Shuffle Bored – October 14, 2019 – In February, 2017, I stepped off a plane in Tampa, drunk and dope-sick. I was twenty-four, and for the past eight years I had been shooting up heroin, cocaine, and all manner of pills: Dilaudid, Opana, OxyContin, Desoxyn, Ritalin. Now I was on my way to River Oaks, an addiction-treatment center, where I would spend the next forty-five days. River Oaks was on a gated campus, surrounded by a small forest with trails running through it. I was withdrawing from heroin and benzodiazepines at the time, and mornings were the worst: I woke…
Author: Leonard Buschel
“There are never enough I Love You’s.” —Lenny Bruce
Side Boob Effect – Oct. 9, 2019 – Murray’s award is the largest to date among more than 13,000 lawsuits against the company — claiming that Risperdal caused a condition called gynecomastia in boys, involving enlargement of breast tissue, MarketWatch reported. The mountain of suits generally allege that the company was aware of that specific risk, but understated it to doctors, according to the report. Back in 2015, Murray won a $680,000 compensatory award over those same claims. A jury had awarded him $1.75 million, which a state appeals court later reduced. “This jury, as have other juries in other…
PARENTS & THEIR CHILDREN – A Must See! Monday, October 14 @ 5pm, Laemmle NoHo (2018) UPDATED version – Explores the impact of social medial and screen time on young people’s mental and emotional well being. Director Delaney Ruston. 69 min. “Screenagers is an unusually evocative film that is a must see for anyone with or without children. Having seen it in a theater with 200 parents I was particularly interested in viewer reactions. The film stimulated viewers to draw on their own experiences and seek out different strategies for handling what they saw as a real problem.” IN PERSON: Don Grant…
Leap Frog – September 28, 2019 – Users, such as Pall, score the extremely rare resin by hiring foreign shamans, often from Mexico, who travel throughout the US distributing it at ceremonies that cost $200 to $500 a head. Recently, 21 people in white robes gathered at a mansion in the Hamptons to smoke the substance with the same shaman that Pall used. While someone beat a drum in the background, the leader read a prayer about love and held the pipe up to each guest’s lips. “Some people moaned, cried or convulsed on their backs,” said one attendee who…
2019 LA REEL Recovery Film Festival – New York Times: The film casts Taron Egerton as the flamboyant Mr. John (who has said he is retiring). The clip serves up familiar-feeling scenes of stadium concerts, recording sessions, drunken debauchery, and swimming-pool shenanigans. But it also hints at a surrealistic tone with lavish dance numbers and a scene in which Mr. Egerton literally starts to levitate during his rendition of the title tune. VIEW “Fittingly Surreal” TRAILER HERE $10 Tickets HERE
Safe Proofing Residences – Sep. 30, 2019 – Friends have dragged Nic Atamaniuk back from the edge of death from drug overdoses at least 30 times in the past few years. Each time, they gave him a shot of Narcan, the OD reversal drug. Each time, the culprit was too much fentanyl in his hit of heroin, Atamaniuk said. He hasn’t needed that shot of Narcan since moving into the Minna Lee single-room-occupancy hotel a year ago, ending years of homelessness and stabilizing on methadone to combat his craving. But everywhere he looks — in his and other SROs, in…
Grief and Gratitude – Oct. 1, 2019 – Once a sober friend is gone, the best way to process that loss is to celebrate the positive. Rather than focusing on the loss, talk about what that person gave to others and their memorable qualities. My sober friend always made a point to offer a seat next to him to newcomers. He made everyone feel welcome. Today, I do my best to maintain that loving legacy by doing what he did. I keep his smile and his love alive by going outside of my comfort zone, following his example, and acting…
OPINION – September 29, 2019 – How we talk about addiction and substance use matters. It affects our understanding of these conditions and how we view people who have them. Language like “junkies” and “drunks” not only connotes a certain type of extreme that’s not true for everyone who has a substance use disorder, but it’s also stigmatizing. This is why, in 2017, the Associated Press recommended eliminating certain words on this subject and replacing them with more accurate, less stigmatizing ones. Full Story @Healthline
Governmental Population Control? – Oct. 2, 2019 – The agency’s production quota for oxycodone, for instance, jumped about five times between 2002 and 2013. The agency cut the quota by 25 percent in 2017. But by then, the number of people dying from overdoses of commonly prescribed opioids had reached a nearly two-decade high. The 77-page report paints a damning image of an agency that was slow to respond to the epidemic, allowed bad actors to keep manufacturing and distributing opioids, and failed to prevent controlled substances from entering the illegal drug trade. The report cites one fairly straightforward step…
With Perfect Handwriting – October 2, 2019 – He was also convicted on hundreds of counts of unlawfully distributing a controlled substance without a legitimate medical purpose or beyond the bounds of medical practice, including the two counts, listed in court documents as counts 298 and 299, that led to the death of the West Virginia woman. When Smithers, a resident of Greensboro, N.C., opened his Virginia practice in 2015, Justice Department officials said he prescribed controlled substances to “every patient in his practice, resulting in over 500,000 Schedule II controlled substances being distributed.” Full Story @NPR
