TOXIC TOKE – August 20, 2025 – Cannabis smoke can seem gentler than tobacco’s, but that impression of marijuana may be deceptive. Deep in the lungs, the drug’s chemistry is far from benign, recent research suggests. Some studies have even linked heavy cannabis use to a heightened risk of some cancers, including those of the head and neck. Each lungful of cannabis smoke is a brew of the high-inducing ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), fine particulates, and certain carcinogens that are also found in tobacco. But cannabinoids may bring their own twist by quietly rewiring the lungs’ immune settings. “The airway’s protective…
Author: Leonard Buschel
“I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depth and a great fear of shallow living.” – Anais Nin, b. Neuilly, France Feb. 1903 – d. Los Angeles Jan. 1977
AND GLASS PIPES – Aug. 19, 2025 – In the heart of our vibrant city, a subtle yet destructive force is fueling the drug epidemic so evident on San Francisco’s streets: the widespread availability of disposable torch lighters. Take a walk South of Market neighborhood, and you’re almost certain to see the lighters in use by people smoking crystal meth. Unlike traditional lighters, disposable torch lighters produce a concentrated, high-temperature flame that is remarkably resistant to wind. This particular characteristic makes them ideal for vaporizing substances like crystal methamphetamine in glass pipes, even in the most exposed outdoor environments. …
VIDEO – KRATOM BE GONE – Aug. 13, 2025 – According to Dr. Dawn Sollee, a toxicologist with the Florida Poison Control Center, 7-OH has opioid-like effects, which can make it seem attractive to those seeking pain relief. However, there are underlying risks that many may not be aware of. “People are using this product that has a higher potential for addiction and a higher potential for withdrawal, and side effects.” dditionally, because 7-OH products were never regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some versions contained dangerously high concentrations of the extract. “They make it available in gummies…
WATCH YOUR WEENY – August 7, 2025 – Americans on average get more than half of their calories from ultra-processed foods. Young people, aged 1 to 18 consumed even higher amounts at 61.9%, compared to adults aged 19 and older at 53%. No significant differences were found between males and females, but low-income adults consumed more ultra-processed foods than those with higher incomes. The report described ultra-processed foods as those that tend to be energy-dense, low in fiber and contain little or no whole foods, while also being high in salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats. Some of the top sources…
STEP SCIENCE – August 13, 2025 – The viral 12-3-30 workout trend on TikTok has the promise of an easier way to burn fat—in this case, by walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes at three miles per hour and a 12 percent incline. Naturally, the workout also came with an entirely anecdotal success story, which helped it gain popularity. Influencer Lauren Giraldo claimed to have lost 30 pounds by doing the incline walking routine five times per week. However, with the publishing of a recent University of Nevada study, the 12-3-30 workout now also has something else going for…
STILL HAS A NOSE? – Aug. 10, 2025 – “I was the worst of the worst addicts,” Cochran said. Doctors first prescribed him blood thinners before moving him up to Vicodin after they proved ineffective. But after the Vicodin also wasn’t helping to relieve his migraines, they prescribed him OxyContin. Despite knowing about the risk for addicition, he didn’t think anything of it, figuring he’d be fine. Cochran was known for his energy and enthusiam at Alabama and Georgia, earning the nickname “Coach Yeah” for his trademark yelling of the phrase “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” But that yelling took a physical…
DOES BEER COUNT? – Aug. 14, 2025 – Nearly half of all adults in the US have higher than normal blood pressure. The goal numbers for adults haven’t changed, according to the guidelines: Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg, elevated blood pressure is 120-129/80 mm Hg. If you are at 130/80 mmHg or higher, according to the new guidelines, your medical provider will want you to make some changes. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, which is abbreviated as mm Hg. The measurement has an upper number, or systolic reading, and a lower number, a…
PAUSE – HIT RESET – Aug. 9, 2025 – He was two-and-a-half years sober at the time, but then “I drove to a bar called 55 South, and I looked through the window and there were three guys at the bar,” he continued, “And I was like, ‘I’m gonna get a little buzz and I’m going to just mess with those guys. I’m just gonna get in a fight with those guys.’” Looking back, Hayes can admit “it makes zero sense.” He recalled that before getting out of the car, he realized he didn’t have his wallet with him and…
NO JOKE – Aug. 14, 2025 – The patient was a physically healthy lumberjack, admitted to the hospital after injuring himself in freezing temperatures. He had amputated his ears and penis, had deep cuts on his arms, and bad frostbite. Medical personnel found him agitated and paranoid, but alert and responsive. Emergency efforts stabilized his condition. Psychosis refers to a mental state in which an individual loses contact with reality. This can involve hallucinations—perceiving things that are not there—or delusions, which are strongly held false beliefs. During psychotic episodes, people may misinterpret their surroundings, feel paranoid, or experience disorganized thinking. Psychosis can…
