Will He Outlaw Marijuana? – Dec. 18, 2020 – He would also help to coordinate domestic and international policing efforts, a role that requires collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration, military, postal service, and federal law enforcement. Though the position has received little attention during the Trump administration, whoever holds it is nominally the country’s highest-ranking drug policy official. “I have no shame in saying it: I believe I could do better than anyone else,” Kennedy said in an interview with STAT. “I see this as a historic turning point for mental health and addiction. The headlines may be…
Author: Leonard Buschel
Voting for Sobriety – Dec. 20, 2020 – To get to this point, he first faced a grim reality. “For me, alcohol is going to lead me to one of two places: dead or in jail,” Velis said he realized. “Simple as that.” Velis chose a third path: recovery. He last had a drink on February 19, 2017. In a lengthy interview with CommonWealth, conducted via Zoom due to the pandemic, Velis told his story publicly for the first time. For nearly an hour and a half, Velis talked candidly about his struggles with alcoholism, the importance of mentors…
WATCH – Transformational – Dec. 17, 2020 – It begins with the bassist discussing his gear and his musical relationship to bandmates Scott ‘Flip’ Phillips, Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy, but soon takes a personal turn as Marshall details how close he came to ruining his career with alcohol and drugs. Marshall rarely gives interviews, but made an exception to explain in his own words how he began abusing alcohol as a young man and how he finally got treatment. “My life was changed overnight, essentially, in my early-20s, and that’s a lot for someone to handle,” he recalled. “I…
Families heal together – Dec. 20, 2020 – Actor Rob Lowe’s son John Lowe has fought for sobriety in silence for years, but now he’s opened up about his battle against addiction. John Lowe, 25, is the youngest son of 80s icon, Rob Lowe, best known for his work in movies like “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “The Hotel New Hampshire,” and “About Last Night… “ Fans got to know John as Joel Zadak in his father’s series “The Grinder,” but what no one knew was that the young man had been battling alcohol addiction for years. more@AmoMama
WATCH – It’s Christmas – GIVE IT AWAY – Dec. 20, 2020 – Anthony Kiedis’ detailed account of Nina Hagen’s colorful appearance accurately captures what made the international punk rocker such a unique force throughout the 1980’s. A product of West Berlin’s musical epicenter, Kreuzberg, she made her hard rock debut in the self-formed Nina Hagen Band. Hagen was immediately noticed for her weirdly exaggerated vocal style. Hagen eventually branched out from her home country of Berlin, recording the English album Nunsexmonkrock and other American hits, “Zahra” and “New York, New York.” Performing, for Nina Hagen, was about theater…
Save the Country … Music – Dec. 18, 2020 – Gilbert’s battle with substance abuse began soon after he graduated from high school, in Jefferson, Georgia. As the son of a Baptist preacher, the singer had a religious upbringing. But in his teen years, he developed a fondness for liquor, which expanded into an affection for various pills — which evolved into his casual consumption of opiates. “I remember always making sure I had them,” he told PEOPLE. At 19, Gilbert survived a nearly fatal car accident, which was the result of drinking while driving. The incident became the driving…
by Lily Dulan, MFT MEDIA: Book Recommendation – DEC. 2020 – “…In a world where so many people are hurting, we need honest, authentic voices speaking their truth and sharing their stories of overcoming with others. Lili’s book provides us with a valuable tool to help heal, grow, transform and reach our highest potential. I look forward to sharing this tool with others in the mental wellness community.” —Metta World Peace, NBA Champion and Mental Wellness advocate “Death and loss are potent experiences that can overwhelm a person for life. This could have been the fate of Lily Dulan after…
Subcutaneous injection once a week – Dec. 18, 2020 – Camurus AB (NASDAQ STO: CAMX) announced today that the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, Swissmedic, has approved weekly and monthly Buvidal® prolonged release buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence in adults and adolescents from 16 years of age. This marks the first approval of a long-acting treatment for opioid dependence in Switzerland. Buvidal is a long-acting buprenorphine medication given as a subcutaneous injection once a week or once a month. In clinical studies, the treatment has proven to be effective in reducing illicit opioid use, alleviating opioid withdrawal…
Make it Free? – DEC. 16, 2020 – “SADLY, THE DRUG OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC CONTINUES, AND IT HAS BECOME MORE COMPLICATED DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC,” SAID PATRICE A. HARRIS, M.D., M.A., CHAIR OF THE AMA OPIOID TASK FORCE. “IT IS LONG PAST DUE FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO CARE AND ADDRESS SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO LIGHT DURING THIS PANDEMIC. PHYSICIANS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE ACTION, AND THE AMA IS WILLING TO WORK WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO IMPLEMENT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS.” “The recommendations laid out in this year’s analysis…
