The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - July 12, 2023
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Biden announces plan to address fentanyl laced with xylaxine | Bill to expand access to medication for opioid use disorder passes House
State and Local
NY opioid funds not hitting front lines | Pennsylvania health provider receive federal funds to train primary care providers to deliver addiction treatment
Studies/Research in the News
Two new ibogaine-related drugs have potential for treating addiction and depression | Teens lack access to lifesaving medications for opioid use disorder
Opinion
Safe injection sites would save lives, even if seemingly counterintuitive | Maia Szalavitz on the promise of ketamine for cult survivors
Books and Movies
Documentary sheds light on opioid addiction in Minnesota Somali community
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
National
Biden unveils plan to combat fentanyl laced with xylazine overdoses
The Biden administration unveiled a plan to eliminate the growing threat of fentanyl laced with xylazine, an illegal street drug cocktail that is fueling a wave of overdose deaths. Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opioid with its own soaring death toll. Xylazine is a cheap animal sedative not meant for human consumption. Fentanyl laced with xylazine poses several health threats, including severe hypoventilation, the development of serious wounds and extreme withdrawal symptoms.
CNBC - July 11, 2023
The Post-Civil War Opioid Crisis
Many servicemen became addicted to opioids prescribed during the war. Society viewed their dependency as a lack of manliness. When veterans of the US Civil War returned home, one of the barriers many faced to reintegrating into civilian life was opiate dependency. As historian Jonathan S. Jones writes, this was compounded by a culture that saw addiction as emasculating enslavement.
JSTOR Daily - July 9, 2023
Portugal's drug decriminalization faces opposition as addiction multiplies
Portugal decriminalized all drug use, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin, in an experiment that inspired similar efforts elsewhere, but now police are blaming a spike in the number of people who use drugs for a rise in crime. In one neighborhood, state-issued paraphernalia — powder-blue syringe caps, packets of citric acid for diluting heroin — litters sidewalks outside an elementary school.
Washington Post - July 7, 2023
Dominic Fike ‘Almost Got Kicked Off’ Euphoria For Drug Use
Dominic Fike almost his role as Elliot on Euphoria due to his drug usage. The singer, who released his new album Sunburn Friday, July 7, spoke to Apple Music about his struggle with addiction and how it nearly cost him his role on the HBO show.“Sam [Levinson], the director and writer, got me a sober coach, somebody to be there all the time. It did not work," Fike said.
Rolling Stone - July 7, 2023
Madden bill to expand jail access to opioid addiction treatment medication passed by House
A successful but limited grant program proven to save lives moved one step closer to expansion with Friday’s passage of a bill from state Rep. Maureen Madden. The Monroe County Democrat authored H.B. 1515, which would expand the Non-Narcotic Medication Assisted Substance Abuse Treatment Grant Program to include all FDA-approved medications for the treatment of substance use disorder, commonly known as medication-assisted treatment or MAT. Currently, the program, which was founded via Act 80 in 2015, allows county jails to access only naltrexone, otherwise known as Vivitrol, to incarcerated individuals experiencing a substance use disorder. The legislation would allow Pennsylvania’s county jails to access all forms of FDA-approved medications that may be even more effective in successfully treating SUD.
Pennsylvania Rep. Maureen Madden - July 7, 2023
How buprenorphine helps the body overcome opioid addiction
Agonist substitution treatment is an approach that replaces the misused drugs with ones sharing similar properties but much safer risk profiles and longer durations of action which help extinguish drug-seeking behaviors. Buprenorphine—a synthetic opioid—is a partial agonist, according to the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine. The drug works by binding to the same opioid receptors in the brain, activating them less intensely than opioids. Thus buprenorphine decreases the craving for opioid stimulation and symptoms of withdrawal in the patient but does not trigger intense feelings of pleasure and euphoria like street drugs.
Morgan County Citizen - July 7, 2023
How to Protect Your Child from Addiction
Addiction happens in any family. Genes may account for 50 percent of a person’s vulnerability to addiction. Many substance abusers describe an “inner emptiness” long before using drugs. The majority of adults living with addiction began abusing substances before age 18.
Psychology Today - July 6, 2023
Tatum O’Neal’s near-death experience caps life of drug addiction, abuse and volatile relationships
The Oscar winner recently revealed she almost died after a 2020 drug overdose and suffered from a stroke. Tatum O’Neal is still recovering from her near-death experience three years ago, when she overdosed on pain medication, opiates and morphine and had a stroke that put her in a coma for six weeks and has left her with lingering aphasia.
Fox - July 6, 2023
Can Ozempic and Wegovy Curb Addiction and Other Negative Behaviors?
People using semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozemic and Wegovy, have reported unexpected decreases in desire for alcohol, cigarettes, and even nail-biting.
Every Day Health - July 5, 2023
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Comments
State / Local
NY funds to fight opioid addiction not hitting front lines
New York has reached more than $2 billion in settlements struck with prescription drug manufacturers and distributors that helped fuel the opioid epidemic. But as drug-related deaths continue to rise in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration now faces criticism that so far relatively little has been dispersed to addiction treatment providers overwhelmed with demand for their services.
