Breaking News! Surprise Surprise | Coca-Cola Played Both Sides Of The Drunk Driving Debate At various moments over the past two decades, Coca-Cola, the massive soft-drink conglomerate, has aligned itself with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in campaigns to promote vehicular safety. In 1996, the company teamed up with Wal-Mart to donate more than a quarter million dollars to MADD. READ MORE | The New How To… Chicago Tribune | Dating a Recovering Addict: Book Offers Some Advice For some, discovering that your new love interest is in recovery for alcoholism or drug addiction might be a red flag. That was never the case for Karen Nagy. When she first started dating a man in recovery, she welcomed the challenge to be by his side on his path to sobriety. But as their relationship evolved, Nagy desperately wanted advice from someone who had walked in her shoes. She remembers being unable to find a resource, so she decided to write her own book, “[Girl] Friend of Bill: 12 Things You Need to Know About Dating Someone in Recovery” (Hazelden). READ MORE | Timothy Leary’s NOT Dead after all… | Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction This junkie is about to begin a three-day, neo-African, sometimes-terrifying, ritualistic trip. Can it help her get clean? It’s been 56 hours since Grace Bergere’s last shot of heroin-too long. Curled into a fetal position on an outdoor, candle-lit matt in Costa Rica, the 18-year-old trembles in fear. READ MORE | Zac Efron Feels ‘Great’ Post Addiction Admission Washington: Zac Efron recently said that he has no regrets for revealing his addiction. The star told Matt Lauer that he felt great after addiction revelations as it was a weight off his chest and that it was a fantastic time, asserting that his movie `Neighbors` was a great icing on the cake, reportedly. He said that he feels great, asserting that he feels really blessed to be working with the group of group of guys and couldn`t be better right now, adding that he`s really excited. READ MORE | Rosie O’Donnell Compares Sugar Addiction to Being an ‘Alcoholic’ Her unhealthy lifestyle was one of the reasons she suffered a near fatal heart attack back in 2012. And now, despite her healthier lifestyle, Rosie O’Donnell still gets the urge to grab sweets in the same way an alcoholic needs the bottle. She even likened sugar to heroin as she discussed the challenges she faces as she tries to eat well and live healthily. READ MORE | What About The Methadone? | Britain: “Cocaine Found In Our Drinking Water” Benzoylecgonine, the form of cocaine that is generated once the drug has been processed by the body, was found in tap water at four test sites. Cocaine use in the UK is now so common that traces of the drug can be found in our drinking water, tests show. Inspections of tap water at four different sites found a metabolised form of the illegal drug, which showed it had already passed through the human body. READ MORE | Women Addicts in Iran Begin Seeking Treatment Despite Taboo They are female drug addicts, a growing class of people with a habit so taboo in this traditional Islamic society that some Iranians believe they deserve death. But the modest facility here, a substance-abuse rehabilitation center for women, is one sign that attitudes are slowly changing as Iran begins to confront an uncomfortable problem that long went ignored. READ MORE | Media: New Memoir HuffPost | How The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies High-Kicked My Sobriety During those two and half hours I shed all the fear and anxiety that getting sober had wrought. The show did what booze used to do for me and no longer could: It made me euphoric. Even if The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies can’t go on kicking, I will forever view that chorus line of still-sexy legs high kicking above the footlights as a farewell to booze and a salute to my sobriety. READ MORE | Clergyman Knows His Lines VIDEO | Methodist Minister Filmed on All-night Cocaine Binge VIDEO Last week Paul Flowers appeared in court, insisting that he was remorseful and determined to ‘permanently’ resolve his drugs problem. But a video has revealed that just days earlier, the disgraced former Co-op Bank chairman was snorting cocaine and entertaining rent boys. The former Methodist minister was covertly filmed in his rent-free church house.. READ MORE | Telling It Like It Was AUDIO NPR | Addicted And Pregnant: ‘The Most Heart-Wrenching Experience of My Life’ AUDIO I tried to stay sober, but I couldn’t live completely clean. I was able to refrain from drug use, but I never stayed away from alcohol for long. I have memories of trying to disguise my pregnant stomach when entering liquor stores, only to return home, drink alone and cry by myself. I talked to the baby inside of me, apologizing for my shortcomings. READ MORE | 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 | FOR EVERY Past Issue of the Addiction/Recovery eBulletin
| One Chef Talking to Another | Slipping Into Addiction is Easy, Reclaiming Your Life Can Be Hard Christopher Lemay, left, and chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain visited the area recently for his Parts Unknown CNN show. Lemay is recovering from an opioid addiction. Bourdain’s memoir deals frankly with heroin addiction in his younger years. Lemay began developing a serious addiction to Percocet in the year after high school, he said, in the pressure of starting out in the real world. READ MORE | Giving Back, Giving It Away | Musician Gives Concerts, Guitars to Inmates This greeting, an echo from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, marks the start of Wayne Kramer’s recent visit to the Los Angeles County Jail. He’s been in and out of dozens of jails and prisons all over the United States for his charity, Jail Guitar Doors. When they’re done, they will leave behind musical instruments that will be used in song writing workshops for the detainees. READ MORE | Mayor Finds Rehab Easier Than Politics | Rob Ford: ‘Rehab is Amazing’ Crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford thinks “rehab is amazing” and compared it to his childhood memories as a football player. A second video of Ford smoking crack was the final straw for the drug-loving mayor, who checked himself into an unknown in-patient rehab facility last week. “I feel great,” Ford said in an interview with the Toronto