The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - February 14, 2024

The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.

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Highlights

National
Investigation, report find abuses in addiction treatment in New Jersey and beyond | How stigma kills people with addiction
State and Local
Feds say Pennsylvania drug courts can’t disqualify participants for medications prescribed for OUD | S.F. Mayor supports ballot measure to screen welfare recipients for addiction
Studies/Research in the News
Stanford research indicates COVID may curb ability to enjoy alcohol | CDC study finds teens use drugs and alcohol to ease stress and anxiety
Opinion
Potential pitfalls of romance in recovery
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Comments

National

Atlantic County sober home in report on recovery industry
More than $170,000 in Atlantic County funds that were intended to cover rent for people living in a sober home facility went unaccounted for, according to a State Commission of Investigation report on addiction treatment facilities released this week. State investigators spent several years probing New Jersey’s addiction recovery system and found widespread failures in regulation and oversight they say enabled corruption to flourish.
Press of Atlantic City - Feb. 9, 2024

Zyn nicotine pouches are flying off shelves. Critics say they’re dangerous for kids
Philip Morris International announced Thursday that it shipped about 350 million cans of Zyn in 2023, a whopping 62% growth compared to the previous year. Shipments typically correlate to sales even if they represent a slightly different measure of demand. However, like Juul, the popularity and growth of Zyn might face difficulties, in particular from US government. By law, anyone who makes or sells “non-tobacco nicotine” must comply with FDA regulations, which include not selling to people under 21, not giving away samples and not making claims that their products are less harmful than cigarettes without FDA authorization.
Mercury News - Feb. 9, 2024

Addiction Medicine on the Move: Recovery Mobile Clinic
As I recognized the potential impact on patients, my husband – who sells recreational vehicles – and I researched the mobile models used in other health care fields: dental, optometry, sonography, radiology, and more. I thought, “Why not create a mobile clinic for addiction medicine and primary care?” The Recovery Mobile Clinic was born! 
Clinical Advisor - Feb. 9, 2024

As gambling addiction rates rise, keep an eye on grandma this Super Bowl
Cases of elder compulsive gambling, once rare, now dominate my caseload. The US is facing a catastrophe, with seniors at its heart. Each week I see out-of-control gamblers, including 80-year-olds, in my specialized addiction therapy practice.
The Guardian - Feb. 9, 2024

Sharing of Addiction Treatment Records Gets Biden HHS Overhaul
Drug addiction treatment records will face fewer barriers to sharing among medical professionals under a new rule issued Thursday by the Biden administrations’ Health and Human Services Department. Required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the rule (RIN: 0945-AA16) is intended to help medical professionals better coordinate care for individuals struggling with substance use. Under the rule, medical professionals can share a patient’s substance use treatment records after a one-time consent.
Bloomberg - Feb. 8, 2024

Medical school lecture that minimized opioid risks draws critics
Amid ongoing concern over opioid addiction, a university in Florida has been criticized for allowing a lecture that conveyed “false and misleading” information about the use of the prescription painkillers by a local physician who, in years past, had ties to opioid makers.
Stat - Feb. 7, 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis marks 25 years of being 'clean and sober'
Jamie Lee Curtis is celebrating 25 years of sobriety. The Oscar winner marked the milestone on Saturday, posting a photo of herself on Instagram holding a small chip engraved with the words "JLC Twenty Five."In the caption, Curtis, 65, wrote that she has been "clean and sober" for 25 years.
ABC 11 - Feb. 7, 2024

Watchdog finds widespread abuses in New Jersey's addiction recovery industry
Investigators spent several years probing New Jersey’s addiction recovery system and found widespread failures in regulation and oversight they say enabled corruption to flourish. “Fraud, unethical conduct, and wrongdoing were found in businesses at every stage of the recovery process, sometimes starting as early as an overdose victim’s first encounter with an addiction professional at their hospital bedside or during an online search for treatment,” investigators wrote in a new report released Tuesday by the State Commission of Investigation.
New Jersey Monitor - Feb. 6, 2024

Stigma kills people with alcohol addiction
Why does the stigmatisation of people with alcohol use disorder matter? As Emma’s story shows, the problem is that people don’t come forward to ask for help until it is too late and irreversible damage is already done – the case in around half of all people diagnosed with alcohol-related liver disease.
The Conversation - Feb. 5, 2024

Bigger, stronger, faster: how my exercise addiction nearly killed me
I turned to fitness when I was out of control with bourbon, drugs and an eating disorder – but it became another problem. In addiction medicine, there’s no consensus on what exercise addiction is. It isn’t mentioned in the American Society of Addiction Medicine textbook, and, like many behavioral addictions, it isn’t named in the DSM-5. But when I talked to the addiction psychiatrist and bioethicist Dr Carl Erik Fisher, he told me: “My own experience as a clinician is that behavioral addictions are important phenomena. Many people suffer from them, and they deserve to be taken seriously.”
The Guardian - Feb. 5, 2024

Jelly Roll: Every Senator in America Has Called Since Congress Speech
"Nobody humanizes addiction," Jelly Roll tells Rolling Stone at Spotify's Best New Artist party. Last month, Jelly Roll visited Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to end the spread of fentanyl. “Nobody humanizes addiction, and that’s an important topic… Fentanyl is deeper than drug addiction, he adds. “My only goal in that was to hopefully bring attention to it. And I think I did. Believe it or not, I’ve got a call from about every senator in America.”
Rolling Stone - Feb. 3, 2024

