The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - June 22, 2022
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Biden Administration plans to cut nicotine levels in cigarettes | Access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder via telehealth could end soon
Fentanyl
Snopes examines veracity of stories about the dangers of fentanyl-laced dollar bills | Test strips now legal in Tennessee, but will not be distributed at Bonnaroo
State and Local
Shatterproof’s ATLAS treatment locator launches in Oklahoma | Oregon treatment center for teens reopens, doubles SUD treatment beds for adolescents in the state | Oregon coffee shop fights addiction with jobs | Vermont Governor vetoes safe injection sites
Studies/Research in the News
Using research to advance health equity for SUD treatment | Study suggest we need new measures of tech addiction | Brain injuries can lead to spontaneous remission from addiction: implications for treatment
Opinion
How I overcame addiction and salvaged my Army career | Shatterproof’s “Just Five” video series promotes workplace health and wellness
Books and Movies
Movie about Elvis Presley and family details addiction, heartache and death | Vampire movie sinks teeth into human addiction
Podcasts
Bradley Cooper on Smartless | Faces and Voices examines recovery and sexuality on “This is What Recovery Looks Like” podcast | RMA considers moderation and the BBC documentary “Drinkers Like Me” | Prof. Peg O’Connor on Philosophy and Recovery on the Flourishing After Recovery Podcast with host Dr. Carl Erik Fisher | Scope of Practice considers the myth of codependence
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National
Biden administration says it plans to cut nicotine in cigarettes
The Biden administration said Tuesday it plans to develop a rule requiring tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes sold in the United States to minimally or nonaddictive levels, an effort that, if successful, could have an unprecedented effect in slashing smoking-related deaths and threaten a politically powerful industry.
Washington Post - June 21, 2022
‘Untreated’: Patients with opioid addiction could soon lose access to virtual care
Thousands of patients turning to online help for opioid addiction could soon lose access to life-saving services that rapidly expanded during the pandemic — even as opioid deaths reach record levels. Federal regulations that have allowed practitioners the flexibility to prescribe buprenorphine after an audio or video appointment — and to patients outside their state — are due to expire along with the Covid-19 public health emergency.
POLITICO - June 20, 2022
Nonprofit fosters pets while owners receive addiction treatment
Snuggles and unconditional love from her pets are a couple of comforts that helped Serena Saunders recover from an addiction to drugs and alcohol. “I got sober a year and a half ago, and I know that all the way through my active addiction, my animals have been there for me no matter what,” she said. About one year ago, that companionship inspired Saunders to start PAWSitive Recovery, a nonprofit organization that fosters the pets of people going through addiction treatment but have no one to care for their animals. Now, what the nonprofit needs most are people willing to foster animals. The application to foster can be found here.
Rocky Mountain PBS - June 17, 2022
Man Says He Spent $8,500 a Year on Pepsi Addiction
A supermarket worker who spent $8,500 a year on guzzling 30 cans of Pepsi a day for two decades said he has been cured - after he was hypnotized. Andy Currie, 41, downed a liter of the fizzy drink every morning and drank a further nine liters a day. The Briton has sipped an estimated 219,000 cans of Pepsi – nearly 18,000 pounds of sugar or the equivalent of 7 million sugar cubes – since he first started drinking it in his 20s.
Newsweek - June 17, 2022
Paul Molloy, co-founder of housing program for addicts, dies at 83
In the early 1970s, J. Paul Molloy was a young lawyer on Capitol Hill who had a key role in drafting legislation that created Amtrak and other federal programs. He was also an alcoholic whose drinking would eventually cost him his job, his family and his home. Mr. Molloy and others founded an experiment in group living and joint sobriety Oxford House. It was the first step in a nationwide movement, now almost 50 years old, that has been credited with helping thousands of people overcome addiction and lead productive lives. Mr. Molloy was chief executive of Oxford House until his death at 83 on June 11 at his home in Silver Spring. The cause was lung cancer, said his wife, Jane Molloy.
Washington Post - June 16, 2022
Bradley Cooper talks about being 'addicted to cocaine' in his 20s
Bradley Cooper is opening up about his past drug and alcohol abuse and shared who helped him through some tough times. Cooper said when he was feeling lost and dealing with addiction early in his career, it was fellow actor Will Arnett who helped him recover. During a conversation on Arnett's podcast "Smartless," which he co-hosts with Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, Cooper talked about sharing an apartment with Arnett years ago. He said he lacked confidence and would try to mimic Arnett's type of humor while socializing.It didn't always go over well.
