Jan. 14, 2020 • Vol. 7., No. 20
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Who Killed the Knapp Family?
Jan. 9, 2020 - Chaos reigned daily on the No. 6 school bus, with working-class boys and girls flirting and gossiping and dreaming, brimming with mischief, bravado and optimism ... Yet today about one-quarter of the children on that No. 6 bus are dead, mostly from drugs, suicide, alcohol or reckless accidents. Of the five Knapp kids who had once been so cheery, Farlan died of liver failure from drink and drugs, Zealan burned to death in a house fire while passed out drunk, Rogena died from hepatitis linked to drug use and Nathan blew himself up cooking meth. Keylan survived partly because he spent 13 years in a state penitentiary. @NYTimes
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Half my life on antidepressants.
Jan. 5, 2020 - At age 30, I found myself hanging halfway out my Manhattan high-rise window, calculating the time it would take to hit the ground. Still depressed despite my antidepressants — possibly caused by the possible decrease in antidepressants’ efficacy over time...
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Rob Lowe: Steven Tyler Played a Big Role in My Sobriety
Jan. 7, 2020 - “I was probably sober two or three weeks maybe and I got a phone call from Steven Tyler, who I did not know,” ... ‘I heard you’re in recovery and I wanted to say hey, you’re going to do great.’ I thought, ‘If it’s good enough for Steven Tyler, it’s good enough for me.’
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USA alcohol-related deaths have DOUBLED in 18 years
January 8, 2020 - About half of these deaths are from liver disease or an overdose from alcohol or alcohol mixed with other drugs. Men died at a higher rate than women, but the largest annual increase in deaths was among... @CNN
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Elizabeth Wurtzel, ‘Prozac Nation’ Author, Dead at 52
Jan. 7, 2020 - Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose startling 1994 memoir, “Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America,” won praise for opening a dialogue about clinical depression and helped introduce an unsparing style of confessional writing that remains influential, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. @NYTimes
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Portugal shares its country’s drug policy success stories WATCH January 11, 2020 - “in my country there’s strong social disapproval for drug use, but when people fall into addiction… (they) are considered as a sick person and must (have) access to treatment with the same dignity as people who suffer from other diseases,” Dr. João Goulão. @UpriseRI
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“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.” – Doris Lessing
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Is that the Messiah, or just weed? WATCH
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Marijuana dispensary to close for 1 day after ‘unprecedented demand’ WATCH
Jan. 12, 2020- The line has been long and non-stop at the recreational marijuana dispensary in Collinsville, Illinois. They will temporarily stop selling marijuana to replenish inventory and allow staff to restock...@KSDK
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Amber Valletta opens up about her two decades of sobriety
Jan. 13, 2020 - The 45-year-old supermodel, who soared to fame in the ‘90s alongside Kate Moss and Shalom Harlow, has been drug- and alcohol-free for 20-plus years. She says if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be alive. @Yahoo
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More Americans are killing themselves at work
January 9, 2020 - “Ten years ago, most companies saw suicide as a personal or medical issue" said Sally Spencer-Thomas, psychologist and president of United Suicide Survivors International. "Now I’m getting calls from major global conglomerates seeking me out, looking for answers and strategy." @WashingtonPost
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Rise in meth and cocaine OD's
January 9, 2020 - Drug epidemics are often cyclical. The drugs are driven by fads, a little bit of fashion,” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said. “So you have eras when you have a flourishing of a particular drug and then another one takes over.” @Vox
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Older Adults With Addictions Need Age-Tailored Rehab
January 9, 2020 - The journal Psych Central reports that around 3 million people over 65 battle alcohol abuse … but fewer than 20% of the nation’s 14,000+ treatment centers offer programs tailored for the 50-and-older crowd.
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I thought I needed alcohol to enjoy sex…January 11, 2020 - I was drunk every single time I had sex with someone new until I quit drinking entirely. Drinking felt critical to exposing myself – alcohol replaced clothing and physical distance as my security blanket. @TheGuardian
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Guardians of Opioid-Dependent Kids Join Together In Lawsuit
January 10, 2020 - There currently are about 400 guardians for children born dependent on opioids who have filed individual claims in the pending {class action lawsuit} against the manufacturers, distributors and sellers of prescription pain medication. @NYTimes
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Alcohol Deaths Have Risen Sharply Among Women
Jan. 10, 2020 - the rate of deaths among women rose much more sharply, up 85 percent. In sheer numbers, 18,072 women died from alcohol in 2017, according to death certificates, compared with 7,662 in 1999. @NYTimes
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Brad Pitt Reveals Bradley Cooper Helped Him Get Sober
JAN. 9, 2020 - Thank you, Bradley Cooper’s. “He’s a sweetheart.” ... “I got sober because of this guy,” Pitt continued, in a heartwarming moment. “And every day’s been happier ever since. I love you, and I thank you.”