National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Comments

 State / Local

Pennsylvania: Opioid addiction medicine prescriptions can't disqualify drug court participants, feds say
Relief is coming to Pennsylvania residents who were left suffering from intense withdrawal symptoms or stuck in legal limbo for years by county drug courts that forbade them from taking the medications prescribed to control their opioid addiction, federal prosecutors say. As part of a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit, several county courts have agreed to allow these medications to be used by people in specialized courts for minor drug crimes, and all courts in Pennsylvania must consider adopting the practice. Several former drug court participants who were forced off their medication will split $100,000 in total as part of the settlement.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Feb. 9, 2024

Oregon: Addiction experts call on Legislature to step up funds for medication treatment of opioid misuse
Methadone is considered the gold standard in treating opioid misuse, and the state could use twice as many clinics as it has to address the demand, experts say. Oregon lawmakers are gathered in Salem, determined to address the state’s drug crisis. Both parties appear poised to crack down – at least to some extent – on drug possession, which was decriminalized with the 2020 passage of Measure 110. And Democrats hope to remove some barriers for people in treatment while expanding treatment options, including clinics that offer an integrated approach to behavioral health, primary care and addiction treatment.
Oregon Capital Chronicle - Feb. 9, 2024

Oregon: As politicians debate Measure 110 fix, these specialists help addicts on the street, one emergency at a time
Portland’s fentanyl addicts, wrecked by the easy availability of the cheap, super-powerful opioid, their addiction enabled by a treatment-oriented but toothless Measure 110, which in 2020 made user amounts of street drugs legal. Starting this month, three overdose-response specialists are now seeking out these Portland addicts every day, offering help and hope – while understanding that their powers to provide them are quite limited.
Oregon Live - Feb. 9, 2024

Belleville, Ontario declares addiction emergency after latest overdose surge
A spokesperson for Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon "the overdoses [were] caused by a laced drug in the region" and officials were working to limit its spread. While harm reduction workers in Ottawa and Toronto have discovered animal tranquillizers in local drugs, Medical Officer of Health for Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) Dr. Ethan Toumishey had said Wednesday it was too soon to determine exactly what caused Belleville's surge in overdoses.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Feb. 8, 2024

Oregon: Oregonians Speak Out on Drugs, Addiction at State Capitol
Democratic State Senator Kate Lieber is chairing the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety.  “We have over a thousand beds that are going to be coming online for the next year. A lawmaker with experience in law enforcement, Republican State Representative Jeff Helrich, also spoke out. “It is time to stop enabling drug addiction in the state of Oregon. It is time to end Measure 110. I’m a retired police sergeant and I worked for the city for over 25 and a half years to keep it safe.”
KXL - Feb. 8, 2024

Oregon: Latest Oregon economic forecast shows up to $1.7 billion available for housing, addiction and more
Oregon lawmakers will have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend over the next year after another positive economic forecast released Wednesday morning. 
Oregon Capital Chronicle - Feb. 7, 2024

Oregon: Lawmakers wrestle with police role in drug addiction crisis
From Portland to Albany, and from urban cities to the rural regions, Oregonians agree that the Legislature must take action to stem the state’s fentanyl-fueled rise in addiction and lethal overdoses, which kill hundreds of people every year.  But they widely disagree about what path the state should take, whether to enact misdemeanor criminal charges and how people would enter into treatment and make more options available. 
Oregon Capital Chronicle - Feb. 7, 2024

California: San Francisco considers a measure to screen welfare recipients for addiction
The Democratic mayor of San Francisco is pushing a March 5 ballot measure that would require single adults on welfare be screened and treated for illegal drug addiction or else lose cash assistance. Opponents say coercion doesn't work and homelessness may increase if the measure passes. Drug addicts are not criminals, they say, and there are not enough treatment beds and counseling services as it is.
ABC - Feb. 4, 2024

Minnesota addiction treatment centers closing, despite high demand
Minnesota teens struggling with drugs or alcohol have few options for help after several treatment centers closed last year. Clinics that prescribed opioid addiction medication shut down in Duluth and Inver Grove Heights in the fall, as did a decades-old residential treatment program in New Ulm. The state is hearing about "unprecedented degrees of challenge" in addiction treatment, as well as other helping professions such as nursing and mental health care, said Department of Human Services Assistant Commissioner Eric Grumdahl. It's hard to find and hang onto workers willing to do the challenging jobs, state administrative requirements are burdensome and companies are still limping from pandemic setbacks and inflation, he said.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - Feb. 3, 2024

National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Comments

Studies/Research in the News

Why long COVID may be a buzzkill: New research shows some can’t enjoy alcohol
In new research published in December, Stanford doctors documented the experiences of four people who experienced long COVID. All of them drank regularly — or often — in social situations, but months or even a year after infection patients reported a shift in alcohol tolerance. Symptoms included headaches and hangovers.
Kare11 - Feb. 12, 2024

CDC report finds teens use drugs — often alone — to ease stress and anxiety
Teenagers with suspected substance use problems say they turn to drugs because of a crushing need to relax and escape worries, according to research published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new findings follow reports of rising anxiety and depression among the nation's youth, including unprecedented levels of hopelessness.
NBC - Feb. 2, 2024

National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Comments

Opinion

Romance and addiction recovery may or may not work
Romance and addiction recovery may or may not work. While there are risks and benefits to being in a relationship while in recovery, it’s a good idea to consider every avenue. Fortunately, there are practical tips you can use to make your choices.
Sidney Daily News - Feb. 9, 2024

National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Comments

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The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - February 7, 2024