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February 10, 2015                                                                                                        Volume 2., No. 25 
Testimonials
Challenging The Lies              VIDEO
Everything We Know About the Drug War & Addiction is Wrong VIDEO    

Author Johann Hari “What causes heroin addiction?” I would have looked at you like you were a little bit simple-minded, and I would have said, “Well, heroin causes heroin addiction.” We’ve been told a story for a hundred years that is so deep in our culture that we just take it for granted.”

Strength in Numbers   
Sober in the City: Sobriety as a Form
of QPOC Empowerment   

Although African American youth drink less than their counterparts in other racial and ethnic groups, they suffer more serious consequences from alcohol consumption, possibly because, as David Jernigan hypothesizes, “they tend to have less access to health care and substance abuse treatment, live in poorer areas and are incarcerated more frequently.”

Raising The Bar
Betty Ford Clinic Expands With IOP
in Los Angeles    

Betty Ford finally has arrived in Los Angeles. The Betty Ford Center – the iconic addiction treatment facility that has hosted such industry notables as Elizabeth Taylor, Stevie Nicks, Kelsey Grammer, Keith Urban and Lindsay Lohan since it opened in 1982 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. – is opening a new location at 10700 Santa Monica Blvd. Jim Steinhagen says that the merger with Hazelden represented a “large undertaking” but that the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is now in a good place. Susan Ford is back in the fold, and the opening of the West L.A. outpost is the “feather in our hat.”

I Will Always Suspect You  oo oo  
Bobbi Kristina’s Boyfriend Probed
in ‘overdose’ Case   

The daughter of late pop queen Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown was found in the tub on January 31 has been in a medically-induced coma since then. Georgia police have opened a criminal investigation into the events that led to Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina lying unconscious and facedown in a bathtub after apparently suffering an overdose, a report said Friday. The probe will focus on Bobbi’s boyfriend Nick Gordon – with whom Bobbi has a history of domestic violence.

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What a Story
Dad Conquers Addiction, Wants Custody
of Children Abused by Pastor Fox    

Alan Fox, a former pastor iand former singer/songwriter for the Christian folk band Band of Brothers, has been a foster parent to many small children for 30 years with his wife, Cathy. According to James, his daughter who was abused by Fox twice came forward with sexual allegations, and authorities took no action the first time. The second time she reported abuse, however, Fox was arrested.

CONTINUED @ GeneseeSun.com 

Scientific Advances   
Brain Region Behind Addictive
Overeating Found   

Scientists have identified a brain region that leads to compulsive overeating and addiction to sugar, providing a novel target for safe and effective treatment for the disorders. Compulsive overeating and sugar addiction are major threats to human health, but potential treatments face the risk of impairing normal feeding behaviours that are crucial for survival, researchers said. The study shows a reward-related neural circuit that specifically controls compulsive sugar consumption in mice without preventing feeding necessary for survival.

One Pill At a Time                 VIDEO
How You Can Stop Prescription
Drug Abuse VIDEO    

Today, when we track down and arrest the bad guys to make our state safer, more often than not, it is for a drug-related offense. Sadly, many of the individuals using the drugs began using drugs from the home medicine cabinet. The FDA is also working on the development of new forms of opioids, which are among the most abused prescription medications. The abuse-deterrent formulation of opioids would contain chemical properties that would make it difficult to crush or dissolve, thus reducing the ability of abusers to inject or snort the medicine in an attempt to get high.

Mike, You Reading This?   
‘Depressed alcoholic’ Bit Bouncer’s Ear After Friend Dropped Cocaine   

Ryan Rynka, 34, had been drinking heavily before he and a friend went to Players Coyotes, on Church Road, on December 13 last year. The pair were talking to the club’s door staff before Rynka’s friend removed his hand from his pocket and dropped a bag of white powder later found to be the Class A drug. As bouncer Stephen Ashdown tried to retrieve the bag from the ground, Rynka punched him and put his fingers in his jaw to pull his head closer before taking a bite of his ear.

