How Much
is a Life Worth? Hepatitis C, unlike alcoholism, is insidious. It often causes no symptoms for decades. Many are unaware they have it, even as their livers are slowly destroyed by the virus. Nearly four million Americans, and tens of millions of people worldwide, are infected. More | Julia Roberts Speaks About the ‘Heartbreak’ of Her Half-Sister’s Overdose
“It’s only been 20 days. There aren’t words to explain what any of us have been through in these last 20 days,” she said. “It’s hour by hour some days, but you just keep looking ahead.” Motes, a 37-year-old former production assistant, was found dead inside her Los Angeles apartment of an apparent drug overdose on Feb. 9. More | Selena Gomez Admits She’s Still Struggling After Rehab It’s no surprise that Selena’s new post admits that her fans are everything to her. However, it is a bit surprising that she’s pretty much admitting she’s lacking self confidence, and quoting an article all about Mary J. struggling with drugs and alcohol.
More | Book Review:
Best Kept Secret “Cadence could be you, your neighbor, your friend,” author Kaira Rouda wrote. “At her core, she is the mother we all try to be.” Addictive tendencies may originate in unsuspecting individuals, including mothers of young children. This is the story of Cadence, and how she navigates the dark world of alcoholism.
More | Novel Compound Halts Cocaine Addiction and Relapse Behaviors A novel compound that targets an important brain receptor has a dramatic effect against a host of cocaine addiction behaviors, including relapse behavior, a University at Buffalo animal study has found. More | Approval of Powdered Alcohol was a Mistake, Govt. Agency Says The approval of labels for a powdered alcohol product called “Palcohol” was a mistake, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) said Monday. Palcohol gained widespread publicity in recent days after it was reported the government agency approved the labels. More | DJ Rashad Dead? Chicago Footwork Legend Reportedly Dies Of Drug Overdose Chicago footwork legend DJ Rashad has reportedly died. While the news has not yet been confirmed, DJ Godfather claimed he heard the sad news from some of Rashad’s griends. Godfather and Rashad were supposed to perform together Saturday night at the INHALE ART EXPO in Detroit. More | | Cannabis Can Cause Heart Ache | Marijuana Linked to Heart Problems
The Journal of the American Heart Association, medical scientists in France concluded that recreational marijuana use may result in cardiovascular-related complications, and possibly even death, among young and middle-aged adults.In a separate study earlier this month, two teams of scientists in this country examined the effects of marijuana among young casual users and found distinct brain abnormalities directly traceable to pot. More | | 2013 Highlight Reel from RRFF VIDEO | REEL Recovery Film Festival HIGHLIGHT
Reel 2013
See clips from last year’s Award Winning REEL Recovery Film Festivalwith Paul Williams, Russell Brand, Robert Blake, Barbara Eden and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. See VIDEO | | Second Act About to Begin ABC News | Paroled ‘Sopranos’
Actor Discusses
Drug Addiction After spending eight years in prison, former “Sopranos” actor Lillo Brancato Jr. says he’s trying to help young people avoid making similar, drug-fueled mistakes. Brancato, who got his break in the 1993 film “A Bronx Tale” with Robert De Niro, said he’s reaching out to young people to discuss the addiction he was unable to control. His last drug high was in prison in 2006, he said. More | The culture of the “almost alcoholic” is a growing problem, says Dr. Joe Nowinski, Ph.D., an internationally recognized clinical psychologist and co-author of the book, ALMOST ALCOHOLIC: Is My (Or My Loved One’s) Drinking a Problem. The book defines “almost alcoholics” as a growing number of people whose excessive drinking contributes to a variety of problems in their lives. More | EVERY
Past Issue of the
Addiction/Recovery eBulletin
| Selena Gomez Turning To Religion To Avoid Rehab
“Selena is trying to change her ways by going to church and more so to avoid going to rehab. She feels like she has a spiritual gap and that maybe that’s why she is struggling,” the source told HollywoodLife.com. “She learned about the spiritual aspect in rehab when they talked about the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. More | | The Conversation Continues
| “Not Why the Addiction – Why the Pain?”