Sun on Wednesday. “Rehab is amazing. It reminds me of football camp. Kind of like the Washington Redskins camp I went to as a kid.” READ MORE | Life After Rehab: How to Stay Sober in the Outside World If you are in recovery, or know someone who is, Life After Rehab is exactly what you need, an entertaining roadmap to higher consciousness. Michael Hoffman practices as an author and psychotherapist in Dana Point, California. His writing and counseling, based on the consciousness teachings of Dr. Carl Gustav Jung and Siddhãrtha Gautama Buddha, discuss the emotional and spiritual freedoms all people deserve. READ MORE | | Attention New Yorkers! Invitation to Participate in Our 2014 New York REEL Recovery Film Festival Click Here for Our Sign-Up Form | Alcohol Consumption Causes 3.3 Million Deaths Worldwide Every Year With over 3.3 million deaths reported per year for alcohol consumption, World Health Organisation has called all the governments to take measures to reduce the same. In a statement, Asst Director-General for Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health of WHO, Dr Oleg Chestnov stated that it is important to put in more measures to ensure people are protected from the negative consequences of alcohol consumption. READ MORE | U.S. Biopharma Develops Over 100 New Mental Health Meds America’s biopharmaceutical research companies currently are developing 119 novel new medicines to help improve the lives of the estimated 61.5 million Americans that are affected by mental health disorders, according to a new report by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). READ MORE | You Mean, It’s Not True? HuffPost | 9 Myths About Alcohol Busted It’s the world’s most used drug, and the drug that most frequently sends users to the emergency room, and yet less than 60 percent of heavy drinkers recognize that their habits put them at high risk, according to the 2014 Global Drug Survey. Whether it’s because of alcohol’s celebratory feel or – in moderation – its health benefits or simply its ubiquity in social gatherings, many drinkers just don’t take their drinking seriously. We asked Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D., deputy director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), to help set the record straight. READ MORE | Let’s Meet This Weekend in Charlotte | Truth in Publishing NY Times | ‘The Sober Truth’: Seeing Bad Science in Rehab – Books Did you know that the most widely accepted treatments for alcohol and drug addiction – Alcoholics Anonymous and similar 12-step programs – rest on the flimsiest of scientific evidence? I didn’t. That and more are what the psychiatrist Dr. Lance Dodes and Zachary Dodes (father and son) claim in this polemical and deeply flawed book about the nature and treatment of addiction. READ 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 | MEDIA: On The Radio AUDIO | Voice of Hope Radio Show’s Goal is Helping Addicts AUDIO Because her husband was constantly traveling, Beyer said he had no idea what was happening until 2004, when she asked for a divorce during a family vacation at Disney World. “Even at Disney World, I was drinking every night,” she said. Michelle Beyer at the desk of her radio show, “Addiction: Voices of Hope,” broadcast at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays on WNPQ 95.9 FM. READ MORE | Let’s Meet this May at the WCSAD | Doctors Surrender to Not Knowing | Nonspecialist Doctors Unprepared To Treat Substance Abuse Substance use disorders are mental health conditions that center on a pattern of substance addiction or a disruptive pattern of non-addicted substance abuse. In many cases, the doctors who must diagnose and treat these disorders do not have any specialist training in dealing with abuse- or addiction-related issues. In a study published in late 2013. READ MORE | Treating Drug Addiction with Other Drugs Opiates like Oxycontin, Vicodin and other prescribed pain relievers are addictive if taken over a long period of time. Along with heroin, they are some of the drugs of choice for those seeking a euphoric high. While some favor the “cold turkey” method, choosing to withdraw from the opiate drugs without the aid of any substances, others choose to rely on methadone or suboxone to help them retreat from the drugs. Suboxone is being used more frequently by doctors or treatment facilities for long-term maintenance. READ MORE | Red Wine Health Benefits ‘Overhyped’ Red wine may not be as good for you as hoped, say scientists who have studied the drink’s ingredient that is purported to confer good health. The team tracked the health of nearly 800 villagers from the Chianti region of Italy to see if their local tipple had any discernable impact. They found no proof that the wine ingredient resveratrol stops heart disease or prolongs life.. READ MORE | Sad Twist of Fate with a Twist | Calif. Man with 3 DUI Convictions Fatally Struck by Drunk Driver After Leaving Rehab An Orange County man recently released from rehab after three drunken driving convictions died when authorities say a 19-year-old man who had been drinking struck him, a newspaper reported. “He was doing the right thing, and somebody hit him that had been drinking.”. READ MORE | Why Synthetic Drugs Gain Popularity VIDEO The Austin Police Department is trying to stop synthetic drugs after a mass overdose. In less than two weeks 38 people have overdosed on synthetic drugs in Austin. Austin police announced on Friday that the dangerous strain is called “The Walking Dead,” and it came from a smoke shop in Dallas. The drug caused seizures, black-outs, psychotic episodes, and violent behaviors. READ MORE | 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 | The Deadly Stigma and Disparities of Addiction Despite the fact that we know unequivocally that addiction is a disease, it remains stigmatized. This stigma spills over to all aspects of research, prevention, treatment, services, and specifically public policy. READ MORE | OxyContin Bust Reads Like Hollywood Movie VIDEO “The 30 mg OxyContin, which were illegally acquired in Los Angeles, California, for approximately $10-$12 per pill, were sold in Spokane for $20-$22 per pill. The cash proceeds from Spokane-area OxyContin sales, often in excess of $100,000 per shipment, were then transported back to Los Angeles, hidden in the checked baggage of the same or different female couriers.” READ MORE | | |