CONTINUED @ Courier.co.uk  

Twelve Promises: Rewards of Recovery

Brandi’s Wish    

Meds In…Abstinence Out   VIDEO
Feds Crack Down On Crack Courts That
Fail Addicts  VIDEO    

The federal government is cracking down on drug courts that refuse to let opioid addicts access medical treatments such as Suboxone, said Michael Botticelli, acting director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Thursday. Drug courts that receive federal dollars will no longer be allowed to ban the kinds of medication-assisted treatments…

Philadelphia Story   
Parents Rescue Their Children From
The Drug World   

She scans the young faces, the ones with the faraway eyes of self-disgust. One of them might be her son, Drew, a handsome 25-year-old. He was her first-born, once an athletic, artistic “social butterfly.” She knows he is out here. “As long as he’s breathing, there is hope.” The number of people who died in Philadelphia of drug and/or alcohol intoxication has remained steady. They had on average more than seven drugs in their system. Heroin was the most common, detected in almost 55 percent of all overdose deaths. CONTINUED @ Philly.com 

Bridges To Recovery


His House & New Creation Treatment  

Playing With Fire
Marijuana as a Depression Treatment? Study Suggests It Can Alleviate Chronic Stress, Mental Illness    

The marijuana and depression debate has been going on for years now, and this study may add to the discussion but it doesn’t end it. It’s complicated. Every individual is different, and the matter is made even more complex due to the wide variety of marijuana strains available, each one affecting individuals uniquely. Depression treatments must be tailored to fit each person; one depressed patient might benefit from cannabis, while another might find anxiety heightened from the drug.

It’s Contagious   
BBC’s Gay Anchorman Blames LGBT Drug Use on Lack of ‘Discipline’   

The 52-year-old broadcaster compared gay drug use to a spreading disease: “Once gay people start taking drugs, they’ll take more drugs because it’s socially infectious and one person will take them, then another. I just think it’s something gay people have to watch out for.” Six months after the BBC promoted news “presenter” – British for anchor – Evan Davis to host of the U.K. television network’s flagship current affairs program, Newsnight, he’s talking about his sexuality and the dangers facing gays.

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Breaking The Stigma
Davina Fears Even One Glass of Wine Might Send Her Back Into Addiction: ‘I can’t just have one of anything!’    

Davina McCall has revealed that she still attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings and will not let herself drink even one glass of wine for fear she will be unable to stop. The presenter, who overcame a heroin addiction when she was in her twenties, still attends group support meetings in London at least once a month. Ms McCall – who is currently presenting the second series of Channel 4 show The Jump –  said: ‘I do still go to meetings because I just think that NA is brilliant – a very, very clever system.’

Un-Blow Your Mind   
A Shocking Reversal of Cocaine’s
Effect on Brain   

We are starting to know a lot of detail about how cocaine alters the brain’s pleasure circuitry. Finding ways to try to undo the drug’s microscopic mayhem has been another matter. This week, researchers may have moved a small step closer, using a combination of an already approved drug and some low-frequency electrical stimulation. The experiments on mice reversed the effect cocaine has on the signaling of neurons in the brain’s reward center.

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Detox With Dignity Now 

Strengthening Your Sobriety
Q&A With Scott Strode, Founder of Phoenix Multisport Recovery Services    

“We want to continue to address the stigma by wearing the Phoenix on our bike jerseys and workout t-shirts making a statement that we are proud of our sobriety while respecting the traditions of the fellowships that also help us on our journey. Being open and proud of our recovery helps us let go of the shame that often keeps struggling addicts in their disease. I hope that Phoenix Multisport’s simple approach of a supportive, active community helps others think about new and innovative ways to create a space that supports sobriety and recovery.”

CONTINUED @ RecoveryAnswers.org  

Butterfly on a Pink Cloud   
Iron Butterfly Guitarist Talks Sobriety and Meeting a Heavenly Being   

The psychedelic rock band first rose to fame in 1968 with its song “In a Gadda Da Vida,” which was supposed to be called “In the Garden of Eden,” but the lead singer slurred when he said the song’s title and the slurred name stuck. But Mike Pinera, the group’s guitarist (and former Blues Image member), has put that drug past behind him. For 26 years, Pinera has been sober, totally clean from drugs and alcohol.

Valentine’s Day in South Florida  

4th Annual – “Love Of Recovery”  Rockers In Recovery Free Music and Art Festival    

For ALL people in recovery or supporters of the recovery movement. It will be held February 14, 2015 at CB Smith Park 900 N Flamingo Road, Pembroke Pines, Florida, 33028, (20 Minutes From Fort Lauderdale Airport). The entire festival will be open to the public. Music along with 25 Arts and Crafts Exhibitors , Food Vendors, Recovery Merchandise, Addiction Education,Evidenced Based Treatment Options, and Veteran Information.

CONTINUED @ RockersInRecovery.org  

Upcoming Conference in Las Vegas    
USJT’s 7th National Counseling Advances March 19-21, 2015    

At Red Rock, the excitement goes far beyond exclusive hotel amenities . . . There’s Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking, Hiking, River Rafting, or Horseback Riding . . . all in a breathtaking high desert setting. For the less adventurous, simply enjoy the luxurious surroundings of a 3-acre backyard, home to the ‘best hotel pool in Las Vegas.”

