Author: Leonard Buschel

INTERACTIVE: This Page is a Trip –   July 21, 2019 – The Washington Post sifted through nearly 380 million transactions from 2006 through 2012 that are detailed in the DEA’s database and analyzed shipments of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, which account for three-quarters of the total opioid pill shipments to pharmacies. The Post is making this data available at the county and state levels in order to help the public understand the impact of years of prescription pill shipments on their communities. Jump to the data for your community These records provide an unprecedented look at the surge of…

To Sum It All Up… – July 16, 2019 – Steve Baltin: How did getting sober affect you musically? Deryck Whibley: From six years old I wanted to be a musician and so I followed that path. But once all the partying and everything I had done had caught up to me and I ended up in the hospital and I felt like I was about to lose it all, getting sober sort of re-solidified more than ever all I care about is playing music. Once I felt like it was gonna be gone forever I started respecting the…

Walking the Walk, One Day at a Time – FROM August 2, 2016 By John Lavitt – Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, celebrating 37 years (now 40 years) of sobriety, reflects on his challenges after coming back from the Moon and what difficulties we face in the future of space travel. As the Lunar Module pilot in Apollo 11 in 1969, Buzz Aldrin was the second man to set foot on the Moon after Neil Armstrong. Full Story @ TheFix.com

Marijuana Assisted Treatment – July 15, 2019 – A paper about the University of Sydney and NSW Health clinical trial provides the first strong evidence that so-called cannabinoid agonist medication — which targets receptors in the brain — could reduce the rate of relapse. The paper published today in the American Medical Association’s JAMA Internal Medicine. Lead author Conjoint Professor Nick Lintzeris — of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health and Director of Drug & Alcohol Services, South East Sydney Local Health District — said the study should give hope to people with dependency on cannabis,…

“Being honest may not get you al lot of friends, but it’ll always get you the right ones.” –John Lennon

One Woman’s Day at a Time – July 15, 2019 – Having an intimate knowledge of substance abuse recovery, Holly is a strong advocate for clinically savvy, gender-specific, co-occurring treatment. Holly is deeply committed to the recovery community of Colorado. Holly opened Denver Women’s Recovery in January of 2017 which offers Intensive Outpatient co-occurring treatment as well as sober living. She also opened Valiant Living Interventional Detox in January of 2019 and Summit Women’s Recovery in April of 2019. Holly plans to continue to expand services as needed in Colorado and elsewhere. Holly Wilson received her baccalaureate from the…

Is it Love, Pain or Profits? – July 16, 2019 – The information comes from a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town and city. The data provides an unprecedented look at the surge of legal pain pills that fueled the prescription opioid epidemic, which has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths from 2006 through 2012. Just six companies distributed 75 percent of the pills during this period: McKesson Corp., Walgreens, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS and Walmart,…

New York Theatrical Premier Nov. 1, 2019 – Theatrical Premiere at the 11th REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium – Los Angeles and on November1st at the 7th Annual NY Reel Recovery Film Festival & Symposium New York REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium – IN PERSON: Chris Herren and director, Jonathan Hock. Tickets available HERE

They’ll Say Anything To Sell Drug$ –   July 11, 2019 – In announcing the Reckitt Benckiser settlement, the Justice Department noted that Suboxone is a medication designed to help people suffering from opioid dependency. “Drug manufacturers marketing products to help opioid addicts are expected to do so honestly and responsibly,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt. Most of the $1.4 billion will go to various federal agencies, but $200 million will be divided up among states that sign on to the settlement deal, with the money going to reimburse their Medicaid budgets. Full Story @ NPR.org

Mother’s Little Helper – July 8, 2019 – Often, women don’t know what they’re getting into. “Most people taking psychiatric drugs these days do not get an adequate explanation about the nature of the medication,” says George Dawson, M.D., a Minnesota-based addiction psychiatrist. That was the case for Summer Schley, a 26-year-old waitress in Valley View, Pennsylvania, who was prescribed Klonopin to help her sleep when she was 18. “I didn’t know what the term tolerance meant,” she says. “I never did pills or even drank alcohol, so I was completely unaware of what I was given.” Drug packaging states…

Business is Business and Nobody Lies – July 8, 2019 – Joanna Conti, BS, MS, considers her family “extremely fortunate” to have found programs that treated her daughter for an alcohol addiction despite having little data to go on when choosing a provider. In her work now as the CEO of Vista Research Group, a firm she founded in 2015, she hopes to map out a future in which data can be used to better inform clinical care, create better treatment outcomes, and give families and payers tangible evidence to compare programs. Conti will present on the use of…

A Square Meal and a Full Heart – JULY 09, 2019 – Cira loves his work, although he says when he first considered taking a job driving around picking up homeless people, his wife needed some convincing. Cira not only drives the van, he also works alongside the riders, talking to them and learning about their individual situations. He informs them about the local agencies that might be best suited to provide them with help for their particular needs. “It’s really shattered my misconceptions. People really want to work and they want to put in the time,” says Cira. “By…

Stopped Going to Meetings? – July 12, 2019 – Known by the nickname “Doc,” Gooden was electric as a starting pitcher. He had a fastball that approached 100 miles per hour and a devastating curveball, and he dominated immediately for the Mets. As a 19-year-old rookie in 1984, he was named an All-Star, and his 1985 season is considered one of the best in baseball history. Gooden went 24-4 with a 1.53 E.R.A., averaging almost a strikeout an inning, on his way to winning the National League Cy Young Award … But in 2016, Darryl Strawberry — a teammate of…

Thanks to Naloxone – July 08, 2019 – “It feels like the resources that are being provided are helping the problem,” David Daniels said. He’s an operations manager at Big Bend Community Based Care, which provides substance abuse help to 18 panhandle counties. Daniels said opioid dependence has been notoriously hard to combat. “That drug rewires your brain,” he said. “You cannot, not have it. You get sick.” Opioids are highly addictive painkillers. Among them, many commonly prescribed medications and the illegal drug heroin. The opioid epidemic has been a growing concern, not just in Florida, but across the nation…

Hang Up On Hangovers – July 9, 2019 – Since giving up booze, Logan-Rice said, she has seen alcohol in unexpected places — even an assisted living facility that offered bottles of wine as door prizes when she attended an early-afternoon presentation about hospice care … Pop’s Blue Moon bar, a fixture of this beer-loving city since 1908, has joined an emerging national trend: alcohol-free spaces offering social connections without peer pressure to drink, hangovers or DUIs. From boozeless bars to substance-free zones at concerts marked by yellow balloons, sober spots are popping up across the nation in reaction to…

Ala-none too soon – JULY 12, 2019 – We had walked into a Thai restaurant for dinner, been seated, and told by the waiter that they didn’t serve alcohol. David said, “No worries, mate,” ordered a Coke, and then excused himself to go to the bathroom. Within ten seconds he was back at the table. “I just walked past the kitchen and it’s filthy, we can’t eat here,” he whispered. I’d eaten at this place lots of times and I knew there was no issue. Pretending to believe him, I got up and followed him out. I knew what he…

Cops Cop Too! –   July 12, 2019 – Ellery was initially charged on April 15 with just a single, municipal summons of driving while intoxicated, according to a copy of the summons obtained by NJ Advance Media. The case was then transferred to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, which launched a criminal investigation resulting in an additional charge of possession of heroin. Robertson said Ellery has pleaded guilty to both offenses and will be entered into the Drug Court program. If Ellery fails to finish the program, he could face up to five years in prison. Ellery will also…

So Would Decriminalization – July 12, 2019 – “Contact with the criminal justice system – both in terms of crime and imprisonment – among opioid-dependent people is associated with a significant economic burden to society and has many negative impacts,” lead study author Natasa Gisev of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center at the University of New South Wales in Sydney said by email. Medications known as opioid agonists are among the most widely-used treatments for opioid dependence worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Researchers have begun examining how treatment with opioid agonists may affect contact with the…

First the Squirrel, Now This? – July 15, 2019 – That’s the warning coming out of the Loretta Police Department in Tennessee after investigators said they caught someone “attempting to flush methamphetamine along with several items of paraphernalia” on Saturday. The department advised against disposing of drugs, including pills, via the sewage because “when you send something down the sewer pipe it ends up in our retention ponds for processing before it is sent down stream.” … “Our sewer guys take great pride in releasing water that is cleaner than what is in the creek,” police said, “but they are…

And I’m Rich – JUL 13 2019 – “First of all, I’d tell them that I’m sorry that their child’s using the product,” said Burns, who joined Juul in late 2017. “It’s not intended for them. I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them. As a parent of a 16-year-old, I’m sorry for them, and I have empathy for them, in terms of what the challenges they’re going through.” … The company has tried to combat youth use by shutting down its social media accounts and pulling fruity flavors like creme and mango from…

D.O.A. Where’s the NARCAN?– July 15, 2019 – “Appreciate @lynnelyman sharing this tragic experience. Flight Attendants are aviation’s first responders and we need the proper tools to respond and save lives. In the air there are no options. I’m so sorry for you, Lynne, and the crew and other passengers who had to watch this.” In a 2018 report from EMS World, a Delta spokesperson had previously stated the airline planned on including Narcan in first-aid kits, starting to do so towards the end of 2018. FOX 17 News has reached out to Delta for comment. Full Story @ ABC6OnYourSide.com

War of Decency – July 11, 2019 – It was October 2017 and Bowling was on his way to the store to pick up diapers with his friend Shelly Smith when they saw the flashing lights swirl in the rearview mirror. He had been out of prison for less than a year, doing everything he could to get his life back on track. He passed all his drug tests. He had recently been awarded custody of his daughter. But deputy Zachary Wester was escalating a traffic stop for swerving over a white line into a search for illicit drugs. Bowling…

Stockholders Up In Arms? – July 9, 2019 – Substance use disorder is a mental health disorder that has expensive and destructive effects on both the person who is suffering, and the people around them. The loss to companies in the United States due to alcohol and drug problems by employees totals $100 billion a year, according to The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. People who struggle with addiction are more likely to miss work, file worker’s compensation claims, and have interpersonal issues with other employees. The turnover rate is higher, as well. People with drug-related convictions…

Stick with the Winners! – July 15, 2019 – Over four years into recovery from a decade-long opioid addiction, Ryan Hampton has been rocketed to the center of America’s rising addiction recovery advocacy movement. A former White House staffer, he has worked with multiple non-profits and national recovery advocacy campaigns. He is now a prominent, leading face and voice of addiction recovery and is changing the national conversation about addiction. With content that reaches over 1 million people a week, Ryan is breaking down cultural barriers that have kept people suffering in silence and is inspiring a new generation…

RRFF Partners with NAMI – July 11, 2019 – Films accepted for the REEL Recovery Film Festival Week will be shown on NAMI Day, Sunday, October 13th, from 1pm to 9pm. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit NAMI’s youth programs.Filmmakers are welcome to submit shorts and documentaries (2-20 minutes) and long-form films (no longer than 120 minutes). Submissions will be accepted through August 16th, 2019.The REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium runs seven days, and is the longest recovery event in the country. It is dedicated to those who have an interest in the human drama and…

NEW BOOK: In Pain – July 8, 2019 – Interview highlights On what happened when he tried tapering opioids after an ill-advised consultation with a plastic surgeon, who recommended abruptly reducing his dosage He didn’t know what he was talking about; that wasn’t his area of expertise. He just tried to think of something that was reasonable — and he would eventually admit this, so this isn’t too much editorializing — but we went home and the next day we dropped the first dose and it immediately sent me into withdrawal. … It got worse over the first few…

More Than Just Diet Coke – July 11, 2019 – Before you quit, how much did drinking feel like a part of your job? I would say it felt like a huge part of my job. As musicians, I mean, it would be a shocking situation to be backstage and somebody wasn’t drinking. That is why, you know, to this day and this year of not drinking I will absolutely sneak in my six pack of non-alcoholic beer to whatever gig I’m singing or playing because everybody drinks. When was the first time that you used booze before a…

Singing a Soul Song – JULY 14, 2019 – Do you feel like alcohol impeded on your relationship with God? I feel like alcohol impeded on my life other than just God, my family, my children, my career. Alcohol was first and I was second. So you can imagine what else that was a part of my life that was third, fourth, fifth and sixth. It was first priority. I know you went to rehab afterward. Are you still in rehab and how was that for you? I went to a 30-day rehab treatment and I completed those thirty…

NA or CVS? – July 9, 2019 – One reason: “People say you’re just changing one drug for another,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who is leading that first-of-its-kind study. “The brain responds differently to these medications than to heroin. It’s not the same.” Science has made clear that three medicines — methadone, buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone — can effectively treat what specialists prefer to call opioid use disorder. Patients who stick with methadone or buprenorphine in particular cut their chances of death in half, according to a report by the National Academies…

Pick a Card, Any Card! – JULY 8, 2019 – The main findings of the research were: • Psychiatric diagnoses all use different decision-making rules • There is a huge amount of overlap in symptoms between diagnoses • Almost all diagnoses mask the role of trauma and adverse events • Diagnoses tell us little about the individual patient and what treatment they need The authors conclude that diagnostic labeling represents ‘a disingenuous categorical system’. Full Story @ NeuroscienceNews.com