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January 13, 2014                                                                                                       Volume 2., No. 21
Testimonials
Two Bad Apples  VIDEO
DATELINE: Palm Springs Sobriety House Managers Face Drug Charges  VIDEO  

The managers at Palm Springs Sobriety House are arrested and face drug charges.

Still Making An Effort   
Gov. Baker in Misstep on Heroin Anecdote   

Turns out the wrenching story Governor Charlie Baker told during his inaugural address about an Easton teen who fell victim to the scourge of opiate addiction wasn’t quite right. Evan Greene did die last January after consuming a fatal overdose of heroin. But the 19-year-old did not become addicted to the street drug after abusing opiates prescribed by a doctor.

Left At the Starting Gate
Babies of Addicts ‘display problems’ 

Dr. Helen Mactier, a paediatrician in Glasgow, said the latest study is unique in having followed so many babies for at least six months and having in-depth information on the drugs mothers took during pregnancy. Through interviews, urine samples and tests on the babies’ first stool, they found that as well as methadone, most babies in the study had also been exposed to opiates, benzodiazepines, cannabis and in some cases stimulants.

Change Is Possible AUDIO   
What Heroin Addiction Tells Us About Changing Bad Habits  AUDIO   

It’s a tradition as old as New Year’s: making resolutions. We will not smoke, or sojourn with the bucket of mint chocolate chip. In fact, we will resist sweets generally, including the bowl of M&M’s that our co-worker has helpfully positioned on the aisle corner of his desk. There will be exercise, and the learning of a new language. It is resolved.  So what does science know about translating our resolve into actual changes in behavior?

Free Webinar
LGBTQ Recovery:
Where We’ve Been
and Where We’re
Going – Professional
Webinar Series    

Wednesday, January 21
1 p.m. Eastern, Noon Central,
11 a.m. Mountain,
10 a.m. Pacific (1 hour)
A webinar for addiction, mental health, and other professionals working with LGBTQ clients as well as those currently in training. Learn from leading Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation experts who will share historical factors, recent research, and current innovations.

It’s An Inside Job   
Depression May
Be Caused by Inflammation   

Inflammation is our immune system’s natural response to injuries, infections, or foreign compounds. When triggered, the body pumps various cells and proteins to the site through the blood stream, including cytokines, a class of proteins that facilitate intercellular communication. It also happens that people suffering from depression are loaded with cytokines.

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Six Pack Suicide
Alcohol Poisoning Kills 6 in US Daily    

The report also shattered some preconceived notions about the demographic most at risk for alcohol poisoning. It was not college aged students or alcoholics that died most from alcohol poisoning, rather it was adults aged 35 to 64 that accounted for 76 percent of deaths. Within that range, adults aged 45 to 54 made up the largest percentage (34 percent).

Musical Sobriety VIDEO   
House Music Icon Celebrates Sobriety and a Remix on Life  VIDEO   

Some of RaShaan Houston’ s followers might not know that Dec. 31 also marked seven months of sobriety for this veteran entertainer, who admits that consuming alcohol had been a regular feature of his life since he first started performing in nightclubs at age 21. “I was doing the music thing,” he says. “I was a regular at the club, performing at all the clubs and traveling. I would drink regularly because I was always around it.” Now he’s eager to tell the story of his journey to sobriety. CONTINUED @ HuffingtonPost.com 

IS NCADD ON MEDS ?
Medications for Alcohol Addiction are Underutilized   

Scientific evidence shows that medication contributes to improved outcomes for individuals pursuing recovery from addiction to alcohol.  This does not mean that medication is for everyone.  It does mean that patients and prescribers ought to seriously consider including medication in comprehensive recovery plans.  For example, a person in treatment for the first or second time who is resolute about pursuing the basics of recovery may be better off without the inconvenience and risks of medication.  A similar person with less resolve may be better off with medication.

CONTINUED @ NCADD.org  

Wishful Thinking?   
Drug Overdose Epidemic To Recede Soon   

A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health is the first to apply Farr’s Law on the rise and fall of epidemics to an outbreak that isn’t, strictly speaking, infectious in origin: drug overdoses. At present, more than 40,000 Americans die every year by unintentional drug overdose-a number that has ballooned tenfold since 1980. The researchers believe the overdose rate has already slowed, driven by a decline in deaths from prescription painkillers, which account for two-thirds of all the deaths.

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UK Leads the Way
Calls For Alcohol Health Warning Labels    

– 80% of people would back moves for alcohol labels to contain information on how alcohol can affect their health.
– The inclusion of an alcoholic drink’s nutritional value and calorie content on labelling was supported by 69%.
– 84% support warnings on all alcohol labels which make it clear that the safest option when pregnant is to avoid drinking alcohol completely.

