Dog Day Afternoon – August 9, 2018 – A K-9 officer in Oregon was administered an overdose reversal drug on Tuesday after she was exposed to heroin. Abbie, a German Shepherd-Belgian Malinois mix, was conducting a routine search for contraband at the Clackamas County Jail with her handler around 7:30 p.m. when she discovered there was heroin smuggled in, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Full Story @ FoxNews.com
Author: Leonard Buschel
There Goes The Neighborhood? – August 10, 2018 – After weeks of heated protest, a Harlem community has convinced the city and the state to block a drug treatment clinic from opening in a multi-million dollar brownstone. Argus Community Incorporated bought the building at 147th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue for $4.3 million last August, but neighbors said no one knew it would be become a methadone clinic. Then Argus told residents at a community board meeting in May that the building would be used for drug treatment, counseling, relapse prevention, assisted treatment and random toxicology. Full Story @ NBCNewYork.com
No Badge of Honor – August 10, 2018 – What once might have been the drug of choice for hardcore addicts is all too common these days, unfortunately. Tom Petty had the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl in his system when he died in 2017. Prince and Elvis Presley are two other musicians whose drug abuse contributed to their early deaths. What we’re trying to tell you is, opioid abuse is a major problem, and everyone is affected. Full Story @ CheatSheet.com
Lights, Camera, Addiction – August 10, 2018 – “The Sixteen” is a feature film about opiate addiction and split-second individual decisions that lead to despair, death and the heartbreaking struggles of addicts, friends and loved ones. The movie is being produced by Gerald Barclay, the owner of Gee-Bee Productions and best known for such films as “Fatima” (2017), “The Bully” (2013) and “Killa Hill: The Park Hill Documentary” (2009). Filming began Friday at Knight-Auchmoody Funeral Home and will resume in Port Jervis on Saturday, with additional scenes scheduled to take place elsewhere. Funeral-home owners and staff agreed to assist with…
Great Alanon Share – August 10, 2018 – • Pitbull opens up about his parents’ addiction to cocaine, crack and heroin • The singer reveals in a new episode of OBJECTified that his mother, Alysha Acosta, used cocaine while she was breastfeeding him • Pitbull will reveal more when OBJECTified airs Sunday August 12 at 8pm on Fox News Pitbull is speaking out about the Miami drug culture of his youth in a new episode of OBJECTified. The multi-platinum and Grammy-winning singer, who was born Armando Christian Pérez, reveals that his parents were not only selling cocaine, but also addicted…
Death Can Be Imminent? – August 12, 2918 – The American Family Survey, commissioned annually by the Deseret News and conducted by YouGov, found that 12 percent of families in 2017 reported having an opioid-addicted relative. Nationally, opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death for people younger than 50, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year. As the opioid epidemic continues to impact Pennsylvanians and people nationwide, families are in constant search of answers as to how they can help loved ones with addiction issues. That has led attorneys like Hagan to get creative and establish a…
WHAT, You Can Buy Coke Online? – August 10, 2018 – Authorities say a suspended police chief in New Jersey has been buying cocaine online. Prosecutors say Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Chief Michael Coppola went to a post office box to retrieve the order on Thursday. However, detectives had placed a package containing imitation cocaine in the box. Coppola was arrested during a motor vehicle stop in Ridgefield Park. The 43-year-old is charged with attempting to possess cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s scheduled to make a court appearance on Aug. 22. Coppola was suspended in July after the…
Quitting Can Cost a Fortune – AUGUST 11, 2018 – Because O’Shea was worried about jeopardizing her career and she had a child to raise, she left Liberation Way in early March. “It was a great business model, but an awful treatment model,” she said. Over the course of 13 months, the Reading Eagle conducted dozens of interviews with 15 former and current Liberation Way employees, including O’Shea, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Former clients and loved ones of clients also were interviewed, and the newspaper reviewed documents obtained from sources and through Right-to-Know requests. Full Story @ ReadingEagle.com
Lox Her Up! – August 8, 2018 – As a result, her daughter, Beatrice, was required to stay in the hospital for five days, and a case worker was assigned to monitor Eden’s behavior. The case worker eventually closed Eden’s file, but the new mother called the experience “traumatizing,” WBAL reports. Traumatizing though it may have been, however, Eden isn’t alone. Here’s a quick history of the poppy seed bagel defense. Why do poppy seeds make people fail drug tests? Opium, heroin, codeine and morphine all come from opium poppies. While poppy seeds do not actually contain any of these…
Listen to the Experts – August 12, 2018 – An estimated 12.8 percent of adolescents in the U.S. experience at least one episode of major depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. According to previous studies, many of those teens’ mental health is linked to depression in their parents. But new research suggests there’s a flipside to that parental effect: When teens are treated for depression, their parents’ mental health improves, too. We tend to think of depression as affecting individuals. But Myrna Weissman, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, says “Depression is a family affair.” Weissman has…
