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April 21, 2015                                Treatment Industry & Recovery Community News                           Vol. 2., No. 35
Testimonials
13th Time’s a Charm
Andy Dick Enters Rehab For 13th Time    

Thirteen is generally said to be an unlucky number, but troubled comedian Andy Dick is hoping to change that, as RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that he is now in rehab for the thirteenth time! Dick, 49, entered SOBA Recovery Center in Malibu three months ago, an insider told Radar.  “Andy is doing really good right now. He is a clown, but he is also a total sweetheart and is trying really, really hard at sobriety,”the insider revealed. On Monday, he wrote, “Nothing beats a sober Monday,”tagged with @sobarecovery.

Get well at New Method Wellness

Monkey See Monkey Do
Does alcohol in movies make teens more likely to drink?    

Seeing actors drink alcohol in movies seems to increase the likelihood that teens will drink and have alcohol-related problems, a new study suggests. The findings fit with a growing consensus of evidence that teens are more likely to engage in various risky behaviors that occur in the films and TV shows they watch, said study author Andrea Waylen, a senior lecturer in social sciences at the University of Bristol in England.

His House & New Creation Treatment

Like Demonic Possession
Reformed gambler explains why flutter can lead to an addiction worse than alcoholism 

Saturday’s Grand National saw people placing bets that won’t bet again this year. For others, that first win can spark an addiction more hidden than alcoholism, one reformed gambler says Jonathan de Burca Butler. For them, the English Grand National is the only occasion they set foot inside a bookies shop. Horse selection is often made on a whim; its name evokes a memory or the jockey is wearing your favourite colour. Traditionally, punters stick a pin in the list of runners and riders and hope for the best. There are winners and losers and, for the majority of us, that will be that until next year.

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Amplifying the Conversation
Hazelden Betty Ford Intensifies Its
Advocacy Presence     

“We have been somewhat silent on mainstream topics even if they were related to the space we’re in,” says Hazelden Betty Ford’s Nick Motu. “We’ve shied away from controversy. We now have an obligation as the largest nonprofit to take a stand on controversial issues such as marijuana legalization.”… Motu adds that while Hazelden Betty Ford will continue to participate in advocacy activity spearheaded by other organizations around the country, its leaders did not feel it would suffice simply to attach its advocacy efforts to an existing national organization or other mechanism in the field.

High Functioning High Bottom
Soccer Mom’s Secret Heroin Addiction    

“I must admit that even as I type, I’m not entirely sure if I will, in fact, send this,” her email begins. “I’m just a wee bit intimidated, and I’m truly afraid after I ask you my question that I will find myself on the receiving end of, well, basically a response fitting to that of a complete and utter f–king moron.”

 Recovery Program Management

To Vape or Not to Vape
Author Will Self’s Addiction To Vaping    

For 40 years, smoking cigarettes has been as fundamental to Will Self’s way of life as eating and sleeping (often much more so). Lately, though, he’s a changed man, thanks to a new addiction: vaping. According to our orally fixated correspondent, the pleasures of the plastic fag are many. So start sucking now, smokers, before someone tries to ban them.

CONTINUED @ Esquire.co.uk  

 Benchmark Transitions

 
 AcademicAddiction.com

Rocky Road Indeed
Ben and Jerry’s takes heat for ice cream beer    

“It’s a crass, corporate greedy move to put put a brand name like Ben and Jerry’s on a beer,” says Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director and CEO of Alcohol Justice, an alcohol industry watchdog consumer group. “It’s bad for children – who will start looking at beer as the next step after ice cream.”

NPR on the Roots of Addiction
Addiction In American History:
14 Vivid Graphs    

“‘Alcoholism’ made its debut in the lexicon around 1900, associated almost exclusively with ‘crime’ and ‘dreams’ – coincidentally around the time that Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was published,” Recovery.org notes. “However, the association with crime was soon eclipsed by concern over ‘chronic’ alcoholism and ‘death’/’deaths’ related to alcoholism, which ballooned in the 1920s during the height of the prohibition movement.”

A Newcomer Writes…
An Open Letter from an Addict    

The purpose of the following open letter written by Olivia Kirks, is to provide insight about the disease of addiction. In it, she shares her own experience with opiate addiction. Having battled drug abuse since 2006, Olivia proudly attests to being clean and sober since July 17, 2014. To those who suffer with us and because of us: First of all, you need to know that my addiction is not your fault. It’s nothing you did or did not do. Mom, it’s not because you worked so much or didn’t have dinner with me every night…

CONTINUED @ Surfky.com 

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In Memorial RAP    VIDEO
Rapper’s Video About Drug Plague, made ‘for Joey VIDEO    

The Tottenville resident, a former drug abuser himself, has written several songs highlighting Staten Island’s prescription pill epidemic. I just wanted to write something for his family so Joey would never be forgotten,” Stroh said. He says he has known too many friends who died from drug overdoses, and he hopes his music can inspire some addicts to seek help. The deeply personal track chronicles the damaging effects drug abuse has had on Porcello’s family as well as on Stroh.

Exciting
Is Oxytocin Too Good to Be True?    

…That’s why there’s so much excitement in the recovery world lately about oxytocin. In human studies, a synthetic, inhalable version of the hormone seems to quell alcohol cravings. And it does this not by making people dependent on yet another drug (Ativan and Valium are the classic detox helpers) but by actually killing the urge … Last month, researchers reported that drunk rats given oxytocin immediately started acting sober, an odd discovery that hints at still more avenues for manipulating the brain chemistry of alcoholics.

Over The Counter Death   VIDEO
98 hospitalized in 1 month span due to ‘Spice’ overdose VIDEO    

Ninety-eight people have been hospitalized in the span of a month due to drug overdoses suspected of being caused by Spice, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Spice is the street name of synthetic cannabinoids. It is also known as K2, Spice Gold, Sence, Genie, Zohai, Yucatan Fire, Smoke, Sexy Monkey, Black Mamba and Skunk. The substance consist of dried plant material sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids. It mimics the effects of marijuana because its chemicals stimulate the same areas of the brain.

Life Imitates Art?
‘Breaking Bad’ style mobile meth lab bust    

Authorities said both King and Ebat exhibited physical signs of recent methamphetamine use. While searching the vehicle the deputies found a glass meth pipe and two plastic containers with meth residue inside the glove box. In the trunk of the car, the deputy found a variety of items used to manufacture methamphetamine, including lighter fluid and bottles of sulfuric acid based drain cleaner.

CONTINUED @ AZFamily.com 

But One Has Stockholders
Editorial: Trading one addiction for another doesn’t solve problem    

…while programs that use Methadone and Suboxone have been successful in helping those addicted to drugs maintain their employment and lead reasonably normal lives, those programs do not help people kick their drug habits. Instead, the drug addicts are given a different drug that avoids some of the woeful effects of heroin, OxyContin and other opiates. However, this also can increase the risk for drug overdose, as users may attempt to overpower the Naltrexone by taking more opiates.

CONTINUED @ DailyIndependent.com 

Trauma In The Spotlight 

Trauma Boomerang: Too Much vs. Too Little   by Dr. Tian Dayton MA, PhD     

Dysregulation is a hallmark of trauma. If we are regularly exposed to frightening situations and we aren’t able to process, understand or gain comfort for our fears, our bodies can become sensitized and wired for overreactions. We go from zero to ten and… Traumatized people can have trouble living in four, five, and six; that middle ground where thinking feeling and behavior operate as a fairly integrated whole.  In Twelve Step rooms the phenomenon of dysregulation is intuitively referred to as “black and white thinking.”

CONTINUED @ CounselorMagazine.com 

MEDIA: Book Review – Da Capo, $26.99
‘Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Science of Hedonism, the Hedonism of Science’ Da Capo, 352 pp., $26.99    

Did you know goats, hyenas and gibbons all engage in oral sex? Or that Vesalius (the “father of modern anatomy”) was unable to locate the clitoris? Or that the human penis is rare among mammals in that it doesn’t include skeletal support and consequently it is more closely linked to the brain? And this is just the start (cue the punch lines here).

CONTINUED @ SeattleTimes.com 

Hollywood Relapse VIDEO ONLY
Kim Richards Arrest: Her Struggle With Sobriety  VIDEO    

CONTINUED @ AccessHollywood.com 

Another Good List
15 Shocking Alcohol Statistics for Alcohol Awareness Month    

Often times, people get caught up in the glitz and glamour of alcohol. Cocktails for every occasion, drinks that smell good and look pretty, and the fact that alcohol is a drug is promptly forgotten. That’s why once a year it’s good to remind people about the dangers and health implications associated with alcohol. April is alcohol awareness month.

The 6th Annual WCASD Conference

UPCOMING EVENTS
LAUGH FOR RECOVERY

Saturday, May 16, 2015  

The 2nd Annual Comedy Benefit, “Laugh for Recovery” which is YPR-NJ’s major fundraiser is slated for 6:30PM May 16, at the Old Bridge Knights of Columbus (61 Pine Street, Old Bridge, NJ). Last year’s event was a great success, and this year’s Comedy Benefit will be even better.