CNN - June 15, 2022
Bradley Cooper Opens Up About Being “Addicted to Cocaine” in His Twenties
Bradley Cooper credits Will Arnett with helping get his life on the right track after struggling with cocaine addiction throughout his twenties. The actor appeared on the latest episode of the SmartLess podcast hosted by Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes where he got candid about his past, his career, and his journey towards sobriety.
Vanity Fair - June 15, 2022
Drugs to Treat Weed Addiction
Most people don't think of marijuana as addictive, but some studies have suggested it can give rise to dependence, formally known as cannabis use disorder. Some companies are developing drugs to treat it.
Bloomberg - June 15, 2022
Country Star Ty Herndon on Addiction, a Suicide Attempt and How Coming Out Saved His Life
Now with 18 months of sobriety, Herndon says singing feels a lot like it did when he was 10 — joyful, spiritual. He's back to preaching, in a way, and that's why he named his new album Jacob.
People - June 15, 2022
As Biden Fights Overdoses, Harm Reduction Groups Face Local Opposition
President Joe Biden wants to expand harm reduction programs as part of a broader strategy to reduce drug overdose deaths, which surged to more than 107,000 nationwide in 2021. But the $30 million plan faces a complicated reality on the ground. In Houston, as in many parts of the country, harm reduction programs operate on the fringes of legality and with scant budgets. Often, advocates must navigate a maze of state and local laws, fierce local opposition, and hostile law enforcement.
Kaiser Health News - June 14, 2022
A&E’s Intervention Returns This Month, But Some Addiction Experts Wish It Wouldn’t
Calling it “exploitative” and “coercive,” some legal and medical experts condemn a show that captures substance users in their most vulnerable moments.
Vanity Fair - June 13, 2022
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Fentanyl
Defendant Pleads Guilty in Fentanyl Overdose Case Featured on HBO Documentary “The Crime of the Century”
Cole Thomas Salazar pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 24-year-old woman who was found inside her Vista apartment on November 3, 2020. The investigation and arrest of Salazar and his co-defendant, Valerie Lynn Addison, was featured on the HBO show “The Crime of the Century.” Addison pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.
U.S. Department Justice - June 17, 2022
Fentanyl test kits are now legal in Tennessee, but groups still can't distribute them at Bonnaroo
Bonnaroo is back after a two-year hiatus. And this year, the promoter has welcomed a nonprofit to distribute the overdose reversal drug naloxone as drug deaths continue to soar among young adults. But the festival still hasn’t embraced more controversial forms of harm reduction. Naloxone can reverse an overdose if used in time. But fentanyl test kits can potentially prevent an overdose in the first place by alerting the user that their ecstasy or Xanax is laced with cheap but potent synthetic opioids.
WPLN - June 17, 2022
Mother of Portland teenager killed by fentanyl shares heartbreak
Cohen knew Griffin had tried marijuana. At the therapist’s office, she found out Griffin had taken a few other substances; including Percocet, one of the name brands for the opioid oxycodone. He wrote the drugs down on the therapist's intake questionnaire, Cohen said, and didn’t try to hide it. Cohen doesn’t know where her son got the fentanyl pills that killed him, but she’s sure Griffin wasn’t taking them regularly. “He was just doing normal experimentation like any other kid,” she says. “He was just like a regular teenager.” The morning she and Michael found their son, Cohen says she already had a sense of what had happened.
KGW - June 15, 2022
Are Folded, Fentanyl-Laced Dollar Bills a Safety Threat? Snopes says no
In early June 2022, a number or news outlets and social media users published posts and headlines warning that picking up folded dollar bills off the ground could be dangerous because people are using the folded bills to stash dangerous drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. some of the headlines contain sensational language about overdosing on fentanyl. Medical experts who, in 2021, weighed in on a viral video containing an alleged fentanyl overdose stated that it’s not possible to overdose on fentanyl by simply coming into casual contact with the drug.
Snopes - June 13, 2022
State / Local
Southeast Oregon coffee shop will aim to combat opioid addiction
In May, the Oregon Health Authority announced it was awarding Symmetry Care Inc. a grant to fund drug treatment services in Harney County. The grant is part of the initial rollout of funds from Measure 110, the 2020 ballot measure that voters approved to decriminalize drugs while allocating more money for addiction services. Symmetry will use the $850,000 grant to set up a coffee shop. “I’m a licensed clinical social worker, and I do treatment and see clients here, but I know that them having a job is often way more important than the therapy work that I provide,” he said. “And helping them do that is a big part of their recovery.”
