The Wednesday Weekly - Addiction + Recovery News, February 9, 2022
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
Highlights
(Inter) National
Opioid epidemic costs $1.3 trillion per year | Sackler’s near deal to increase opioid settlement in bankruptcy
Fentanyl
U.S. lawmakers slam China on fentanyl | Fentanyl deaths rise in Rhode Island
State and Local
Narcan distribution on WV campuses and in Philadelphia | Nashville to expand program to include mental health workers on police crisis calls
Studies/Research in the News
Adolescents and young adults lose 1.25 million years to overdose deaths | Study finds weak U.S. laws and regulations to blame for opioid crisis | Liver hormone may play role in alcohol addiction
Opinion
Deleware needs new approach to opioid crisis | Beth Macy (‘Dopesick’) calls response to overdose crisis “scandalously inadequate”
Books/Movies
Book: Author Marion Keys (‘Again, Rachel’) says rehab one of happiest times of her life | Movie: Saorise Ronan to star in addiction drama ‘The Outrun’ | Book: In ‘Living fully’ Mallory Ervin tells of abusing pills, finding recovery
Podcasts
RMA considers treatment barriers for women, decriminalization of fentanyl test strips in WI | Rehab Confidential interviews founder of 12-step Psychedelics in Recovery | Comedian Chloe La Branche discusses relapse, recovery and work on Dopey
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(Inter) National
NYC Mayor Eric Adams says it’s hard to tell the difference between a person ‘hooked on cheese’ and someone ‘hooked on heroin’
NYC Mayor Eric Adams floated a hypothetical scientific experiment on Monday. He said it'd be hard to differentiate between someone "hooked on heroin" and "hooked on cheese." A study from 2015 is often mistakenly cited by those who claim cheese is as addictive as narcotics.
Business Insider - Feb. 7, 2022
Economic Toll of Opioid Epidemic: $1.3 Trillion A Year
Economists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated the total cost of the combination of people living with opioid-use disorder and people who died from fatal overdoses in the U.S. topped $1 trillion in 2017.
Forbes - Feb. 4, 2022
Former CEO of drug firm convicted of conspiring to illegally distribute opioids
A New York jury on Wednesday convicted the former CEO of Rochester Drug Cooperative (RDC) of conspiring to unlawfully distribute opioids and conspiring to defraud the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Laurence Doud, 78, was convicted in a Manhattan federal court of unlawfully distributing oxycodone and fentanyl, according to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Hill - Feb. 3, 2022
Fewest under-18s on record getting addiction help in England
Thousands with drug and alcohol problems are feared to be missing out owing to pandemic and funding cuts. Thousands of children are falling through the cracks in youth addiction services owing to Covid, staff shortages and funding cuts, psychiatrists have said, as figures suggest the number able to get help has fallen to the lowest on record.
The Guardian - Feb. 3, 2022
Afghan drug addicts locked in detox clinics are 'resorting to cannibalism'
Taliban promised to wipe out drug addiction as part of 'reformed' agenda when they seized Afghanistan. Islamists rounding up addicts and locking them in 'hospitals' for three months while they detox cold-turkey. Inmates say conditions are horrific, with three sleeping to a bed and so little food they go hungry for day. One claimed people have even resorted to cannibalism, killing a man and roasting his entrails over a fire
Daily Mail - Feb. 3, 2022
Opioid Crisis Set to Escalate Without Urgent Steps, Study Finds
The opioid epidemic could claim another 1.2 million lives in North America over the next seven years and widen globally without stricter regulation and revamped public-health policies, according to a report.
Bloomberg - Feb. 2, 2022
Sacklers Near Deal to Increase Opioid Settlement in Purdue Bankruptcy
Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma LP. are nearing an agreement to boost their more than $4 billion offer to resolve sprawling opioid litigation after negotiating with states that had objected to terms of the OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy reorganization, according to a court filing.
Epoch Times - Feb. 2, 2022
How employers can support employees at risk of overdose
Navigating conversations with employees struggling with an addiction can be challenging, but not impossible.
Benefits Pro - Feb. 2, 2022
Native American tribes reach $590 million opioid settlement from drug distributors, J&J
Native American tribes will receive a collective $590 million to settle claims that three drug distributors and drug maker Johnson & Johnson fueled the opioid crisis in Native American communities.
USA Today - Feb. 2, 2022
Diet Coke Addiction with Type 1 Diabetes: It’s a Thing
While Diet Coke appears to be addicting across the board, people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are especially susceptible, given that diet soda is the perfect “free food” because it does not affect our glucose levels. It’s almost become a joke in the online diabetes patient community that Diet Coke is our go-to treat of choice. So this begs the question, is Diet Coke inherently addictive? And how problematic is it really for people with T1D who need to avoid other sweet treats?
Healthline - Feb. 2, 2022
Kids as Young as 6 Are Using Meth in Mexico's Spiraling Addiction Crisis
There are only a few rehab clinics focused on helping minors with drug addiction, and they are overwhelmed by demand. Methamphetamine—colloquially known as cristal in Mexico—has spread across the country over the past decade, and children are succumbing to addiction at younger and younger ages.
Vice - Feb. 1, 2022
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Fentanyl
The war on drugs puts a target on China
As the fentanyl death toll ticks up, U.S. legislators slam Beijing’s regulatory loopholes and rue political tensions. China’s reluctance to tighten controls on chemical production and exports has spurred a clash with U.S. legislators, and will be the focus of a long-awaited report this week on its role in fueling the flow of drugs that Mexican cartels process into synthetic opioid fentanyl.
POLITICO- Feb. 7, 2022
Parents admit addiction to fentanyl, drug use before toddler overdosed
The parents of a toddler who overdosed on fentanyl and survived admitted to being addicted to fentanyl and smoking the drug before the baby arrived at their residence, according to a Bakersfield Police Department search warrant filed in court. John Lawson and Gabriella Goldberg were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, according to the BPD’s search warrant. Neither is in custody.
Bakersfield Californian - Feb. 7, 2022
Illinois suspect facing charges for woman's fentanyl overdose death
After a several month investigation, a Quincy woman has been arrested in connection to a death investigation in which another woman died from a drug overdose. Caitlin Dietiker, 22, was arrested on an indictment for drug induced homicide and two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.
KHQA7 - Feb. 3, 2022
‘Fentanyl is killing people. It’s thinning the streets.’
Two years ago, just before a new epidemic arrived in Rhode Island, an old one began to rise again. It has not slowed down: 2020 was the worst year on record for fatal drug overdoses in the state, and 2021 is poised to be just as high, if not higher.
Boston Globe - Feb. 2, 2022
Drug couriers busted after three fatal NYC ODs in one day from fentanyl-laced cocaine
A trio of drug dealers who operated a delivery service in Manhattan was arrested Tuesday for peddling fentanyl-laced drugs that caused three fatal overdoses in a single day last year, federal authorities said.
NY Post - Feb. 1, 2022
State / Local
West Virginia State to install opioid overdose rescue kits
West Virginia State University is installing opioid overdose rescue kits on its campus as part of an overdose prevention initiative for college and university campuses in the state.
Chron - Feb. 7, 2022
Tennessee: Nashville to expand program matching mental health workers with police on crisis calls
Nashville plans to expand an experimental model that pairs mental health professionals with police after the program's first seven months yielded promising results.
Nashville Tennessean - Feb. 4, 2022
Pennsylvania: Narcan dispenser launches in West Philadelphia
A machine in West Philadelphia is now dispensing free Narcan. The city is piloting a two-year, $90,000 program for a pair of dispensers that give out the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan.
Axios - Feb. 4, 2022
Florida Senate passes bills on addiction, child hearing loss
Democrats and Republicans praised a bill that would expand the use of overdose-reversing drugs, including allowing schools to stock naloxone, which could be administered by staff trained to recognize an opioid overdose. A doctor would be required to develop protocols to use the drug.
AP - Feb. 4, 2022
Oregon had second-highest addiction rates in the nation in 2020
New data from 2020 shows Oregon has the second-highest alcohol and drug addiction rates in the nation and ranks last in treatment options.
OPB - Feb. 3, 2022
Pennsylvania: Public hearing to be held on strategies to combat the opioid addiction and overdose crisis in rural Pennsylvania
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania Board of Directors, chaired by state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the State Capitol Building beginning at 9:30 a.m. to learn more about the strategies being used to combat the opioid addiction and overdose crisis in rural Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Daily Review - Feb. 3, 2022
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Studies/Research in the News
Adolescents and young adults lost more than 1.25M years of life to drug overdose deaths in a 4-year period, study finds
Researchers at The Ohio State University found adolescents and teenagers, ages 10 to 19, cumulatively lost nearly 200,000 years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses from 2015 to 2019, according to the report published in JAMA Pediatrics. When they expanded the study to 10- to 24-year-olds, it grew to more than 1.25 million years lost.
USA Today - Feb. 4, 2022
US opioid crisis arose from weak laws and regulations, study says
Nearly 841,000 people have died since 1999 from drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in 2019 about 70 percent of all drug overdoses involved opioids. The Stanford-Lancet Commission on the North American Opioid Crisis published an in-depth analysis of how the U.S. can learn from its mistakes and solve the opioid crisis. Reforming drug regulations and establishing stronger substance use prevention were among many recommendations made by the commission.
The Hill - Feb. 3, 2022
Men With Sex Addiction May Have Elevated Levels of the Love Hormone Oxytocin
Men with hypersexual disorder may have higher levels of oxytocin in their blood than men without the disorder, according to a small study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Neuroscience News - Feb. 3, 2022
Suicides by drug overdose increased among young people, elderly people, and Black women, despite overall downward trend
A new study of intentional drug overdose deaths, or suicides by an overdose of a medication or drug, found an overall decline in recent years in the United States, but an increase in young people aged 15-24, older people aged 75-84, and non-Hispanic Black women. The study also found that women were consistently more likely than men to die from intentional drug overdoses, with the highest rates observed in women ages 45 to 64.
