Is Congress tipping the country toward decriminalizing all drugs?
Written by Thomas R. Ascik recently retired as a federal prosecutor.Will all mind-altering drugs eventually be decriminalized by the federal government? With its decision to regard drug addiction as an “disease” and “epidemic” and to thereby emphasize treatment over personal responsibility and the deterrence provided by the criminal law, has Congress laid the groundwork? … the common understanding is that a disease happens to a person and is not initiated and assisted by the active choices and knowing acts of the person diseased. And the new availability of “treatment” for the disease may turn out to be an incentive, a safety valve, for beginning or continuing the use of drugs.
Best practices: How other countries dealt with drug problems
Portugal did not stop with decriminalization. It also increased funding to help expand and improve government programs focused on prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and social reintegration … The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that the results of Portugal’s policies included a decrease in the number of drug-related problems … Although Switzerland has not completely eradicated the use of illegal drugs, drug-related deaths have steadily decreased from the 1990s to the 2000s.
Court Cards: Violation of 6th Tradition AA ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise,
Clinton ordered to AA meetings: No, not Hillary, Bill’s half-brother
Former President Bill Clinton’s half-brother, Roger, was ordered Friday to attend a weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or enroll in an approved alcohol education program while he awaits arraignment next month on two misdemeanor DUI counts stemming from his June arrest in Redondo Beach … Wiggins told Superior Court Judge George F. Bird Jr. that his client was out of town, but the judge noted that AA meetings are available throughout the U.S.
Overdose numbers in August down 50 percent from last September VIDEO
A total of 439 people died from heroin overdoses in New Hampshire in 2015, but the latest numbers are more encouraging. Last month, overdoses in Manchester dropped to their lowest level in 2016 – 48, compared to 81 in July. The number of monthly overdoses is down 50 percent from September 2015, when paramedics responded to more than 100 overdose calls.
5 Women Arrested After 20 Children Removed from ‘Uninhabitable’ California Home
Five women were arrested in Victorville, California on Thursday morning after authorities found 20 children and 20 dogs in a home they described as “uninhabitable.” … Animal Control dealt with extricating the dogs, though two of them were already dead when investigators arrived … The women arrested were identified as . All were arrested on child cruelty charges, with Martinez and Mann additionally charged with suspicion of being under a controlled substance.
New York Looks to Expand Medical Marijuana Program
Dan Ryszka is a pharmacist, so he knows something about medicine. But he was still stumped when drug after drug failed to curb his children’s violent seizures. Then they joined New York’s fledgling medical marijuana program, and the attacks all but stopped – More than 7,000 New Yorkers have signed up since New York began allowing patients with certain conditions to obtainh plans for home delivery and more dispensaries.
READ MORE @ ABCNews.com
Why Get High & Die? NPR AUDIO
An Even Deadlier Opioid, Carfentanil, Is Hitting The Streets NPR AUDIO
A powerful drug that’s normally used to tranquilize elephants is being blamed for a record spike in drug overdoses in the Midwest. Officials in Ohio have declared a public health emergency, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says communities everywhere should be on alert for carfentanil. The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, the prescription painkiller that led to the death earlier this year of the pop star Prince. Fentanyl itself can be up to 50 times more deadly than heroin.
Traumatized brains seek comfort and reward through the systems of the brain that control pleasure, motivation, satisfaction and reward reinforcement. Desperate brains seek comfort desperately, often resulting in substance use … It is clear that impacting the suffering of addiction calls for recognition of the role of trauma as a cause.
Karen Franklin leans against the sink in the pink-tiled bathroom of her childhood home, counting out pills. There’s a purple morphine tablet for chronic back pain, a blue Xanax for anxiety and a white probiotic for her stomach, which aches from all the other pills. In all, Franklin, 60, takes more than a dozen different prescription drugs, washing them down with tap water and puffing on a Marlboro while she waits for them to kick in. “They take the edge off, but that’s about it,” Franklin says. So she keeps a bottle of vodka handy for added relief…
People With Alcohol Dependence May Lack An Enzyme In Their Brains
Why do some people have no problem controlling their drinking while others struggle? According to research from Linköping University and the University of Miami, people with a history of alcohol dependence may lack an enzyme in their brains, which may only perpetuate the cycle of abuse. In a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers used an animal model to identify the role of PRDM2, an enzyme found in the brain’s….
The title of Elizabeth Wood’s first feature refers to the cocaine around which the plot revolves, as well as to the protagonist, a college student named Leah (Morgan Saylor) who moves to a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Queens. There, Leah gets romantically involved with a neighbor, Blue (Brian “Sene” Marc), a sharp-witted low-level drug dealer who, at her urging, takes unusual risks. When Blue gets arrested, Leah consults a high-priced lawyer (Chris Noth) on his behalf and raises funds by selling Blue’s stash of coke. Meanwhile, Leah, maintaining a heavy drug habit of her own,
34th Annual Betty Ford Center Alumni Anniversary Weekend
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 5 & 6th, 2016 | RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA SCHEDULE OF EVENTS starts here FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 more…
READ MORE @ HazeldenBettyFord.com
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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 & the general public.
