The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - December 14, 2022
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Three key congressional proposals under consideration (MAT, EQUAL and The Medicaid Re-Entry Acts) | FDA to fast-track OTC Narcan | White House unveils OD dashboard
Fentanyl
Insys Therapeutics under fire for promoting off-label uses of fentanyl | NY Gov. Hochul vetoes study commission bill
State and Local
OD cases surge in Santa Cruz, CA | Colorado maternity wards sending at-risk mothers home with Narcan
Studies/Research in the News
Arizona State University works to translate behavioral health research for non-English speakers
Opinion
Federal prisoners shouldn’t be punished for using life-saving addiction medication | Maia Szalavitz: Drug policy needs an overhaul
Books and Movies
Beth Macy’s new book, “Raising Lazarus” | BBC takes cameras inside AA
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
National
What Comes Next for the War on Drugs? The Beginning of the End.
There are three bills floating through Congress right now that could not only save lives and money but also help to finally dismantle the nation’s failed war on drugs. The Medicaid Re-entry Act, EQUAL (Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law) Act and the MAT (Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment) Act all have bipartisan support and could be passed during the lame duck session of Congress. Lawmakers should act on them without delay. The MAT Act would eliminate the special Drug Enforcement Administration waiver that doctors must apply for in order to prescribe buprenorphine (a medication that helps reduce the craving for opioids). The Medicaid Re-entry Act would allow states to reactivate Medicaid for inmates up to one month before their scheduled release from prison. The EQUAL Act would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
New York Times - Dec. 12, 2022
Federal prisons are supposed to provide addiction medication. Prisoners are punished for using it.
The Marshall Project spoke to more than 20 people struggling with addictions in federal prison, and they described the dire consequences of being unable to safely access a treatment that Congress has instructed prisons to provide. Last year, the Bureau of Prisons disciplined more than 500 people for using Suboxone without a prescription, according to data obtained from the agency by The Marshall Project through a public records request.
NBC - Dec. 12, 2022
16 Charities PureWow Editors Are Supporting This Year
Shatterproof: “This year, I lost two of my cousins under the age of 30 to the disease of addiction. Unfortunately, there is an extremely negative stigma attached to addiction and effective treatment is hard to access and rarely covered by insurance. Shatterproof is a non-profit committed to transforming treatment, educating communities, advocating for change and ending the stigma as this disease is deadlier than ever before.” — Rachel Gulmi, Operations Director, Branded Content
PureWow - Dec. 10, 2022
Parents sue 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games for kids' addiction
Three parents sued Epic Games for getting their children addicted to its popular video game “Fortnite,” leading their kids to stop sleeping, eating and showering. The lawsuit brought in Quebec Superior Court alleges Epic Games intentionally developed “Fortnite” to be “highly addictive.” One of the parents claimed their child has played over 7,700 hours in less than two years — an average of three hours every day. “The court concludes that there is a serious issue to be argued, supported by sufficient and specific allegations as to the existence of risks or even dangers arising from the use of Fortnite,” the judge ruled.
New York Post - Dec. 9, 2022
The White House is now tracking nonfatal opioid overdoses by state. Why that's important
The White House launched a national data dashboard that for the first time tracks the rate of nonfatal opioid overdoses across the country, which health experts say will help accurately target resources to areas hit hard by the opioid epidemic. The database, which went live Thursday, is aimed at fighting a nationwide opioid epidemic. About 81,000 Americans have died in the past year because of the powerful substance, according to officials.
USA Today - Dec. 8, 2022
More than 180,000 people overdosed on opioids and survived in the past year, new White House dashboard shows
There were about 181,806 nonfatal opioid overdoses recorded in the United States in the past year, and it’s taken about 9.8 minutes on average for emergency medical services to reach someone who’s overdosing, according to a data dashboard that the White House debuted Thursday.This first-of-its-kind dashboard was developed to track nonfatal opioid overdoses, which have become a growing public health concern as the US struggles with a decades-long opioid epidemic. The dashboard is expected to be updated every Monday morning, with a two-week lag in the data.
CNN - Dec. 8, 2022
Record alcohol deaths from pandemic drinking
A record number of people died from alcohol last year, which is likely to be the result of increased drinking during the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics. There were 9,641 deaths in the UK in 2021, compared to 7,565 in 2019 - a 27% increase. The ONS says people who were already big drinkers before the pandemic drank more during the Covid years.
