opioid lawsuit trial against the rest of the defendants will begin this week, according to the release. Other defendants in the New York suit include Purdue Pharma; Mallinckrodt LLC; Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA; and Allergan Finance LLC. In a statement Saturday, Johnson & Johnson…
BEWARE OF BAGELS – June 25, 2021 – Poppy seeds have provided drug testing challenges for decades. That’s because opium is extracted from poppy plants, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “The opium poppy is the key source for many narcotics, including morphine, codeine and heroin,” the DEA says. According to Winchester Hospital in Massachusetts, eating a poppy seed bagel can produce an opiate level of 250 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). Consuming poppy seeds could lead to even higher levels. Up until late the 1990s, 250 ng/mL would nearly result in a positive test. In 1998,…
“With love, you should go ahead and take the risk of getting hurt… because love is an amazing feeling.” —Britney Spears
WATCH – THEN ENCOURAGED MILLIONS TO GET STONED – June 24, 2021 – After nearly 30 years and a lot of hilariously bizarre moments, Conan O’Brien said goodbye to late night on Thursday night. “Conan,” O’Brien’s long-running TBS show, concluded on Thursday night, bringing an end to a late night TV era. And O’Brien’s late night career came to a close with the man who helped start it all, Homer Simpson. more@YouTube
NODDING OFF AT THE OFFICE? WHO ME? – June 18, 2021 – Before the COVID-19 pandemic was the drug epidemic. Its relentless toll added a record 90,722 overdose deaths in the U.S. for the year through November 2020, a grim number obscured by coronavirus casualties that recently topped 600,000, according to federal data released Wednesday. As the virus transfixed the nation, the drug crisis spread to largely untouched parts of the country — exacerbated by the recession and millions of job losses. Not only stores and restaurants shuttered: Counseling services moved online, inpatient clinics closed and mobile clinics pulled back.…
BOOK REVIEW – ASCENDING TO A BETTER RELATIONSHIP – Review by Michaela Baxter June 18, 2021 – In her new book, “Love Without Martinis’’, author Chantal Jauvin shares the joys, obstacles and triumphs of couples finding their way back to each other while confronting and overcoming their struggles with addiction. Through anecdote and introspection, “Love Without Martinis” provides that valuable guidance with a collection of six stories of real couples who worked their way to a better place. Author Chantal Jauvin writes, “Stories are a powerful medium for self-understanding. They help us find ourselves or remember who we are.”…
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD – June 7, 2021 – In the simplest of terms, mindfulness refers to the concept of focusing solely on the present. To be helpful, this must be accomplished with great mental discipline. Rationally, we can tell ourselves that it’s helpful to concentrate only on the here and now, but it is extremely hard not to let our thoughts wander toward the mistakes of our past or anxieties for the future. Mindfulness was originally shared as a way of achieving complete spiritual enlightenment as a part of Buddhism. By letting go of everything beyond the present…
AMAZON PRIME? – June 9, 2021 – European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said “the highly pure and potent substances” found in the surveyed countries were a cause of special concern. Illegal drug usage in general, she warned, carries environmental, health and security risks for the EU. The issue “corrupts the fabric of our society, fueling violence and risking the health and security of our citizens,” Johansson said in a statement. The EMCDDA described the European drug market as “dynamic and adaptive,” as well as “resilient to COVID-19 restrictions,” with patterns of drug use “increasingly complex.” The report…
HE’D GET MY VOTE – June 16, 2021 – “We face a drug epidemic in our state, and while there’s no silver bullet to end it, we can combat it by promoting treatment and recovery for Montanans struggling with addiction,” Gianforte said in a statement. “One Health Bighorn’s substance use disorder treatment services transform lives and rebuild families and communities. Given their successful efforts, I’m proud to support their critical mission.” The governor has made combating substance abuse one of his early priorities while in office while pushing for the Healing and Ending Addiction through Recover and Treatment, or…
DO MUCH HARM – June 16, 2021 – The board panel found that on May 26, August was indicted on 15 counts related to the distribution of controlled substances causing death or serious bodily injury, and healthcare fraud resulting in death. A temporary suspension hearing with notice will be held as soon as practicable with 10 days’ notice to August unless the hearing is specifically waived by Dr. August. The temporary suspension remains in place until the Board takes further action. more@KFox14
WATCH – POSSIBLE DEATH IN EVERY SHOT – June 16, 2021 – Fentanyl is a synthetic chemical compound that’s much cheaper and easier to make than heroine – but 20 times as potent. Imagine one-fifth of the amount of powder in a packet of artificial sweetener – that’s how little fentanyl it takes to kill someone. NBC 7 Investigates analyzed county data and uncovered fentanyl deaths rocketed by more than 200% in 2020. We are now on pace to surpass 1,000 deaths this year – to put that in perspective, 151 San Diegans died from fentanyl in 2019. “Those…
DOING THE RIGHT THING – June 18, 2021 – College freshman year at the University of Georgia, the physical appearance of the classical piano major deteriorated (weight gain, ungroomed, Garfield eyes), but Gus made straight As. By sophomore year, Gus couldn’t manage his drug use and stated, “I totally bailed on college. I would skip class, miss projects, sleep until 1 p.m., smoke, take ADHD meds to balance, make music, eat, smoke, watch TV, hang with friends, smoke, watch YouTube, hang in my dealer’s dorm room, and pass out. I was a mess and wasting my creativity, intellect and ambition.”…
EDUCATION IS EVERYTHING – June 18, 2021 – At the same time, there are gaping racial disparities in access to the addiction care community that itself suffers from a dearth of diversity nationwide. “Substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders do not discriminate across race, age, creed, gender or nationality, and it is vital to provide care that represents and reflects all of the people who need and may seek help,” said Ahmed Eid, director of Hazelden Betty Ford’s treatment center in Naples, Fla.; co-chair of its national Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; and alumnus of the Hazelden Betty…
WATCH – LOVE AT FIRST CHIP – June 19, 2021 – A Louisville man really raised the bar when it comes to wedding proposals by making his into a movie. Sam Foree surprised his fiancé Katie Shircliffe at the Cinemark Theater in Springhurst with the story of their love and life playing out on the big screen … As she settled into a front row seat in the theater and the previews came to a close, a familiar graphic appeared on the screen, “CK Entertainment Services,” the name of the company Foree works under. “I’ve spent my whole life running…
SANITY IN SHORT SUPPLY – June 19, 2021 -Under the drug war model that has shaped the country’s response to drug addiction since the 1970s, people who use illegal drugs are often treated as criminals. Many of the nation’s top drug addiction researchers say evidence is now clear that approach doesn’t work. “The best outcomes come when you treat the substance use disorder [as a medical condition] as opposed to criminalizing that person and putting them in jail or prison,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, who has been head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 2003. In parts…
LISTEN – STRANGE MIRACLE – June 19, 2021 – He found enough temporary work to pay rent on a room, ate at soup kitchens, and stole and resold goods for cash. “Feeding that addiction,” he says. “Feeding that monster.” We’re only using Will’s first name because future landlords or employers might not take him based on his record. One morning almost three years ago, with no heroin and no money to buy any, Will went into withdrawal. This former basketball player, once in top shape, dragged himself down the street searching for a deal. He had some crack that he…
LISTEN – LIFE IMITATES ART IMITATES LIFE – June 18, 2021 – David Simon created two of TV’s most groundbreaking series about the failure of the war on drugs, set in the neighborhoods of Baltimore: HBO’s The Corner and The Wire. Still, even as he allows that those shows — with their visceral look at the intersection of race, policing, violence and tragedy — may have helped people question five decades of failed drug policy, Simon says he remains a “cockeyed pessimist” on the question of whether the war will ever end. The way most American TV shows depict…
AND SO MUCH MORE – June 20, 2021 – Clinics across the globe are offering ketamine infusions designed to help patients overcome addiction, and reduce the symptoms of psychiatric disorders. It’s making a controversial treatment choice, partly because this drug is commonly abused by recreational users — it holds the ability to make people feel dreamlike and detached, as well as relaxed and euphoric. The UK’s first publicly accessible ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic — Awakn — opened in Bristol recently. Grounded in medicine, it’s run by trained professionals including a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist and several research scientists. For a charge of…
MUSICAL INTERLUDE – From ‘Laura – Laura Nyro Live at the Bottom Line’ Released in 1989 on Cypress Records. more@YouTube
WATCH – HELPING HELPS EVERYONE – JUNE 12, 2021 – “I was like the old song goes, ‘I was looking for love in all the wrong places.’ I was from a family of nine children, and my mom and dad worked constantly, you know, to keep a roof over our head, to keep food in our bellies. And so, I wasn’t getting the attention I was looking for at home, so I started to look for it outside of the house. You know, the people that were doing the wrong things, the kids that were into the wrong stuff…