City of Brotherly Life – OCTOBER 02, 2019 – he Department is disappointed in the Court’s ruling and will take all available steps to pursue further judicial review,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in an emailed statement. “Any attempt to open illicit drug injection sites in other jurisdictions while this case is pending will continue to be met with immediate action by the Department.” Judge Gerald McHugh ruled in a lawsuit brought by U.S. Attorney William McSwain, which sought to bar Safehouse from opening a safe injection site, arguing that a portion of federal law — called the “crack…
INSANITY ON EVERY LEVEL – October 4, 2019 – A 26-year-old San Ramon man ingested an eighth of an ounce of cocaine, which caused him to have seizures and a fatal heart attack as he was being booked in the jail last November, officials testified at a Contra Costa County coroner’s inquest hearing Thursday morning. Karthik Kandaswamy, 26, was being booked on a misdemeanor battery charge after throwing a sandal at his father and punching a hole in the wall during a family dispute, police testified Thursday. During the booking process, he began to have seizures, and died in an…
Or Now or Never? – October 1, 2019 – I began experimenting with opioid painkillers early in high school. I never thought about the long-term impact or consequences it could have later down the road. As addicts, we hardly ever worry about those things. I fed my addiction by swindling my parents into giving me money for one reason or another. My parents were enabling the addict in me without thinking twice about it. I would end up graduating high school with average grades. My addiction really did not take control of me until the stress of navigating life after…
You Call This Healthcare? – Oct 3, 2019 – Lakeview Behavioral Health was still in operation on Thursday, despite a recent patient death, and now 70 allegations of wrongdoing. Gwinnett County Police told CBS46 The Bulldog since Monday, 70 “cases” have been opened, claiming patient abuse either physical or sexual. Neglect, theft, and insurance fraud too, say detectives. Investigators are currently reviewing each case before pursuing charges, and they do not have the authority to shut down the facility in the meantime. Complicating the investigation we have learned, many of the alleged victims were reportedly “unconscious” during the incidents in…
The V is for Valhalla? – Oct. 4, 2019 – A recent study from the University of Michigan found that over 30.6 million U.S adults reported using a Benzodiazepine last year. As the use of benzodiazepines, such as Xanax and Valium, is on the rise, so is the number of overdose deaths related to them. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention trial found that Benzodiazepines contributed to in 30% of prescription drug overdose deaths in 2013, second only to opioids, which were involved in 70% of overdose deaths. And according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services…
Making Suffering Comfortable – October 5, 2019 – The songstress, 43, previously opened up about her health issues to Billboard in 2013, sharing that she was once addicted to prescription meds while suffering from alcoholism. “[I] got seriously addicted to Vicodin and Oxycodone, and I was always a drinker but I didn’t know I was an alcoholic. I was really unhappy being an artist and I was getting sicker and sicker.” Sia celebrated her sobriety with a Twitter post last year, writing, “Eight years sober today. I love you, keep going. You can do it.” Full Story @PageSix
Spectacular Idea – October 4, 2019 – The pod is made up of 10 dormitory-style cells. Men and women are housed separately where they can receive counseling and medical treatment while going through withdrawals. The Kane County Sheriff’s office started the program in March in partnership with Lighthouse Recovery. “It’s giving me hope. It gives us the direction, you know, the direction to go where we need to go in life,” says inmate John Fowler. “It’s up to us to utilize the tools.” Fowler, 44, has been here on drug-related charges, held on $500,000 bond, since the beginning of the…
Yes, It’s an English OPINION – Oct. 5, 2019 – These PRs wonder in their emails if I have thought about writing a piece on the trend for going alcohol-free, because, if so, here are some case studies I could use in my article, and these case studies – quite coincidentally, of course – found that the alcohol-free wine that the PR person is being paid to promote made the whole decision effortless. Effortless! I mean! Imagine if the process of going teetotal felt effortless! And as for alcohol-free wine? Ha ha ha! Ha! Full Story @Telegraph
Stop Calling Them “Druggy Buggies” – Oct. 4, 2019 – “Truly it is about raising awareness and educating our community about mental health and substance abuse issues,” said Dr. Elfie Neber of the GFC-MSU Psychology Department. On Friday, mental health professionals gathered at Heritage Hall for a forum titled “The Neuroscience Behind Addiction.” Shelley Andrus is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who presented at the event. Andrus explained, “The whole idea to stop the stigma on how addictive disorders are viewed, one of the main ways is through education. And that we can help people walk away and tell others this…
Why? – September 30, 2019 – The most common cause of death in Franklin County is fentanyl overdose, Ortiz said. The typical overdose victim in the county is a white male between 30 and 40 years old, though the first six months of 2019 have seen an increase in African Americans dying from fentanyl, she said. The first six months of 2019 saw 257 overdoses, 75% of which were fentanyl overdoses. “I still see these as tragedies,” Ortiz told CNN. “These are preventable deaths.” Ohio is not alone. The country has been grappling with an opioid epidemic for the past…