Rehab Mongrel Scrambles to Reorganize Sober Living Chain
It’s been two months since we checked in on Chris Bathum, aka the “Rehab Mogul,” owner of Community Recovery Los Angeles, a chain of more than 20 sober-living homes and outpatient clinics treating drug addicts and alcoholics…” There’s a lot of detectives interviewing a ton of people,” says Alan Schimmel, an attorney representing a number of clients who are suing Bathum. “They are building a case, finally.” Then, a few weeks ago, a letter went out to employees announcing there would be mass layoffs. The letter, signed by Bathum himself and dated Aug. 18, reads in part:
READ MORE @ LAWeekly.com
What’s the Bladder?
Vermont approves emergency takeover of troubled drug labs
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont state regulators granted emergency approval Thursday to an investor group’s takeover of a financially troubled chain of drug-testing labs considered crucial in the state’s battle against opiate addiction … Burlington Labs is about $8.6 million in debt – most of it in default – and faces more debt in the form of a Medicaid overbilling settlement with the attorney general’s office expected to come to about another $6.5 million. So far this year, Burlington Labs has processed more than 40,000 urine samples from more than 2,300 patients around Vermont, the board found. It has offices in Barre, Bennington, Burlington, Middlebury, Morrisville, Rutland, St. Albans.
Your dog gets you. I mean, he really gets you. No, really – he actually does. So say scientists in Hungary, who have published a groundbreaking study that found dogs understand both the meaning of words and the intonation used to speak them. Put simply: Even if you use a very excited tone of voice to tell the dog he’s going to the vet, he’ll probably see through you and be bummed about going.
More than 100 people turned out in Warwick on International Drug Awareness Day to bring attention to the area’s drug epidemic and remember those who lost their lives to drug overdoses.
READ MORE @ TheIntell.com
HANDS OFF
Pamela Anderson warns of ‘corrosive’ dangers of porn-claims addiction will produce ‘crack babies of porn’
Pamela Anderson is urging porn fans to stop “indulging” in adult films, warning porn addiction corrodes the family and will effect the next generation’s ability to develop intimate relationships. In an essay co-written by rabbi Shmuley Boteach and published in the Wall Street Journal, Anderson outlines the harmful effects of porn addiction and the “corrosive” effects on a man’s soul.
Kristen Bell Has Sweet Response to Dax Shepard’s Celebration of 12-Year Sobriety
The ‘Frozen’ star applauds her actor husband as he is celebrating the 12th anniversary of getting out of his ‘last toxic, life threatening stupor.’ Kristen Bell cheers on her husband Dax Shepard on the 12th anniversary of his sobriety. “Can you belive this guy? He’s a PRINCE. I’m so lucky to have met him. Bravo, my love. Thank u for working so hard,” the actress wrote on Twitter.
READ MORE @ AceShowBiz.com
Strength in Numbers
Al-Anon groups seen as “lifesaver” for families
When sisters-in-law Vicki and Kathi Edler learned members of their family were struggling with drug addiction, they didn’t know where to turn or what to do. “In the community, there’s no support for family members and family members are the most abused in this situation,” Kathi said. “They’re the ones that have been in the trenches for the longest time, trying to survive not knowing what to do.”…”The main thing, for Al-Anon, is to help people understand that you don’t have to be embarrassed,” Vicki said. “… You don’t have to walk that walk alone.”
We can help stop many of the deadly events from happening to those we love and to any potential victims just by being more aware of the possible signs of addiction. Here are 10 warning signs:
FDA Orders Antibacterials Scrubbed From Consumer Soaps
Say goodbye to those “antibacterial” soaps. The Food and Drug Administration says they do little or nothing to make soap work any better and said the industry has failed to prove they’re safe. Companies will have a year to take the ingredients out of the products, the FDA said. They include triclosan and triclocarban. Soap manufacturers will have an extra year to negotiate over other, less commonly used ingredients such as benzalkonium chloride.
Leonard Buschel is an undefined character. From one angle, he’s frazzled and possibly a bit mad. At another, he’s brilliantly keen and inquisitive. It’s hard to put a finger on the silver-haired businessman and one gets a sense his free spirit likes it that way. As a creative enthusiast, he has drawn up and executed several successful projects in the recovery industry, all centering upon the same thing: the individual experience.
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Paul Krassner
American author, journalist, comedian, and founder of the magazine The Realist. Krassner became a key figure in the counterculture of the 1960s as a member of Ken Kesey‘s Merry Pranksters.
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