Old Bridge Knights of Columbus  

61 Pine Street, Old Bridge, NJ  

FOR MORE INFORMATION  

 

REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL
DENVER EDITION

May 29-31, 2015  

The 1st Denver Edition 2015
With CeDAR and Writers In Treatment
Denver Film Society
SIE Film Center
2510 E. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80206

Call for more information:
818-762-0461  

FOR MORE INFORMATION

   

REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL
2nd ANNUAL BAY AREA EDITION

June 11-14, 2015 

VIZ Theater, 1746 Post Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 

Call for more information:
415-548-0492   

FOR MORE INFORMATION  

Her Theory of Everything
Anne Lamott shares all that she knows     

I am going to be 61 years old in 48 hours. Wow. I thought I was only 47, but looking over the paperwork, I see that I was born in 1954. My inside self does not have an age, although can’t help mentioning as an aside that it might have been useful had I not followed the Skin Care rules of the 60s, i.e., to get as much sun as possible while slathered in baby oil. (My sober friend Paul O said, at 80, that he felt like a young man who had something wrong with him.)

Phoenix House Warning   VIDEO
Why Supposedly Abuse-Proof Pills Won’t Stop Opioid Overdose Deaths VIDEO    

Oral pain pills containing opioid have become a big business, drawing in companies including Purdue Pharma, Pfizer PFE -0.43%, and Zogenix ZGNX -1.25%. But they’ve also become a huge public health problem, leading to record numbers of drug overdose deaths. In 2013, more than 16,000 people died of opiate analgesic drug overdoses, up from 4,000 a decade ago. So when Purdue, the maker of the category-defining Oxycodone, asked to come by to show me the abuse-resistant technology in its new Hysingla pill, I was game:

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It’s Just Wine
Pouring our lives away? The rise of the female wineaholic    

Tick tock, tick tock, that’s the sound of wine o’clock. For many women like me, in their 30s, our poison of choice is wine – so civilised and lovely, such a necessary complement to a delicious meal, the sophisticate’s drink of choice. Wine is all that, and of course it’s an instantaneous de-stressor. Bad day at the office? A glass of wine is always the solution. Friday night wind-down on the couch with Netflix? Time to crack open a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

Brandi’s Wish

Learning Starts Within
Mental Health Starts Before College    

“I thought of it as a clean slate. Nobody knows my history. I could be a new person,” says the now 21-year-old junior at Brown University. “I didn’t want people to see me as the girl with anorexia.” Ms. Lanzillo started struggling with the eating disorder and anxiety in high school. She had been doing so well the summer before college that she stopped therapy when she arrived for college in Providence, R.I. But a few months into her first semester, she relapsed.

Detox With Dignity Now

Legally Dangerous
What You Need To Know About Flakka    

A potent new designer drug called “flakka” is making headlines across the United States, driving many users into fits of screaming, naked rage accompanied by vivid hallucinations. Flakka is a chemical-cousin of the “bath salts” drugs. Both are synthetic versions of naturally occurring amphetamine-like drugs called cathinones.

Check Out Reef’s New Show  VIDEO
Dr. Reef Karim Launches
New Talk Show VIDEO 


Weed Nation:
Moving Beyond Legalization

“Jon Stewart disrupted traditional political news … It’s time for a revolution in health and human behavior.”

This first episode’s panel discussion, called Weed Nation: Moving Beyond Legalization, has already helped introduce a new bill to legislation! I would love your support and feedback in the YouTube comment section. Featured Guest: ERIC ROBERTS
Eric Roberts is a highly esteemed actor, and a two-time Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee.

A Hookah In Your Hand
Use of E-Cigarettes Rises Sharply Among Teenagers    

Kenny, a high school senior in Weston, Fla., likes to puff e-cigarettes during study sessions with friends after school. James, a senior in Fauquier, Va., uses them outside at lunch with friends who do smoke tricks. Joe, a senior in Jackson, Miss., uses them in the morning before class as a coffee-flavored way to pass the time. E-cigarettes have arrived in the life of the American teenager.

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All In The Family
My mother is an alcoholic    

There’s no handbook on how to survive a loved one’s addiction.You start to see the person who raised you through a different lens. Their disease changes you. Every day, I would come up with new ways to distract her so we could pour her alcohol out. I went as far as throwing myself down the stairs to get her attention. I spent every day confused, depressed, mad and burdened.

