Here comes the knight – Nov. 27, 2020 – Tevis, originally from San Francisco, learned to play chess as a young boy but fell ill at the age of eight. He was put in a nursing home and abandoned by his parents, who moved across the country to Kentucky, reports The Ringer. In The Queen’s Gambit, we watch as eight-year-old Beth is put in an orphanage and becomes addicted to the tranquilisers she and the other girls are forced to take. Similarly, Tevis was drugged with sedatives when he was left in the nursing home as a child. He…
Author: Leonard Buschel
And to stay alive – Nov. 23, 2020 – Everyone knows that tobacco causes cancer, and severe dental problems can happen due to the use of methamphetamine. It is common to hear about deaths occurring due to drug overuse, especially for those who take opioids for pain relief. Some drugs like inhalants can destroy or damage nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system or the brain. The threat of infections is also high for those addicted to drugs as sharing of injection equipment increases the chances of contracting HIV or hepatitis C, both of which are deadly diseases. Injecting drugs…
SPEED KILLS – Nov. 23, 2020 – Hadland says while there are few options to treat stimulant addiction, efforts to deal with the opioid epidemic should make special consideration of young people and other drugs. “Efforts can be improved by broadening the scope of treatment — which is often focused on opioids and medications to treat them, and to ensure that clinicians are also helping youth set goals around reducing their stimulant use,” according to Hadland. “In some cases, youth use stimulants because they have ADHD or other mental health problems, and addressing these underlying problems will help youth reduce…
How to Recover In Iambic Pentameter – November 28, 2020 – Everything that I loved, I cared about no more, A vast of emptiness, I tried again and again to ignore. Drugs and alcohol were my escape, One of its many forms is avoidance, but addicts don’t notice its shape. Drugs and alcohol gave me numbing,Little did I know, more trauma and pain was forthcoming.I did not expect sobriety to come knocking at my door, Transformed into a loud pounding as I slid down towards the floor. Holding myself crying in defeat, Sobriety promised me one day I will feel…
As the Rich Get Richer, The Poor Get Dead – Nov. 27, 2020 – When Purdue Pharma agreed last month to plead guilty to criminal charges involving OxyContin, the Justice Department noted the role an unidentified consulting company had played in driving sales of the addictive painkiller even as public outrage grew over widespread overdoses. Documents released last week in a federal bankruptcy court in New York show that the adviser was McKinsey & Company, the world’s most prestigious consulting firm. The 160 pages include emails and slides revealing new details about McKinsey’s advice to the Sackler family, Purdue’s…
The Opiate of the Masses is Opioids – November 28, 2020 – More than 70 public health organizations in a Tuesday letter to Biden urged him to elevate the head of the White House drug office into his Cabinet, citing an “unprecedented addiction crisis.” The position, also known as the nation’s “drug czar” — a term Biden coined nearly 40 years ago — was added to the Cabinet by President George W. Bush but was removed by Obama shortly after he took office. The Office of National Drug Control Policy was largely sidelined by political staff during Trump’s first…
As Guilty as Josef Mengele – Nov. 24, 2020 – Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal charges, formally admitting its role in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past two decades. In a virtual hearing with a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, the OxyContin maker admitted impeding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts to combat the addiction crisis. Purdue acknowledged that it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market, even though it had told the DEA it did have…
High or Low Bottom Line – November 28, 2020 – “They intoxicate themselves with work so they won’t see how they really are.” —Aldous Huxley. The end result of these differing work styles may look the same from the outside—an unbalanced life dominated by long hours at the office—but each face expresses a different set of emotional vulnerabilities. The broad umbrella of work addiction is only a starting point. If you’re a relentless or dyed-in-the-wool work addict, you’re distinguished by high work initiation and high work completion. You work compulsively and constantly day and night, holidays and weekends, regardless of…
Discomfort Zone – November 24, 2020 – Rather than getting mad at herself for going backward on her sobriety journey, Cyrus used the opportunity to figure out what caused the setback. “One of the things I’ve used is, ‘Don’t get furious, get curious,’” she said. “Don’t be mad at yourself, but ask yourself, ‘What happened?’ To me, it was a f*#k-up because I’m not a moderation person.” The singer went on to explain that while she doesn’t have a drinking problem, sobriety is important to her because she doesn’t like her mindset under the influence of alcohol and prefers to…
Marshalling His Courage – November 27, 2020 – Brandon Marshall caught 970 passes for 12,351 yards and 83 touchdowns, owns an NFL record with 21 receptions in one game and played in six Pro Bowls during a remarkable 13-year career in the NFL. His proudest accomplishment came when he sought help for mental illness. “I have to go back to when I first realized that football wasn’t my purpose but that was my platform and that was on the campus of McLean Hospital in 2011,” Marshall said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder,…
Scrolling for Sanity – November 27, 2020 – The thought of joining TikTok last year made clinical psychologist Julie Smith apprehensivAs the video-sharing app’s popularity was surging in late 2019, it was better known for viral dancing clips than as a place to find a therapist. Initially, it took Smith some time to get used to the app — the thought of being seen on social media was “a discomfort” she had to sit with. The impact of Smith’s work on TikTok goes far beyond the numbers. Although she doesn’t offer therapy directly via the app, she offers regular…
WATCH – From way down, to marriage, work and sobriety – Nov. 26, 2020 – “I got sober right before COVID hit.” As addiction rates began soaring during the pandemic, he kept moving forward. “I told myself this is going to be hard, but I can do it,” Lewis said. Lewis graduated college and started a career. On 10/10/2020, he also married the love of his life. “This will also be our first Thanksgiving as a married couple,” Lewis said. Lewis says he has a lot to be thankful for. “I am thankful for my wife, thankful for my parents,…
WATCH – Darn, missed this – Nov. 29, 2020 – He refers to that incident and his subsequent time in drug courts as having saved his life. Sharing his experiences in chatter between tunes during The Beacon Jams raised “over $1 million” according to a representative who spoke to Vanity Fair. Some of the songs performed at The Beacon Jams appeared on Anastasio’s so-called “quarantine” album Lonely Trip, which he recorded in isolation from his apartment on New York’s Upper West Side before unleashing very home-brewed videos on Instagram this spring. But other songs went back to the earliest…
“I’ve gone to look for myself. If i should return before I get back, keep me here” —Barbara Johnson
Robot notices you watched Drugstore Cowboy 106 times – Nov. 19, 2020 – Researchers have used machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to develop a prediction model for the early diagnosis of opioid use disorder. The model was generated from information in a commercial claim database from 2006 through 2018 of 10 million medical insurance claims from 550,000 patient records. It relied on data such as demographics, chronic conditions, diagnoses and procedures, and medication prescriptions. The tool led to a diagnosis of opioid use disorder that was on average 14.4 months earlier than it was diagnosed clinically. “Opioid…
In this case, it is Black and White – Nov. 11, 2020 – Here’s some of what the research shows: They are disproportionately sent to jail or prison for addiction-related crimes. In the federal system, for example, the risk of incarceration for someone who uses drugs monthly and is Black is more than 7 times that of their white counterpart. (An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Treatment of Black Americansin the Criminal Justice System, Vera Institute of Justice.) Latino people are imprisoned at a rate that is 1.4 times the rate of whites. (The Sentencing Project: “The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in State…
Thank you for not sharing – Nov. 14, 2020 – “I gave in to my craving and watched porn,” he said. Silence. What exactly is one supposed to say? “Thanks for being so honest and transparent with me”? All I wanted to do was scream and yell like a child, “Nooo! It’s not fair!” “I need to be transparent with you.” Just a few words and my entire world felt like it was caving in. Crushing me. Again. My hopes, my dreams, my trust … shattered. Anger. Sadness. Loneliness filling its place. I was 24 years old, married for 4…
For citizens unafraid to die – Nov. 17, 2020 – Naloxone access matters during a pandemic more than ever. The opioid epidemic, which claims the lives of over 130 Americans daily, has drastically intensified as the country also deals with COVID-19. Nationally, suspected overdoses—not all of them fatal—spiked 18 percent this March compared with last year, and nearly 30 percent in April and 42 percent in May. In some jurisdictions, the numbers are even more alarming. King County, Washington, for example, which includes Seattle, has seen synthetic opioid-related fatalities skyrocket by 133 percent in the second quarter of this…
Sadness for the fallen – Nov. 7, 2020 – Under the proposal, the staff would also be able to educate clients about harm-reducing practices, like protecting themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, and provide referrals to other support and recovery services. In the years before his death, Harvey faced arrest many times for distributing clean syringes to people in the community. In 2019, he turned his focus to Augusta, where he became involved with the Coalition for Sensible Drug Policy, a group of organizations backing legislation introduced by state Rep. Mike Sylvester (D-Portland) to pilot two overdose prevention sites…
WATCH – Service with a smile – Nov. 11, 2020 – More recently, having a tough time making ends meet during the pandemic, the 66-year-old says the VA trust fund paid his rent for six months and DTE paid his electricity. “Through the grace of God, they provided me with a lot of help,” said Johnson. Major Kwesi Betserai says Wayne County veteran services aims to provide immediate financial relief to honorably discharged veterans, like Johnson, who live in the county. “And so we’re set up to help those veterans receive rent payments, mortgage payments, car payments, car repairs,”…
Doctors know best? – Nov. 17, 2020 – In the group of children prescribed polypharmacy regimens, antipsychotics increased from 38.3% of the children in 1999-2004 to 75% of the children in 2011-2015. The percentage of children prescribed mood stabilizers decreased from 61.2% to 37.98% over the same time period. Antidepressant use fell slightly, from 71.3% at the first time point to 64.2% in the most recent measurement. The most common drug class being prescribed, though, was stimulants (such as Adderall and Ritalin), which peaked in the 2005-2010 time period at 82.1% before falling slightly to 78.1% most recently. At all…
Going to any lengthening – Nov. 16, 2020 – But since the pandemic, I’ve found myself searching for something that goes beyond the endorphin rush I get from my regular strength-training routine. Suddenly, I’m unable to follow a narrative anymore or get to that deep calm place during my morning meditation. There’s also a new constant ache in my lower back, and I keep getting headaches in the evenings from all of the Zoom calls. So I turned to the experts and agreed to expand my ideas about stretching for five whole days. Here’s what I learned about how…
White Powder Warning – Nov. 20, 2020 – Since Nov. 12, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office has confirmed three overdose deaths among workers in the restaurant and bar industry. The city’s Department of Public Health could not confirm the number of nonfatal overdoses. Herens, who has worked at Black Sheep Pub and Restaurant in Center City for nearly a decade, also held the post of harm reduction “czar” for the city health department, where she helped those who use drugs do so safely. If anyone was uniquely positioned to handle this particular tragedy, it was Herens. She teamed up with…
Orphan Maker – Nov. 19, 2020 – During her sentencing, which the Dothan Eagle was present for, Murrah was confronted by parents who’d lost custody of their children because of drug test results she’d doctored. According to the Eagle, District Attorney Kirke Adams said that Murrah needed to go to prison because of all the suffering she had caused. “She has committed a fraud upon the whole court system,” Adams emphasized. Speaking to the judge prior to sentencing, Murrah acknowledged, “I know I did wrong,” before apologizing for her crimes. “I’ve done a lot of things wrong in my life,”…
Not to be mistaken for “The Purge” on FOX and Friends – NOVEMBER 21, 2020 – Currently streaming on Netflix, The Crown‘s fourth season has been garnering a lot of attention, more than any of its previous seasons. The show, based on the inner life and world of the British royal family, explores the life of the late Princess Diana in Season 4, and what may have led to her fallout with the family and most importantly, her husband Prince Charles. While a section of the audience is convinced that the show, created by Peter Morgan, is authentic, others believe…
WATCH – Everyone Saved Him a Padded Seat – Nov. 20, 2020 – Connor finished his 4500 mile ride Friday, pedaling into Santa Monica, California. After a congratulatory hug and some photos, he raced down the beach and dove into the Pacific Ocean. more@CBSBoston
WATCH – Exploitation for Fun and Fortune – Nov. 22, 2020 – The show is actually a documentary that features people who just can’t stop doing what can be considered extremely unusual things. Their behavior is pretty compulsive, and it ranges from out of the ordinary to downright unheard of. The show premiered on TLC on December 29, 2010, and ran for 6 seasons, drawing in millions of viewers to see what weird behavior was being featured in every new episode. According to IMDb, those featured on My Strange Addiction had habits that were obsessive, and they met with professionals…
The English Perspective – Nov. 19, 2020 – I run a Twitter and Instagram account called Secret Drug Addict that offers support and signposting for anyone affected by addiction and mental health issues. I opened up my direct messages on Twitter some years back out of frustration, watching austerity cripple the services that supported me all those years ago. I’m pretty safe in the knowledge that I have a solid foundation in my sobriety. I committed that journey 13 years ago when I walked into my first 12-step meeting. That doesn’t make me evangelical or cocky. I just know exactly what I…
Shining Brighter Than Ever – November 19, 2020 – No longer willing to put up with the abuse, Jewel moved off her family’s homestead at age 15 and into a cabin of her own. When she left home, Jewel, now 46, says she was determined not to hold a grudge against her father despite everything she had been through. “I was determined to heal: to let go, move on and figure out how I could be the one who changed those habits,” she says. Jewel credits the meditation and mindfulness practices — which she first started developing at age 18…
Stick with the Winners! – November 20, 2020 – Joan Borsten Vidov was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her mother was one of the Navy’s first female officers (then known as WAVES. Her father had a long career in the entertainment industry. Joan graduated UC Berkeley with a degree in comparative literature, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama, and received a graduate degree from USC in bi-lingual education. She worked as a journalist from 1974-1985, first for Israel’s English language daily “The Jerusalem Post.” She was a regular contributor to the LA Times Calendar (Entertainment) section. In…