BBC - Dec. 8, 2022
FDA to fast-track review of application to allow NARCAN to be sold over the counter
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted Emergent BioSolutions' request to review its supplemental New Drug Application for the NARCAN® Nasal Spray to be sold as an over-the-counter emergency treatment for known or suspected opioid overdose, the company said Tuesday. The FDA also granted its request for priority review, which Emergent says “is the first prescription-to-over-the-counter switch application in history” to be granted such a review.
Washington Examiner - Dec. 7, 2022
Robert Downey Jr. Recalls Drug Addiction in Sr. Documentary
Robert Downey Jr. recalled in the Netflix documentary that he was "playing a game of just wanting to self-soothe or just stay loaded rather than deal with the fact that things had gone off the tracks a little bit". In the new Netflix documentary Sr., the Iron Man actor, 57, pays tribute to his director dad Robert Downey Sr., who had Parkinson's disease and died in July 2021 at 85. At one point in the film, Downey Jr. addresses his past addiction and the influence his father had on that by bringing it up during a phone call with him.
People - Dec. 7, 2022
HHS Announces New Data Showing Nation Has Expanded its Ability to Treat Addiction and Save Lives
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra marked the one-year anniversary of HHS’s Overdose Prevention Strategy (Strategy) by announcing the progress the nation has made since the release of the Strategy, showing expanded treatment capacity, lives saved from overdose, and commitment to long term recovery supports.
U.S. Health and Human Services - Dec. 2, 2022
The Opioid Epidemic Is Surging among Black People because of Unequal Access to Treatment
Clinics and the most effective types of therapy are harder to find in communities where people of color live. A million people in the U.S. have died of opioid overdoses since the 1990s. But the face—and race—of the opioid epidemic has changed in the past decade. Originally white and middle class, victims are now Black and brown people struggling with long-term addictions and too few resources.
Scientific American - Dec. 1, 2022
Shatterproof and Elevance Health Foundation team up to reduce stigma around substance use
This initiative, sponsored by the national nonprofit organization Shatterproof, and the Elevance Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health Inc., will reach approximately 3,000 healthcare professionals across the country to ensure patients are treated with dignity and open mind when seeking treatment.
Al Dia - Nov. 30, 2022
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Comments
Fentanyl
California fentanyl: The youth overdose crisis
Expect a lot of debate over how California should respond to the state’s mounting fentanyl epidemic when state lawmakers return to Sacramento early next year. Bills dealing with the super-powerful synthetic opioid are already piling up, many of them focused on youth in the wake of a stunning analysis that found fentanyl was responsible for 1 in 5 deaths among 15- to 24-year-old Californians in 2021.
CalMatters - Dec. 9, 2022
Archive shows how fentanyl promotion helped drive opioid epidemic
Internal documents disclosed by court reveal Insys Therapeutics promoted cancer painkiller for off-label uses. "The Insys records vividly illustrate one of the root causes of the opioid epidemic—the widespread failure of safeguards meant to prevent the inappropriate use of fentanyl and other potentially dangerous controlled substances," said G. Caleb Alexander, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-founding director of its Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness.
Johns Hopkins University - Dec. 9, 2022
One man's desperate quest to kick fentanyl is harrowing lesson for SF
I’ve been following Ben since late August because his story exemplifies so much about the cruelty of a city that makes it far easier to buy deadly drugs than to access treatment to leave them behind. But his journey shows there’s hope for the legions of people like him dotting the Tenderloin and South of Market districts in a fentanyl-fueled fugue, often sprawled on the sidewalks or folded over where they stand.
San Francisco Chronicle - Dec. 9, 2022
Fentanyl: Resources to help handle the crisis
Parents, law enforcement, doctors and other medical professionals agree: Fentanyl is a growing epidemic. Here are resources to deal with fentanyl issues you may encounter.
KOIN - Dec. 8, 2022
'Eat what you kill': How a fentanyl drugmaker bribed doctors, harmed patients and collected millions
Insys Therapeutics is the only drug marketer whose top executives were jailed as part of the opioid epidemic. The fallout from the company's cash-for-scrips strategy that made it a Wall Street favorite reverberates today.
