“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.” – Albert Camus, b. Algeria 1913–d. France 1960
Author: Leonard Buschel
VIDEO – WITHOUT THE HIGH – July 15, 2025 – The morning bell gives way to a different kind of assembly for the first day of school. The students, most of whom have histories with substance abuse, huddle on the steps of the auditorium. They are gathered for a school-wide recovery meeting. “When we’re talking about sobriety, we’re talking about all mind-altering substances, including [weed]” Keith Hayes, director of recovery for the Colorado school, told them. With the uptick in deadly narcotics like fentanyl being mixed into street drugs, he had a dire warning for the teens. “Here’s the thing…
OH MY – July 16, 2025 – For her new book, journalist Carter Sherman interviewed over 100 young people about why they’re not having sex. She says they’re “very horny” but also more isolated, self-conscious, and fearful. In her new book The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future, which chronicles Gen Z’s sex lives (or lack thereof), Sherman describes having a meltdown after one of her best friends has sex with their classmate, making her feel left behind. “I fully broke down crying in front of my mom,” she tells me when I bring up…
VIDEO – ROAD TO RECOVERY – July 9th, 2025 – BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) – Addiction and, more importantly, the road to recovery are in the spotlight in Brattleboro, where a new documentary playing this Sunday hits close to home. Like many communities, Brattleboro struggles with addiction problems. But recovery is possible, and that’s being highlighted on the big screen. It’s a story of four people in Worcester, Massachusetts, who are on the lifelong journey of recovery. Boston-based documentary-maker Lisa Olivieri says getting sober is just the first step. “That’s not really the end; that is the beginning. So, I wanted…
JELLY URINE – July 10th, 2025 – A man who started doing ketamine in his teens is now left with permanent bladder problems and is warning others about the dangers of the drug, which he’d originally thought of as a “rite of passage.” Jack Curran says he “started experimenting with drugs” with his friends when he was 16, according to Daily Mail. Ketamine, he said, was a “rite of passage.” Also known as Special K, the drug, popular at raves and clubs, is a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects,” the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration explains. Curran, who…
ABUSING THE SYSTEM – July 8, 2025 – Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg’s next political steps are still undetermined, but his latest creative endeavor is now available for home and digital shelves. He has co-authored a new book with Dr. David R. Campbell, an orthopedic surgeon and the chief medical correspondent for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” examining systemic abuses in addiction treatment. Titled “Fighting the Florida Shuffle,” the 236-page exposé from Pensacola-based Indigo River Publishing takes aim at the darker side of a multibillion-dollar industry that is meant to support recovery, but has often profited from relapse. Drawing…
SUGAR BLUES? – July 6, 2025 – Eating breakfast can improve concentration, memory, and academic performance in children. It may also help regulate metabolism and support healthy weight management. “Breakfast skipping is associated with elevated depressive symptoms in young people, with impaired attentional control being an important mechanism in this relationship. Encouraging young people to build regular breakfast habits may be incorporated as part of future lifestyle interventions for mental disorders and be further emphasized in public health policies,” the study authors concluded. The study sheds light on the links between breakfast-related habits and mental health. However, it should be…
AUDIO – BE OF GOOD CHEER – July 10, 2025 – After Alyssa Young was arrested for stealing in 2024, Young was given a choice to go to prison or to participate in a Tooele County drug court recovery program, with Valley Behavioral Health. She considered prison — people had told her prison is easier to deal with and she had heard horrible things about drug court. When she was 21, a boyfriend introduced her to drugs, and eventually, Young became addicted to fentanyl and methamphetamine. Her addiction led her down a road of crime, as she began stealing food,…
WHAT’S SAFE? – July 14, 2025 – Popping an ibuprofen for that pounding headache or twisted ankle can provide quick relief from pain. But although this easily accessible over-the-counter drug could temporarily mask discomfort and sometimes eliminate pain, experts say it does little to spur true healing. Furthermore, for these five groups of people, ibuprofen poses serious health risks that outweigh potential benefits… People with an impaired liver or impaired kidneys should avoid ibuprofen, as the drug can damage these vital organs, Dr. Joseph Maroon, a professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told The Epoch…
AUDIO – MORNING EDITION – July 14, 2025 – Addiction specialists said finding community, even online, is crucial to success. CONTINUE@WNYC
NO MORE PIPES – July 15, 2025 – He was a teen singer with his dream career. But then his life fell apart. Anthony Kavanagh talks about sex work, addiction and the years he spent being forced to hide his sexuality. His memoir, Pop Scars, is sprinkled with darkly comic takes on what his life had become… Known as Kavana, he had a Top 10 hit in 1997 with his cover of Shalamar’s I Can Make You Feel Good. “I’ve always somehow been able to find the humour, even at some of the darker times,” he says. And there were…