RELAPSE REDEMPTION – August 11, 2025 – After Eminem experienced a near-fatal overdose in 2007, he realized he needed to change. The “Without Me” rapper, who’s been sober for over 17 years, reflects on the life-changing experience in his new documentary STANS. “After the overdose, I came home going, ‘Yo, bro, I need something… I’m going to die if I don’t do something,’” Eminem, 52, says in the documentary. At the time, Eminem was coming off a “vicious cycle” of feeling “depressed” and needing “more pills.” Then, one day, he woke up in the hospital. “I didn’t how what the…
SELF WORTH! – Aug 13, 2025 – This time last year, I got sober. I wasn’t a daily drinker, but when I went out, I went hard in the paint—Jameson by the bottle, cheap beer in between. I’d pick booze money over dinner when I was broke. I bought into the fiction that writers had to drink, that good work came from mining your own misery. I’d been thinking about quitting for a while. I was tired of living like a frayed wire—tired of hangovers, of wasting entire days recovering, of letting my demons take the wheel. I’d wake up…
COMIC CONFESSION – August 14, 2025 – Pete Davidson has recently explained how drug addiction affected his mental health. The Saturday Night Live alum reflected on his past drug addiction on 105.1 FM’s The Breakfast Club radio show on August 13. “I was a daily, all day sorta guy and I got psychosis where you hear voices, and you feel like you’re sitting next to yourself, weed isn’t supposed to do that… it’s because it’s too strong,” said the 31-year-old. Elsewhere in the interview, the comedian opened up about the impact of fame after he was cast on SNL in…
MOVIE TIME EDITORIAL – Aug. 2025 – Editorial – We are also celebrating the release of the documentary Together: Family Recovery, which poignantly follows three families as they navigate their loved ones’ addiction. The film highlights the intergenerational effects of addiction on families as well as the emotional turmoil faced by family members. CONTINUE@RecoveryMovieMeetups
GET A THERAPIST! – Aug. 15, 2025 – The law prohibits any person or company from using AI to deliver psychotherapy services, diagnostics, treatment plans, crisis intervention, or therapeutic follow-up, as well as from advertising chatbots as substitutes for licensed professionals. It does allow AI for administrative or support tasks (such as appointment reminders or clinical notes), provided these do not intrude upon clinical decision-making. Why it was passed The IDFPR and state lawmakers cited reports of dangerous responses from unsupervised conversational assistants including advising risky behaviors, validating suicidal thoughts, and mishandling crises as well as concerns about privacy and…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 3,441,157 views since Oct 9, 2018 – I’m sober 3 years and Van the Man helped me get through the darkest times in my lifeI just read everyone’s comments dating back 10 months. So lovely. We come from all over the world but Van speaks to us all. This piece of music uplifts my soul. Van is my hero. His music has saved me many times over. He has resurrected my Soul. Gorgeous. The incarnation of perfection. Love you all. May God Bless you and keep you safe. A mockingbird came to my window and…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – Eternity – Sir George Ivan “Van” Morrison Concert and the great band: Summertime in England, Moondance, Help Me, It’s All in the Game/Make It Real One More Time, Common One, Did Ye Get Healed?, Vanlose Stairway, Foreign window with Bob Dylan. CONTINUE@YouTube
THE NOSE KNOWS – Aug. 16, 2025 – Roughly one in three individuals with major depressive disorder does not respond adequately to at least two oral antidepressants, placing them in the category of having treatment-resistant depression. For these individuals, the typical next step involves… adding new medications to their current treatment plan. But oral antidepressants often produce side effects such as fatigue, weight gain, gastrointestinal problems, and sexual dysfunction—issues that can lead to poor adherence or discontinuation. The researchers behind this new study set out to examine whether esketamine, administered as SPRAVATO®, could serve as a single-agent treatment for patients…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Aug. 19, 2025 – Reef Karim is the rare triple threat of scientist, healer, and award-winning entertainer, who is expanding the minds of people all over the world. Dr Reef is a transformational scientist, humanistic psychiatrist, and addiction specialist who served over a decade as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience, published in prestigious medical journals, and owned, operated, and exited a highly successful mental health treatment center. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?A. I am not…
AND HE’S VERY HAPPY – Aug. 15, 2025 – The Clash of the Titans and Mad Men star, said he “lost a considerable amount of weight” from giving up alcohol, also shared that he has been sober during different times of his life and was even a part of Alcoholics Anonymous for about four years. Hamlin attended “90 meetings in 90 days” when he first started, and even “annotated” the book you get in the program.“I said, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to go all in,’” he recalled. “One of the greatest gifts that I ever got…
