Caffeine Addiction: Bigger Health Problem Than Previously Thought The negative effects of caffeine are often not recognized as such because it is a socially acceptable and widely consumed drug that is well integrated into our customs and routines”. Read More | “Smoking Alcohol” Consumption Alarms Doctors VIDEO Thousands of curious viewers have logged on to watch the YouTube videos about smoking alcohol. There is even a website selling the “vaportini,” a piece of glassware specifically designed to help people inhale alcoholic vapor. Julie Palmer, the inventor of the vaportini, told NBC 4 New York her product is not intended for binge alcoholic consumption.. See Video | Teens Who Consume Energy Drinks Are At Higher Risk Of Substance Abuse The energy drink industry has grown immensely over the past decade, and studies show that nearly one-third of US adolescents consume the high-caffeinated drinks. However, the latest research says that these teens also show higher rates of alcohol, cigarette or drug use. Read More | Addiction/Recovery eBulletin website . | Making A Difference Feb. 28, – March 1, 2014 | 6th Annual It Happens to Boys Conference with Jerry Moe-John Lee-Patrick Carns-Judy Crane-Allen Berger February 28, March 1, 2014 Pasadena Hilton. Read More | No jail for ‘affluenza’ teen in fatal crash draws outrage VIDEO In a case with growing political ripples, a Texas judge’s reaffirmation placing a teen involved in a drunken-driving fatal accident on probation is drawing fresh outrage from the victims’ families. Couch’s attorneys used an “affluenza” defense at his trial last year, saying the then 16-year-old had grown up with a sense of entitlement and developed poor judgment after being coddled by his wealthy parents. Read More | Experience, Strength and Hope Award | 5th Annual Experience, Strength and Hope Award show. Thursday, February 13, 2014 Skirball Cultural Center Los Angeles, CA Honoring Carrie White Headliner Alonzo Bodden | Russell Brand on Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death was not on the bill. If it’d been the sacrifice of Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber, that we are invited to anticipate daily, we could delight in the Faustian justice of the righteous dispatch of a fast-living, sequin-spattered denizen of eMpTyV. We are tacitly instructed to await their demise with necrophilic sanctimony. Read More | Celebrity Sobriety Huffington Post | Jamie Lee Curtis Reflects On Her Sobriety What is clear is that it is a disease, that it is progressive AND that there is recovery. You can try for recovery at the myriad places and facilities and programs that will help you, for a price; and then there are rooms all over the world that will offer you a seat and a safe refuge that cost nothing but your desire to recover. Read More | Biden’s niece enters posh rehab for ‘anger issues’ Vice President Joe Biden’s wild-child niece was excused from appearing in Manhattan Criminal Court Wednesday because she’s being treated for “anger” issues at a posh inpatient facility in Delray Beach, Fla., The Post has learned. The feisty blond, who has a history of booze and pill addiction, has been holed up in Caron Renaissance Ocean Drive in Delray Beach. Read More | Four addiction experts on why recovery and abstinence is a lifelong commitment Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman had been clean 23 years before the demons came calling again. Last spring, the actor went back to rehab to try to beat a heroin addiction. He detoxified at a facility on the East Coast for 10 days, apparently long enough to get the physical craving out of his system. But clearly the mental war persisted. Read More | A Violation of Anonymity I was disheartened to read a quote from a Narcotics Anonymous member about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s statements during a recent meeting of the group. The source elected to maintain his own anonymity but violated the basic tenet of a 12-step program by revealing what someone else said during a meeting. The sad fact that Mr. Hoffman is no longer with us is of no moment. LEIGH JONES – San Francisco, Feb. 6, 2014 Read More | VIDEO of the MONTH with Dr. Gabor Maté | Dr. Gabor Maté on the Stress-Disease Connection, Addiction and the Destruction of American Childhood In December 2012, Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, did a one-hour interview with Dr. Gabor Maté. It’s old, but Because it’s not on Vimeo or YouTube, this can’t be added to the video section. Democracy Now! special with the Canadian physician and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté. From disease to addiction, parenting to attention deficit disorder, Maté’s work focuses on the centrality of early childhood experiences to the development of the brain, and how those experiences can impact everything from behavioral patterns to physical and mental illness. Read More | Rehab center installs crack pipe vending machine A drug treatment center in Vancouver, Canada has installed a crack pipe vending machine at its facility – going retail in an effort to reach hardcore addicts and keep them off the streets. The bright, polka-dotted machine dispenses crack pipes like candy or snacks: Each glass pipe costs a quarter, and rolls off a spindle into a tray. A sign on the machine says simply, “Pipes 25¢” . Read More | An addiction treatment campus goes tobacco-free Our facility, Pavillon in North Carolina, has made previous attempts over a number of years to intervene in the problem of nicotine addiction. In essence, our organization itself has gone through stages of change in addressing this problem. Read More | Justin Bieber gets March trial date in Miami DUI case Breath tests showed Bieber’s blood alcohol content below the .02 threshold for underage drivers. But police say a toxicology test detected the presence of marijuana and Xanax in his system. A trial date has been set for Justin Bieber in Miami for his recent arrest on charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest, and driving with an invalid license . Read More | | William Moyers Speaks Out | Phil H., James