“Enough is Enough: Reform Rehab & Sober Living Industry in 2017”
Operators in the treatment industry should not only be open, but completely willing to work with law enforcement, community organizations, and district attorneys in their hometowns. We must get rid of the shady operators who’ve turned this industry into a scheme that’s left so many behind. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the many people in this industry leading the way to save lives. There are countless facilities and legitimate sober homes that are unfortunately lost in the midst of bad headlines and unscrupulous actions of others. They must make their voices heard and join the call to end these unconscionable practices making their way to the front pages of almost every hometown paper. In my opinion, this is the only alternative we have left: reform the system or sit on the sidelines as people continue to die. Ryan Hampton, Advocate for Change & Outreach Lead for Facing Addiction & Person in Long Term Recovery from Substance Use Disorder (WHATEVER THAT MEANS-WHAT CONSTITUTES LONG TERM?)
Kelly Osbourne details Ozzy’s grisly drink & drugs overdose in new tell-all VIDEO
Kelly Osbourne found herself embroiled in a family medical nightmare when her father Ozzy overdosed shortly after her mother had a seizure. The 32-year-old Project Runway Junior television hostess writes of her parents’ brush with death in her forthcoming book There Is No F**king Secret, noting patriarch Ozzy tried to end his life by drinking and swallowing prescription pills following his wife Sharon’s cancer diagnosis in 2002. “Dad was there in his boxers, and I watched him scoop his hands into a bowl of pills, swallow a handful of something, and wash it down with vodka”…
What’s the Best Diet for Newly Sober Alcoholics & Addicts?
One of the first things clinicians at the Addiction Treatment Center at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, do when they meet new patients is ask them to provide a recent history of their consumption – of food … “It’s critical for people in early recovery to develop a foundation of good eating,” Kane-Davidson says. “People who’ve been abusing alcohol and drugs often haven’t been practicing good nutrition … Avoid sugar. People trying to kick their alcoholism and drug addiction often battle another habit detrimental to their health: consuming too much sugar…
The new Celebrity Apprentice show is starting off its season with the typical drama. The first episode features a spat between Motely Crue’s Vince Neiland Boy George over the issue of sobriety. On the episode, Neil and George are supposed to collaborate in the studio on a project. Neil brings a glass of wine to the session. George who has been vocal about his sobriety raised issue with this. He told the camera, I do not need to be in a room with someone drinking alcohol-it’s just not a good look for me.
Kenny Sansom, 58, checks into rehab in last bid to save his life
Former England and Arsenal footballer Kenny Sansom has checked into a rehab clinic to save his life. The alcoholic, 58, admitted his booze and gambling addictions have pushed him to the brink of suicide. Now, his former Arsenal teammate Niall Quinn has checked him in to the Tiglin Centre in County Wicklow, Ireland for ten months.
S. Florida con artists turn ‘sober homes’ into insurance scam
When Florida finally cracked down on its freewheeling pain clinics, the nation’s oxy addicts turned to cheap Mexican heroin. And lately, to fentanyl, a synthetic heroin and another South Florida speciality. All of which led to our latest drug-addiction scam – faux “sober homes,” group homes for recovering addicts in league with substance-abuse treatment programs that are hardly more than vehicles for insurance fraud. Hundreds of barely regulated sober homes have proliferated in Palm Beach and Broward counties over the past decade. Many are tied into very lucrative addiction-treatment programs exploiting well-meaning federal laws that put behavioral disabilities (including alcohol and drug addiction) on par with physical handicaps. And make them eligible for medical insurance coverage.
READ MORE @ MiamiHerald.com
Save the Babies
3 in 10 moms tested positive for drugs in 2016
Lisa Suttle, director of the psychiatric service line for Reid Health, presented the 2016 numbers during last week’s Heroin Is Here meeting. She said not all of the babies born to mothers testing positive to a drug would suffer through withdrawal. Last year, 684 women gave birth at Reid, with 211 (30.85 percent) testing positive for one of seven types of drugs. Fifty-eight of the positive tests were for opiates, such as heroin. That’s one of about every 12 births at the hospital, but it’s an improvement from the beginning of the year. Through July, 41 of 382 births – or one of every nine – tested positive for opiates.
If politicians feel the desire to continue to meddle in individual rights, how about tackling the biggest drug abuse America faces – alcohol. According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the United States. And that doesn’t include alcohol-impaired driving fatalities that accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities).
Imagine a drug that can intoxicate us, can infuse us with energy and can be taken by mouth. It doesn’t have to be injected, smoked, or snorted for us to experience its sublime and soothing effects. Imagine that it mixes well with virtually every food and particularly liquids, and that when given to infants it provokes a feeling of pleasure so profound and intense that its pursuit becomes a driving force throughout their lives … There is something about the experience of consuming sugar and sweets, particularly during childhood, that readily invokes the comparison to a drug … As for tobacco, sugar was, and still is, a critical ingredient in the American blended-tobacco cigarette, the first of which was Camel. It’s this “marriage of tobacco and sugar”, as a sugar-industry report described it in 1950.