Traveling    
Former Mavs Star, Cautionary Tale Roy Tarpley Dies
at 50  

One of the most gifted and ultimately tragic talents in NBA history has died. Former Dallas Mavericks big man Roy Tarpley, a terrific scorer and rebounder whose career was derailed by drug and alcohol abuse, died in a Dallas hospital Friday at 50 years old.
CONTINUED @ YahooNews.com  

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Dirty Laundry
Divorce Judge Slams ‘bed-pooping, cokehead’ Banker, Alcoholic Wife    

Child welfare officials think a notorious Wolf of Wall Street-style banker and his alcoholic wife are just fine parents – but a Manhattan judge handling their divorce begs to differ. Cooper said the duo permanently scarred their young children in their bitter custody battle, which started last summer when Kelly allegedly planted hidden cameras in the couple’s Fifth Avenue home to catch his wife chugging beers and snorting cocaine.

Any Takers?  

    

Kardashian Baby Daddy Scott Disick Looking for Addiction Expert   

Is Scott Disick ready to get his life together once and for all? Well, supposedly the reality television star is seriously trying to. Or, at the very least, he’s hoping to find someone that can not only guide him onto a better path, but also help him stay there. Tensions got worse than ever since she gave birth to their newest child less than a month ago. When the unreliable party boy decided to attend a lingerie bash just a few days after Kardashian gave birth to their son, she reportedly retaliated by locking him out.
CONTINUED @ MusicTimes.com  

For Good Reason
Why You’ve Never Heard of the Vaccine for Heroin Addiction    

“No pharmaceutical company is going to fund trials for heroin, no way,” says Janda, who’s been working on addiction vaccines for decades. “For meth? No way. Forget about it.” Janda has also worked on a meth vaccine. He has one for cocaine and one for a date rape drug too, but the heroin vaccine is the one he’s most confident about because it was proven to work a in clinical trials on rats. “The heroin one has been our best success in over 25 years of working-it’s the best data we’ve seen.”

Side Effects   
Alcoholism After Gastric Bypass: Is it in Your Mind or Gut?  

Scientists have competing ideas for why gastric bypass patients show higher rates of alcohol abuse post-surgery. Kim spent the next two years fighting addiction. “Lots of scary stuff happened during those years,” she said. She regularly drank alone at home, two bottles of wine at a time. Before long, she was hiding bottles from her husband, driving while drunk, blacking out and discovering injuries she didn’t remember getting.

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Easy Does It
Optimists Twice as Likely as Pessimists to have Healthy Hearts    

Between 2002 and 2004, Hernandez and fellow researchers from Northwestern University, Chapman University, Harvard University and Drexel University, examined the relationship between optimism and cardiovascular health in more than 5,100 adults aged 52 to 84.

Use the Steps   
Being Active Tied To Lower Alcoholism Risk   

“We know from other studies that physical activity reduces the risk of other psychiatric problems . . . as well as studies that seem to show that physical activity increases the benefit of treatment in alcohol use disorder patients,” Becker told Reuters. “These results strengthen the general recommendation of increased physical activity and add to the long list of beneficial effects of physical activity,” Becker said.

A New Leaf in Your Portfolio
Vulture Capitalists Sweeten the Pot, Go Bongers for Marijuana Industry 

Founders Fund, a venture capital firm well-known for backing Facebook, Palantir Technologies and SpaceX, has changed that by investing undisclosed millions in Privateer Holdings, a Seattle private equity firm focused on the burgeoning medical and recreational marijuana sectors. Privateer called the funding round the first of its kind.

Save-A-Life   
Mom’s Life Saved, Charged After Heroin Overdose   

Jessica D. Simpson, 24, was found unresponsive by someone who had stopped by to check on her. Police said they saw crack pipes, hypodermic syringes and a number of glassine packets commonly used for heroin in the apartment. Simpson appeared to have overdosed, police said, so Officer John Calvello Jr. administered naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opiates, to her using a nasal applicator.

How Much Is Too Much?
Are You Addicted To Sex?    

The desire to express our sexuality is a natural part of life. And to seek and find pleasure and fulfillment in expressing it is ok. However, if you are engrossed with sexual thoughts, feelings or behaviors that are causing significant distress to your health, job, relationships or other parts of your life, then you may be facing a sexual addiction.

Going To Any Lengths   
Ignoring City Orders, Sober Homes Stay Open  

Sober homes worry that someday their communities will turn against them. Some owners say they have only survived because they have maintained a low profile – just another house on another block. Some say it is only a matter of time before neighbors complain. “I know they are coming for me soon,” said Bob Hutton, the owner of Desert Awakenings, the only sober home in Indian Wells. “Every one of my neighbors says I’m the best neighbor they’ve ever had … But I know, eventually they are coming my way.”