CONTINUED @ USJT.com 

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Dying To Be Free
There’s A Treatment For Heroin Addiction That Actually Works  

But Patrick had insurance, and Anne, with her treatment background, thought she could find a prescribing doctor. The medical establishment had come to view Suboxone as the best hope for addicts like Patrick. “Patrick, we can get you the medication,” Anne told her son. “There are other options. We can put you on methadone or we can get you Suboxone. There are other things that you can do besides the 12-step program.”

Art Therapy Art   
Banksy Saves Struggling Artist from
Drug Addiction   

“I started dabbling in drugs and knocking around with the wrong people and when I was 19,” he said, “two of my closest friends were murdered six months apart.” After the murders, he got caught in a downward spiral and lost sight of his dreams of making it as an artist. However in 2009, after visiting a street art exhibition featuring works by Banksy, Scanlon had an epiphany and resolved to kick his drug habit and refocus on his artistic ambitions.

Some are MUCH Sicker Than Others
Mother Arrested for Giving Daughter Drugs Leading to Fatal Overdose    

A Dixon, Mo., woman has been charged with murder in her daughter’s fatal overdose on Christmas Eve.Maries County sheriff’s deputies arrested Starletta Blevins-Moore Tuesday night on charges of second-degree murder and distribution of a controlled substance. Deputies were originally called to her home on County Road 534 on the morning of Dec. 24, 2014. They found her daughter, 16-year-old Kaylynn Moore, dead in her bed of an overdose. Sheriff Chris Heitman said providing someone with drugs that subsequently kill them is grounds for a second-degree murder charge under Missouri law.

CONTINUED @ ConnectMidMissouri.com 

More Will Be Revealed   
White House Wants To Throw Big Money Behind Drug Treatment Programs   

With an uptick in both abuses and deaths across age groups in mind, President Barack Obama is requesting tens of millions of dollars in his fiscal-year 2016 budget for a more aggressive effort in dealing with the problems. The new approach, which is being led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), attempts to place a stronger emphasis on treating drug addicts rather than sending them to jail.

CONTINUED @ Fusion.net  

Improving Lives
Kennedy, Satcher Announce New Center for Mental Health Policy, Research    

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., announced today in Washington, D.C., the formation of the Kennedy Center for Mental Health Policy and Research. The center will be part of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and will collaborate with the Kennedy Forum, a think tank dedicated to research into mental health. Kennedy emphasized the core need to fully implement and enforce mental health parity. “The promise is there, but the practice is not.”

Sure, Right After Detox   
You Must Be Sober For More Than A Week To Keep Your Truck Driving Job   

If a commercial driver is diagnosed with chronic alcoholism, can his employer terminate him a week later because his diagnosis excludes him from performing the essential functions of his job? In Jarvela v. Crete Carrier Corp., the Eleventh Circuit said yes. Crete Carrier terminated Jarvela because of his week-old diagnosis, determining that he was in violation of its policy that prohibits employment of anyone who has had a diagnosis of alcoholism within the past five years.

CONTINUED @ JDSupra.com 

Essay
Taboo Topics: Alcoholism on Campus    

Playing with alcohol is life threatening. I’m not just talking life or death. I’m talking about the difference between job or no job, pass or fail, friends or enemies. Since my junior year of high school, I have watched friends submerge themselves in party scenes and friend groups that leave them blacked out every weekend morning, calling their ex-partners saying “they’ve changed,” and crying in the bathroom because they think they’re failures. I too have had my own fair share of experiences.

CONTINUED @ DailyNebraskan.com 

Do People Still Actually Drink These?   
Assemblyman Wants Cigarette-like Warnings On Soda   

A can of Coke could soon look like a pack of Marlboros, if one Bronx lawmaker has his way. Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz has introduced the “Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Safety Warning Act” – which would require tobacco-style health- warning labels on all sugary drinks, such a cola, iced tea and energy drinks. The labels would read: “SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.”

Changing of the Guard
FDA Commissioner to Resign    

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg will leave the agency by the end of March, ending a tenure marked by an expansion of food safety regulation and speedier drug approvals. Dr. Hamburg said in an interview it was her decision to leave after almost six years leading the agency because “this is a difficult and demanding job where you’re buffeted by all sorts of points of view.”

Selfies Under Fire VIDEO   
Taking a Lonely | Sebastian Maniscalco: Aren’t You Embarrassed  VIDEO   

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

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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.   

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Addiction/Recovery eBulletin Publisher & Editor:  
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Addiction Recovery eBulletin Feb 10, 2015