The Wednesday Weekly - September 1, 2021
Highlights
National
Will U.S. withdrawal flood Europe with Afghan meth? | Demi Lovato criticized for ‘California Sober’ stance | Declassified documents shed new light on War on Drugs
State and Local
Is “contingency management” for stimulant use disorders coming to California? | Ohio county holds out for more in opioid settlement
Studies/Research in the News
Univ. of Wisconsin to study use of psychedelics for treating addiction and depression | Mobile telemedicine found effective in rural areas | Short-term vaping poses significant health risks
Opinion
Employers reconsider drug screening policies | Canadian conservative leader unveils harm reduction funding plan
Reviews
Book: The Least of Us - True Tales from America in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth by Sam Quinones
Podcasts
Dopey interviews “High Achiever” author and blogger Tiffany Jenkins | RMA ponders alternatives to traditional peer support sponsor model
Legislative Updates and Advocacy
International Overdose Awareness Day (Aug. 31): Sign Shatterproof’s petition to increase access to naloxone | Decriminalization of psychedelics not yet ready for prime time in CA
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
National
The Big House: Life After White Collar Crime
As he reached his mid-forties, Jeff Grant found himself unraveling. He had become addicted to painkillers — first Demerol, prescribed for a torn Achilles tendon, and then OxyContin. In July, 2002, under investigation for breaching his clients’ accounts, he surrendered his law license and was later disbarred. The Internal Revenue Service discovered a false claim for a 9/11 disaster loan application, and in 2004 a warrant was issued for his arrest. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, and a judge sentenced him to eighteen months in prison. In 2016, Grant established what he called the White Collar Support Group, an online meeting inspired by twelve step programs for drug and alcohol addiction.
The New Yorker - Aug. 30, 2021
CDC publishes guidelines for more inclusive language to encourage health equity
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a guide to "inclusive language" in order to promote "health equity" and "inclusive communication." "Language in communication products should reflect and speak to the needs of people in the audience of focus.," the CDC guide reads. The guide includes more neutral and less dehumanizing terms related to substance use disorders.
Fox News - Aug. 28, 2021
Demi Lovato fields criticism over 'California sobriety' after pot smoke-filled Insta post ‘I’ve learned that shutting a door on things makes me want to open the door even more. I've learned that it doesn't work for me to say 'I'm never gonna do this again.’ Popstar Demi Lovato has sparked fierce debate after posting an Instagram Story to her account that depicted the singer smoking weed at a Los Angeles-based cannabis farm.
Regina Leader Post - Aug. 27, 2021
Children's Mental Health Gets Millions In Funding From The Biden Administration
As students head back into another pandemic school year, the Biden administration has announced nearly $85 million in funding for mental health awareness, training, and treatment.
NPR - Aug. 27, 2021
Judge Pushes Back On Protections For The Sacklers In The Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy
A federal bankruptcy judge says he'll rule Friday on the fate of Purdue Pharma and its owners, members of the Sackler family, who are at the center of a national reckoning over the deadly opioid epidemic. Judge Robert Drain signaled he is likely to approve the reorganization plan for the makers of OxyContin. But he also demanded last-minute changes limiting legal immunities granted under the deal to the Sacklers and their associates.
NPR - Aug. 26, 2021
Press Release: Shattterproof’s Online National Addiction Memorial is a Place to Honor Loved Ones Lost to Addiction
Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the United States, has created a place to honor loved ones lost to addiction with the National Addiction Memorial. Over 2,500 people have created memorials so far, sharing heart-felt stories and memories about those they’ve lost. With August 31st being International Overdose Awareness Day and with 93,331 Americans dying of an overdose in 2020, Shatterproof is making this resource available to provide comfort and hope to those who need it.
AP News - Aug. 25, 2021
Doc Gooden wanted 'the stuff' that killed Len Bias
Doc Gooden’s drug troubles with the Mets got so bad that he once asked his dealer for “the stuff” that killed former college basketball star Len Bias. The 1985 Cy Young Award winner revealed that while detailing his drug use again in the upcoming ESPN “30 for 30” documentary about the 1986 Mets entitled “Once Upon a Time in Queens.”
