VIDEO – ALWAYS HOPEFUL – July 25, 2025 – Prince said himself and Hogan had always put “God first”. “I have been very open. I had my struggles. I recently celebrated 17 years sober from an opiate addiction,” Prince said. ”He called me up earlier (into my recovery). He said ‘brother … you came to the blessing a few months ago. I think it’s time you became a blessing to other people and get out there and tell your story to (help) others. To get that from someone like him, a cultural phenomenon, to love me and support me.” “I…
Author: Leonard Buschel
“Can we all just get along?” – Rodney King, 1965–2012
FEELINGS – JULY 18, 2025 – The influencer shared a clip to let her more than 300K fans know she’s 72 hours into sobriety, and it’s been tough because she’s used alcohol for years to self-medicate. Stodden says she joined a world she wasn’t ready for when she married Doug Hutchison when she was just 16 and he was 51 … one which involved a whole lot of liquor. She claims Hutchison drank regularly … and abused her when he did — also referring to him as her “groomer” in the clip. We’ve reached out to Doug about the allegations.…
VIDEO – SOBER STILL SPINNING – July 21, 2025 – It’s been a minute or six years since DJ and internet prankster Dillon Francis dropped by. Since then a lot has happened — endless Vegas residencies, sobriety. Naturally the LA-native is still busy crafting drops: he has a new release with German house DJ Marten Hørger for one, and a whole punk-pop project popping too (no drops there). CONTINUE@YouTube
QUITTING TIME – July 22, 2025 – The TV show host and model sat down to discuss how she knew it was time to make a change, the help she received, and what life looks like now. The star said she knew that “there was an issue that needed to be addressed”, but because “it’s not every day” and she still managed to keep her house “impeccable” and was “on top of everything”, she didn’t think it was affecting anyone. “Drink became my friend” during tougher times, she said. “I had very, very, very punishing anxiety. One personal issue that…
VIDEO – REAL GARBAGE – July 17, 2025 -”A Mother’s Love” is the only city contracted community group to pick up needles used for illegal drug injection in Minneapolis. FOX 9 is your source for breaking news, weather forecasts and severe weather news, live events, investigations, politics, entertainment, business news and local stories from Minneapolis-St. Paul, the greater Twin Cities metro, Greater Minnesota, western Wisconsin and across the nation. CONTINUE@YouTube
KEEP IT REAL – July 18, 2025 – Research indicates that erythritol, a sugar substitute commonly recommended for individuals with obesity or diabetes, may carry unexpected health risks. From low-carb ice creams and keto-friendly protein snacks to “sugar-free” sodas, erythritol is a widely used sweetener found in countless diet and specialty food items. However, new findings from the University of Colorado Boulder suggest that this commonly used sugar substitute may carry unexpected health risks. According to the research, erythritol can affect brain cells in ways that may increase the likelihood of stroke. The study was published in the Journal of…
PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION – July 18, 2025 – The Republican tax bill signed into law earlier this month could result in a significant death toll for people seeking treatment for opioid addiction, according to a group of health economics researchers. Specifically, cuts to Medicaid could result in large numbers of the program’s beneficiaries losing access to medications for opioid use disorder, per the new estimate, which was published by researchers at Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania. “We estimate that the bill will cause approximately 156,000 people to lose access to treatment for opioid use disorder and that the…
IT’S GONNA HURT – July 19, 2025 – I was just 21 when I first took antidepressants. I had just been diagnosed with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder and was convinced I must be going “mad” — whatever that meant. After 20 years on the drugs, the author suffered severe withdrawal. She had no idea how difficult it would be. My mental health had become so bad I’d dropped out of uni and retreated to my parents’ house, where I hid away for months. I couldn’t face telling anyone apart from my immediate family how I was feeling. I certainly…
VIDEO – REPORTING BAD NEWS – July 19, 2025 – Danny McGee struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for more than 50 years. McGee said when he entered the Veteran’s Alcoholic Rehabilitation Program (VARP) in early 2024, it sent him on the road to recovery. He says that without entering the program, he might not even be alive.”Me, with my type of mentality, I would probably end up back in prison, or dead,” McGee said. Could his success story be one of the program’s last? It’s something many are worried about, with massive cuts to Medicaid expected after the passage…
IT’S A START – July 22, 2025 – The actor revealed that he is 200 days alcohol-free. This announcement comes after he revealed in 2019 that he has anxiety and that he was using alcohol as a coping mechanism. “I could tell anxiety really affected me because there’d be things I was invited to- like an industry party- and before I got to the party, I gotta take a shot of alcohol… so I won’t have to deal with the anxiety. Which is something I do not recommed at all,” he said. CONTINUE@WBLS