WAY TO GO – Aug. 13, 2025 – “We now have strong evidence from a national sample that quitting cigarette smoking predicts improved recovery from other substance use disorders,” explained Nora Volkow, M.D. Participants in the PATH Study are asked annually about their smoking status and other substance use. In this analysis, a change in smoking status from “current” to “former” use of cigarettes was associated with 42% greater odds of the individual being in recovery from their non-tobacco substance use disorder. People with addiction to alcohol or other substances have a higher likelihood of being addicted to nicotine as…
GETTING SMART – Aug. 13, 2025 – The percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup’s nearly 90-year trend. This coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time. From 1997 to 2023, at least 60% of Americans reported drinking alcohol. The figure fell to 62% in 2023 and to 58% in 2024, before reaching 54% today. Prior to the most recent poll, the rate has been under 60% fewer than 10…
WRITE ABOUT IT – Aug. 8, 2025 – With sharp wit and unwavering honesty, Stephens peels back the curtain on her thirty-year relationship with alcohol, from the highs of being “Fun Mary” to the lows of blackouts, broken bones, and the moment she put her young son in danger. Uncorked chronicles her sobriety journey at age 45—one filled with unexpected loneliness, surprising revelations, and eventually, hard-won healing. “Engrossing … compelling … Stephens’ insights into her alcoholism as she worked on the 12 steps are illuminating and feature wisdom that may be helpful to others in a similar situation. A valuable,…
AUDIO – FASCINATING – August 2025 – What if the real key to lasting sobriety and business growth was written over 100 years ago? In today’s episode, Becca kicks off a brand-new book study with fire and passion—introducing As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. This 54-minute classic may be old, but its truths about the power of thought are timeless. Whether you’re an ambitious woman growing a career or navigating early sobriety, this book will challenge how you see yourself—and your success. In this episode, you’ll learn how this short, timeless book shifts your relationship with thought, action, and…
MR. RAGER – August 14th, 2025 – Kid Cudi is getting candid about hitting “rock bottom.” During an episode of Call Her Daddy, Cudi spoke about his “rock bottom moment” and how he was able to get help by going to rehab. He explained the low point occurred led him to rehab from 2015 to 2016. “I relapsed and started using again,” he said. “It was like the decline getting just darker and darker and darker. And um, suicide was on my mind like all the time. Like I would like daydream about this s—, you know?” he continued. “When…
NOTHING HURT MORE THAN KOBE – Aug. 14, 2025 – During the height of his NBA career, Shaquille O’Neal was getting by with help from a steady flow of painkillers. Shaq, 53, revealed to Dax Shepard during a recent appearance on his “Armchair Expert” podcast that he “had to be on pain pills to play” during his 19-year career. The former Los Angeles Lakers center said he was using “homeboy math” when it came to his dosage. “If it said take one, I’m taking three … I had to have them, so is that addiction?” he questioned, admitting he “didn’t…
AUDIO – THIS IS MASSIVE – Aug. 13, 2025 – As concerns about health impacts rise, fewer Americans are reporting that they drink. The survey finds that 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer. That’s lower than at any other point in the past three decades. Growing skepticism about alcohol’s benefits A record high percentage of U.S. adults, 53%, now say moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 28% in 2015. The uptick in doubt about alcohol’s benefits is largely driven by young adults — the age group that is…
BAD NEWS – Aug. 11, 2025 – Nearly eight years ago, journalist Shoshana Walter followed a lead on a drug and alcohol rehab program that put patients to work at a chicken plant. What she found was one of many programs that boasted treatment and recovery, but actually profited off the unpaid labor of people struggling with addiction. n her new book, “Rehab: An American Scandal”, Walter continues to interrogate America’s drug treatment system by following four people navigating an industry that not only kept patients stuck in a cycle of addiction and relapse, but that actually stymied their recovery.…
DOCUMENTARIES MATTER – August 13, 2025 – Nothing is off limits for Charlie Sheen as the Two and a Half Men star dishes on his sordid past in the new documentary, aka Charlie Sheen. “How do I present this with any class?” Sheen, 59, said for this documentary. “When you got a lot of shame about a lot of stuff … shame is suffocating.” “I lit the fuse, you know, and my life turns into everything it wasn’t supposed to be,” he continued. “Everything was fine for awhile. Nobody got hurt. Nobody got arrested. For a while.” Sheen has a…
HEART BREAKING! – Aug. 15, 2025 – Morgan Baine with her son, James, and her fiance, Logan Terry, at a Nashville Predators game in 2024. Hundreds in Nashville’s substance abuse recovery community are grieving the sudden death of 32-year-old Morgan Baine, who helped launch treatment programs and advocated for women facing addiction for the last five years. “She loved big, and she believed in the women of Healing Housing with everything she had,” said Brooke Stephens, a coworker and friend. “She spoke truth with compassion, always urging us to see our own strength, even when we could not see it…