| Celebrating 3 Years as Editor/Publisher
AfterPartyHero: The Man Helping People Heal Through The Arts In addition to the REEL Recovery Film Festival & Symposium, Buschel is also the man behind The Addiction/Recovery eBulletin, a packed missive which posts 30 stories a week and goes out to 20,000+ subscribers. “It’s not like a blog-it’s hard news,” he says of the industry standard newsletter, which is celebrating its third anniversary this week. “It’s about anything to do with drugs and alcohol, with treatment and recovery.” | | | Amends Anyone?
“Rehab Empire” charged – 500 New Yorkers to Lose Jobs Father-son owners Alan and Jason Brand are currently facing federal charges for milking approximately $40 million from Medicaid annually to create a “piggy bank” they used for luxury homes and cars for themselves and family members. Narco Freedom holds $6.3 million in New York State contracts to administer drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment programs to the most vulnerable and impoverished addicts in recovery. | | | Death Reduction
Stopping The Spread Of Disease And Overdose Deaths From Opioid Use …HIV and hepatitis cases have soared due to injection drug use. Needle exchange programs are getting off the ground slowly, and are actively opposed by lawmakers who think these programs encourage drug use. This shows a profound ignorance of addiction. Addicts don’t choose to inject based on the availability of clean needles; they inject… | | Baltimore gives prescriptions for overdose drug in court Dr. Leana Wen gave out the prescriptions for naloxone to 30 drug offenders at the Baltimore City Adult Drug Treatment Court, where they get drug treatment and academic and vocational training in lieu of traditional jail time. While other counties in the state are training people how to use naxolone, Baltimore is the first jurisdiction to mandate it in court.It is estimated that 18,900 people have used heroin in the past year in Baltimore. | | | Living On The ‘Natch
Jason Isbell talks songwriting, sobriety and fatherhood I am completing up “Blood Meridian” through Cormac McCarthy and I am virtually completed with that one. I would say my favourite guide within the remaining 10 to 15 years can be “Shadow Nation” via Peter Matthiessen. It is a in point of fact stunning ebook… I went thru the entire procedure of having my lifestyles so as, settling down in a solid dating, beginning a circle of relatives and getting sober. CONTINUED @ SuffieldTimes.com | | | Fabulous or Fatal
Could This Be Cure To Drug Addiction?
Single Injection Could Erase Memories The Scripps Research Institute from the Florida campus has found that blebbistatin injection, could help eliminate drug-associated memories and make an addict forget about the temptations to avoid drug addiction relapse. The research will be published in the online journal Molecular Psychiatry by the end of the month…A huge problem, however, poses a threat on humans. Blocking or impairing the actin, which is a key protein in the human’s bodily functions, could lead to fatality. | | | Wardens Wonder Why
Texas House Panel Approves Legalization of Marijuana in ‘Unprecedented’ Move A proposal which would make Texas the fifth state in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana use was approved in a bipartisan House panel vote – with the bill’s author citing his Christian values as cause for his support. Being hailed as a historic victory and a surprise to Lone Star state lawmakers… CONTINUED @ CBSHouston.com | | Click here for Biosound Therapy
| | Recovery Program Management
| | | ‘Twas So Simple
A Simple Fix for Drunken Driving Why do repeat offenders change their behavior in response to relatively modest incentives? … In a widely cited 1991 paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry, he showed that, although his patients continued using cocaine in the face of great harm to their families, livelihoods and physical health, they could still be induced to refrain from it when promised a small reward, like $10… | | | Poor Alternative
Woman dies being treated for addiction A woman has died after undergoing a treatment with ibogaine, a psychoactive substance, for her drug addiction.