Dr. Gabor Maté
Can we start to be more compassionate? And not assume a person suffering an addiction is morally reprehensible? What’s critical to better supporting people suffering addictions is to ask as Dr. Gabor Mate suggests: “Not why the addiction, but why the pain?” More | | Cry For Help Takes Colorful Turn | Alcohol Problems Led Her to Set Home On Fire A woman set fire to her home in a cry for help over her alcoholism, a court was told. Sylvia Smith set her bedroom alight before her son poured water over burning material and managed to get her out of the room. A court heard she had a drink problem for a number of years and had been profoundly affected by “tragic and distressing events in the extreme” in her early life in Northern Ireland. The 55-year-old woman has been placed on supervision for three years. More | | Health Warning of the Week | FDA Reviews Suicidal Side Effects of Chantix Since 2009 Chantix has carried the government’s strongest safety warning – a “black box” label – because of links to hostility, agitation, depression and suicidal thoughts. The warning was added after the FDA received dozens of reports of suicide and hundreds of reports of suicidal behavior among patients taking the smoking-cessation drug. FDA also required the drug’s maker to conduct additional studies to determine the extent of the side effects More | | Disease of Addiction a Crime | Tennessee Bill Jails Pregnant Women Suffering From Addiction The pressure is on Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee to veto a bill that would make every mother who used illicit drugs – and probably treatment medications like methadone – while pregnant criminally liable. The proposed legislation, HB 1295 in the House and companion SB 1391 in the Senate, was passed by both chambers of the state legislature the week of April 7. More | | Whisper Rapture: A Bonfire Madigan Suite | A Cinematic Symphony on Kickstarter WHISPER RAPTURE:
A BONFIRE MADIGAN SUITE is a 26-minute symphony of song and cinema featuring six original compositions by cellist and composer, Madigan Shive, four of them brand new and unreleased. Her conversations with Whisper paved the way for her visionary songs of rapture and rage, now poetically visualized with luminous imagery by award-winning filmmaker Ken Paul Rosenthal. More | | Lindsay Lohan’s 10 Biggest Bombshells including Cocaine Addiction VIDEO
Lindsay Lohan has shocked the world throughout her career – and sometimes her words are just as surprising as her actions. Although the controversial star has often grabbed the headlines with her antics over the years, the moments she’s given her own insight on her life have often been just as big. More | A Doctor Believes Addiction is a Disease and Needs Medication And to those who still think that addicts should shun medication, relying only on their willpower and support groups to keep them healthy, Rawson says, Wake up. “The days when we argued about ‘is medicine good or bad?’-back in the ’80s-are over,” he says. “A patient saying he’s opposed to medication is similar to someone saying he doesn’t want to take an antibiotic for an infection. It’s that level of absurdity.” More | | Teach Your Children Well? | Does Marijuana Change Young Brains? Our latest podcast compared the costs of marijuana use to the costs of alcohol use. A new study in the current issue of The Journal of Neuroscience argues that casual use of marijuana affects the developing brain. Jason Koebler, writing for Vice, summarizes the findings: More | | DO YOU LIKE OUR eBULLETIN? | We Welcome Your Feedback! If you have any comments, compliments or suggestions for our weekly Addiction/Recovery eBulletin, please contact us at:
Writers In Treatment | F.D.A. Will Propose New Regulations for E-Cigarettes
Health experts disagree over the role of e-cigarettes, with some arguing that they offer the first real alternative to the deadly risks of smoking and could save millions of lives. Others are more cautious, saying their gadgetry and flavors tempt children, and that people are using them to enable smoking habits, not to quit. More | | Let’s Meet this May at the WCSAD | | Drug Approval from the Top | Supreme Court Justice Stevens Supports Marijuana Legalization Drug Policy Alliance’s Stephen Gutwillig joins MSNBC host Tamron Hall to discuss Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens coming out for marijuana legalization and the growing momentum in the United States for ending marijuana prohibition. More | Use of ‘Study Drugs’ on