National Institutes of Heatlh - Feb. 2, 2022
Liver hormone may help reduce alcohol addiction
Researchers have pieced together a more complete picture of the role that a particular hormone plays in alcohol addiction. Monkeys with a strong alcohol preference drank far less after they were given a synthetic version of this hormone, potentially opening the path to new treatments for alcohol addiction.
New Atlas - Feb. 1, 2022
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Opinion
Alcoholism and me: ‘I was an addicted doctor, the worst kind of patient’
My drinking and drug use pushed me over the edge into a complete breakdown. Then a stint in rehab made me question how much we really understand about addiction.
The Guardian - Feb. 8, 2022
I was shooting coke between chapters of Dostoevsky – but eventually books would save me from addiction
At first, I could hardly get through a novel. But slowly reading – and writing – saved me from a life of drugs, rehab and jail.
The Guardian - Feb. 5, 2022
Delaware's opioid crisis needs radical new approaches
With the publishing of "Opioid Use Disorder in Delaware: Policies and Programs Report" from the University of Delaware, it is clear that Delaware’s overdose problem is a direct result of its approach to rehabilitation, lack of harm reduction, and inability to foresee a safe supply — and that Delaware is in an overdose crisis.
USA Today - Feb. 5, 2022
Beth Macy (‘Dopesick’): More than 1 million have died in the overdose crisis, but still the response is scandalously inadequate
Unlike at earlier points in the opioid epidemic, we now have the tools to save countless people from fatal overdoses. What is preventing these tools’ widespread use is the stigma and bureaucratic ineptitude that have always marked our relationship to those who use, and need, drugs.
Washington Post - Feb. 4, 2022
Opioid crisis: Inside America’s first supervised drug-injection site
A bold new experiment in New York aims to turn the tide following a year of record overdose deaths in the US.
The Independent - Feb. 4, 2022
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Books/Movies
Author Marian Keyes (‘Again, Rachel’): ‘Rehab was one of the happiest times of my life’
As her beloved character Rachel returns, older and sober, the Irish author discusses her own journey from addiction to recovery - and the sexist snobbery that surrounds her work.
The Guardian - Feb. 5, 2022
Instagram influencer and author Mallory Ervin (‘Living Fully’) tells her 'whole story' of abusing pills and finding recovery
Before releasing a self-help book, former Amazing Race contestant Mallory Ervin discloses her addiction: "I can’t just dance around something so important and what could be so life-saving to people."
Nashville Tennessean - Feb. 3, 2022
‘Stay Awake’ Clip: Addiction Drama Stars Chrissy Metz At Berlin Film Festival
Jamie Sisley directed the movie, which stars This Is Us regular Chrissy Metz, Wyatt Oleff and Fin Argus in the story of two teenagers who try their best to navigate the pressures of teenage life while tending to their mother’s debilitating prescription drug addiction. The narrative is based on the filmmaker’s adolescence in small-town America.
Deadline - Feb. 2, 2022
Saoirse Ronan to star in addiction drama The Outrun
Saoirse Ronan has signed on to the addiction drama The Outrun, based on Amy Liptrot’s award-winning memoir of the same name. In the movie, which Ronan will also executive produce, she’ll star as Rona, a woman who just left rehab and returns to Scotland’s Orkney Islands, where she grew up.
AV Club - Jan. 31, 2022
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Podcasts: The Weekly Roundup
Recovery in the Middle Ages – Are Fewer Women Seeking Addiction Treatment - Decriminalizing Fentanyl Test Strips…and More
This week on RMA it’s the Recovery in the News Roundup, coming to you from the new studio at Castle Greyskull! Mike and Nat combed through SoberliningsPlaybook’s Wednesday Weekly, and picked out some stories that bear further investigation. We do a deep dive on Dry January’s effect on small business, why women aren’t seeking SUD treatment at the same rate as men despite an uptick in use and overdoses, whether long-term support in recovery is a desirable avenue given the current state of the rehab industry, and why fentanyl test strips are still illegal in Wisconsin. Phew!
Rehab Confidential – Kevin F., founder of Psychedelics in Recovery, a 12-step fellowship group using psychedelics
Joe and Amy talk with Kevin F., who got clean from heroin 11 years ago by taking ibogaine. After a few years in traditional 12 step groups, feeling alienated by his ibogaine experience and continued interest in psychedelics, he formed “Psychedelics in Recovery”, a growing 12 step fellowship composed of people utilizing psychedelics as a recovery integration tool. We ask him if psychedelics and 12 step really can co-exist, what his group considers “sobriety” and why people gloss over Bill Wilson’s own use of psychedelics.
Dopey Podcast - The Dark Comedy of Chloe La Branche, Alcoholism, Relapse, Recovery
This week on Dopey! We are joined by super vulnerable and yet still hilarious, Chloe La Branche. Chloe comes fresh off a Vivitrol shot and gets super honest about her recent relapse and struggle in staying clean and sober. Then she takes us back into her addiction history laying out the good, the bad and the ugly for the everyone to hear. Plus! Author ERIN KHAR is back hanging out, and talking drugs, addiction and dumb shit! Also Willie from Katz’s is back and much more on this brand new rough and rugged new episode of Dopey!
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