Ibogaine is an unapproved prescription-only medicine in New Zealand, and Iboga owned the clinic where the treatment had been provided….Her general practitioner, his assistant and Iboga New Zealand, has today been found to be in breach of the Code of Health. “In prescribing ibogaine for the treatment of drug addictions, the GP was prescribing an unapproved medicine for experimental use. | | | Stay Close to Your Sponsor
Donkey Escapes, Refuses To Leave Firefighters’ Side Crews from the Desert Hills Fire Department were fighting a section of the 7,000-acre fire near Lake Havasu City when, much to their surprise, a lone donkey – frightened but alive – emerged from the burning forest. Amazingly, he seemed to understand the firefighters could help, which they did by cooling his singed body with water from their hose. | | | Know Thyself
John Green Has A Refreshingly Honest Take On Mental Illness John Green is dropping some real talk about what it’s like to live in the spotlight with a mental illness. The Fault in Our Stars author opened up about his experience with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety. One user asked how he deals with his anxiety while appearing at press events for the screen adaptation of his novel Paper Towns. “I try to treat my mental illness the way you would any chronic illness, and I’m very lucky that in general it’s very manageable.” | | | Families Brutalized by Arrests
40 percent of foster cases in ND are related to parental substance abuse Jan Kuhn, clinical director and licensed addiction counselor at Sacajawea Substance Abuse Counseling in Dickinson, said addiction to the drug methamphetamine is tearing families apart in southwest North Dakota. It’s challenging to work with the mothers she sees, most of whom have lost their children as a result of being convicted. For some, that’s not even incentive enough to truly want to change. CONTINUED @ TheDickinsonPress.com | | | Running, But Not Running Out
‘420 Games’ Athletes Want to Change the Perception of Weed Participants in this year’s 420 Games in San Francisco rose bright and early Saturday morning for a 4.2-mile run-but some toked up first. “The 420 Games participants are not ‘stoners,'” said the event’s founder. “The 420 Games are sporting events, NOT ‘smoke ins’.” Among the participants at the games were retired athletes who said that marijuana has helped them cope with painful injuries. | | | Global Event August 31st
International Overdose Awareness Day International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is global event held on August 31st each year and aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have met with death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdose. For information on IOAD, please visit www.overdoseday.com | | | But Not Gérard Depardieu
Less than half of French order alcohol once a week, shock poll reveals French drinking, particularly in bars and bistros, is on the wane with only 44 per cent ordering an alcoholic beverage once per week. Instead of knocking back pinot noir or a string of “demis” – French for a half of lager – the average Frenchman or woman in a bar, café or restaurant increasingly opts for nothing stronger than a sparkling water of a coke “avec a zest de citron” (with a twist of lemon). Less than one in two – some 44 per cent – order an alcoholic drink when out and when they do they opt for quality over quantity. | | The Ad For COKE You Have To See VIDEO
| | | No Guarantees AUDIO
A couple of parents who lost their son to a heroin overdose are pointing out that drug addiction doesn’t tend to be treated like a disease in the United States – which means that when drug users want to get treatment, health insurance coverage often comes up short. Growing up in the Philadelphia, Anthony was a typical American guy. He’d go to the gym, play video games and watch football – in his case, the Eagles. | | Rates for eBulletin Advertising
| | | 2015 UPCOMING EVENTS
2nd REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL HOUSTON EDITION September 25 – 26 The Council on Recovery
303 Jackson Hill St., Houston, TX 77007 September 27 Sundance Cinemas – Finale
510 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002
Call Tracy Abbott for more information:
713-240-4931 4th REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL
NEW YORK CITY EDITION October 16 – 21 Cinema Village
22 E. 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
Call for more information:
818-762-0461 7th REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL
LOS ANGELES EDITION October 23 – 29 Laemmle NoHo CInema
5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
Call for more information:
818-762-0461 | | | | Substance Contra Substance
Gov. Christie Signs Bill Expanding Access to Drugs for Participants in Drug Courts Today Governor Chris Christie signed into law Senate Bill 2381/Assembly Bill 3723, which permits successful completion of drug court for those who are utilizing medication assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorders. Legislation Permits Participants to Complete Drug Court While Using Methadone and Buprenorphine. | | | Origin Stories
Childhood Test Predicts Future Addiction? The idea that childhood trauma might have a connection with adult health problems came to Felitti almost by accident, according to a recent interview. He was running through a series of questions when he accidentally asked a client in the weight-loss program, “How much did you weigh when you first became sexually active?” | | | Come for Donuts – Stay For Self-Integration
The absolute last place I wanted to end up was in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was, I knew, a place for the dregs of society — chain-smokers who drank black coffee and pined for the good old days when they could drink. I chain smoked and pounded coffee at the time… I also got so very lucky in terms of the rooms I walked in…And the meetings I started going to regularly were filled with people I would have wanted to befriend anyway, all of whom seemed to share brilliant… | | | Celebrity Slip
Lisa Vanderpump, Camille Grammer Open Up About Kim Richards “I dug deep into my past, things that happened to me as a child, good and bad, teenage years, relationships with all my loved ones, where they need to be mended, where they’re very powerful. I worked on me.” Less than two weeks after that interview, on Aug. 2, the star was arrested when she was caught shoplifting at a Target store in California’s San Fernando Valley. Police said Richards was suspected of walking out of the retailer with nearly 100-plus items worth nearly $600 total. | | | …In Two Minutes VIDEO
Heroin addiction not a “conscious and stupid decision” VIDEO I am a psychiatrist specializing in addiction treatment. Mr. Lamb’s editorial of August 6 regarding heroin users states, “They’ve made a conscious — and stupid — decision to put their own lives in peril.” The decision to use heroin is not a conscious decision as we normally think of it…Yet, patients with addiction are judged far more negatively than anyone else. It is a debilitating disorder that deserves treatment just as any other medical illness. CONTINUED @ WDRB.com | | | Progress, Not Perfection
Narcotic drugs can be coaxed from yeast Until now, these drugs – known as opioids – have been derived only from the opium poppy….Thebaine can be converted into oxycodone, the pain reliever in OxyContin. pills like Vicodin…In defense of her work, Christina Smolke, she said that millions of cancer victims, accident victims and others in pain around the world have no access to pain relief. CONTINUED @ SeattleTimes.com | | LA Sept. 2-3, Admission/Marketing Symposium LA
| | Check out Loma Linda University
| | | My Name Is Peaches
Creating Community – One Vegetable at a Time by Tian Dayton Ph.D. Not only are you what you eat, it turns out, but you’re also what you think and do … connecting good, wholesome food and exercise to good health, more recent research is revealing the strong connection between health and relationships or community…. So bless these farmer’s markets that create community, fun, cottage industries talking and walking (an alpha form of exercise) for the whole family and the whole community. These grassroots events create connection, good will and good health all in one fell swoop. | | Are you an alcoholic? (Satire) You’re up late, scouring the internet, when you come across some factoid about the dangers of alcoholism. It could be a personal essay, some click-bait quiz or an email from your mum, but regardless of the context the message is usually the same: if you’re reading this you’re an alcoholic! Turn back before it’s too late! CONTINUED @ SBS.com | | Twelve Promises: Check Out Preview
| | | At The One Yard Line?