It’s Complicated – August 9, 2018 – “What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time,” Demi Lovato recently said in a statement after being hospitalized for a drug overdose. “It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” Read that last sentence again: It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet. What tense are we in? What is being said? Continue suggests an ongoing effort; overcome implies something more final; have not done yet makes an odd fit with continue. Far from coming off…
All You Need Is Love – August 8, 2018 – The tidal wave of compassion and support for Demi Lovato in the wake of her apparent drug overdose last month is indicative of society’s long overdue, shifting views on addiction. Social media platforms have been inundated since the singer’s hospitalization with comments acknowledging her strength and admiring her courage. Instead of finger-pointing, demeaning or judging her, Lovato’s fans and fellow entertainers are showering her with love, and her friends and family are standing firmly by her side. We are, in essence, offering her a giant group hug. All of this…
They Already Know How to Make Coffee – July 29, 2018 – Hiring managers at Burger King refused to take a risk on Holly King. She realized her history of drug use overshadowed her qualifications and sobriety, she said. “What is the point?” King, 35, said. “I’m trying to be successful, and nobody wants to give me a chance.” That was, until JC’s Cafe did. The cafe King now manages hires people recovering from drug addiction and offers them another chance at professional life – something its employees often can’t find elsewhere. The cafe’s owners saw firsthand how difficult it…
Overdose Reality – July 30, 2018 – Thank you for Jeff Barker’s reporting and your front page photo describing the recent hearing on the opioid addiction crisis that is rampant throughout Maryland and across our nation (“Officials make pitch for opioid help,” July 28). Rep. Elijah Cummings is a true champion in proposing real solutions in reversing and reducing the devastating impact of substance use disorder. Let me offer some cautious optimism regarding Mr. Cummings’ remark that “a lot of people don’t realize how significant this problem is.” There is polling and anecdotal evidence that shows the general public is…
One Big “LIKE” – August 3, 2018 – While Facebook may no longer be the most relevant social media platform, with young users quitting it in droves, it has become more and more important in the work of law enforcement. For one detective in Delray Beach, Florida—part of the “rehab capital of America” and a major hub of the opioid epidemic—Facebook has been essential in the fight against corrupt operators in the area’s drug rehabilitation industry. Full Story @ Tonic.Vice.com
Compassion Not Contempt – July 28, 2018 – When Charles Chesney’s bipolar disorder is left untreated, the energy surging from sleepless, nonstop, manic days and nights takes over his life. “Boy, does it make you feel good,” said Chesney, a 39-year-old artist and performer. “For me, I thought I was capable of doing everything I wanted to do in life. I almost ran naked down Broadway.” Instead, Chesney ran naked down the street outside his family’s Whites Creek farm. It was one of a half-dozen episodes in the past six years that ended with Chesney in handcuffs. Chesney vandalized cars…
Stick with the Winners – Addiction advocate, philanthropist, musician, author and entrepreneur Cliff Brodsky, has dedicated the last 25 years to sobriety and Sober Living/Rehabilitation Community with countless battles to keep scandals, scams and insurance fraud at bay including the Chris Bathum #rehabmogul case. Q. What is the proudest moment in your life? A. Leading the charge in the campaign to expose, fight, and bring to justice: Chris Bathum, which created my self and true identity as an: Addiction Advocate. Q. At which classes or workshops did you learn the most? A. Very good question. First there was Sigmund Freud,…
Only High Marks – August 1, 2018 – During her senior year at Rutgers University, Jessica (name changed for privacy) spent a lot more time drinking than going to class. Once a promising student, she now saw her grades dropping. The only time she left her apartment was to hit a bar or stock up at the liquor store. She knew things in her life were deteriorating, but she didn’t seek help. “I was in such denial. I didn’t realize I had a problem,” she explains. “I thought, ‘Hey, I’m in college, this is what every college kid is supposed…
It’s the Bomb – August 2, 2018 – Nearly nine years later, at 31, I’m grateful that I made my way toward sobriety But in the beginning, the thought of being young and living without alcohol terrified me. How exactly was I supposed to talk to strangers without a drink in hand? Or dance unselfconsciously with friends? At 22, I was single, and navigating a city that I’d moved to just a few years earlier. My then-ex (he’s now my husband, but that’s a story for another day) and I shared custody of our toddler, and when I wasn’t trying…
Can It Get Worse? – August 3, 2018 – It is little wonder that stress levels today are higher than ever across the United States. Overloaded work schedules, juggling family and a career and making ends meet financially can all lead to anxiety and can affect nearly everyone from time to time. Yet the kind of anxiety that strikes without notice for no apparent reason — such as panic attacks and social phobias — can be debilitating. And no one is immune. Not even celebrities like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, who have openly admitted their ongoing struggles with anxiety;…