USA Today - Dec. 8, 2022
"Flabbergasted" is the response to Hochul's veto over fentanyl task force
At the end of November, Governor Kathy Hochul rejected dozens of bills, including one that would have created a 16-person fentanyl abuse and overdose prevention task force here in New York. Assemblyman Mike Tannousis (R-Staten Island) was stunned. "Last year, 78% of all overdose deaths were linked to fentanyl, which led to the death of about 5,500 New Yorkers," Tannousis said. "So we’re in the middle of a health crisis."
WHAM - Dec. 8, 2022
Hochul was right to veto nonsense fentanyl bill — but real answers seem painfully far off
Gov. Kathy Hochul has finally made a correct public-safety call, vetoing a useless measure meant to stem the tide of fentanyl killing New Yorkers by . . . assembling a task force to mull over the issue. So make no mistake: This is a crisis. And it demands real solutions, not a blue-ribbon panel. Need more evidence of just how toothless the measure was? It won unanimous passage in both Senate and Assembly this spring.
New York Post - Dec. 1, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
State / Local
California: Overdose cases continue to surge in Santa Cruz County
Acute drug-related deaths continued to surge this year in Santa Cruz County and local experts are sounding the alarm as they seek to bring attention to the troubling trend. SafeRx Santa Cruz County and the Integrated Behavioral Health Action Coalition held their fifth annual combined drug trend meeting this week to share their most up-to-date information with the public, along with the programs and initiatives seeking to combat the issue.
San Jose Mercury News - Dec. 9, 2022
Colorado: Many Colorado maternity wards sending at-risk new mothers home with Narcan
Sending a new mother home from the hospital with Narcan may seem like a stretch but a new initiative to do just that is growing across the state and being praised by physicians as a critical life-saving tool. "Accidental overdose is one of the main drivers of maternal death," said Dr. Kaylin Klie, a Family Medicine and Addiction Specialist at UC Health. Doctor Klie is particularly passionate about finding resources for mothers struggling with addiction. Part of that she says is making sure women who want to get better, know they can without losing their child to the state.
CBS - Dec. 9, 2022
Ohio: Opioid board to add members
The 11-member regional board tasked with allocating funds from the OneOhio National Opioid Settlement throughout the Mahoning Valley could have two new members by its next meeting. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation board is the statewide body tasked with allocating money to 19 regions throughout the state, to allow communities to use the settlement funds to localize their approach in combating the opioid epidemic. The Region 7 board, which represents Trumbull and Mahoning counties, met for the third time Monday at Direction Home of Eastern Ohio in Austintown.
The Vindicator - Dec. 7, 2022
New York City nonprofits to sell pot, treat drug addicts
Three of the nonprofits awarded state licenses to legally sell weed ironically offer substance abuse services — or mandate sobriety for participants.
New York Post - Dec. 3, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Studies/Research in the News
Translating addiction, mental health research for the Chinese American population
Jinni Su, an assistant professor in Arizona State University's Department of Psychology, knows the importance of scientific research in the fight against addiction, mental health problems and substance abuse. She conducts research on alcohol abuse within marginalized populations. Over 305,851 Asian American/Pacific Islanders live in Maricopa County, and the population has experienced a growth rate of 138% since 2000. Many of them speak English as a second language, and so speaking about research in Chinese makes a difference in connecting with the community and preventing problems such as adolescent alcohol abuse.
Arizona State University - Dec. 7, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Opinion
What Comes Next for the War on Drugs? The Beginning of the End.
There are three bills floating through Congress right now that could not only save lives and money but also help to finally dismantle the nation’s failed war on drugs. The Medicaid Re-entry Act, EQUAL (Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law) Act and the MAT (Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment) Act all have bipartisan support and could be passed during the lame duck session of Congress. Lawmakers should act on them without delay. The MAT Act would eliminate the special Drug Enforcement Administration waiver that doctors must apply for in order to prescribe buprenorphine (a medication that helps reduce the craving for opioids). The Medicaid Re-entry Act would allow states to reactivate Medicaid for inmates up to one month before their scheduled release from prison. The EQUAL Act would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
New York Times - Dec. 12, 2022
Federal prisons are supposed to provide addiction medication. Prisoners are punished for using it.