Hillary Clinton Tackles Opioid Abuse The scope of New Hampshire’s struggle with addiction was on full display at the forum. “If you have been impacted by someone you know or your own substance use, would you just raise your hand?” “I think it’s pretty clear that we’ve got to refocus and learn from the experts, from people in recovery themselves what will work. And that’s why I’m here,” Clinton said. | | | Stay Alert
Drunk Driving In Past Month Confessed By 4 Million U.S. Adults …more than four million adults in the United States admitted that they sometimes drink and drive. However, the actual number of Americans who engage in drunk driving while under the influence or intoxicated could be higher since some people might not confess to drinking and driving…More than 10,000 drivers died in car or truck crashes across the U.S. in 2013 while drunk. Their bodies’ alcohol level was higher than the legal limit. | | | Combination Shot
Where lies addiction: Genes versus culture or genes and culture? Robert Downey, Jr., star of countless films including Chaplin, Iron Man series, Tropic Thunder and Zodiac, started making movies when he was just five years old. He’s also famous for his descent into drug addiction, which he says started even earlier than age five. Downey has told a number of interviewers that he believes he has an addictive personality… – Is addiction inherited, and genetic? – Is addiction more a cultural and environmental phenomenon? – Is there such a thing as an addictive personality? | | | AMAZINGLY – Arizona Does Something GOOD Arizona City Mandates All Dogs Sold in Pet Stores Will Come From Shelters For the longest time, rescue groups, shelter volunteers, and animal lovers everywhere have hoped the day would come when pet stores would sell shelter pups exclusively, as a way to cut the profit from “puppy mills”. Last week a federal judge in Phoenix, upheld a city law requiring that all dogs sold in pet stores come from shelters. 23,000 dogs are sold in Phoenix area pet stores every year, and shelter dogs can spend months or even years waiting for adoption. | | | Holy Smokes
Woman smuggles joints into jail in Bible An arrest report obtained by multiple media outlets says 24-year-old Monkia Ryans hid three marijuana cigarettes inside the Bible and dropped the book off at the Union County Jail on Friday afternoon….Deputies say the jail supervisor didn’t think the Bible felt right and had it X-rayed. CONTINUED @ FoxNews.com | | | No Brainer
Watching Porn Often Causes Addiction Another study from Germany found out that frequent exposure to porn creates individuals who are not capable of getting excited by ordinary sexual experiences and start craving for more extreme experiences. Another interesting finding by the same study was that researchers discovered porn may actually shrink your brain. | | | Easier Softer Way
Feds Want Pharmaceuticals For Addicts Federal drug czar Michael Botticelli said that the U.S. government would make drug court funding conditional on states being guided by the science on treatment, rather than ideology. He added that SAMHSA would be taking a similar approach, but needed to work through the details first.”As the Huffington Post article pointed out, we have highly effective medications… | | | Bring Back Game Boy
Tetris Play Weakens Cravings and Addiction By 20 Percent Playing Tetris helps ward off cravings because it disrupts the mind from imagining food, drugs, or activities.Cravings are normal. As HNGN previously reported, psychologists have formulated different theories to explain the feeling: low levels of serotonin (a calming hormone that triggers the desire for certain foods); the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) call for a break from the stress; and the body merely signals some deficiencies of some nutrients. | | | Lots of Comments
Maine cancels funding for drug abuse treatment groups he Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs has been notified its contract with the state, which has stood for more than 13 years, will be canceled Dec. 31. Ruth Blauer, the association’s executive director, said cancellation of the $573,000 contract will essentially eliminate the services provided by her program and two others it oversees … SEE COMMENTS | | | No More Abstinence
Next addiction drug can’t be only solution Do we really need another addictive drug on the market to treat drug addiction? U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, believes so. He and others are trying to get buprenorphine into more doctors’ hands to help treat heroin addiction. Today, doctors are limited to 30 patients in their first year prescribing a drug, and another 100 per year after that. Brown argues the cap unnecessarily blocks addicts from getting a medication that could help them… However, We live in a pill-happy culture to begin with, and the notion that all we need is another pill to “cure” a problem, in this case addiction, is flawed thinking. | | Addiction/Recovery eBulletin
| | | WRITERS IN TREATMENT
Writers In Treatment a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit 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. If you or someone you know has a film about Addiction OR Recovery,
please click on our: Addiction/Recovery eBulletin Publisher & Editor: Leonard Buschel © 2015 Addiction/Recovery eBulletin | | | |