Still at War? – August 4, 2018 – Robert Carter returned from four years in the Navy in 2003 to his hometown of Portsmouth a broken man. He had two to three nightmares each time he slept, many about his time while enlisted and the death of a friend and crew mate on the USS Nassau, Dwayne Williams. “I watched Dwayne drown right in front of me [in the Atlantic Ocean],’’ Carter said. “I was told not to jump in because the Navy had people to do that job. I [see his death] every night and even through the day.’’…
Why So Much Death – August 4, 2018 – The suspected overdose deaths of 11 people last week in Vancouver has set what the mayor calls a “ghastly” death-count record for 2018. The city says the week of July 23 was the worst on record this year for suspected overdose deaths based on statistics from the police department. So far in 2018, 206 people have died in Vancouver from suspected overdoses. The latest overdose statistics for the province show there was a dip in the number of suspected illicit drug deaths in June compared with the same month a year…
It’s Complicated – August 3, 2018 – Black Panthers and other activists brought the ancient Chinese practice into addiction medicine in New York in the 1970s. Despite a lack of firm evidence, it’s still popular in some communities … Daily acupuncture is a mandatory part of the addiction-recovery program at Penn North, whose staff I recently spent time with as part of a larger story on racial disparities in health. It’s not the only one to employ this unconventional approach: More than 600 addiction-recovery programs in the United States use acupuncture today, according to nada, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association.…
Talk Therapy – August 5, 2018 – Demi Lovato is speaking her truth. The singer broke her silence on Sunday, August 5, after she was hospitalized for a drug overdose. “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction,” Lovato, 25, wrote in an Instagram message. “What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” … “I want to thank God for keeping me alive and well,” she continued. “To my fans, I am forever grateful for all of…
William Styron Essay – August 3, 2018 – Nearly 30 years ago, the author William Styron outed himself in these pages as mentally ill. “My days were pervaded by a gray drizzle of unrelenting horror,” he wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed article, describing the deep depression that had landed him in the psych ward. He compared the agony of mental illness to that of a heart attack. Pain is pain, whether it’s in the mind or the body. So why, he asked, were depressed people treated as pariahs? A confession of mental illness might not seem like a…
WHOOPS – August 5, 2018 – Research on alcohol consumption is in a pickle. There’s no question that pounding one drink after another is bad for your health. Things get murkier when it comes to “moderate” drinking. What does that mean? What’s the limit? Can a health-conscious person serenely order a second round? The alcohol industry has long embraced the notion that alcohol in moderation not only won’t harm you but is actually good for you. The hypothesis gained traction in the early 1990s when “60 Minutes” reported on what is called the French Paradox. The French have low rates…
Amazing Film – 2018 – The new documentary on Whitney Houston, “Whitney,” begins with the voice of the late pop star recounting a recurring nightmare. In this dream, Houston is running from the devil. As exhausted as she becomes from this chase, Houston tells us, she keeps going. She can’t let it catch her. This opening scene foreshadows that the film, directed by Kevin Macdonald, is far from a celebratory portrait of the “How Will I Know” singer. It’s a sad one that shows how drug and alcohol addiction poisoned — and ultimately killed — one of the greatest vocalists…
Want a New Burning Sensation? – August 3, 2018 – Several people have already been hospitalised in the US after the sweets have become popular shopping malls and fun fairs. The frosty dessert has sparked a flurry of YouTube and Instagram videos — often posted by teenagers — showing off their “smoke” breathing techniques in recent months. But experts are warning that Dragon’s Breath can cause frostbite, skin tissue damage and suffocation. In New York state, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services James Tomarken released a statement slamming the sweets … “Liquid nitrogen can cause damage to a person’s skin…
…And Your Heart – July 31, 2018 – People tend to assume that the loss of a parent is more traumatic for a young child, and neglect to support adults experiencing it. But the reality is virtually everyone will experience losing a parent, and unfortunately, dealing with the grief is not discussed or researched often. The common result is that when the tragedy happens, the sufferer might feel detached and alone in their mourning. Not to mention, when their grief continues over a long period of time, their loved ones can become impatient, wishing the mourner would ‘get over it,’…
Brotherly Love – Jul 27, 2018 – Beacon Point Recovery Center opens a new high quality, evidence-based, treatment facility offering individualized care where it’s needed most. Located in the heart of the Port Richmond area of Philadelphia, Beacon Point offers detoxification and residential care for clients battling Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in a modern, comfortable setting. Beacon Point was founded by three successful Philadelphia businessmen; Jim O’Connor, Joe Byrneand Danny Govberg who saw the need for a new, high-quality treatment facility in Philadelphia. All three have deep roots in the community and, like most families, have in some way been…