What would Craig Ferguson say? – Oct. 5, 2019 – Training to use the drug – available in injectable form or as a nasal spray – is complete in less than two hours and is it held by many hostels and homeless day centres. Though it can only save lives in the case in the case of opioid overdose, it has no harmful effects. In England several police forces, including West Midlands Police, have adopted its use. But the proposal has met with opposition from the Scottish Police Federation, with vice-chair David Hamilton shocking campaigners with claims that saving lives…
COLLEGE DIPLOMAA? – October 5, 2019 – During the meeting, members pulled out a book about alcoholism entitled “The Big Book” by William “Bill W.” Wilson and promptly turned to chapter five. For 20 minutes, each individual took turns reading personal stories told by people in the book regarding their struggles with alcoholism. After these readings, the group then proceeded to give weekly updates about things that are currently happening in their life. These weekly updates included everything from school related issues to mental health struggles, such as coping with depression. One student who wished to stay anonymous discussed his…
MEDIA: Book Recommendation – October, 2019 – Then while in recovery from active addiction, he lost a colleague to suicide, further revealing the extent of the secrecy and broken systems contributing to an evolving epidemic of professional distress within the medical field. By sharing his harrowing story, Dr. Hill helps identify the barriers and obstacles standing in the way of mental health recovery, while pleading for a revolutionary new approach to how we treat individuals in substance use recovery. In fighting stereotypes/stigma and teaching vulnerability, compassion and empathy, Hill’s work is being lauded as a road map for better practices…
Money Means More Than Lives? – Oct. 2, 2019 – Twenty minutes’ drive to the north, the Sav-Rite Pharmacy in the village of Kermit, population 280 and falling, was outstripping them both … Drug distributors delivered more than 30m opioid pills just to those three pharmacies, in one of the poorest counties in America. Ballengee and the other drug store owners kept escalating the orders, and the distributors filled them without flinching. They shipped more narcotic painkillers to Mingo county per head of population than to any other place in the US. Opioid makers such as Purdue Pharma and Johnson…
No More Keggers – October 1, 2019 – When Billy Murphy, a former college basketball player at Lafayette College, realized he had an issue with alcohol, he didn’t want to admit it. On paper, Billy was thriving. He had a good job, an amazing group of friends, and a supportive family. But when he noticed his once-a-week happy hours started to multiply, he knew he needed to make a change, even if it was a reluctant one. Now sober for more than a year, Billy is not only the best version of himself, but he’s making it a point to…
Word Play for Sobriety – Oct. 2, 2019 – Literature academics from Keele University are opening an innovative “Poetry Pharmacy” to dispense literary “first aid” as a way of bringing the therapeutic benefits of poetry to the local community and to support mental health. “Emergency Poet” Deborah Alma, a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Keele, and senior lecturer and poet James Sheard have started the venture as a novel way of showcasing poetry, focusing on good mental health and well-being. The “Poetry Pharmacy”, set in a Victorian shop in the high street of the Shropshire town of Bishop’s Castle, is…
It’s a Crowded Planet – October 5, 2019 – As bad as sexually transmitted diseases sound, their prevention is not very complex. There are two approaches that may be used to control this fast spreading epidemic. First and foremost is the use of condoms. Condoms can not only save people from receiving deadly infections but can also reduce unintended pregnancies and ultimately abortion rate in developing countries such as Pakistan. The other approach focuses on a rather long-term solution. This approach involves methods like sexual counselling which not only teaches people about using proper contraceptive but also educates them about…
RIP Ginger Baker – Oct. 6, 2019 Mr. Baker’s appearance behind the drum kit — flaming red hair, flailing arms, eyes bulging with enthusiasm or shut tight in concentration — made an indelible impression. So, unfortunately, did his well-publicized drug problems and his volatile personality. Mr. Baker, who by his own count quit heroin 29 times, was candid about his drug and alcohol abuse in his autobiography, “Hellraiser,”published in Britain in 2009. He recalled driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco while on tour with the band Blind Faith in 1969 and being more amused than surprised when he heard…
Worth The Effort – October 1, 2019 – And though the worsening opioid overdose crisis has helped other medications and therapies become popular in recent years, methadone remains one of the gold standard treatments for people with opioid use disorder. Kleber was elected to the National Academy of Medicine 23 years ago Tuesday. To commemorate that anniversary, and the work of late the psychiatrist who thought addiction should be treated as a medical condition rather than a moral failing, Google honored Kleber with a Google Doodle. Research continues to show that medication-assisted therapy is extremely effective at reducing the risk…