Bridges To Recovery

They Are What You Eat
Opioids During Pregnancy = Risk of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome    

Almost 259 million prescriptions were handed out in 2012 for opioid pain relievers in U.S. alone. As per a new study, hydrocone and comparative opioid pain relievers tend to be commonly prescribed for pregnant women. So, there is a higher risk of the babies suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome.  Scientists analyzed the records of a little over 112,000 pregnant women apart from examining data obtained from Tennessee’s Medicaid program for 3 years.

CONTINUED @ GeekInfinite.com 

InTheRooms.com

Come to Denver This Spring

Haight-Ashbury Grows
Pot Startup Donates $2 Million to Legalize Marijuana in CA    

One of California’s largest marijuana-related apps is donating $2 million toward the drive to legalize weed in the state – a move that not only would vastly expand its customer base but also foreshadows an expected increase in political activity from the cannabis industry.

Coming Soon to San Francisco…

All Three Live
Parents Overdose On Heroin While Giving Toddler a Bath    

Police say the parents of a 3-year-old boy have been charged with endangering his welfare after they overdosed on heroin while giving him a bath in New Hampshire. Eric Carter and Stephanie McCassin, both of Manchester, were arrested on warrants Thursday, four months after the child’s grandmother and primary caretaker reported finding the child in the tub, with the parents passed out. The child was not hurt. 

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13 Minutes on Coroner Ordered Suboxone
Kentucky Reforms Drug Court Rules To Let Heroin Addicts Take Prescribed Meds    

Kentucky will no longer require opioid addicts to stop taking prescribed treatment medications as a condition of participating in the state’s drug court program, according to a motion filed in federal court. The state court system had previously mandated that addicts taper off such medications within six months in order to remain in drug court — a policy that contradicted established medical research and best practices.

An Expert Speaks
How alcohol is changing your parenting and harming your children    

Parents are always so proud of their children. There’s just something about our kids that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Anytime you talk with a parent about his children, he’ll tell you how bright and smart his children are. He’ll talk about how his kids pick up on so much that they can hardly keep up with all the things they learn from one day to the next. By: Aaron Anderson is a therapist and Director of The Marriage and Family Clinic in Denver, CO. He is a writer, speaker and relationship expert.

CONTINUED @ KTAR.com 

Celebrity on the Edge
Cara Delevingne Drinking For Breakfast: Alcoholism Spiraling Out Of Control – Needs Rehab Before Career Crashes!    

Supermodel Cara Delevingne has always been a party girl and had a bit of a wild side, but the alleged alcoholic’s drinking problem is getting out of control! Cara recently decided to branch out and pursue a career in acting, which we’re sure had everything to do with the fact that she wasn’t being invited to as many fashion shows as she used to because she was partying too hard and considered unreliable. But, according to a new report from Star Magazine, Cara’s acting career might be short lived if she doesn’t sober up!

Artificial Artificial Flavoring
E-cig warning: Flavoured nicotine liquid contains danger chemicals    

American experts studied a small sample of 30 products and found a “significant” number contained aldehydes – compounds which are thought to damage the lungs. ‘Vapers’ have almost 8,000 flavour to choose from including menthol, cherry, coffee and bubble gum, the study found. If vapers inhale 5 millilitres of e-liquid a day, researchers claimed they would be exposed to twice the recommended occupational exposure limits of benzaldehyde and vanillin.

Over The Counter
Common pregnancy pain drugs leave newborns suffering horrific withdrawal symptoms    

Mums who take common pain relief drugs during pregnancy risk giving birth to an addict baby, horrifying new research has found. If pregnant women take “opioid” drugs they risk giving birth to a child going through withdrawal, it has been claimed. Up until now, a condition called “Neonatal abstinence syndrome” was blamed on junkie mums binging on illegal narcotics during pregnancy.

The Murphy Bill Goes to Congress
HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT
By Rep. Tim Murphy, PhD     

More than 11 million Americans have severe schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression yet millions are going without treatment and families struggle to find care for loved ones. The Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act fixes the nation’s broken mental health system by focusing programs and resources on psychiatric care for patients & families most in need of services. To read the full Energy and Commerce Committee report on its investigation of federal programs addressing serious mental illness, please click below.

CONTINUED @ Murphy.House.gov   

Obituary By Alcohol
Philly taverns to pay $7M to settle fatal beating    

Two defunct Philadelphia nightclubs have agreed to pay $7 million to settle a wrongful death suit filed by the family of a Temple University graduate who was beaten to death in Old City by three drunk men. “When you have a license to sell alcohol, you have the responsibility to do it safely,” Mongeluzzi said. “If you serve underage, drunken patrons, and they leave your bar and commit a heinous crime, you will be held accountable for your actions.”

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:  
Leonard Buschel  

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