GETTING IT ALL OUT – June 17, 2021 – Real Housewives of Beverly Hills newcomer Crystal Kung Minkoff bravely detailed her past struggles with disordered eating on the most recent episode of the hit Bravo series. “I’m a recovering bulimic,” she told the ladies at Richards’ election-night party. “And I say recovering because I don’t know what it’s like to be any other thing.” The co-founder of Real Coco — a coconut-based food and beverage company — detailed that she began her struggles with eating and how she felt about her body when she was just 11. She explained…
QUITTING IS THE CURE – ORIGINAL ARTICLE – June 21, 2021 – Is calling addiction a disease more harmful than helpful? It’s complicated … but the answer is Yes. To disease, or not to disease? In addiction circles, that is still the controversial question, despite its official, decades-long recognition as such by the American Medical Association (AMA). The concept of alcoholism (and through it addiction) being a disease dates back centuries, and began to gain prominence in the 19th Century. In part due to the unprecedented success the then-two-decade-old Alcoholics Anonymous was showing in helping sufferers achieve and maintain…
LISTEN – REALITY – June 18, 2021 – The measure, a major victory for advocates pushing for systemic change in U.S. drug policy, expands funding and access to addiction treatment services using tax revenue from the state’s pot industry as well as from expected savings from a reduction in arrests and incarceration. For years Oregon has ranked near the top of states with the highest rates of drug and alcohol addiction and near the very bottom nationally in access to recovery services. And while critics everywhere have long called the drug war a racist, inhumane fiasco that fails to deliver…
I BELIEVE HIM – June 13, 2021 – People with low levels of vitamin D might be at an increased risk for opioid dependence or addiction — and the deficit could be fixed with cheap and accessible supplements, a new Massachusetts General Hospital study indicates. “Our results suggests that we may have an opportunity in the public health arena to influence the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. David Fisher, director of the MGH Cancer Center’s melanoma program and an author of the study published Friday. Fisher and his colleagues found that vitamin D deficiency strongly increases the craving for opioids, potentially…
LISTEN – ALL OF THE ABOVE? – June 17, 2021 – For the past nine months, citizens have attempted to learn more and have a two-way dialogue with members of the City Council. They have felt increasingly frustrated that council policy allows only three minutes of citizen comments at any one time, with no responses by City Council members. “During the hearing examiner process, the City Council told the citizens that, on advice of counsel, they could not speak about the detox matter because it was out of their hands,” said Lewallen. “They said they had no influence over…
WATCH – OH HOW THEY LOVE THE BUZZ – June 15, 2021 – Researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences observed that when access to the solution was discontinued, the bees exhibited a “marked” increase of consumption of ethanol as well as a slight in crease in mortality, according to the study. The bees would then willingly consume sugar solutions with alcohol concentrations as high as 20% and then display behaviors similar to alcohol-intoxicated humans, including impaired locomotion, foraging and learning, researchers said. The results of the study demonstrated that the worker bees could develop a dependence on alcohol,…
BUT ONLY 12 STEPS TO FREEDOM – June 18, 2021 – 1. Measure your drinks. “The first step is to understand how much you’re actually drinking,” says Katie Witkiewitz, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico and author of the 2019 study, “Advances in the Science and Treatment of Alcohol Use” in Science Advances. A standard glass of wine is 5 ounces, which contains about 12% alcohol. A shot of distilled spirits like vodka is 1.5 ounces and equally 40% alcohol. One 12-ounce can of beer contains about 5% alcohol, and a standard glass of sherry is…
IT’S A MYSTERY – June 17, 2021 – Mike said that this high win, combined with the difficulties he was facing in his personal life and marriage, led to an addictive gambling cycle. He became in charge of millions of dollars. Soon, he started trading money that did not belong to him, hoping that his first success would be repeated. “The first time I took it, I lost it all in about 20 minutes one night. The market moved very rapidly, and I liquidated everything. It was about 2 am. I went back to bed and had to lie…
UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT OF CARING – June 16, 2021 – From the suit: “During the week of February 24, 2020, The Bridge failed to conduct any drug testing of Meredith Cortesis. During the week of February 24, 2020, The Bridge failed to properly and adequately monitor the whereabouts of Meredith Cortesis. No check of Meredith Cortesis was conducted by Defendants on Saturday, February 29, 2020 or the evening of Friday, February 28, 2020. On March 1, 2020, at 3 p.m., Meredith Cortesis was found dead in the Mizner Apartments residence provided by The Bridge.” Reveals the suit: “Based upon…