Texas Rangers mistake kitty litter for methamphetamine
A Houston man is trying to clear his name after police arrested him after they mistook a bag of kitty litter for methamphetamine. On Dec. 5, Ross Lebeau was stopped by police for making an illegal right hand-turn. Officers found marijuana in his car, and he was detained. But Lebeau’s situation took a frightening turn when officers found a bag full of gray powder stuffed inside a sock on his dashboard. Two field tests at the scene determined the substance was meth, and Lebeau was charged possession with a controlled substance … The Harris County Sheriff’s department eventually dropped their charges, but not after Lebeau spent three days in jail and posted $50,000 bail.
New alcohol abuse research puts parents in dilemma
The research showed that it may be fine for parents to let their children have a few sips of liquor if they want to ensure their offspring, when they grow into teenagers, do not drink as heavily as those who are introduced to alcohol by their peers. Those who are introduced to alcohol from friends, it said, are thrice more likely to engage in binge drinking. The study was done between 2010 and 2014 by 11 experts in Australia. It is titled “Parental Supply of Alcohol and Alcohol Consumption in Adolescence: Prospective Cohort Study” and it featured in the Psychological Medicine journal, published by the Cambridge University Press.
READ MORE @ Nation.co.ke
Gov’t Mule
Obamacare Repeal Jeopardizes Mental Health Services
Sherri Reynolds’ son Qual has been drug free for 16 months, thanks in large part to treatment he got through Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act … “I really hope they don’t dismantle Obamacare and I don’t understand why they would dismantle something which is credited for saving so many lives,”… “I really hope they don’t dismantle Obamacare and I don’t understand why they would dismantle something which is credited for saving so many lives…”
Brain Pathways for Gambling Addiction Similar to Substance Abuse
A new study reveals that gambling addiction activates the same brain pathways as drug and alcohol cravings. The international study, led by researchers from Imperial College London, suggests targeting these brain pathways may lead to future treatments for the condition … “Gambling addiction can have a devastating effect not just on patients, but also their families. It can result in people losing their job, and leave families and children homeless,” Bowden-Jones said.
READ MORE @ PsycheCentral.com
Joints or Bong Hits?
Free Marijuana to be Handed out Inauguration Day
Jan. 4, WASHINGTON – The DC Cannabis Coalition says it plans to hand out thousands of joints of marijuana on Inauguration Day – for free – to urge federal legalization of pot. The group plans to start handing out joints at 8 a.m. Jan. 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle in the nation’s capital, where recreational marijuana is legal. Then, marchers will walk to the National Mall where the real protest will begin … The great marijuana giveaway is legal, as long as it’s done on D.C. land. “We don’t want any money exchanged whatsoever. This is really a gift for people who come to Washington, D.C.,” he said.
6-month-old boy dies after found unconscious at Harlem drug treatment shelter
An infant boy died Tuesday after police found him unconscious in a Harlem drug treatment shelter. Police found the 6-month old boy unconscious at the Odyssey House Shelter on E. 121st St. near Third Ave. at about 1:15 p.m. He had difficulty breathing, and medics took the boy to Harlem Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved. The city medical examiner will determine the boy’s cause of death.
To our Readers and Advertisers: An Open Letter from Leonard Buschel Publisher/Editor of the Addiction/Recovery eBulletin
Gratitude is always in season, and as we begin 2017, I want to thank our readers and astute progressive advertisers for your loyalty and confidence. The Addiction/ Recovery eBulletin is approaching four and a half years of continued growth and influence. This would not have been possible without the support of “The Good Guys” – our sponsors who continually stand on the side of truth, integrity and Best Practices. It is an honor to serve our readers and a responsibility I do not take lightly.
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 & the general public.
Reddit community helping thousands of alcoholics stay sober VIDEO
JAN. 6, 2017, Could social media help alcoholics quit drinking? Research from Recovery.org claims one community on Reddit is helping 50,000 people worldwide fight their addiction. “For some folks this is a great way to make them feel comfortable about getting involved with sobriety, taking that first step, making an effort to find out more about it,” John Robson, Fort Bend Regional Council on Substance Abuse Chief Operating Officer, said. The sub-reddit “Stop Drinking” is loosely similar to traditional recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Lamar Odom has completed a month-long stint in rehab and appears to be in great spirits. In December, Odom checked himself into a 30-day rehab program near San Diego. E! News learned about his stint days after papers to finalize his and Khloe Kardashian’s divorce were filed and more than a year after he experienced a near-fatal overdose.
Giving drinks to alcoholics, a look inside the Calgary program
Staff at a charity that runs a program treating chronic Calgary alcoholics with controlled access to hard liquor and beer says it’s working. Trinity Place Foundation offers people over 55 with mental health and addiction problems a safe space – away from daily trips to emergency rooms and run-ins with police – at its Peter Coyle Place facility. Of the 70 residents, 10 chronic alcoholics are in the program, focused on harm reduction rather than trying to beat their addiction.