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Oregon Student Sues JUUL
JAN 3, 2020 - The lawsuit states Imani is now addicted to nicotine and that he had a seizure from using the products. He said if he was aware of the dangers of Juul he would not have tried the product. @iJPR
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Babies born to meth-affected mothers seem fine January 3, 2020 - The biggest problem for babies exposed to methamphetamine during pregnancy is how beautifully ordinary they look. @ABC
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CDC underestimates number of overdose deaths
Jan. 7, 2020 - He found that the MCOD there were 125,802 undercounted deaths for opioids and 39,304 undercounted deaths for heroin. In addition, benzodiazepine-related deaths were undercounted by 45%; amphetamines-related deaths were undercounted by 17%... @Healio
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I quit drinking 2 years ago. Over time, my brain made it easier.
Jan. 6, 2020 - I was viscerally aware of booze for the better part of a year. I couldn’t even go to Target without hearing the siren call toward the vodka; inconveniently for me, it’s near the ice cream. But somewhere along the way, living without alcohol — a feat I thought might actually be impossible — became effortless. It’s like I forget about it.
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Opioid Support Group Grows From Christian Book Club WATCH - Jan. 9, 2020 - Henriet Schapelhouman used to be a pastor at a church outside Seattle, until her son Harrison brought tequila to his Christian school in ninth grade ... having a son struggling with addiction didn’t look good for her church. So, she resigned. @OPB
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Jewels for Students? WATCH
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San Diego school district sues Juul for “impeding learning” WATCH - Jan. 9, 2020 - “It is not an overstatement to say that Juul has changed the educational experience of students across California,” the suit claims. @CBSNews
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January 8, 2020 - In the profitable buprenorphine market, Reckitt Benckiser exploited various Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory procedures to impede entry of generic competitors and maintain elevated prices. By securing potentially undeserved orphan-drug status for its buprenorphine products, manipulating the availability of such products, filing questionable citizen petitions, and engaging in abuses of the FDA... @NEJM
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The F.D.A. Is Trouble!
Jan. 11, 2020 - The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for ensuring the safety of some $2.6 trillion in consumer goods each year. That represents 20 cents of every dollar that Americans spend. But critics both inside and outside the sprawling agency say that the F.D.A.’s standards have been slipping for some time. @NYTimes
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Medicaid expansion saves lives from overdose deaths
Jan. 10, 2020 - ...the American Medical Association finds that counties in states that accepted the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had a 6% lower rate of opioid overdose deaths compared to counties in states that did not expand Medicaid. @TheHill
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The Natural History of the Senses - Available Now - Diane Ackerman’s lusciously written grand tour of the realm of the senses includes conversations with an iceberg in Antarctica and a professional nose in New York, along with dissertations on kisses and tattoos, sadistic cuisine and the music played by the planet Earth. “Delightful . . . gives the reader the richest possible feeling of the worlds the senses take in.”—The New York Times @DianeAckerman
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MDMA Research Could Alter Drug Policy January 12, 2020 - The federal government’s system of drug scheduling “accounts for a drug’s medical value as much as a drug’s potential for abuse” (leading to) an ongoing debate around how MDMA is scheduled... @InsideHook
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No Easy Answers on Pill Crisis January 11, 2020 - Family, friends, and loved ones of those who died to opioids had hoped for a major settlement and public acknowledgement of guilt or wrongdoing by pharmaceutical companies... @GreatCoursesDaily
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Ex-drug company execs face reckoning in opioid bribery case Jan. 12, 2020 - The case against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor and his associates (one, who prosecutors said used to be an exotic dancer, gave a physician a lap dance at a club) was the first that sought to hold an opioid maker and its executives criminally liable...@SeattleTimes
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Gordy Grimm Helped Shape Addiction Treatment Around the World - Center City, Minn. (Jan. 8, 2020) Grimm began his career as an intern at Willmar (Minn.) State Hospital in 1958 and then as a chaplain in the alcohol unit there in 1960. He became the Hazelden Foundation’s first full-time pastor and was a key figure in developing the Minnesota Model of addiction treatment... @HazeldenBettyFord
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The everyday medications that change who we are
January 8, 2020 - ... the patient was so cantankerous that he flatly ignored the doctors’ advice. “He swore roundly, stormed out of the office and stopped taking the drug immediately.” Two weeks later, he had his personality back. @BBC
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