The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - April 10, 2024
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
April is Alcohol Awareness Month | FDA faces backlash for approval of genetic test for opioid use disorder
State and Local
Oregon Gov. signs sweeping addiction and overdose proposal into law | Minnesotans of color die of opioid overdoses at disproportionately high rates
Opinion
Rethinking relapse and return to use | New Jersey’s addiction treatment system must be fixed
Books and Movies
Melissa Etheridge docuseries to highlight female inmates, addiction
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National
April is Alcohol Awareness Month. What to know, where to get help | Parentally Speaking
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness and understanding of alcohol abuse. Over time, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious issues that affect your quality of life, physical and mental health.
MSN - April 7, 2024
Critics of forced drug treatment say it could lead to more fatal overdoses
People with addiction are being forced into drug treatment programs more frequently across the country. Those who refuse are threatened with prison, the loss of welfare benefits or other penalties. Supporters say this tough-love approach may be necessary, but many doctors and addiction experts disagree and say it might lead to more fatal overdoses. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann joins us now [to discuss].
NPR - April 6, 2024
More Kids Are Dying of Drug Overdoses. Could Pediatricians Do More to Help?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends offering buprenorphine to teens addicted to opioids. But only 6% of pediatricians report ever doing do, according to survey results. Some pediatricians responded to the survey by saying they don’t have enough patients to justify learning about this type of care, or don’t think it’s a pediatrician’s job. Medical schools and pediatric residency programs are working to add information to their curricula about substance use disorders, including how to discuss drug and alcohol use with children and teens. But the curricula aren’t changing fast enough to help the number of young people struggling with an addiction, not to mention those who die after taking just one pill.
KFF - April 5, 2024
Addiction, Motherhood, and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott
Writer Anne Lamott has garnered a cult following with her shockingly honest prose on love, death, faith, writing and more. This hour, her wisdom from a career that has spanned 20 books and 40 years.
NPR - April 5, 2024
Minister won't say where people forced into addiction treatment will go
The New Brunswick government now says that a planned 50-bed addiction treatment centre will serve people looking for help voluntarily, and will not be the destination for homeless people forced into rehabilitation. That left unanswered the question of where the province will send people against their will under the proposed Compassionate Intervention Act, which Wilson will introduce in the legislature in May.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - April 5, 2024
FDA urged to withdraw DNA test predicting opioid addiction, AvertD
Last year, the FDA approved selling the overdose-reversing naloxone nasal spray without a prescription, and in December, the agency approved a DNA test to help guide physicians’ opioid-prescribing decisions. Called AvertD, it uses a cheek swab and a computer algorithm to predict an individual’s genetic risk of opioid addiction. This week, experts are calling on the FDA to reverse itself.
STAT - April 4, 2024
FDA faces backlash over approval of genetic test for opioid addiction risk
The Food and Drug Administration is facing backlash over its approval of a genetic test intended to determine if a person is at increased risk for opioid addiction. It’s a promising test, in theory: An opioid prescription, even short-term, can be a path to addiction for some people. “This test will make the opioid crisis worse,” said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, medical director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and one of the those who signed the letter. “It will contribute to overprescribing, it will contribute to an increased incidence of opioid use disorder. In other words, more people becoming newly addicted to opioids.” While it’s commonly accepted that an individual who has been diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD) is in “remission” when none of the criteria for the disorder have been met for at least 90 days, the term “relapse” is often misapplied to instances of return to use within this period.
NBC - April 4, 2024
Employers and federal programs support addiction recovery
Employers play an important role in an employee's recovery from addiction and substance use disorders. But they need the right tools to ensure their support makes a difference.
Employee Benefit News - April 4, 2024
Fentanyl kills thousands of Americans. Could plugging a gap in U.S. intelligence save lives?
The CIA and broader U.S. intelligence community want to do more to fight the fentanyl crisis killing tens of thousands of Americans a year, and they are quietly pushing Congress to let them expand their use of a controversial and top-secret eavesdropping program to do it, USA TODAY has learned. Behind the scenes of its public push for reauthorization of controversial Section 702 spy tool, the CIA is seeking expanded counternarcotics capabilities too.
USA Today - April 4, 2024
Sierra Leone declares drug abuse 'national emergency'
Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio has vowed to combat the polydrug kush, saying that drug abuse in the West African nation is a "national emergency." Scores of young Sierra Leoneans have become addicted to kush, a drug that threatens the lives of its users and others in their communities.
DW.com - April 4, 2024
Up to 200 people waiting months for addiction treatment, minister says
New Brunswick's health minister says up to 200 people are facing waits of three to eight months for addiction treatment — even as the government prepares legislation that would force even more people into rehabilitation programs against their will.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - April 3, 2024
Anthony Kim details issues with addiction and 'scam artists' in Feherty interview
Anthony Kim will make his first American start in 12 years this week when he competes at LIV Golf’s Miami event. In a taped interview released Tuesday, Kim shed some light on the “dark demons” he battled over that 12-year interstitial.
Golf Digest - April 2, 2024
Gas station heroin nearly killed her: What to know about tianeptine
Tianeptine is prescribed as an antidepressant in some European, Asian and Latin American countries, but it’s not approved for any medical use in the U.S. Still, companies are marketing and selling tianeptine products as dietary supplements typically in pill and powder form, claiming it can improve brain function and treat depression, anxiety, pain and even opioid use disorder.
USA Today - April 1, 2024
Drug, Substance Abuse and Addiction Statistics 2024
25% of Americans (70 million people) admitted they use illicit drugs, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use. 48.7 million people nationwide struggle with substance abuse according to the same survey. Alcohol is the most commonly used drug, followed by tobacco and marijuana. Health insurance policies sold on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace or provided by Medicaid are required to cover substance abuse.
USA Today - March 28, 2024
State / Local
Oregon: Did Oregon pull the plug too soon on drug decriminalization?
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) ended the state’s experiment with decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of hard drugs this week, but the debate over whether the state pulled the plug too soon is just beginning.
KLFY - April 5, 2024
Missouri House Approves Budget Bill With $10 Million To Research Psilocybin As Treatment For Opioid Addiction
Missouri’s House of Representatives gave final approval to a budget bill on Thursday that would spend $10 million from state opioid settlement funds to study the use of psilocybin to treat opioid use disorder. It’s part of a growing push by state governments to support more psychedelics research.
Marijuana Moment - April 5, 2024
Minnesota: Minnesotans of color die of opioid overdoses at disproportionately high rates
The opioid epidemic, fueled by a surge in fentanyl use, has shattered thousands of families across Minnesota. It has hit hardest among the state's people of color, who die at disproportionately high rates when compared with white Minnesotans.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - April 5, 2024
Minnesota: Opioid settlement funding to help teach and fight against addiction
Minneapolis was awarded nearly $300 million as part of the first round of an opioid settlement lawsuit which will help fund community-based groups. The city’s health department will receive $296 million over 18 years, with $222 million going directly to cities and counties, according to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Minneapolis has received about $11 million in opioid settlement funding so far.
The Minnesota Daily - April 4, 2024
Illinois lawmaker proposes requiring ID to pick up highly-addictive medications
An Illinois state lawmaker is trying to keep dangerous medicines off the streets after watching a CBS 2 story on a suburban woman's highly addictive pills that a mystery man picked up from a pharmacy without her permission.
CBS - April 4, 2024
Oregon Health Authority promotes responsible drinking amid rise in alcohol-related deaths
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show deaths from excessive drinking are on the rise. April is Alcohol Awareness Month so the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is dedicating and promoting more time to talking about safe, moderate, and responsible alcohol consumption.
KATU2 - April 4, 2024
Massachusetts: Some Mass. hospitals stop infant welfare reporting based solely on drug dependence
Mandatory reporting of babies born dependent on a drug their birth parent was taking may be coming to an end in Massachusetts. Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital network, is joining Boston Medical Center in revising its policy. Now, instead of relying on an infant’s blood test results, hospital staff will only report a baby to state investigators if there’s concern about an imminent risk of abuse or neglect. The reporting requirement has come under increasing scrutiny during the drug overdose crisis, in part because women report stopping medications like buprenorphine or methadone, which are used to treat addictions, during pregnancy. They say they fear traces of those medications in their newborns could cause them to lose custody of their babies.
WBUR - April 3, 2024
Oregon governor signs sweeping drug addiction proposal into law
Gov. Tina Kotek on Monday signed into law the sweeping measure the Oregon Legislature passed to combat the state’s fentanyl drug addiction and overdose crisis. Kotek previously had said she would sign House Bill 4002, which was a centerpiece proposal of the short session. The law puts in place a new misdemeanor penalty for possession of small amounts of hard drugs, with opportunities for defendants to avoid jail if they enroll in programs that aid in their recovery and potential treatment.
Oregon Capital Chronicle - April 1, 2024
Opinion
Rethinking Return to Use: New SUD Resources
While science suggests that addiction is a chronic illness, much of our thinking — and even the system designed to provide treatment and recovery support — is geared to provide episodic acute care. On March 19, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing published two important new papers: Demystifying Relapse: A Recurrence of Symptoms and Demystifying Relapse: Rethinking Return to Treatment are intended to help people throughout the field of substance use treatment and care reexamine what we do and how we do it. The Demystifying Relapse papers seek to shift the conversation around substance use recurrence and treatment, urging a reevaluation of our views of people who use alcohol and other drugs, the nature of substance use and the barriers to recovery. By embracing these perspectives, we can refine approaches and develop effective strategies to support those on their journey to recovery.
National Council for Mental Wellbeing - April 5, 2024
Does addiction make you un-American?
Should Prince Harry be deported from the United States due to his past drug use? That’s what Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently claimed, based on an ongoing legal battle between Prince Harry and the Heritage Foundation, a Trump-aligned think tank.
STAT - April 5, 2024
We have to fix New Jersey's drug and alcohol addiction recovery system
The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation recently issued a report recommending the formation of a task force to strengthen addiction treatment regulations in the state to ensure the well-being of individuals seeking help for their struggles with substance abuse. In the ongoing battle against substance abuse and addiction, there is a pressing need for decisive action to ensure the integrity of addiction rehabilitation services, thereby protecting vulnerable individuals seeking treatment.
North Jersey.com - April 4, 2024
Books and Movies
Melissa Etheridge docuseries to spotlight female prisoners, addiction
Grammy-winning singer Melissa Etheridge will shine a spotlight on female prisoners and addiction issues in a new docuseries. Paramount+ announced the two-part docuseries Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken in a press release Thursday. I'm Not Broken will follow Etheridge as she writes an original song inspired by letters sent by five female residents of the Topeka Correctional Facility in Kansas, a women's prison in her hometown. Etheridge will create and perform the song for them. "Having recently lost her son to opioids, Etheridge works to understand and interrupt the cycle of addiction while connecting with these women who, so often, are forgotten by society," an official description reads.
UPI.com - April 4, 2024