Sow the seeds of success – Dec. 17, 2020 – “It’s not uncommon for farmers to go over to a neighbor’s house and have a beer,” he said, and while that’s “not a bad thing” in moderation, “I went from occasionally having drinks with friends to isolating myself from everybody and drinking as much as I possibly could, having alcohol in my system 24 hours a day.” Though his drinking escalated quickly during times of extreme stress, Klabunde said, he was still able to continue operating the farm and doing advocacy work with the Minnesota Farmers Union, working out…
You are what you eat – Nov. 19, 2020 – “Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.” The leading cause of both death, disability, and disease within the United States is diet. Bon appetite… Nov. 19, 2020 – We’re going to start by ignoring the fact that grapefruit and pomegranates are not even on the list. Mostly, I just really liked the image, but feel free to add those fruits to your list anyway — they’re incredibly healthy, too! I suppose eating 15 different foods every day (or 17 if you’re counting…
Heaven’s Overcrowding… – Dec. 19, 2020 – The crisis fueled by the powerful painkiller fentanyl could have been far worse if it wasn’t for the nearly 3,000 times Narcan was used from January to the beginning of November to save someone from the brink of death, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. The data reflects the number of times people report using Narcan to the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education Project, a city-funded program that coordinates San Francisco’s response to overdose, or return to refill their supply. Officials at the DOPE Project said that since the numbers are self-reported,…
Praise for the eBulletin – Nov. 11, 2020 – Driving his Volvo home one night from his job at a Los Angeles rehab, Leonard experienced a life-changing event. Without warning, a distracted driver in an SUV ran a red light and T-boned Leonard’s car, sending it flying through the air. He did not realize this near-death experience was the beginning of his new life. Given a well-deserved insurance settlement, he took the funds, paid off some of his debts, bought tickets to a few plays and concerts, and hired an attorney to form a 501-C3 non-profit organization called Writers In…
Madness of America – Dec. 18, 2020 – New York City struggled and then regained its footing after becoming the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring. Like the rest of the United States, it is again experiencing a spike in the number of new cases, increased hospitalizations, and deaths. The first vaccines have now gone into the arms of American essential care workers, but the pandemic will continue to inflict disease and death on thousands more citizens over the next few months. New York City is a bellwether for the United States as social isolation and economic despair…
Crime pays, for a while – Dec. 16, 2020 – The defendants “specifically recruit boosters who are opioid addicts and who use the proceeds of their ‘sales’ to purchase illegal drugs,” IRS special agent Giulio Scoccia wrote in each criminal complaint. “This easy access to cash has increased the demand for and use of opioids in the community, thereby fueling the current opioid crisis.” In many instances, Tribunella and Shadders provided lists of desirable items to boosters, or people recruited to steal for the scheme, Scoccia wrote. The 36-page criminal complaint affidavit filed against Tribunella and Shadders outlined the tactics…
LISTEN – I wish this was fake news – Dec. 18, 2020 – Rick Ganley: Yeah, and per your reporting this week, clients and staff say a lot of this could have been prevented if the company had just been prepared for it. Lauren Choolijan: Yeah, exactly. And I should say more tips have been coming into my inbox ever since the story came out. And I also want to add that Granite Recovery Center CEO Eric Spofford has said that his company has been complying with CDC guidelines since the beginning of the pandemic. Granite Recovery Centers is the…
WHY? – Dec. 17, 2020 – The primary driver behind the record-breaking numbers appeared to be the use of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which increased 38.4%. Of 38 U.S. jurisdictions with available synthetic opioid data, 37 reported increases in synthetic opioid-involved overdose deaths. In 18 of these jurisdictions, the increase was greater than 50%. Ten Western states reported a more than 98% increase in synthetic opioid-involved deaths, the researchers said. “We must continue to focus our efforts on prevention and treatment for opioid use disorder, including ready access to naloxone for all people who receive an opiate prescription,” said…
Holiday Fun – 2015 – So, you’ve got your score. Now what? First, remember that the ACE score isn’t a crystal ball; it’s just meant as guidance. It tells you about one type of risk factor among many. It doesn’t directly take into account your diet or genes, or whether you smoke or drink excessively — to name just a few of the other major influences on health. To learn more, check the CDC’s ACE Study website. You’ll find, among other things, a list of studies that explore the ways adverse childhood experiences have been linked to a variety of…
