February 9, 2021 • Vol. 8, No. 25 |
|
McKinsey Fined $600 Million for “turbocharging” Opioid Deaths Feb. 3, 2021 - Lawsuits unearthed a trove of documents showing how McKinsey worked to drive sales of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin painkiller amid an opioid crisis in the United States that has contributed to the deaths of more than 450,000 people over the past two decades. more@NYTimes |
|
|
|
Biden Quietly Announces Harm Reduction Among His Drug Priorities - Feb. 4, 2021 - In a marked departure from the Trump administration’s stigmatizing pursuit of a “drug-free” country—promoting cruel, punitive policies up to and including the death penalty to combat “drug abuse”. more@FilterMag |
|
|
|
Abraham Twerski, Merged 12 Steps and Torah, Dies at 90 - Feb. 6, 2021 - He was both an Orthodox rabbi and a psychiatrist highly regarded as an authority on addiction. “He discovered in A.A. meetings the kind of sincere and selfless fellow-feeling that was often absent in synagogues,”... more@NewYorkTimes |
|
|
|
Feb. 8, 2021 - A common complaint about Zoom rooms is they don’t “feel like a real AA meeting.” While vague, it’s a criticism rooted in instinct and experience. AA is a spiritual program rooted in physicality. Even the act of going to a meeting – literally making one’s sobriety a destination... more@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin |
|
|
|
Is Social Media Addiction a Myth? February 6, 2021 - “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software,” as information design expert Edward Tufte has put it. Popular media fuels this portrait, with testimonials from extreme users and highlights of their behavior. |
|
|
|
Work Addiction Can be Harmful to Mental Health Feb. 8, 2021 - Work addiction is a clinical condition characterised by an obsessive and compulsive interest in work. People usually work more than they’re required to... characteristics include being concerned about their performance at work, rigid thinking and perfectionism, which is often projected onto others. @TheConversation |
|
|
|
Alcohol Deaths Hit Record High During Covid Pandemic Feb. 2, 2021 - “I needed some way to be able to cope, to escape, and alcohol was it,” he says. I always used to spend time cooking a nice meal and would have a glass of wine, but one glass became two glasses which became three and then a bottle, two bottles, hidden bottles. Then you realise, oh hell, I have got a real problem here... more@BBC |
|
|
|
‘Bachelorette’ Star Zac Clark Helping Millions Through Sobriety & Recovery February 5, 2021 - In 2011, Zac Clark went missing. He finally turned up at a bank, trying to cash a forged check stolen from his father; desperate for money to get high. Years before, after suffering a brain tumor, Clark had become addicted to pain pills and was abusing alcohol. more@Variety |
|
|
|
Hunter Biden Recounts Addiction and Sobriety in Memoir February 4, 2021 - In addition to recounting Hunter Biden’s substance abuse, the book will also describe how the Biden family coped with a series of staggering losses: the deaths of Hunter’s mother and younger sister, who were killed in a car crash when he was a toddler, and the death of his older brother, Beau, from brain cancer. more@NYTimes |
|
|
|
Jack Osbourne & Dad Ozzy Osbourne On Getting Sober in the Spotlight Feb. 5, 2021 - “We’re on The Osbournes in the middle of whatever season we were doing and I decided to go into treatment, and it becomes this very public thing at that point,” “And I just found it incredibly invasive and, morally, really inappropriate. I was 17 years old.” more@SheKnows |
|
|
|
How Variety’s Marc Malkin Owned His Sobriety Feb. 4, 2021 - I went to my first 12-step meeting at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis’ David Geffen Center. I don’t remember much about the meeting except there were about a dozen men sitting in chairs in a circle. For the first time, I said, “My name is Marc, and I’m a crystal meth addict.” That was almost 17 years ago. more@Variety |
|
|
|
Has Society Turned Its Back on Mothers? February 4, 2021 - Burnout among parents, in particular moms, has been a defining principle of this global disaster. Mothers faced with impossible choices: sending their child to school, and risking viral exposure, or not showing up to work; plopping their child down in front of a screen just to get a moment of peace... more@NYTimes |
|
|
|
Journaling to the Rescue in 2021! by Diana Raab Dec. 30, 2021 - Research has shown that journaling is healing especially during a pandemic. Journaling can be used as a contemplative practice because it serves as a sort of release. Your journal is a friend who “listens” and doesn’t talk back. |
|
|
|
Can We Control the Voice in Our Head? February 5, 2021 - In “The Voice in Your Head ” a darkly comic short film by the writer-director Graham Parkes, a man wakes up every morning to find a fit, hipsterish dope perched next to his bed. “Good morning, f*@ko,” the dope says. “Ready for another disappointing day?” The camera follows the pair from the shower (“Your penis is very small”)... more@NewYorker |
|
|
|
Is Chocolate Addictive? Feb. 4, 2021 - People have enjoyed chocolate and similar treats made from cacao fruit for thousands of years. This article compares healthy and unhealthy relationships with chocolate and addresses whether chocolate and its ingredients may be addictive. |
|
|
|
‘It’s a Pandemic Within a Pandemic’ WATCH Feb. 4, 2021 - “The unemployment, isolation, anxiety and disruption this pandemic has unleashed have led to a rise in addiction and overdose greater than ever,” - “COVID has set us back five to 10 years,” recovery advocate Tim Ryan said. Ryan, alongside his wife Jennifer Ryan-Gimenez, has been trying to raise awareness about the exponentially worsening addiction crisis. more@WCNC |
|
|
|
News Anchor’s 20-year Addiction and Journey to Sobriety WATCH - Feb. 4, 2021 - Anchor Pete Sousa for the first time is sharing the story of the 20-year drug and alcohol addiction that nearly destroyed his life, and his journey to sobriety, which he found nine years ago, in a new weekly podcast. “The Payoff with Pete”. Pete discovered alcohol as a teenager. He has been sober now 16 years. more@KWTX |
|
|
|
Wendy Williams Revisits Cocaine Use and Sober Living in New Biopic WATCH Jan. 30, 2021 - “By now my relationship with cocaine was the most important social relationship in my life,” she said. “I dated casually, but finding friends who weren’t starstruck by my new fabulous lifestyle were hard to come by. So, I was my own best friend — no one better.” more@People |
|
|
|
Oregon Addicts Get Rehab Instead of Prison Feb. 1, 2021 - Janie Gullickson pushed for the passage of Measure 110, first-of-its-kind legislation that decriminalizes the possession of all illegal drugs in Oregon, including heroin, cocaine, meth and oxycodone. more@USAToday |
|
|
|
‘Insane’ Success of Goat Zooms Nets £50k Feb. 1, 2021 - People pay £5 to hire a goat, who then joins a scheduled meeting via video-conferencing. Dot McCarthy’s goats have now appeared in virtual meetings all over the world, including in the US, Russia, China and Australia... more@BBC |
|
|
|
Uber Acquires Alcohol Delivery Startup For $1.1 billion Feb. 2, 2021 - Drizly will eventually integrate with the company’s Uber Eats app, but it will also maintain its own Drizly app, per the release. Drizly has been called the “Uber for alcohol delivery.” more@BusinessInsider |
|
|
|
Jamie Lee Curtis Marks 22 Years Sober Feb. 4, 2021 - The “Knives Out” star marked 22 years of sobriety Wednesday in an Instagram post featuring a throwback picture of her holding a glass of alcohol, with a bottle set in front of her. more@Today |
|
|
|
‘My Stealing Addiction Gives Me The Illusion Of Control’ Feb. 4, 2021 - Things I’ve stolen over the years equate to several thousands of pounds. Sometimes, the value of items I’d steal in one single spree equated to hundreds. As an attractive, Caucasian, middle-class woman, I’m hardly the archetypical shoplifter. |
|
|
|
Oregon Treats Addiction as a Mental Health Issue LISTEN Feb. 5, 2021 - The most controversial and progressive was Measure 110, the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative, which decriminalized the personal possession of small amounts of schedule 1 through 5 substances like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines. more@PDXMonthly |
|
|
|
Experimental Vaccine Blunts the Deadliest Effects of Synthetic Opioids - February 4, 2021 - “Synthetic opioids are not only extremely deadly, but also addictive and easy to manufacture, making them a formidable public health threat, especially when the coronavirus crisis is negatively impacting mental health,” says Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research. more@PHYS |
|
|
|
Megadeath’s David Ellefson, “The Beauty of Sobriety is That You Get to Have a Second Life in One Lifetime.” WATCH - Feb. 6, 2021 - David Ellefson recetly spoke with UK-based Total Rock and discussed his new book, Rock Star Hitman. “In the early ‘90s I was reading everything from motivational guides as well as a lot of fiction. As I was travelling I was reading, I was fairly newly sober - about four years into my sober lifestyle...more@BraveWords |
|
|
|
Cameron Douglas Writes Book About His Famous Family and Overcoming Addiction Feb. 6, 2021 - Michael Douglas’ son Cameron Douglas, his only child with first wife Diandra Luker, growing up as the son and grandson, has had to overcome struggles of his own. He suffered from drug addiction and landed himself in federal prison for seven years... more@WideOpenCountry |
|
|
|
Hazelden Betty Ford Expands Addiction Services in Montana - Feb. 5, 2021 - “We stand ready to help the people, families and communities of Montana affected by addiction concerns,” said Hazelden Betty Ford President and CEO Mark Mishek.“Regardless of where you live in Montana, if you have commercial health insurance and a computer, you and your family members are now eligible to participate in therapy without traveling anywhere,” said Jeanne Ren, outreach manager for Montana. more@BusinessWire |
|
|
|
Sobriety Surprises: Stars Who Revealed They Got Sober Feb. 4, 2021 - Hollywood is no stranger to sober celebs. A-list stars from Bradley Cooper to Robert Downey Jr. have been open about their substance abuse. Some want to help other alcoholics and addicts find the courage to start their sobriety journey, while others say they’re simply grateful and want to live their lives in the open. more@USMagazine |
|
|
|
Secret 'REHAB' Shoppers Report Hard Sell Tactics Feb. 1. 2021 - Luxury rooms, help with travel, pressure to enroll and requests for family contact info. These were some of the recruitment tactics encountered by callers posing as uninsured heroin users when they reached 368 residential facilities. Researchers called the recruiting techniques used by 43% of the programs “surprising” and “troubling.”... more@wbur.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