NY Post - Aug. 25, 2021
Chrissy Teigen On Struggling To Cope While Sober
American model and television personality Chrissy Teigen said her new commitment to sobriety has made it difficult to cope with a pregnancy loss. Teigen quit drinking because she was tired of feeling unwell and embarrassed of her drinking habits.
Addiction Center - Aug. 25, 2021
Is Afghanistan-made methamphetamine about to flood Europe?
Afghanistan is already the world’s largest supplier of opium. But opium, which is used to make heroin, is not the only illegal drug that the war-torn nation is producing. Over the past four years, Afghans have also been getting better at making methamphetamine, known colloquially as speed, crystal or meth. Now, with the US withdrawal, some European Union authorities worry that illegal Afghan methamphetamine might pose an increasing danger to Europe.
Al Jazeera - Aug. 24, 2021
New Documents Reveal the Bloody Origins of America's Long War on Drugs
Over fifty years ago on June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared to the Washington press corps that America had a new enemy—narcotics. “America’s public enemy number one,” Nixon claimed, “is drug abuse.” Within days, U.S. newspapers took up the metaphor. The U.S. was now engaged in a “war on drugs.” Recently declassified Mexican secret service documents reveal that in 1978 a Mexican lawyer was tossed into the cells with the Operation Condor drug suspects. He took their testimonies and compiled a report. Even for those of us inured to reading about drug war violence, it makes for disturbing reading.
Time - Aug. 24, 2021
Press Release: Fall Semester--A Time for Parents To Discuss the Risks of College Drinking
According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 52.5 percent of full-time college students ages 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month, and 33.0 percent engaged in binge drinking in the past month. NSDUH defines binge drinking as 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men and 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women. In addition, 8.2 percent engaged in heavy alcohol use (defined by NSDUH as binge drinking on 5 or more days in the past month). These binge drinking and heavy alcohol use rates are both higher than for those not attending college.
AP News - Aug. 24, 2021
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
State / Local
Illinois: Dealing with mental health crisis one Zoom call at a time
Cook County Sheriff Department uses tablets to connect people in crisis to mental health counselors. The department took the idea of the Zoom call that has become so common during the COVID-19 pandemic and inserted it into one of the most dangerous things a police officer can do: answer a domestic disturbance call.
AP - Aug. 29, 2021
California Wants To Pay People With Addiction To Stay Sober
Frustrated by out-of-control increases in drug overdose deaths, California's leaders are trying something radical: They want the state to be the first to pay people to stay sober. The federal government has been doing it for years with military veterans and research shows it is one of the most effective ways to get people to stop using drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine, stimulants for which there are no pharmaceutical treatments available.
NPR - Aug. 26, 2021
Ohio County featured in bestselling opioid crisis book lone holdout in settlement
Scioto County, featured prominently in “Dreamland: The True Tales of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” is the only local government in Ohio that has chosen to opt-out of the state’s $808 million settlement with the three largest distributors of opioids in the country. The reason why? Because what the county would receive wouldn’t even begin to touch the cost the opioid epidemic has taken on the community, Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis said.
Ohio Capital Journal - Aug. 26, 2021
Man gets 3 years for pushing pain pills at Maryland clinic
A physician’s assistant at a pain management clinic in Maryland has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for pushing highly-addictive opioid medication in a case linked to a bribery and kickback scheme that helped fuel the country’s opioid crisis, officials said Thursday.
AP News - Aug. 26, 2021
Overdose deaths in New Mexico reached all-time high in 2020
Overdose deaths from alcohol, fentanyl and methamphetamine reached an all-time high in New Mexico in 2020, according to a new report presented to state lawmakers on Thursday. The report revealed that Fentanyl-related deaths saw a near 129 percent increase from 2019 to 2020 in preliminary figures, with numbers expected to increase. Legislative analysts presented the findings to New Mexico's Legislative Finance Committee.
The Hill - Aug. 26, 2021
Kentucky’s legal aid services get $1.2M to help fight substance abuse
Kentucky’s civil legal service programs have received nearly $1.2 million from federal grants to help them respond to the state’s drug epidemic, Gov. Andy Beshear said.Local programs can use the funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid and Stimulant Substance Abuse Program to help those impacted by substance abuse create a pathway to recovery and healing, Beshear and Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Secretary Kerry Harvey said Monday in a statement.
AP News - Aug. 24, 2021
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
Studies/Research in the News
Psychedelic Wonder Drugs: UW–Madison leads the way in a potentially transformative field of medicine
In a state with little prospect of legalizing even marijuana for medical use, UW–Madison is an unlikely leader in the study of psychedelic drugs. Researchers are conducting a series of human trials to analyze the use of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, to treat depression and addiction. The early results, in Madison and elsewhere, are staggering. Psychedelics research “is going to save lives, quite honestly,” says UW pharmacy professor Paul Hutson.
On Wisconsin Magazine - Aug. 31, 2021
Mobile telemedicine unit found to be effective in treating opioid use disorder in rural areas
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers reconfigured a recreational vehicle (RV) as a telemedicine mobile treatment unit to determine whether it could provide effective screening and treatment to individuals with opioid use disorder in rural areas. Their research, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open, found that the innovative approach to be as successful as traditional brick-and-mortar treatment clinics. The study also found a significant reduction in illicit opioid use among the majority of patients treated on the mobile unit, as well as sustained success in these patients continuing therapy to avoid relapse.
Medical Life Sciences News - Aug. 28, 2021
UCLA study finds even short-term vaping poses significant risk to health
The study published Aug. 9 found that puffing on a vaping device for 30 minutes causes a measurable increase in the oxidative stress levels of nonhabitual e-cigarette or tobacco cigarette users. Oxidative stress is a well-known risk factor for heart disease, lung disease, cancer and accelerated aging, according to Dr. Holly Middlekauff, one of the authors of the study and a professor of medicine in the cardiology division at the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Daily Bruin - Aug. 21, 2021
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
Opinion
Op-Ed: Psychedelic treatments are here, but doctors aren’t prepared
Most psychedelics, such as psilocybin, MDMA and LSD, are not yet legal in the U.S. However, a growing body of evidence shows their potential against certain mental health problems, and patients will be using these treatments with or without a prescription.
LA Times - Aug. 29, 2021
Why Company Drug-Test Policies Matter More Than Ever
When a drug-testing policy that affects over a million Americans gets changed, it’s a signal. In early June, Amazon announced it would no longer screen its employees for cannabis consumption in most situations. Times are changing, they said. The move by one of America’s largest employers is a meaningful one. Major corporations are figuring out that the time has come to adjust not only attitudes but also their own policies related to cannabis. Beyond that, they're also exerting influence on the highest levels of government to end federal prohibition.
Green Entrepreneur - Aug. 26, 2021
Heroes Of The Addiction Crisis: How Eve Goldberg of BigVision Is Helping To Battle One of Our Most Serious Epidemics
Eve founded BIGVISION in January 2015, a year after her 23-year-old son, Isaac, died of an accidental drug overdose. She was motivated to do something to help young adults in recovery learn to live fun, meaningful, sober lives. The younger you are, the longer road you must imagine for yourself, substance free. It can be incredibly difficult to find ‘your people’ as a young adult in recovery. BIGVISION exists to help young adults enjoy full and fun, sober social lives.
Authority Magazine - Aug. 26, 2021
Addiction Should Be Treated, not Penalized: An interview with Nora D. Volkow
Nora D. Volkow, M.D., is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. A research psychiatrist and scientist by training, Dr. Volkow calls for a shift in US policies on drug addiction: For those with substance use disorders, treatment, not punishment.
On Health - Aug. 25, 2021
Canadian conservatives deliver addiction policy that finally makes sense
On Sunday, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole unveiled a $325-million plan to create 50 new addiction-treatment centres with 1,000 new residential beds over three years. And while taking questions from reporters, he jettisoned years of maddening Conservative policy on harm reduction.
National Post - Aug. 23, 2021
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
Reviews
Book: Let Your Privates Breath, by Melissa Steussy
Her memoir, titled, “Let Your Privates Breathe,” is a young woman’s message of hope and triumph after breaking a long cycle of addiction and unhealthy habits. Steussy tells of her struggles to find freedom after being raised in an unpredictable home environment, and trying to find love and stability in all the wrong places.
White Bear Press - Aug. 26, 2021
Book: The Least of Us - True Tales from America in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, by Sam Quinones
Dreamland author releases second book on substance use disorder and addiction. The Least of Us deepens the story of our nation’s opioid epidemic, including the spread of mass supplies of synthetic drugs, as well as delving into the neuroscience of addiction. The book contains stories of those who seek to restore community by embracing the forgotten and the ignored — unnoticed stories of those who understand that we are only as strong as the most vulnerable – which turns out also to be the message of the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington State Hospital System - Aug. 26, 2021
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
Podcasts: The Weekly Roundup
Recovery in the Middle Ages – Pros and Cons of Traditional Sponsorship
And now, a word from our sponsors. Just kidding, RMA doesn’t have any sponsors. Yet. BUT, Mike and Nat have a few things to say about the role of sponsors in recovery and this week they lay it down. What is the history of sponsorship in 12 Step programs? What are the benefits of having a sponsor? What are the potential pitfalls and how can you avoid them? Is there a better sponsorship model out there? In the first of a multi-part series, Mike and Nat discuss the current sponsorship model and propose ways it could be improved to be more helpful to your recovery journey.
Rehab Confidential – Mark Redmond, author and child welfare advocate
Joe and Amy sit down with author and child welfare advocate, Mark Redmond. Mark shares stories from his career taking care of homeless youth. They discuss the state of recovery among one of our most vulnerable populations, the trauma of doing the work, and how we can all help to do better
Dopey – Dopey 318: Juggling the Jenkins, Tiffany Jenkins, Opiates, Prison, Suicide, Family
This week on Dopey! Author of addiction memoir “High Achiever” and internet phenom (see her Juggling the Jenkins website), Tiffany Jenkins zooms into the show to kick the Dopey around for a bit. While deep in addiction she makes a really bad choice by taking something from her Police Officer boyfriend that lands her in prison… tune in, it’s a doozy and she’s a delight…and that is just the tip of the iceberg as Tiffany reaches a cataclysmic bottom in jail before finding inspiration to turn her life around. PLUS a great email from the legendary Joey Pepper and MORE on this weeks Dopey!
The Addicted Mind Podcast - 143: A Hope to Put an End to the Opioid Epidemic with Robert Kanter
In this episode, Duane speaks with Robert Kanter, an international recovery advocate addressing the opioid epidemic. Today, he talks about his advocacy work with the opioid epidemic. He also tells his own story of recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders and how his daughter's struggles became the genesis of his advocacy work.
Heart of the Matter with Elizabeth Vargas - Former NBA Player Chris Herren on Simone Biles, supporting our youth and the strength in struggle
In his return to Heart of the Matter, Chris connects with Elizabeth Vargas about parenting and the need to focus on our children’s social and emotional health, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two also speak about the ripple effect of speaking up and why, as a former pro-athlete in recovery, Chris is inspired by Olympic gymnast Simone Biles’s stand against mental health stigma.
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy
Legislative Updates and Advocacy
California delays decriminalizing psychedelic substances
California lawmakers will wait until next year to consider decriminalizing psychedelics, with the bill’s author saying Thursday that he will keep working to persuade the public and legislators that it’s a good idea. SB 519 (Wiener, 2021) would allow those 21 and older to possess for personal use small amounts of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component of so-called magic mushrooms. It also covers psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline excluding peyote, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, often called ecstasy).
AP - Aug. 27, 2021
Petition to increase access to lifesaving naloxone to released on International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31
More than 93,000 Americans died from an overdose in 2020—the highest number ever recorded. Overdose deaths are preventable. Naloxone is a safe medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes. But all too often, it’s out of reach for the people who need it most. During the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history, naloxone should be everywhere. It should be affordable, easily accessible, and widely available to every American. Click here to sign Shatterproof’s petition to make naloxone accessible.