OPB - June 19, 2022
Wisconsin county to receive nationwide settlement to aid opioid abatement
The state of Wisconsin adopted legislation in the summer of 2021 to receive global settlements from major opioid distributors and manufacturers. AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson and Johnson & Johnson settled and paid out $26 billion to local governments nationwide. To receive the settlement, local governments must have separate accounts dedicated to the funds, and 85% of the funds must be used for opioid abatement.
Leader-Telegram - June 16, 2022
Pennsylvania: Former Prevention Point employees say they faced dangerous conditions while treating people in addiction
The Inquirer has found that Prevention Point Philadelphia, a prominent nonprofit serving people in addiction, has allowed internal problems to jeopardize clients, employees, and the lifesaving mission that made it a leader in addiction treatment.
Philadelphia Inquirer - June 16, 2022
S.F. supes fume at provider of mental health, addiction care facing meltdown: ‘Massive fiscal mismanagement’
A leading San Francisco provider of treatment programs for substance abuse and mental health disorders that is in financial distress received a temporary lifeline from city leaders to maintain services for more than 200 people and keep dozens of nonprofit workers employed. But the Board of Supervisors authorized less than half as much aid as the provider had sought after balking at what sharply critical supervisors viewed as a last-minute attempt to rescue what they said appeared to be a woefully mismanaged organization. PRC and Baker Places, two nonprofits in the process of merging, begged supervisors to bail them out of a combined $3.2 million shortfall so they could continue running 215 treatment beds to provide detoxification, psychiatric care and other urgently needed help to some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
San Francisco Chronicle - June 15, 2022
Oregon: Addiction center for teens in Oregon reopens despite long odds
At any one time, only a few dozen teens can be treated in Oregon for addiction and mental health problems because of the lack of space. The profession has struggled with staff shortages and seen a sharp cut in capacity at a time when overdoses are skyrocketing and the state is awash in potentially deadly opioid pills and methamphetamine. The reopening of Rimrock was extraordinary: Its 24 treatment slots nearly doubled overnight the capacity for adolescents in Oregon, said Erica Fuller, Rimrock’s longtime director.
Oregon Capital Chronicle - June 15, 2022
Oklahoma: As Substance Use Disorder Numbers Rise, a New Tool is Available to Help Those in Oklahoma Find Trusted, High-Quality Addiction Treatment
Shatterproof is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing the country’s consciousness about substance use and addiction. It’s Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards Platform (ATLAS®), evaluates addiction treatment facilities’ use of evidence-based best practices, includes an assessment to understand the appropriate level of care, and offers an easy-to-use dashboard to allow those in need and their loved ones to search for and compare facilities using criteria such as location, services offered, and insurance accepted so they can find the best treatment for their unique needs.
Observer News Enterprise - June 14, 2022
Pennsylvania: Shatterproof’s ‘Just Five’ promotes workplace health, wellness
Pennsylvania has partnered with Shatterproof, an addiction-fighting charitable organization based in Norwalk, Conn., to offer “Just Five,” a self-paced online program designed to increase awareness, reduce stigma and provide education about substance use disorder prevention and treatment. Each of the online learning modules take just five minutes to complete.
Sharon Herald - June 14, 2022
Kentucky Shatters Its Fatal Overdose Record; Fentanyl Blamed
Fatal drug overdoses rose nearly 15% in Kentucky last year, surpassing 2,000 deaths as the increased use of fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — resulted in a record death toll in the state, according to a report released Monday.
Huffington Post - June 14, 2022
Unshame KY campaign to reduce stigma associated with drug addiction shows promising results
A campaign to reduce stigma associated with substance-use disorders has shown it can change attitudes and beliefs about people with drug addictions and increase support for harm-reduction strategies. The campaign, “Life Unites Us,” also found a need to target the campaign to health care workers who are often the first line of contact to offer treatment for substance-use disorder. The campaign is led by Shatterproof, a national nonprofit focused on ending the nation’s SUD epidemic. The company has partnered with the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort of state for a communications and behavior-change intervention aimed at reducing addiction-related stigma. It’s called “Unshame KY.”
Northern Kentucky Tribune - June 13, 2022
Pennsylvania: Wolf Administration highlights substance use disorder among construction workers
The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) joined the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors (APC) to talk about substance abuse disorder among construction workers.
ABC27 - June 13, 2022
Vermont Governor Vetoes Safe Injection Sites for Drug Users
Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill aimed in part at creating one or more safe injection sites, also called overdose prevention sites, in Vermont where people could legally use drugs under supervision as a way to reduce overdose.
U.S. News and World Report - June 8, 2022
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Studies/Research in the News
Research to Move Policy — Using Evidence to Advance Health Equity for Substance Use Disorders
Racial and ethnic disparities in treatment access and outcomes among patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) have widened, despite substantial efforts to address the epidemic of drug-overdose deaths in the United States.Applying an equity lens to efforts to address the worsening overdose epidemic and other SUD-related harms is critical to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities and improving health outcomes. Such an approach could also serve as a framework for narrowing disparities in other patient populations.
New England Journal of Medicine - June 16, 2022
Addiction Maps to Common Neural Network in Humans
Local damage such as stroke lesions in the brain can lead to spontaneous remission from addiction, where patients can easily quit their addictions immediately following injury, with no cravings or relapses.
Gen Edge - June 15, 2022
We Need New Scales To Measure Tech Addiction, Study Suggests
Questionnaires and scales measuring how we interact with smartphones, social media and gaming should not be used to demonstrate links with mental health and wellbeing, according to research from the Universities of Bath and Lancaster. Surveys that ask people about their technology habits often suggest problematic use, even pointing towards the potential for ‘addictive’ behaviours. But when researchers analysed these questionnaires, they found that these measures were not advanced enough to confirm any such issues.
Technology Networks - June 14, 2022
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Opinion
Sergeant to private: How I overcame addiction and salvaged my Army career
A positive drug test can be the beginning of the end to a military career but overcoming substance abuse may also mark the beginning of a new and different chapter. A recently filed lawsuit seeks to provide veterans who were discharged because of misconduct tied to substance abuse a path to honorable discharges that qualify them for federal benefits. While my story is different than the veteran behind the lawsuit, I also made the unimaginable choice to use illegal drugs while I was in the Army. I fought addiction — and for the help I needed — and forged a new path for myself as my military service ended.
Army Times - June 20, 2022
Shatterproof’s ‘Just Five’ promotes workplace health, wellness
Pennsylvania has partnered with Shatterproof, an addiction-fighting charitable organization based in Norwalk, Conn., to offer “Just Five,” a self-paced online program designed to increase awareness, reduce stigma and provide education about substance use disorder prevention and treatment. Each of the online learning modules take just five minutes to complete. “We must ensure that employers and employees know about every resource available to them to support individuals suffering from substance use disorder,” Smith said during a media briefing this week to highlight the issue.
Tribune-Democrat - June 17, 2022
Hunter Biden's Ex-Wife Kathleen Buhle Details Years of His Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and Infidelity in New Memoir If We Break
In her new memoir If We Break, Kathleen Buhle doesn't shy away from the ugly side of her 24-year marriage to Hunter Biden and the ramifications it had on both her own mental health and that of their three daughters, Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy.
Vanity Fair - June 14, 2022
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Books and Movies
Presley family's tragic legacy: addiction, heartbreak, death
As Riley, 33, has previously stated, she broke down in tears while watching the movie for the first time with her mom and grandma. “I started crying five minutes in and didn’t stop. There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around then for our family.” That multi-generational trauma has included addiction, divorce and tragic death.
New York Post - June 18, 2022
Vancouver director’s vampire movie sinks its teeth into human addiction
In Kicking Blood, a pulsing metaphor for addiction, a female vampire watches a reckless young man battle alcoholism and decides she wants get to quit blood and regain her humanity. Directed by Vancouver’s Blaine Thurier, who co-wrote the script with Leonard Farlinger, Kicking Blood is a pulsing metaphor for addiction that grew out of Thurier’s familiar view of the many faces of addiction that appear in downtown Vancouver. “I was seeing it around me every day and I was thinking about the people on the streets with addiction problems as people and not as they. Not as a problem to be solved, not someone separate from us,” said Thurier. “It could be anybody.”
Vancouver Sun - June 15, 2022
'Friends' star Matthew Perry's book to be released in November
The “Friends” actor revealed in February that he was working on a memoir — “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” — and shared a snapshot of the cover. The publisher, Macmillan division Flatiron Books, said Perry would be detailing some behind-the-scenes stories from the NBC sitcom and his struggle with addiction using his “trademark humor.” Perry did stints in rehab in 1997 and 2001. In a 2016 interview with BBC Radio 2, he said he didn’t remember three years of “Friends,” saying he was a “little out of it” for Seasons 3 through 6 of the iconic show.