the Rise
Concerta, along with other prescriptions like Adderall and Ritalin are taking college campuses by storm. The problem is around 30 percent of the users of these study drugs either aren’t prescribed the drug or don’t necessarily need it at all. More | Doctors Prepare for Symptoms and Sinsemilla | New York Giddy for Medical Marijuana Bolstered by growing public acceptance and hints of support from Gov. Cuomo, proponents of pot as medicine believe newly re-drafted legislation will be approved in Albany this spring – making New York the 22nd state to legalize medical marijuana. New York will have the most tightly regulated medical marijuana system in the country. It would employ a “seed to sale” model, similar to the system used in Colorado, in which state-sanctioned firms grow, distribute and sell herb to patients. More | | STARTS THIS SUNDAY Let’s have tea. Call me… | | Science to the Rescue? VIDEO | Scientific Breakthrough Could Eliminate Addiction VIDEO
In an international breakthrough, University of Canterbury scientists have made a major discovery that could stop addicts craving for drugs. They have done laboratory tests on a method that has found to have successfully stopped rats’ addiction to cocaine. In the laboratory rats can self-administer cocaine specially imported from the United States, but the researchers have found a way to stop them from wanting it. More | Boy George “Secure” in His Sobriety He told People magazine: “I feel very secure in my sobriety. I’d never sacrifice what I have now for a drink or a drug. Sobriety has allowed me to come back to my work with a gratitude and passion that I didn’t know I had before.”The ‘Karma Chameleon’ hitmaker said: “In some ways it feels like I’m starting over, and that’s exciting – like I’m getting the change to repaint the picture of myself. More | | 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.
| Publisher: Leonard Buschel | | They Call It the BIG BOOK for a Reason AUDIO | Alcoholics Anonymous Book Celebrates 75 Years AUDIO Seventy-five years ago, one of the most influential books ever written was published. It has sold over 30 million copies. And what’s inside this book has changed the lives of millions of people around the world. “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism” was written by the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, with a little help from his friends. More | Super Duper Painkiller Moxduo Coming Soon Ed Rudnic, the COO of QRxPharma, says that Moxduo would give patients suffering from severe pain a quick means of relief. Rudnic said that the new drug would act rapidly to alleviate “pain from accidents or surgeries, such as knee replacements, back surgeries or cancer operations. Dr. Andrew Kolodny of Phoenix House, quoted in NY Daily News, explained the danger of this kind of painkiller: “‘This is a product that is very easy to misuse. Very easy to crush and snort or crush and inject. So it’s significantly more dangerous than the products that it would be competing with.'” More | 10 Hilarious Anti-Drug Films You Can Watch Right Now This week, the fine folks over at Open Culture stumbled upon a truly wonderful bit of forgotten early ’70s ephemera: Curious Alice, an Alice in Wonderland-style animated short that’s clearly intended to scare kids away from drugs, but instead makes them look sort of awesome. Making an actual anti-drug movie is a tricky business; there are so many ways to screw it up and get the mission backwards that about the only safe bet is to just scare the shit outta people (á la Requiem for a Dream). So let’s take a look at Curious Alice, and nine other anti-drug movies that you can watch and laugh at, right now. More | | One Pill Makes You Smaller-One Pill Makes you Tall | Lives ‘left in ruin’ by Rising Tide of Depression Drugs More than a decade later, Henry was far from cured and still taking antidepressants. “None of the drugs I was prescribed made me feel better, and most made me considerably worse. But every time I stopped them, the symptoms of what I thought was depression – but now know were of withdrawal – returned even more strongly, so I went back to the pills.” More | | |