LIFE BEYOND ALCOHOL – July 16th, 2025 – When Lauren McQuistin was in the grip of alcoholism, sobriety didn’t only seem impossible – it seemed pointless. Sobriety was something for other people to strive for. People who had lost everything and had something to reclaim: a family, a house, a partner, a career. “I was 19, and no one was depending on me,” says Lauren, now 32. “I never had enough to lose in the first place, so I couldn’t see the point of getting sober.” On paper, Lauren had plenty going for her: she was a gifted opera singer,…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 2011 – Julian Velard il pianoforte lo suona davvero e pure bene. Non c’è bisogno di vedere il bel video del brano per accorgersi che è così. Una canzone come “Love Again For The First Time”, così leggera e perfetta la si scrive solo dopo lunghi anni passati a imparare come passare da un tasto all’altro. Il Sunday Times ha definito la musica di Julian “orecchiabile ma complicata: una sorprendente e rara combinazione”. E in effetti è proprio così: le pop song che restano nelle orecchie al primo ascolto per la loro originalità sono proprio…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 2025 – 160,519 views Sep 3, 2021 The official audio for Fix It by Lady Blackbird. The new album Black Acid Soul is out now. “One of the most beautiful songs ever written. Only one who has known the depths of loss and suffering can understand the incredible love and humanity in this song.” CONTINUE@YouTube
WALK THIS WAY – July 16, 2025 – After Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry quit the band in 1979, followed by rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford two years later, the group’s commercial success took a hit. When the original lineup reunited in 1984, it marked one of the most successful comeback stories in rock and roll. Getting clean was the only way they could pull off the biggest comeback of the ’80s. “There’s only a handful of bands that have stuck together as long as we have. Everybody else died or broke up, and that was it. So when we came back…
GOOD IDEA! – July 16, 2025 – Jax Taylor will officially be stepping away from The Valley amid his struggle with sobriety. The Bravo reality TV star, 46, announced his decision to leave Wednesday, much to the surprise of his co-stars. “After an incredibly challenging year and many honest conversations with my team I’ll be stepping away … “Right now, my focus needs to be on my sobriety, my mental health, and coparenting. Taking this time is necessary for me to become the best version of myself—especially for our son, Cruz,” he added. A source told People that Taylor’s The…
DOUGH RAY METH – July 16, 2025 – Unlike with opioids, there is no medication to suppress cravings for meth and other stimulants. As use soars, hundreds of clinics are trying a radically different approach. Jamie Mains heard about a program that would reward her for abstaining. “For me,” she said, “money was a good enough reason to try.” Jamie Mains showed up for her checkup so high that there was no point in pretending otherwise. At least she wasn’t shooting fentanyl again; medication was suppressing those cravings. Now it was methamphetamine that manacled her, keeping her from eating, sleeping,…
LESS POLLUTION – July 15, 2025 – The Empowerment Center – a nonprofit offering affordable housing for low income and at-risk women recovering from substance abuse – will receive more than $960,000 in “Solar for All” funding to install solar at their newly constructed multi-unit housing property. Nevada was one of several states cut off from the funding after President Donald Trump called for the immediate halt of energy grants, loans, and contracts funded through the Inflation Reduction Act passed under former president Joe Biden. The Solar for All program was the only grant under the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – July 22, 2025 – Jane Velez-Mitchell is the founder and managing editor of UnchainedTV, a free, global, streaming television network. Often called the Vegan CNN/Netflix, UnchainedTV produces and streams original video content on the plant-based lifestyle and streams hundreds of documentaries, cooking shows, lifestyle shows, talk shows and music videos, from a variety of sources, all with an eye to benefit animals, people and the planet. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?A. I’m a recovering alcoholic and my sobriety date is … April…
SWEDEN – July 14, 2025 – In a startling turn of events, a baby girl developed masculinized genital changes after extensive skin‑to‑skin contact with her father, who had applied testosterone gel. The odd case occurred in Sweden, where half a dozen similar cases have happened. This ‘disturbing’ incident, widely reported as the girl growing a “micropenis,” has been garnering a lot of attention, both from the medical community as well as from the common people.A baby girl in Sweden grew an additional member after cuddling with her dad as a newborn. But turns out, this is not the first time…
TO THE POINT – July 15, 2025 – The new project sees Murph “opening up about themes of sexuality, generational trauma, and self-discovery with a vulnerability and honesty that marks a new chapter in her artistic evolution.” It also notes that on the album, Jessie “reckons with the past, interrogates inherited trauma, and explores the emotional complexities of growing up in environments where feelings are buried deep.”Murph released her debut album, That Ain’t No Man That’s The Devil, back in September. The album reached Top 25 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and singles “Wild Ones,” a collaboration with Jelly Roll,…
BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE – July 17, 2025 – During an appearance on Good Morning America, Miley – who quit using marijuana in 2017 – explained: “It’s really hard to maintain sobriety when you’re on the road, which is kind of a pillar of stability in my life. None of this that I create would even be possible without the way I think about things.” Miley also thinks there’s an insufficient “infrastructure” for touring artists. “I do have the physical ability. I have the opportunities to tour, but I wish I had the desire, but I don’t. I also don’t think…
HAPPIER HUMANS – July 24, 2025 – This “drunk” hypothesis argues that drinking alcohol facilitated the rise of complex societies because it promotes social bonding, increases cooperation, and enhances human creativity. At the political level, alcohol-driven feasting serves to build alliances, mobilise labour, and implement power and authority. However, systematic cross-cultural evidence for the claim is lacking. Here we test this hypothesis with a global sample of 186 largely non-industrial societies, purpose-built dataset on intoxicants and causal inference methods. We find a positive relationship between the presence of indigenous alcoholic beverages and higher levels of political complexity, measured by the…
DOES PORN MATTER? – July 13, 2025 – One key driver of this trend is the shifting perception that consuming pornography is socially acceptable. In contemporary society, drug addiction is still viewed as the most serious form of dependence, while other behavioural addictions—such as porn and gaming—are often trivialised. During the initiation phase of pornography addiction, metacognitive awareness and conscious engagement are vital. Without these, individuals may enter a psychological “deadlock,” limiting their emotional and sexual development. Among compulsive users… CONTINUE@DH
AUDIO – NOT JUST AUSTIN – July 14, 2025 – Texas has authorized what supporters call the nation’s largest state-funded research initiative on psychedelics, joining a handful of states that are embracing the substances as a possible treatment for drug addiction and other health issues, especially among military veterans. In June, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation that will provide up to $50 million dollars to research ibogaine, a psychoactive compound derived from the iboga shrub native to Central West Africa. “Texas is home to more veterans than any other state in the U.S. Many struggle with things like…
THOUGHTS MATTER – July 14, 2025 – What you eat has a significant impact on your health, especially your brain. Keeping the brain in top shape is crucial for health and overall well-being. But did you know that some of the common foods you eat may be silently damaging your brain? If you enjoy eating deep-fried foods or packaged snacks, you may want to rethink… All those sugary drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, ice cream, packaged breads, processed meats, and ready-to-heat products are wreaking havoc on your health. Ultra-processed foods are linked with gut issues, and the neurosurgeon notes that this…
EATING? – July 15, 2025 – A new study finds that Americans, Europeans and people living in other developed nations expend about the same number of total calories most days as hunter-gatherers, herders, subsistence farmers, foragers and anyone else living in less-industrialized nations. That unexpected finding almost certainly means inactivity is not the main cause of obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere… “There’s still a lively debate in public health about the role of diet and activity” in the development of obesity, Pontzer said, especially in wealthy nations. Some experts believe we’re exercising too little, others that we’re eating too…
Trump Stalls Fentanyl Aid – July 16, 2025 – The Trump administration has delayed and may cancel roughly $140 million in grants to fund fentanyl overdose response efforts, according to four staff members with close knowledge of the process at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The staffers shared detailed information with NPR about the funding disruption and potential cuts on the condition of anonymity, saying they don’t have permission to speak publicly about their concerns and feared retribution from the Trump administration if identified. “These are lives at stake,” said one CDC staffer, who has a role administering…
STRAIGHT UP? – July 15, 2025 – Kratom is an herbal extract that comes from the leaves of the Southeast Asian evergreen tree Mitragyna speciose. Traditionally, the leaves of the tree are chewed or brewed to achieve a stimulant effect. In the U.S., kratom powder and capsules—as well as drinks, gummies… and other edible products containing kratom extract—can be purchased online or in smoke shops, gas stations, and corner stores. Although kratom is not controlled in the U.S. under the Controlled Substances Act, it is illegal in five states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Vermont, and Wisconsin. It was illegal in Rhode…
INSANITY – July 15, 2015 – The event, caused by a bad batch of an unspecified drug, prompted a surge in 911 calls. Experts think a potent batch of fentanyl might have caused the overdoses and that the specific blend is still out there. City data shows that more 911 calls for overdoses were placed in Baltimore on Thursday, the day of a mass overdose event that sent more than two dozen people to hospitals, than on any other day this year — except for the next day. CONTINUE@CBSNews