The Marshall Project spoke to more than 20 people struggling with addictions in federal prison, and they described the dire consequences of being unable to safely access a treatment that Congress has instructed prisons to provide. Last year, the Bureau of Prisons disciplined more than 500 people for using Suboxone without a prescription, according to data obtained from the agency by The Marshall Project through a public records request.
NBC - Dec. 12, 2022
THE OBVIOUS ANSWER TO HOMELESSNESS - And why everyone’s ignoring it
Identifying personal failures or specific tragedies helps those of us who have homes feel less precarious—if homelessness is about personal failure, it’s easier to dismiss as something that couldn’t happen to us, and harsh treatment is easier to rationalize toward those who experience it. In real life, housing scarcity is more difficult to observe—but it’s the underlying cause of homelessness.
The Atlantic - Dec. 12, 2022
It’s Not Just About Pot. Our Entire Drug Policy Needs an Overhaul.
The failure of American drug law, particularly marijuana policy, has long been obvious. The details of new regulation, however, matter enormously. The current law, the Controlled Substances Act, is antiquated: It makes no scientific sense and grew out of legislation that was often driven by racist and anti-immigrant propaganda. While policymakers consider how to regulate marijuana specifically, they also need to rethink how the U.S. government classifies and controls psychoactive substances in general — not just drugs like marijuana and opioids, but also alcohol and tobacco.
New York Times - Dec. 11, 2022
How Congress can prevent opioid addiction before it starts
On top of the human impact of the crisis, the economic toll of opioids in the U.S. was nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone. With so many resources in the past going to reactive measures like expanding access to naloxone and medication-assisted treatments, it is time we start looking in a different direction for more proactive solutions.
The Hill - Dec. 10, 2022
Can Drugs Treat Addiction? Prisons Offer an Answer
Programs dispensing anti-addiction medications show early success in putting inmates on a path to sobriety, even after release. But fentanyl makes life on the outside even more dangerous.
Wall Street Journal - Dec. 9, 2022
Addiction and subtraction
San Francisco has shut down the center it set up to allow drug addicts to shoot up whenever they like. Now, the city is completely out of answers on how to help drug addicts — other than rehabilitation programs.
Washington Examiner - Dec. 9, 2022
Young man's death leads to questions about an Adderall prescription obtained online
Cerebral is one of a number of online mental health companies that surged in popularity during the pandemic and helped meet a growing demand for virtual care. But some experts fear online providers make it too easy for people looking to abuse drugs like Adderall. Hanson told Cerebral he needed help for ADHD — Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder — despite never having been previously diagnosed. He was able to secure a prescription for the stimulant Adderall without any in-person consultations, even though, as his brother, Ethan Hanson, would later allege, he only wanted the drug to abuse it.
CBS - Dec. 6, 2022
Congress has its sights set too low on addiction, advocates charge
Judging by lawmakers’ words, addiction might be the most bipartisan topic in Washington. For years, Democrats and Republicans alike have made speeches, authored bills, and issued statements decrying the drug overdose crisis.
Stat News - Dec. 6, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Books and Movies
Author Talk: Beth Macy on Raising Lazarus
Continuing the investigation that began in Dopesick, Raising Lazarus journeys to the heart of the opioid crisis, engaging with the communities affected by it and the ordinary individuals working toward solutions. Macy will talk about her research along with a representative from The Chris Atwood Foundation (thecaf.org), a charitable organization based in northern Virginia that provides free harm reduction and recovery support services and advocates for people affected by substance use.
Patch.com - Dec. 9, 2022
What’s on TV tonight: BBC Two goes behind the scenes of Alcoholics Anonymous
As Alcoholics Anonymous marks its 75th anniversary in the UK, cameras are granted unprecedented access to AA members and their meetings. This may come as a surprise, but facial identities are blurred and names changed as we meet “Niam”, “Andy” (17 years a member after continually waking up suicidal) and former all-day drinker “Rhys”. They are among 25,500 members attending the organisation’s 5,000 weekly meetings in the UK. There’s also a look at the AA’s origins in the Depression-era American Bible Belt, and how the continuing religious terminology is interpreted in today’s more secular climate.
MSN - Dec. 7, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments