WHAT DO YOU THINK? – Nov. 30, 2025 – Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in U.S., according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). While this type of cancer has traditionally affected older adults, those rates have declined over the past several decades for people 65 and older and the rates in people under the age of 50 have risen. In fact, individuals who were born in the 1990s are two times as likely to develop colorectal cancer than people born in the 1950s, the American College of Surgeons says. As a result of this…
Author: Leonard Buschel
AUDIO – THE RIGHT DIRECTION – Nov. 30, 2025 – Methadone helps patients like Trina resist cravings for fentanyl. It’s been around for decades, but most patients have to find their way to a designated methadone clinic every morning to get their dose. What’s new for Worcester is bringing methadone right to Trina, or very close. Trina says with methadone, she feels like her life is worth something again. NPR agreed not to use Trina’s full name because she still occasionally buys illegal drugs. A hospital in Worcester runs another van that offers a different addiction-treatment drug and stocks ambulances…
BRILLIANT IDEA – Nov. 28, 2025 – Signed into Irish law in 2023, products with the new labels – which state drinking causes liver disease and is linked to fatal cancers – are already on sale in pubs and supermarkets across the country. Since 2020 supermarkets and corner shops across the country have had to erect physical barriers between sections selling alcoholic drinks and general products, while some bottles and cans of alcohol now carry among the strongest warning labels anywhere in the world. But in a move condemned by public health advocates, the Irish government has delayed their compulsory…
NEW IDEAS ARE HIP – Dec. 1, 2025 – I was drawn to family medicine even before medical school. My background was in public health, and I spent a summer in Santiago, Chile, where I was paired with a family doctor in their public health department. Watching her, I saw how deeply connected the delivery of care is to the environments that keep people healthy. I worked in mobile rural clinics across the city and became immersed in the realities of people’s lives and the barriers they face in accessing care. When I started my first job in rural Wisconsin,…
HAPPINESS – Dec. 1, 2025 – Recovery from a substance use disorder has traditionally been conflated with “sobriety,” or total abstinence. In reality, many people recover while continuing to use drugs, but in safer, more moderate or more manageable ways that enable them to move on positively with their lives. Holistic definitions of recovery have sought to reflect this, as many more people, including government officials, recognize the problems of an abstinence-only model. A new study published in the journal Addiction reviewed 90 unique patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)—questionnaires issued by providers, where people undergoing treatment report their physical health, relationships…
AUDIO – CARRYING ON HIS DREAM – Dec. 2, 2025 – Earle VanBlarcom III’s dream was to open a resource center to help other people like him struggling with addiction. After he got clean in 2018, VanBlarcom founded a nonprofit, Hope on Deck, which connects people to resources and provides food, clothing, hygiene items and other essentials to people in recovery. “He was so good at it,” VanBlarcom’s mother, Dawn Sheehan, said. “He was so genuine, and people were attracted to the fact that he met them at their level. He had been through everything that they were going through,…
NEEDLES – Dec. 3, 2025 – JUST A TINY amount of fentanyl, the equivalent of a few grains of sand, is enough to stop a person’s breathing. The synthetic opioid is tasteless, odorless, and invisible when mixed with other substances, and drug users are often unaware of its presence. It’s why biotech entrepreneur Collin Gage is aiming to protect people against the drug’s lethal effects. In 2023, he became the cofounder and CEO of ARMR Sciences to develop a vaccine against fentanyl. Now, the company is launching a trial to test its vaccine in people for the first time. The…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 597,637 views since Oct, 2025 – Olivia Dean performs Man I Need on Later… with Jools Holland. “She’s on the cusp of a meteoric rise in the industry, you can tell she’s on that road, something special about her. Such a talent.” ” When people talk about someone having the “it factor,” this is what they are referring to. Olivia is incredible. Super talented and genuine. She’s the next big thing.” See Website
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Dec. 9, 2025 – I am a musician, content creator, author and certified reiki and sound healer. My new album is called “Calypso Rising” under @SunsetSea13 on IG & Tik Tok and my YouTube channel handle is @Sunset_sea13 Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date? A: My DOC was IV heroin and fentanyl and I have been clean from it since October 5, 2018. I had a great 5 years in recovery from age 26 to 31. I even had a podcast about addiction…
NEW AND LOVING IT – Dec. 2, 2025 – She admitted that going sober had helped her ‘show up better’ for her children and her fiancé Simon Cowell, while also improving her sleep, moods and confidence. The socialite, 48, took to her newly-created Instagram account to reveal that she went a year ago. Lauren – who shares son Eric, 11, with Simon and son Adam, 19, with her ex-husband – added that going alcohol-free had enabled her to enjoy nights out ‘without having the dread the next morning of trying to remember the things I did’. While she confessed to…
LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD – Nov. 29, 2025 – BEING in the public eye may seem glamorous, but behind flashy Instagram pics and champagne on tap, a number of celebrities have revealed the dark toll alcohol has had on their lives. Now, not only have they spoken about the negative effects booze has had on their lives – but they have bravely shared candid photos of them during their low points with drink. They are joining an increasing number of people who’ve turned their back on alcohol, with one in five adult Brits now being ‘teetotal.’ Meanwhile, while 63 per…
SAD PASSING – Dec. 1, 2025 – He was a popular stand-up comedian in Boca Raton, Florida. He died on December 1. He was born, Steven Charles Pickman. Boca Raton residents reacted with an outpouring of grief, remembering their moments with the stand-up comic. In his college days, he fell into addiction, homelessness, and a difficult period of life. On December 26, 1990, he committed to sobriety “cold turkey.” He worked as a talent agent and behind-the-scenes in television briefly, before enrolling at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute to train as a performer. He was multitalented, and often…
TEAMWORK WORKS – NOV. 28, 2025 – The local AA chapter indicated that the week aims to raise awareness among students and healthcare professionals about the importance of referring those struggling with their drinking. Various sections of the organization will be holding activities to promote the services available to address this disease. AA members stressed the urgency of this work given the alarming increase in alcohol consumption among young people…“There are young people as young as 12 to 14 who are already having problems with their drinking,” they warned, emphasizing that a timely referral to the program can prevent serious…
FIND OUT WHICH ONE YOU ARE – Dec. 2, 2025 – A recovering addict has shared the three differences between a casual drinker and an alcoholic. TikTok creator and YouTuber Correy Warren said in a video that alcohol dependency is not just about how much someone drinks. He says: “Most people think that an alcoholic is just someone who drinks too much, but the truth is, the difference is not in how much I drink. It’s in how I drink.” reason for not drinking Warren says that one thing that distinguishes a casual drinker from someone who has an alcohol…
VIDEO – THIS AIN’T RIGHT – Nov. 30, 2025 – City officials have shut down an unpermitted sober transitional living facility that suddenly housed more than 40 people in a luxury Ocean Avenue building last week, prompting alarm from neighbors who suspect “body brokering” was involved. “Audit all these so called sober living/assisted living houses in LA and OC county. Most of these existed solely to enrich the owners. They don’t provide enough care to the occupants and also destroy the neighborhood.” See Website
DRAMATIC INTERVENTION – Nov. 30, 2025 – Kit, now 41 and five years sober, recalls the terrifying moment in the Caribbean as something she’s fortunate to have survived amid her 12-year battle with booze addiction. I was waiting in a taxi to pick up drugs with a friend.“I was drunk in the back, being silly and verbally impatient. “The dealer started shouting, telling us to shut up, and then pointed a gun at us. “I was very scared and became quiet very quickly. But I continued to drink.” “There’s a history of alcohol abuse in my family,” she admits. …
NOT REALLY A FRIEND – Dec. 3, 2025 – Mr. Perry, who played Chandler Bing on “Friends” and had long struggled with addiction, became increasingly reliant on ketamine in the weeks before he was found unresponsive in his hot tub. Dr. Salvador Plasencia, had asked “I wonder how much this moron will pay” before supplying the drug to Matthew. Mr. Plasencia, 44, who was an urgent care clinic operator in Calabasas, Calif., is the first person to be sentenced in connection with Mr. Perry’s death. Four others have pleaded guilty in the case, including Jasveen Sangha, a dealer who prosecutors…
LOCK THEM UP – Dec. 3, 2025 – Nearly two thirds of 13 to 17-year-olds in the UK have a Snapchat profile. And the company claims it has nearly a billion monthly active users. The documents we found show that some users have deeply unhealthy relationships with the platform … They also show that staff were well aware of this. In fact, Snapchat staff have repeatedly raised concerns about the risks to young users’ mental health posed by some of the platform’s key features – all of which are still central to the app today. The company told us that…
FILMS ARE BETTER IN THEATERS – Dec.3, 2025- It was another great year for the movies and another horrible, hair-on-fire year for the industry, as each month brought more bummer box-office news. The bigger picture is always more complicated, and it’s worth repeating (again!) that the business, and that avatar known as Hollywood, isn’t synonymous with cinema. 2. ‘One Battle After Another’ (Paul Thomas Anderson) As American as apple pie and anti-authoritarianism, Anderson’s carnivalesque film opens on a ragtag group of would-be revolutionaries (among them Teyana Taylor’s dynamo) liberating migrants from a detention center. The shock of that scene reverberates…
MORE TO COME – Dec. 3, 2025 – Las Vegas Recovery Hospital, an acute care hospital designed for patients suffering from substance use disorders and related medical conditions, is set to open this December, according to a release. The hospital aims to provide “stigma-free care for patients who are too medically acute for traditional rehab facilities and too clinically complex for emergency departments to safely discharge.” Dignity Health is leasing out 32,000 square feet on the third and fourth floor of its Rose de Lima Hospital in Henderson for the new facility. This will be the first hospital of its…
“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” – Aldous Huxley, B. 1894, UK – D. 1963, L.A.
THROUGH AND THROUGH – Nov. 20, 2025 – Short-form video has reshaped how people consume content online, and a new report from the American Psychological Association now directly connects that format with notable declines in mental health. The study analyzes user engagement patterns and assesses a range of cognitive and mental health indicators. Previous research centered almost entirely on TikTok, but since short-form video is now embedded across every major platform, the authors broadened the scope to measure effects that extend beyond any single app. According to the report, heavy short-form video consumption is linked to diminished cognitive function, particularly…
MAKES MARLBORO LOOK JUDICIOUS – Nov. 26, 2025 – Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat know exactly how addictive their platforms can be to teens. And they continue to target teen users anyway. “IG (Instagram) is a drug … we’re basically pushers,” Meta researchers said in an internal chat. TikTok noted that “minors do not have executive mental function to control their screen time.” Snapchat executives once acknowledged that users who “have the Snapchat addiction have no room for anything else. Snap dominates their life.” And staffers within YouTube once said that “[d]riving more frequent daily usage [was] not well-aligned with…
NATURE’S OWN – Oct. 8, 2025 – Compounds in green tea can reprogram muscle metabolism to boost insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, according to new findings that further our understanding of why this ancient drink has long been linked to protection against obesity. Green tea has long been linked with improved blood sugar control and reduced risk of metabolic diseases, but much of that evidence stems from animal studies undertaken in cool laboratory environments. Those conditions can artificially trigger calorie burn and mask the true physiological effects being tested. Researchers from Cruzeiro do Sul University wanted to remove that bias…
DANCING WITH DESTINY – Nov. 21, 2025 – ‘It got so bad that Dad ended up trying to shoot Mum and my brother-in-law and went to prison. It was just so abusive at home. That’s the reason I started dancing as well. Not only because I was porky, but because I just couldn’t stand being at home.’ Craig’s dad passed away in December 2015 with the toxicology showing massive amounts of alcohol in his body. Craig added: ‘I think people don’t realise how dangerous alcohol can be….When he died, I made the decision that I was going to learn to…
HOOKA FOREVER – Nov. 22, 2025 – Dr. Smita Das often hears the same myth: You can’t get hooked on pot. “Cannabis is definitely something that someone can develop an addiction to,” said Das, an addiction psychiatrist. It’s called cannabis use disorder and it’s on the rise, affecting about 3 in 10 people who use pot, Here’s how to know whether you or a loved one are addicted to marijuana — and what kinds of treatment exist. If pot interferes with your daily life, health or relationships, those are red flags. “The more that somebody uses and the higher potency…
NOT A HYPOCRITE? – Nov. 23, 2025 – Chambers describes how his substance use began early and escalated quickly. He started smoking cannabis at age 12, then selling it, and by his mid-teens was using and selling cocaine. By 16, he was introduced to crystal meth, first smoking and later injecting it … The true breakthrough came on March 15, 2016, a date Chambers remembers clearly. “That day, something in me said enough is enough,” says Chambers. “It wasn’t some dramatic feeling, it was just the desire to use disappearing. Overnight.” He then entered the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba for…
HOPE IS IN THE AIR – Nov. 24, 2025 – Drug deaths in New Hampshire fell 33.4% from 2023 to 2024, according to data from the New Hampshire Drug Monitoring Initiative. That’s the largest single-year decrease in over a decade. It also represents significant progress from the peak of the opioid epidemic, in which New Hampshire was among the hardest-hit states. Dr. Abby L’Heureux and Annette Escalante are substance use disorder treatment specialists at Elliot Hospital’s Center for Recovery Management in Manchester. L’Heureux directly treats patients who come into their Manchester facility, and Escalante directs Elliot’s substance use disorder program…
FOOD-LIKE SUBSTANCES – Nov. 21, 2025 – The manufacturing process breaks down raw ingredients into molecular slurry, then reconstructs them using emulsifiers, texturizers, and artificial flavors. The result is something referred to as “hyper-palatable.” It melts in your mouth so fast your brain never gets the signal to stop eating. That’s a big reason why UPFs are so bad for you. The consequences are visible in the data: over 100 prospective studies link these foods to adverse outcomes in nearly all organ systems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression. How did we reach a point where 50% of…
NOT IN FIRST CLASS – Nov. 26, 2025 – Samantha Ann Dennis, 49, will serve no time behind bars for attacking the defenseless child on a packed flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu last year. Instead, Honolulu District Judge Derrick Watson handed her just two years of supervised release…Dennis sparked chaos on an Honolulu Airlines flight on November 4, 2024, when she violently lashed out at her daughter – landing the young girl in the hospital, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors did not say how old the victim was. Within the first two hours of the roughly six-hour trip,…