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Joining Forces
St. Elizabeth Partners with Betty Ford to Fight Heroin Addiction    

Northern Kentucky soon will get the region’s first outpatient clinic offering new medical interventions and counseling to victims of the raging heroin epidemic. The creation of the clinic at St. Elizabeth Healthcare is a partnership with the world-renowned Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and is seen as a new weapon in the fight against the addictive power of heroin.

Getting Off   
‘One try is all it takes’: Survivors, Family Members And Drug Experts Weigh In On  Heroin Problem  

One is the user who tries the drug and becomes hooked, and the other is the person who becomes addicted to prescription opiate pain killers as a result of legally prescribed medication for pain and becomes addicted, turning to heroin as a substitute for the medication.
Poll Question: Do you know someone struggling with heroin addiction?

Chemical Euphoria Can Kill
Man Charged After Ecstasy Deaths    

A man has been charged in connection with three suspected drugs-related deaths in Suffolk. Adrian Lubecki, 19, from Ipswich, is charged with being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs. Police believe the deaths of three men in Suffolk and a fourth man in Telford, Shropshire, could be linked to a dangerous batch of ecstasy. Officers urged anyone in possession of the red triangular pills marked with the Superman “S” logo not to take them.

Beware: Unawareness   
Majority of Public Unaware of Alcohol’s Link with Cancer   

The UK- wide poll found that just 47 per cent of people were aware of any connection between alcohol and the disease. But an overwhelming majority (83 per cent) would back further nutritional and health information on alcohol labelling. “And it isn’t just a risk for heavy drinkers; regularly drinking alcohol puts you at greater risk of seven different types of cancer, including breast and mouth cancer.”

CONTINUED @ CancerResearchUK.org  

Only $75 Who Wants It?
War on Drugs Is Burning Out    

Even more striking were the results in California, where voters overwhelmingly passed one of the broadest sentencing reforms in the nation, de-felonizing possession of hard drugs. One week later, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD announced an end to arrests for marijuana possession. Decriminalization in California, the report concludes, has reduced the harms of prohibition for thousands of California teens. “Fewer young people,” its authors write, “are suffering the damages of criminal arrest, incarceration, loss of federal aid and other punishments.”

In Gum On Gums   
Is Sugar More Addictive Than Cocaine?   

James DiNicolantonio is a cardiovascular research scientist. He recently published a comprehensive review of dozens of studies in which he contends that sugar is more dangerous than salt when it comes to risk for heart disease. He says that refined sugar is similar to cocaine…

Don’t Bogart That Joint R.I.
The State with
the Highest Concentration of Pot Smokers    

It’s not Colorado or Alaska or Washington or any of the other usual suspects. That distinction belongs to tiny Rhode Island, according to the just released National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In the Ocean State, 15.76% of people 12 and over reported using marijuana in the past month. That’s about one in six. And second place is something of a surprise, too: Runner-up honors go to the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, coming in at 15.17%.

TKO   
Boxer Jon Jones Tests Positive for Cocaine  

Three days after defeating Daniel Cormier in a light heavyweight championship bout at UFC 182, pound-for-pound king Jon “Bones” Jones announced his intention to enter a drug rehab. “We support UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ decision to enter a drug treatment facility to address his recent issue. While we are disappointed in the failed test, we applaud him for making this decision to enter a drug treatment facility”.

Los Angeles Residents Celebrate Recovery
6th Annual Awards Honoring Joe Pantoliano

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015 

This year’s honoree is actor and author Joe Pantoliano. With more than 100 film, television and stage credits to his name, Joey joined the cast of The Sopranos, and won an Emmy Award. He’s also the author of Asylum, his deeply moving and inspiring memoir. This Award is given in recognition of an individual’s honest memoir, including their journey through addiction to recovery, and their dedication and enthusiasm for carrying the ‘message’ to a society awash in addiction.

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WRITERS IN TREATMENT

Writers InTreatment and REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium.
  a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit


If you have or know someone with a film about Addiction OR Recovery, we are accepting Vimeo Links and DVD’s year-round.


REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL is a social, educational, networking and recovery forum showcasing first-time filmmakers and experienced professionals who make films about addiction and recovery. Our audience is treatment professionals, people in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives, educated moviegoers and the general public.   

Addiction/Recovery eBulletin Publisher & Editor:  
Leonard Buschel   

Addiction Recovery eBulletin Jan 13, 2015