NOT QUAALUDES? – July 18, 2025 – Dr. Karla issued more than 30,000 prescriptions for oxycodone to over 1,500 different patients. At various times, Karla would issue as many as 50 prescriptions for oxycodone in a single day. An investigation found that at least three separate patients, Karla, were prescribed Oxycodone in exchange for sexual favors.Former employees also reported female patients complained that Kalra was touching them sexually and demanding sexual favors to obtain their prescriptions. One patient accused Kalra of assaulting her multiple times and was forced to undergo anal sex during an appointment. In addition to his alleged…
VIDEO – QUIET DISORDER – July 19, 2025 – At first glance, Amanda, a 38-year-old woman from California, looked like she had it all together and was thriving in life, but, beneath that surface, she was silently struggling with alcoholism for years, until she realized it had taken all of her. In her thirties, Amanda found herself turning to alcohol as a way to cope with stress and depression. Now that she is over it, Amanda is sharing her experience with alcoholism and her journey out of it on her TikTok profile, where she spreads awareness about the catastrophic consequences…
EUPHORIC RECALL? – July 19, 2025 – Extended-release injectable buprenorphine (XR-BUP) has emerged as a promising alternative to address some of the adherence challenges of oral opioid use disorder (OUD) medications. However, real-world evaluations of XR-BUP in settings outside the United States and high-risk populations are limited. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and clinical utility of XR-BUP among people with OUD at risk of recurrent overdose in a low-barrier outpatient addiction treatment setting. Participants were mostly men (64%) and White (80%), with a median age of 44 years old. Almost all participants had a lifetime history of prior…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – July 25, 2025 – Cleo Laine, one of England’s most acclaimed jazz singers and an actress who had a memorable Broadway turn as the proprietor of a London opium den in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” died on Thursday at her home in Wavendon, England. She was 97. CONTINUE@YouTube
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 259,975 views Aug 3, 2016 – In the TV series Glee, “What I Did For Love” is performed by Rachel in the episode “Audition.” The song is originally from the musical “A Chorus Line”. In the Glee episode, Rachel sings it during her audition for the role of Maria in “West Side Story”. CONTINUE@YouTube
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 83,390 views – Oct 3, 2016 – Natalie Cortez – A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. CONTINUE@YouTube
VIDEO – TAKING IT TO THE STREETS – July 21, 2025 – Morse has run brick-and-mortar opioid treatment clinics in the Triangle since 2010, with the goal of getting people easy access to medication minus the stigma, and a safe space to take their supervised dose. Earlier this month, he launched his first mobile clinic at Healing Transitions in Raleigh, There’s a new effort — on wheels — to get potentially life-saving care to people battling addiction. Dr. Eric Morse, the founder of Morse Clinics, which provides opioid addiction treatment and medication across the Triangle, has recently launched a mobile…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – July 29, 2025 – Courtney Friel is a news anchor and reporter at KTLA. She has 15 years sober and is the author of the book “Tonight at 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News”. She is a mom to a 14-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. Her husband is also sober—they met in AA! Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?A. Alcohol, Cocaine, Adderall, Xanax and Ambien! 09/09/09.Q. Is there anything special in your sobriety toolkit that helps keep you sober?A. Meditation, journaling, 12-step meetings and…
LET THERE BE LIGHT – July 17, 2025 – The Lady A musician, 43, opened up about the subject while chatting exclusively with Parade amid the release of his ‘80s-inspired solo album, Songs for a New Moon, which came out in June. “It’s amazing,” he says of the support he’s received from fans and loved ones. “I think what helps keep you sober is when you’ve got support and you feel like you’re passing along the help to someone else that needs it. It was never some goal I set out to do when I went through this, but I…
RIGHT & WRONG – July 19, 2025 – Stacey is living a new life of sobriety following a string of high-profile controversies. She previously struggled with an addiction to Vicodin, telling Dr. Oz in October 2021 that she was taking between 18 and 20 pills a day at one point. At the time of the interview, Dash said she was celebrating five years of sobriety after going to rehab. Stacey Dash is just as well-known for her controversies as she is for her iconic role as Cher Horowitz’s blunt-yet-caring bestie Dionne Davenport in the hit movie Clueless, which celebrated its…
AN OPENED BOOK – July 19, 2025 – Joan Didion’s posthumous publication, “Notes to John,” is a collection of journal entries from her psychiatry sessions with her psychiatrist, who was an old-fashioned Freudian. The entries cover her troubled relationship with her adopted daughter, Quintana, who struggled with alcoholism, causing rifts between them. The book feels exploitative, as Didion’s diary was left in a filing cabinet for 20 years before being published. It raises questions about the opportunism of publishing an author’s personal and private notes without their consent. Joan Didion’s posthumous publication, “Notes to John,” offers a rare and intimate…
ONE CLIENT AT A TIME – June 20, 2025 – In the ever-evolving world of addiction treatment and mental health advocacy, few figures have had as profound an impact as Ms. Zumwalt. With nearly 30 years of experience and a reputation for innovation, integrity, and unwavering dedication, she stands as a true pioneer in the behavioral health field. Today, she is internationally recognized as one of the top interventionists in the world—Nanette’s journey began in the trenches of inpatient psychiatric care, where she worked as a direct care technician. It was here that her innate empathy and keen insight into…
SLOWER! – July 17, 2025 – The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a stark warning that children under seven should not consume slush ice drinks containing glycerol due to serious health risks. Glycerol, a sugar alcohol used to prevent the drinks from freezing solid…Parents and carers were informed that “very high” levels of exposure to glycerol can cause shock, dangerously low blood sugar levels, and loss of consciousness. The risks are particularly acute when children consume multiple slushies within a short timeframe. The food safety watchdog announced the revised guidance ahead of the summer holidays, when consumption of these…
AUDIO – MOTHER TERESA OF ADDICTS – July 18, 2025 – Like many young doctors, Melody Glenn wasn’t getting much sleep. It was the late 2010s, and she was working shifts at several Bay Area hospitals. Sometimes, driving home to Oakland after seeing emergency patients all night, she’d nearly doze off. She needed a break, or at least a diversion. “Something to remind me who I was,” she told the Chronicle. So she went back to school, enrolling in the creative writing program at Oakland’s Mills College. By the time she earned her master of fine arts degree in 2021,…
BIG PHARMA SWEETHEART – July 16, 2025 – Benadryl causes drowsiness by blocking H1 receptors and crossing the blood-brain barrier But it also does other things that can create side effects. For instance, it blocks sodium channels, helping it to act as a local anesthetic and potentially leading to dangerous cardiac effects. Additionally, it can cause dry mouth, blurry vision, constipation, urinary retention, and an elevated heart rate because it blocks acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, Trisha Ray, MD, clinical director of Allergy and Immunology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told Health. Due to these significant…
SOBER HERO – July 22, 2025 – Known around the world as the “Prince of Darkness,” Osbourne redefined what it meant to be a rock star. From his pioneering work with Black Sabbath in the 1970s to his outrageous solo career and reality TV fame, Osbourne remained an unpredictable force in music, pop culture, and, notably, activism. Osbourne was more than just a heavy metal icon – he was an unexpected but vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. In the 1980s, during the height of the AIDS crisis – a time when much of the world turned its back on the…
JUMBOTRON ACTION – July 19, 2025 – In January, it was revealed Liam will be sober throughout the summer months to make sure the reunion gigs all go off without any issues. Liam seems to be taking the comeback very seriously as he has already started getting fit and cutting out alcohol ready to take to the stage for the shows. Behind the dazzling performances have been a number of off-stage secrets that have kept things running smoothly to avoid Liam and Noel, aged 52 and 58 respectively, starting their feud once again. Unbeknownst to fans, a number of tour…
AND HOW HE OVERCAME THEM – July 23, 2025 – Ozzy Osbourne was one of the most iconic figures in rock. His issues with alcoholism and drug addiction began in the 1970s and got him booted from Black Sabbath in 1979. He became serious about his sobriety around 2014 after numerous attempts at rehab and recovery dating back to 1984. “I thought I’d be drinking to the day I die,” Osbourne said in a 2021 interview with Variety. His wife and longtime manager, “The Talk” co-host Sharon Osbourne, and son Jack, who at the time had been sober for 17…
AUDIO – AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE – July 20, 2025 – Brian Rehn has lost 60 friends to drug addiction. At 42 years old, he has attended far more funerals than weddings. “It’s weird to be the ones still left standing,” he said. “A lot of our lifelong friends have died.” The book tells their stories living with addiction in the Atlanta suburbs, an area called the “heroin triangle,” during the 1990s, and how the addiction and loss they experienced have followed them into adulthood. In 2018, A&E’s documentary “Intervention” aired an eight-episode series titled “The Heroin Triangle.”…