G., Dad and Me Even my father likened it to a “crash.” Everyone was hurt, scared and frustrated to the point of being downright angry. I’d walked away from my wife, my baby boys and everything in my life that mattered and gone to a crack house in the worst part of Atlanta’s inner city. When I finally emerged, my insurance company declined to cover all of my treatment. Nobody sent me a “get well” card. Even one of my mentors, a man with decades of successful recovery, marched into detox and ordered me to get my head out of my ass. Read More | Non-Profit Pioneers Align | It’s official: Hazelden, Betty Ford Center have merged The latest approval came from the California Attorney General. Her approval is the final regulatory hurdle and the merger is now effective. In a joint statement, the Hon. Susan Fox Gillis and Dr. Mary Turner Pattiz, the chair and vice chair respectively of the new Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Board of Trustees, said, “We are proud of the individual legacies of both Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center and excited to come together as one today. With decades of combined expertise and industry-leading knowledge, we are poised now to bring even more innovation and leadership to our mission of restoring hope, healing and health to more individuals and families.” Read More | Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death points to broader opioid drug epidemic The death last Sunday of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at age 46 focused media attention on the nationwide surge in heroin use and overdoses. But the very real heroin epidemic is framed by an even more dramatic increase since the beginning of the century in overdoses from pharmaceutical drugs known as opioids. These are, in effect, tandem epidemics – an addiction crisis driven by the powerful effects on the human brain of drugs derived from morphine. Read More | 5th Experience Strength & Hope Award, Feb. 13. | Alcohol Kills Too! Six Dead | Wrong-Way DRUNK Driver Kills Six The driver, Fontana resident Olivia Culbreath, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and felony manslaughter, CHP Officer Jennifer Cassidy said. As of Sunday evening the county coroner’s office had only released the gender and age of those killed. Their names had not been released: two were 24-year-old women-one from Rialto and the other from Chino-the third was a 47-year-man. See Video | 501 (c)(3) nonprofit WIT gets treatment for individuals who suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction or other self-destructive behaviors. | Publisher: Leonard Buschel | More Philip Seymour Hoffman Reflections | There was also a palpably visceral reaction in the meeting rooms ofAlcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, where, according to some in attendance, many discussions since last Sunday quickly turned from the death of a great actor to the precariousness of sobriety, and the fears of many sober people that they could easily slip back into their old ways, no matter how many years they have been clean. Read More | Rehab expert: Focus should be disease, not celebs Bob Forrest is an addiction specialist. He is a former drug addict who overcame his addiction and eventually became a counselor on “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab.” He is the author of “Running with Monsters: A Memoir” and owner and founder of Bob’s House, a treatment facility in California. Read More | Drug Counselor’s Fatal Relapse | Substance Abuse Counselor Convicted In Bizarre DUI Death A substance abuse counselor who “mowed” down a man with her car in Torrance after drinking alcohol, then drove more than two miles with him embedded in the windshield, was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder, two counts of DUI and hit and run..” Read More | Barbara Walters Apologized to Elizabeth Vargas After Alcoholism Comment 20/20 anchor Vargas, 51, opened up to the ladies of The View on Thursday, Feb. 6 about how she used alcohol to cope with a lifelong struggle with anxiety, and hid it from her family, friends and coworkers. Though the exchange may have felt uncomfortable to viewers, Walters and Vargas have since denied that there were any hurt feelings over the remark. Walters did, however, call Vargas to apologize. Read More | Heavy Weight Champion Recovery | Mike Tyson Reflects On His Battle With Sobriety Even with a hectic travel schedule, Tyson said he regularly seeks out meetings on the road supporting recovering drug addicts. “Your conduct is sobriety,” Tyson said. “How you look at women, how you interact with people – that’s all sobriety. “You got to work on your conduct. It’s all about being a good person … That’s what sobriety’s about, improvement as a person . Read More | Spike In Heroin Use Can Be Traced To Prescription Pads AUDIO Experts say the problem can be traced back to the aggressive prescribing of opioid drugs for pain about 15 years ago. OxyContin and Percocet are two popular, legal opioid drugs. Heroin is also an opioid drug; it’s the illegal cousin. They are all made from the poppy plant, and they are all addictive. Read More | Selena Gomez checked into rehab center: Singer ‘needed to take some time for herself’ The 21-year-old star revealed she voluntarily spent time at The Meadows recovery center in Arizona in January for a two weeks.Her stint came shortly after the brunette beauty announced her tour cancelation in December, telling fans that despite her decision, they are so important to her and she would “never want to disappoint them.” Read More | Russell Brand on heroin, abstinence and addiction It is ten years since I used drugs or drank alcohol and my life has immeasurably improved. I have a job, a house, a cat, good friendships and generally a bright outlook. Without these fellowships I would take drugs. Because even now the condition persists. Drugs and alcohol are not my problem – reality is my problem. Drugs and alcohol are my solution. Read More | Meditation from Center for Healthy Sex | “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~ Arundhati Roy Read More | | |