New York Post - June 15, 2022
Kathleen Buhle (ex-wife of Hunter Biden) releases “If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing”
In his book, Hunter concedes he underestimated “how much the wreckage of my past and all that I put my family through still weighed on Kathleen. I suppose her response … was entirely warranted.” It’s one of the few events President JOE BIDEN’s son and former daughter-in-law agree on in their dueling memoirs as they both document the unraveling of their 24-year marriage which has been traumatic for the entire family. Both books make for poignant and uncomfortable reading. Many people in Biden world have been whispering about Buhle’s book since it was announced in January. Buhle goes out of her way to try to ensure her story is not a commentary on Biden or his presidency.
POLITICO - June 14, 2022
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Podcasts: The Weekly Roundup
This is What Recovery Looks Like (Faces and Voices of Recovery) – Don’t Yuck Someone’s Yum: Recovery and Sexuality
This month, we’re shifting the conversation away from harm reduction to an equally important, and often stigmatized, topic: recovery and sexuality. Phil interviews Stacie Ysidro, founder and CEO of Holistic Progressions, and a professional sex coach for over 10 years.
Recovery in the Middle Ages – Nat and Mike Discuss Moderation Management and the Adrian Chiles BBC Documentary “Drinkers Like Me”
A triumphant return! Season 2 of RMA kicks off with a review of the BBC documentary film Drinkers Like Me. Mike and Nat talk about the perils and pitfalls of moderation and non-abstinent recovery. Is such a thing even possible? Is it advisable? Does preaching the possibility of moderate drinking to the masses harm people who should be sticking the plug firmly in the jug? Tune in to find out.
Flourishing After Addiction with Carl Erik Fisher, M.D. – Transforming Addiction and Suffering with Philosophy
From quite early in her life, Peg O’Connor felt a “double dose of shame” - from her lesbian identity on one hand, and her struggles with alcohol on the other. Her drinking problems almost got her expelled from high school, but instead she was able to stop. In her view, philosophy helped her immensely to get and stay sober, especially considering how she was not fully on board with traditional religious views or with Alcoholics Anonymous. For this episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I was excited to speak with Peg about her most recent book, Higher and Friendly Powers, a compulsively readable, clear, and humane exploration of the notion of “Higher Powers,” using the philosopher and psychologist William James as a guide.
Heart of the Matter - Paul Holes on his New York Times bestselling book “Unmasked” and the importance of having honest mental health discussions
In the latest episode of Heart of the Matter, Elizabeth Vargas is joined by investigator Paul Holes, New York Times bestselling author of “Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases.” Paul is known for his role in helping to solve high-profile homicide cases, including the notorious Golden State Killer. But his crime fighting success was masked by what was going on with Paul personally. He spent decades with unresolved anxiety and panic attacks, eventually turning to alcohol as a way to cope with the stress. Together, Paul and Elizabeth discuss how his own anxiety changed the way he views his cold cases; and his own experiences in the law enforcement community, including how making himself vulnerable is opening the door to more honest mental health discussions.
The Scope of Practice Podcast - Dispelling the Myth of Codependence
Author, clinician, and educator Dr. Rob Weiss joins the show to talk about the problems associated with the field's long-held view of blaming the family, friends, and loved ones of those with substance use disorders for "enabling" their use while encouraging detachment for individual growth.
Smartless Podcast - Bradley Cooper Opens Up About Being “Addicted to Cocaine” in His Twenties
Bradley Cooper credits Will Arnett with helping get his life on the right track after struggling with cocaine addiction throughout his twenties. The actor appeared on the latest episode of the SmartLess podcast hosted by Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes where he got candid about his past, his career, and his journey towards sobriety.
Vanity Fair - June 15, 2022
Let’s Talk Addiction and Recovery (Hazelden Betty Ford)
Addiction in the Workplace: Creating a Culture Where Employees Feel Safe
Addiction doesn't discriminate based on income or employment. Employees in any work setting can be affected by the disease, and the culture of the workplace will either encourage treatment and recovery or passively endorse the disease of addiction—with very real effects to the business and, more importantly, to people's lives. Make the shift in culture: join host William C. Moyers and VP of Business Development Bob Poznanovich to get started.
Let’s Talk Addiction and Recovery (Hazelden Betty Ford)
An Inside Look: Training the Next Generation of Addiction Counselors
Dr. Kevin Doyle, the President and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies, joins host William C. Moyers to talk about the evolution of academia and the changing landscape for addiction counselors. They also discuss the urgent and increasing demand for counselors, and how the Grad School is preparing its graduates to become the next generation of leaders—and a vast network of hope and healing. Tune in to hear this fascinating conversation.
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