WATCH – Music soothes the savage addiction – December 18, 2020 – Katie Crutchfield grew up in Alabama and lives in Kansas City, but the story behind Saint Cloud, her fifth and best album as Waxahatchee, begins in Barcelona. That’s where Crutchfield decided to get sober, right in the middle of touring her previous album, 2017’s Out In The Storm. It’s a story Crutchfield told countless times this year while promoting Saint Cloud, a story that has become intertwined with the record’s surrounding narrative of recent sobriety. “I had gone back and forth a lot about my substance issues,”…
LISTEN – Great share! – Dec. 18, 2020 – Sir Elton John spoke with Terry Gross after the publication of his memoir, ‘Me.’ The book was pretty forthcoming about family, addiction and sexuality, and so was the conversation. A new CD box set collects rarities, demos, B-sides and fan favorites from his long career. more@NPR
“We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.” —Hildegard of Bingen
WATCH – America should do one… – Dec. 9, 2020 – Ten Australians fighting their addictions. What does it take to change a life? New series, Addicted Australia. We gain extraordinary access to the lives of a group of Australians and their families as they confront their addiction head on. Signed up to a unique six-month treatment program, we follow their heart wrenching journey from despair to hope and possible recovery. more@SBS
WATCH – The sumptuousness of sobriety – Dec. 7, 2020 -The recovery center offers a non-clinical approach to the problem of drug and alcohol dependence by using the 12 steps. “Hard things happen in life, but we develop those tools on how to be okay in here, regardless of what happens out here,” said White. “We learn how to adjust our sails to the wind. We can’t adjust the wind.” In a release, the Sereno Ridge team described the center: The expansive 16,500 sq. ft. facility features resort-style amenities, including an indoor heated pool, fitness center, chef-prepared meals, spacious…
War on Addicts! – Dec. 10, 2020 – But there’s also fallout from alcohol and even second-hand smoking. Both these legal drugs often have unwanted side effects on the individual who chooses to use them. We deal with alcohol and tobacco in a completely different way than the way we treat illegal drugs. We consider them a health issue – unless someone is assaulted or run over because the offender was drunk – yet still, the offender is not arrested for using alcohol per se but for the consequences of its use. Somehow we still continue treating illicit drug use…
Creep of the Week – Dec. 9, 2020 – He took particular interest in his younger patients who were struggling with substance abuse and prescribed them powerful narcotics in exchange for sexual favors, officials said. “These patients were all under the age of 40 and wouldn’t normally be treated by a geriatric care physician,” according to prosecutors. “Many of these patients were dealing with pain and addiction, and instead of getting help from their doctor, they were drawn deeper into the cycle of drug abuse,” said New Jersey US Attorney Craig Carpenito in a statement. The Drug Enforcement Administration began…
Voice of recovery – December 8, 2020 – If you had told me 15 years ago that I would grow up to be an IV-using, heroin-addicted shell of a person, I would have never believed you. I grew up in a devoutly religious family. We were homeschooled, raised with morals, values and manners. We were shielded from the darkness of the world outside. As the middle child of eight children, it was quite often that I was able to slide under the radar, the attention never being on me (which always served me quite well). I obviously never intended…
Happy. Sober. Free! – December 2020 – Learn secrets on how to cultivate freedom, confidence, joy and abundance in sobriety! Free online show! Hosted by Emily Killeen. more@HappySoberFree
What a wonderful way to live! – Dec. 13, 2020 – The spot — part of CRI-Help’s “Fight” campaign — debuts on the eve of the center’s 50th anniversary and is aimed at raising awareness around substance abuse recovery. It arrives during the holiday season, a time known to be challenging for some struggling with drug and alcohol addictions, not to mention during a global pandemic that has increased isolation and fueled financial insecurity for many Americans. Says CRI-Help COO Brandon Fernandez, “The physical and emotional triggers often imbued in this time of year can lead to increases in drug…
One soul helping another… – Dec. 9, 2020 – At first, he said, the politicians saw his priest’s collar and dismissed him as just another do-gooder but, after presenting them with the cost of incarceration, he got some attention and support. “I proved it was cost-effective,” Young said in 2008. “That’s how I got credibility,” and, eventually, “after years of work, Young won support for decriminalizing alcoholism,” The Enterprise editorialized in 2012. That’s what enabled people to get help: When they no longer had to admit to being a criminal to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, Young said. Father Young “spawned a…
It works if you work it… – Dec. 10, 2020 – For a study funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Vest and his colleagues examined assessments on 406 people diagnosed with both mental illness and substance use disorder over a 15-month period. Assessments were made when the participants were checked into a psychiatric facility and repeated three months, nine months, and 15 months later. Participants stayed in a facility for an average of a week. In their analysis, the researchers found that almost 90% of participants had cut their alcohol use by 50% or more and had…