Drug Abuse and Addiction

Drug Abuse and Addiction

Can 12-Step Groups and Psychedelics Coexist?

WHAT WOULD BILL W. DROP? – April 8, 2021 - After years of daily opioid use, Kevin was finally succeeding at his recovery. In 2011, he moved into a halfway house, got a sponsor, and started going to 12-step meetings ... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 13 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Heroin-Using Professor Wants to Change How We Think About Drugs

BLACK TAR: THE NEW DIGESTIF? – April 10, 2021 - Dr. Hart argued that most of what you think you know about drugs and drug abuse is wrong: that addiction is not a brain disease; that most of the 50 million Americans ... Read More...

April 13 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionHeroin AddictioninterventionInterview

How I learned to love Zoom 12-step meetings

NO MORE ZOOM GLOOM – April 8, 2021 - “You could hear the plopping of her poo,” he recalls. “She put the camera back on her face like nothing happened.”) Meetings were attacked by Zoom bombers. Hate speech... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 13 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninternetinterventionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Quote of the Week – DMX

“The curse turned to grace when the hurt turned to faith.” —DMX (Dec. 18, 1970 – Apr. 9, 2021) ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 13 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and Addictiongrammy winnerquote of the week

Drug use among seniors a hidden epidemic

I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP – March 31, 2021 - Development of drug use later in life may be connected with prescription of pain relief medication, which poses a risk for misuse if not appropriately administered. ... Read More...

April 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and Addictioninterventionlife expectancyMental Healthopioid crisisRehab

Teens more likely than adults to develop addiction to marijuana, drugs within 12 months

A YEAR IN THE LIFE – April 1, 2021 - The new report, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA pediatrics, adds to mounting evidence showing adolescents are more vulnerable to substance use disorders t... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionmarijuanaMental Healthteenagers

New Mexico Legalizes Recreational Marijuana

ANOTHER STATE GOES TO POT – April 1, 2021 - New Mexico was set to become the 16th state to legalize recreational marijuana after the Legislature passed a bill on Wednesday, joining a national movement to rethink ant... Read More...

April 6 2021CompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionmarijuanaMental HealthRecovery

Celebrity groomer helps people battling addiction

WATCH – THE MIRACLE OF MEN – March 24, 2021 - Now, they’re ready to take their efforts a step further by creating a structured sober living facility in Southern California that’s equipped with a “community of r... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

You got sober? Good for you, but we can’t date

ESSAY/OPINION/AL-ANON SHARE – March 27, 2021 - My brilliant and weirdly eccentric father, who I thought was the most interesting man in the world, indulged in a combo of pills and alcohol. Even as a teenager... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionRecoveryRehab

Marti Pellow: ‘Every day I punch addiction in the face!

WATCH – SINGING SOBER – March 29, 2021 - Of all the pop stars, Pellow seemed such an unlikely addict – so clean-cut, bouncy and upbeat. After being outed by the tabloids in 1999, he never denied his problems. B... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictionRecoveryRehab

Paige talks about her sobriety

WRESTLING FOR LIFE – April 1, 2021 - “Honestly, the drug thing, (stopping drugs), kind of happened when I got the call that I could go back to WWE because that lifted my spirits a lot. I was like, ‘Damn, well, ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Stimulus money fueling addictions

WATCH – BAD MONEY AFTER GOOD – April 1, 2021 - She said the correlation became clearer when checks rolled out. Some people relapsed or would stop showing up for treatment. “Engagement specialists, recovery c... Read More...

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The Guest House: Ocala’s best kept secret

HEALING AND HOPE – April 2021 - The Guest House, located on a rustic estate in Silver Springs, has been in operation since 2016. It is one of the nation’s leading centers for treating addiction and destructive ... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

“Runaway Princess: A Hopeful Tale of Heroin, Hooking and Happiness’

CATCH HER IF YOU CAN – April 2, 2021 - Runaway Princess: A Hopeful Tale Of Heroin, Hooking and Happiness is a true story, laced with wicked humor and much pathos, of Mary Goggin’s Irish Catholic upbringing... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictionHeroin AddictionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Film about addiction made by people in recovery

THREE BULL-MASTIFFS IN A CORNER KITCHEN – April 2, 2021 - Like a pea pushed down a snowy mountain, is how Sam Batley describes his spiral into addiction. From the age of 15, his consumption of substances gained... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Minnesota band “Communist Daughter” embrace new Alaska home

WATCH & LISTEN – BEING SOBER IS VERY COOL – April 2, 2021 - After almost a decade of steady touring and hustling to make their harmonious indie-rock group Communist Daughter one of Minnesota’s great shoulda-been... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Q&A with Amy Dresner, Best-Selling Author

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – April 6, 2021 - Amy Dresner is a journalist, author and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. She was a regular columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine Th... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Man accused of ‘body brokering’, kickbacks from sober living homes in Orange County

BUSINESS OF GREED – March 30, 2021 - Prosecutors say more than $350,000 in suspected kickbacks were paid to Moore by the sober living home operators. The money was “covered up by bogus contracts for ‘marketing’... Read More...

April 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionRehab

Overdose Deaths Spiked To 88,000 During Covid-19

LISTEN – HUNGRY GHOSTS – April 1, 2021 - The White House plan drew praise from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who represents one of the states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic. “I have long pushed to expand ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and Addictioninterventionlife expectancyMental HealthOverdoseRecoveryRehabrelapse

George Floyd could change how we talk about drug abuse and Black Americans

WATCH – LONG OVERDUE CONVERSATION – April 3, 2021 - As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States, Floyd, the father of two young daughters, started using again: he lost his job as a nightclub security gu... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewlife expectancyMental HealthOverdoseRecovery

‘Jackass’ team ‘tortured’ me with 90-day rehab stint’ says: Bam Margera

WATCH – 18 DIFFERENT JAGGED LITTLE PILLS – April 2, 2021 - “What’s the point of a $5 million contract that I have to walk on eggshells and jump through your hoops — which is already impossible — to obey if I’m dead?... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassiondepressionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthOverdoseRecoveryRehab

Drug treatment should be incentivized, NOT forced

LISTEN – ATTRACTION NOT COERCION – MARCH 31, 2021 - The Washington Post has been running a series about reimagining public safety, and one of the guest columnists is Kassandra Frederique, the executive director of t... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

ADDICTION TREATMENT: DISASTER LOOMING

SYSTEMATIC BREAKDOWN – March 24, 2021 - In a spectacular display of stigma related to the disease of addiction and its treatment, there has not been a rush to expand capacity, address decades of old workforce s... Read More...

April 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental Healthopioid crisisopioidsOverdoseTrauma

Safer injection facilities are a much-needed weapon in the opioid epidemic

DEATH REDUCTION – April 3, 2021 - Doctors or nurses based at SIFs provide treatment or give referrals to treatment for people with opioid addiction. In my work as a buprenorphine doctor, many of my patients say... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediabuprenorphineDrug Abuse and Addictioninterventionopioid crisisopioidsRecovery

New York State of Mind…Altering Substances

MORE THAN A SPIKE LEE JOINT – March 31, 2021 - Anyone with a previous marijuana conviction that would now be legal under the law will have the rap expunged or be re-sentenced. And New Yorkers will now be legall... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApril 6 2021Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionmarijuanaMental HealthRecoverysmoking

‘Recovery Café’ opens to help people struggling with addiction

SOBRIETY IS ON THE MENU – March 25, 2021 - Glass explained she had been addicted to several different drugs for 19 years, including pain killers, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. She said she has now been... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionfentanylHeroin AddictioninterventionMar 30 2021Mental HealthmethRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Michael Douglas: “I don’t wish the ‘experience’ on anybody”

“I AM AL-ANON” – MARCH 25, 2021 - Michael Douglas is opening up about one of his biggest struggles as a father. Speaking to AARP the Magazine, the “Wall Street” actor, 76, got candid about son Cameron’s drug ab... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewMar 30 2021RecoveryRehab

Amazing! “The Young Injectables” Harm Reduction Comic Book

YOU MEAN DEATH REDUCTION – March 23, 2021 - Coworkers eventually helped me contact author Van Asher, who gave me a color copy. Asher, 51, is currently the harm reduction coordinator at Housing Works’ Cylar Hous... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and Addictionharm reductioninterventionMar 30 2021Recovery

Who’s making money off social media addiction?

STARTS WITH AN “F” ENDS WITH A “K” – March 25, 2021 - “The dirty truth is that they are relying on algorithms to purposely promote conspiratorial, divisive or extremist content so that they can take money, make... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninternetinterventionMar 30 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRehabSmartphone Addiction