Shane Olivea opens up about insane drug addiction VIDEO
A FORMER Ohio State University football player whose NFL career fell apart because of a painkiller addiction says he wants to become a college coach and help others avoid similar pitfalls now that he’s clean and has a degree. Shane Olivea told The Columbus Dispatch he was high every day following his rookie year with the San Diego Chargers. “At my height on Vicodin, I would take 125 a day,” said Olivea, who was briefly a Giant in 2008. “It got to the point I would take a pile of 15 Vicodin and would have to take them with chocolate milk. If I did it with water or Gatorade, I’d throw it up.”
Seattle police warn people about dangerous heroin purity
Jan. 09, 2017 – Seattle police are warning heroin users about dangerous purity levels after several recent overdoses. Police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb says three people died and a fourth person was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. The Seattle Times reports officers were canvassing Aurora Avenue North corridor Saturday to warn users of the danger.
READ MORE @ FoxNews.com
Reduce Contempt Prior to Investigation
Man who drank seven bottles of wine a night stays sober by taking ketamine
Jan. 4 2017 – A man believes he may have kicked a chronic alcohol problem thanks to a revolutionary study using ketamine. Marcus drank up to seven bottles of wine a night, regularly blacked out and found himself in police custody on more than one occasion. He’s taking part in a trial at the University of Exeter to see the effects of the trial called Ketamine for Reduction of Alcoholic Relapse … Celia Morgan, professor of psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter, is working with University College London and Imperial College London on the KARE trial, which is currently recruiting for participants, including in Exeter.
Arizona ranks among top tier of states for alcoholic consumption
January 7, 2017 Drink up! If you’re in Arizona, chances are you’re doing it anyway. Arizona ranked toward the top of the nation for monthly alcoholic consumption, The Washington Post reported. But the monthly drinking rate for residents 12 years and older in Arizona has relatively unchanged from 2008 to 2015. The drinking rate in Arizona in 2008-2009 was 51.15 percent. In 2015, it was 51.19. However, Arizona fell short to New England, which The Post dubbed as “home to the nation’s heaviest drinkers.” New Hampshire led the charge, with 64 percent of residents 12 years and older drinking monthly.
Herb Stepherson was laying in his bunk bed at the Porter County Jail when he made the decision: He was going to commit suicide. He was 29 years old, facing 35 years behind bars. He’d been hooked on heroin for most of his adulthood. He was tired of life. He planned to save up his commissary money and, once he got to prison, buy enough drugs to overdose. “I was going to go to sleep and I was not going to wake up,” he said. “There was this eerie comfort in it, that this is how it’s going to end.”
READ MORE @ NWITimes.com
Teleflex intranasal Mucola Atomizer Device
Recall affecting overdose drug
Jan 5, 2017 – The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office is informing the community and fellow first responders nationwide about the recall of a device used for intranasal delivery of naloxone, the drug used to reverse an opioid overdose. The Sheriff’s Office and other first responders around the country rely on the Teleflex Medical intranasal Mucola Atomizer Device as the most effective delivery method of naloxone. “I expect 2016 will be a record-breaking year for overdose deaths in the county,” said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. “Due to this tragic increase, I consider this recall issue to be of the highest importance. We are dealing with an epidemic, and we need all the help we can get to save lives.”
READ MORE @ SWNewsMedia.com
Los Angeles Skirball Cultural Center – 2017
8th Annual Experience, Strength & Hope Awards – Feb. 23 in LA
Broadcast giant and Recovery advocate PAT O’BRIEN is set to receive the Experience, Strength and Hope Award presented on Thursday, February 23, 2017 Guest Host, Ed Begley, Jr. Guest Singer, Sherri Lewis Spoken word performance by author Dejuan DJ Verrett Actress Joanna Cassidy will be Thanking our VIP Sponsors from the stage. SPECIAL COMEDY performance, from South Florida to you, SARGE (He’s half Jewish and half Black. What could possibly go wrong?) PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS TBA Previous Honorees: Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Lou Gossett, Jr., Buzz Aldrin, Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Carrie White, Joe Pantoliano, Mackenzie Phillips Previous Participants: Danny Trejo, Tony Denison, Robert Downey, Jr., Ione Skye, Bobcat Goldthwait, Joanna Cassidy, Alonzo Bodden, Mark Lundholm, Dan Fante, Bob Forrest, Sharon Lawrence, Barry Diamond, Jack McGee Event Will Sell Out – Book now to avoid disappointment
Beaufort man opens “sober home” for recovering alcoholics VIDEO
A Lowcountry man is doing what he can to help strangers in need. Beaufort resident James Fordham is opening a home for recovering alcoholics in what he says is the first step in a larger project. It may just look like another house on the block, but to Fordham, it is a symbol of hope. He has been raising money and saving up for more than a year and a half to open the door to what he calls the “Lowcountry Hope House.” “What an honor it is that God could use someone like me to hopefully help another person,” he says. In Beaufort, it will be a “sober home” to recovering alcoholics, a place for them to stay for three to six months as they try to get over the disease.
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