Buffalo News - July 10, 2023
North Carolina: Ben's Friends: Addiction support group for hospitality workers returns
Ben’s Friends, an organization of support groups aiming to help people in the food and beverage industry dealing with addiction problems, is relaunching an Asheville chapter. Mickey Bakst, co-founder of Ben’s Friends, is just as passionate about its mission today as he was when he helped begin the group in 2016. He told the Citizen Times that the epidemic of addiction in the food and beverage industry has roots that are best addressed in a community of people who understand the intensity of the work. “We provide them not only a place where they are with others that are suffering from their illness, but they are with others who understand their lifestyles, their way of life, their careers,” Bakst said.
Citizen Times - July 8, 2023
Michigan: Vigilante Kitchen and Bar brings punk rock, Zen, and a new approach to addiction support
Zen and punk rock, transience and mindfulness - there are many competing elements that decorate the walls and greet the patrons of Detroit's newest restaurant Vigilante. Here's another one: staff in recovery and a bar that serves alcohol. Many of Chef Aaron Cozadd's themes that make up his new restaurant are also principles he's used to guide him through his own substance abuse. That's intentional since Vigilante Kitchen and Bar is built to cater to both customers who are hungry and employees struggling with addiction.
Fox2 - July 7, 2023
Nevada: Battle against drug addiction is ongoing, but state has tools to fight it
With the announcement of a $285 million settlement with Walgreens earlier this week, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford delivered big, and made good on his promise to continue to prioritize the issue of opioid abuse.
Las Vegas Sun - July 7, 2023
Pennsylvania: Addiction affects thousands of Pa. residents and their families
There is a common misconception that drug addiction is a result of moral weakness or a lack of willpower. This type of thinking leads many to believe that quitting drugs is as simple as making a choice to stop. In reality, addiction is a chronic disease that alters the brain, making it difficult to quit even for those who desire to do so. There is no single factor that can determine whether or not a person will develop a drug addiction.
The Bradford Era - July 7, 2023
Pennsylvania: Geisinger plans to provide addiction treatment in primary care setting
Substance use disorder is getting attention from local health systems, as Geisinger looks to train primary care providers in addiction treatment over the next few years. The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Geisinger Health System with a $2.38 million, five-year grant to train its care providers to provide addiction treatment in primary care settings.
NorthCentraPA.com - July 7, 2023
New Mexico: Addiction medication scripts going unfilled in northern New Mexico
Senator says federal law should ‘lean more on therapy and less on bureaucracy’. Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medication for opioid use disorder that can be prescribed without the patient having to go into a clinic, and can be sold at retail pharmacies. Both buprenorphine and methadone have been shown to reduce overdoses and opioid-related deaths. Even if someone can get a prescription for medication that will help them manage their conditions, actually getting it filled in northern New Mexico is often so difficult that people give up on treatment altogether.
Source New Mexico - July 6, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Studies/Research in the News
More Powerful Than SSRIs – Scientists Develop Two New Drug Candidates That Could Treat Addiction and Depression
Two new potential drugs for the treatment of addiction and depression have been created by scientists, drawing from the medicinal properties of a traditional African psychedelic plant called ibogaine. When administered at extremely low doses, these compounds were able to blunt symptoms associated with both disorders in mice.
Sci Tech Daily - July 9, 2023
Teens lack access to opioid addiction medication
Teenagers who could benefit from drug treatment for opioid addiction are rarely receiving the appropriate medication. Driving the news: Less than a quarter of residential treatment centers nationwide catering to adolescents offer buprenorphine, one of few drugs considered to be the gold standard for treating opioid use disorder and the only one approved by the FDA for patients as young as 16. That's according to a new study led by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University.
Axios - July 6, 2023
Scientists discover way to activate brain cells to inhibit drug addiction
In a study that could have significant implications for addressing the opioid crisis, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that manipulating specific types of brain cells inhibits the urge for the synthetic opioid fentanyl. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than two-thirds of American drug-related deaths last year involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is mixed with cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin or other illegal drugs. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and as little as two milligrams can cause an overdose.
Israel21c - July 6, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Opinion
Absurdity of addiction: Injection sites would save lives, even if they sound irrational
Safe injection sites, such as the one proposed by a nonprofit for Philadelphia, enable addicts to legally use illicit drugs, typically heroin and other opioids, with protocols that keep them safer, such as providing clean needles, as well as monitoring and treating overdoses. There’s no doubt that, by the ordinary standards of commonsense and reason, safe injection sites do nothing but promote and legitimize illicit and harmful behavior. But addiction is not governed by commonsense, reason or logic.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - July 9, 2023
Maia Szalavitz: This Drug Holds Promise for Cult Survivors
Psychedelic drugs like ketamine, which is already legal as an anesthetic, are promising new treatments for many psychiatric disorders, including addictions. But these medicines also carry significant risks. Understanding how human connections can both heal and harm is critical to recognizing the potential and the peril of psychedelics — and the links between cults and addiction.
New York Times - July 9, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Books and Movies
Documentary sheds light on opioid addiction in Somali community
The documentary will be screened Friday evening as part of Somali Week events in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Abdirahman Warsame is a passionate and dedicated Twin Cities activist, who advocates for increased resources for East African individuals struggling with drug abuse. As the founder of Generation Hope, a Somali-led organization, Abdirahman has assembled a team consisting of individuals in recovery, mental health professionals, and dedicated members of the community. Through a comprehensive, holistic approach, Generation Hope has provided support and guidance to those in need, empowering them to overcome addiction and rebuild their lives.
Sahan Journal - July 6, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments