The Wednesday Weekly - Addiction + Recovery News, January 26, 2022
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
National
Psychiatrist calls disease model of addiction into question | Shatterproof Convenes National Addiction Treatment Quality Committee
State/Local
Addiction and recovery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin | Connecticut schools stock Narcan to treat overdoses
Studies/Research
Binge drinking increases among older men, not women | No amount of alcohol good for heart, scientists agree | Buprenorphine in jail may reduce recidivism
Opinion
SLP interviews Dr. Carl Erik Fisher | ‘Dopesick’ author Beth Macy calls for stronger response to opioid crisis |
Reviews
TV: ‘Single Drunk Female’ | Book: ‘The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup,’ by Evan Hughes
Podcasts
Dr. Carl Erik Fisher on the Astral Hustle | RMA discusses ‘The Anonymous People’ documentary
Legislation
California safe injection site legislative proposal is being reconsidered again | New Jersey Governor signs harm reduction bill
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
National
Youth's overdose death renews pleas for Narcan in schools
The death of a Connecticut seventh grader from an apparent fentanyl overdose has renewed calls for schools to carry the opioid antidote naloxone.
ABC News - Jan. 23, 2022
The pandemic may have created a nation of problem drinkers -- and many are women
During the pandemic's repetitive grind, enjoying an occasional glass of wine with the girls has been replaced by Zoom wine hour, or worse, drinking in solitary confinement.
CNN - Jan. 22, 2022
Meat Loaf on Overcoming Alcohol Abuse, Finding Happiness as Family Man
Meat Loaf, who died at age 74 on Thursday, found rebirth and happiness ahead of the release of his chart-topping 1993 album, with the inimitable singer and actor embracing life as a family man and conquering his demons.
People - Jan. 21, 2022
Psychiatrist says calling addiction a disease is misleading
Just after graduating from medical school, Carl Erik Fisher was on top of the world. He was winning awards and working day and night. But a lot of that frantic activity was really covering up his problems with addiction. Today, Fisher is in recovery and an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. His new book The Urge: Our History of Addiction – part memoir, part history – looks at the importance of careful language when talking about addiction, and how treatment has historically ignored its complex socio-cultural influences.
NPR Jan. 20, 2022
New York To Implement Harm Reduction Vending Machines
New York City officials have proposed a new initiative that will feature the installation of “public health vending machines.” These vending machines will dispense free toiletries, safe sex kits, and harm reduction supplies, such as overdose reversal medications and sterile syringes.
Addiction Center - Jan. 20, 2022
Lena Dunham reflects on drug addiction: ‘Getting off Klonopin was the hardest’
Lena Dunham has reflected on her addiction to the anxiety drug Klonopin. The screenwriter became increasingly dependent on the drug due to the stress she experienced while filming the last series of Girls, a time she described as being like a “50-car pileup”.
The Independent - Jan. 20, 2022
Shock Rejection of Purdue Pharma Opioid Deal Raises Scrutiny by Bankruptcy System
The surprise rejection of Purdue Pharma LP’s sweeping opioid settlement is already reverberating through the rest of the bankruptcy system. The latest ruling shows how third-party releases, a long-controversial legal tool that can protect a bankrupt company’s executives and owners from lawsuits, are coming under increased scrutiny.
Insurance Journal - Jan. 20, 2022
Chrissy Teigen Talks Being Six Months Sober & Off Benzos: Instagram
Chrissy Teigen took the time to dive a little deeper into her sobriety journey on her Instagram feed to celebrate a milestone. This certainly hasn’t been the easiest time for the model, who found herself dealing with bully accusations along with grieving the loss of her third child, Jack, but she seems to be operating from a place of positivity.
SheKnows - Jan. 20, 2022
Brennan Ward’s crazy story of addiction, sobriety and starting over
Brennan Ward sat on a bed in his hotel room halfway across the world and cried. He was out of options, so he picked up the phone and called one of the people he could trust most – his father. While most of the world prepared to ring in the New Year of 2016 the following evening, Ward was dope-sick. Not the “puking-sh*tting” kind of dope-sick, but the anxiety-ridden-and-fatigue symptoms of withdrawal. Mental struggles were traditionally worse for Ward, so it really sucked.
MMA Junkie - Jan. 20, 2022
How Dry January's continued presence reflects society's evolving -- and divisive -- relationship with alcohol
The current wave of this hip sobriety driven by the commodification of wellness -- the non-alcoholic spirits, the dry bars, the kombucha -- is a rejection of that past. "We know that you already know alcohol sucks," Tempest, an online resource to help people quit drinking, bluntly states.
CNN - Jan. 19, 2022
'Straight A's from Stanford' kept Rob Lowe's son in denial
In a new interview with People, Rob Lowe’s son, John Owen Lowe, gives his father a lot of credit for helping him to accept that he had a substance abuse problem and needed to get help.
San Jose Mercury News - Jan. 19, 2022
Press Release: Shatterproof Convenes National Addiction Treatment Quality Committee
Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the United States, has announced the formation of the National Addiction Treatment Quality Committee (NATQC). The NATQC is comprised of a diverse group of industry experts convened by Shatterproof, representing federal and state agencies, addiction treatment providers, health systems, consumer advocacy groups, academic institutions, healthcare payers and purchasers, and individuals with lived experience of addiction. This group is charged with providing guidance and recommendations on quality measures and enhancements to Shatterproof’s Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment and Standards (ATLAS®)platform, which aims to empower the public to find high-quality treatment services and ultimately drive the delivery of quality addiction treatment nationally.
CRWE World - Jan. 19, 2022
Dopesick UK? British GPs reveal how they were 'groomed' by addictive painkiller sales people
A UK doctor has revealed how he was 'groomed' to prescribe addictive painkillers by aggressive sales people shortly after leaving medical school, mirroring the plotline of hard-hitting US show Dopesick, which dramatises America's opioid crisis.
Daily Mail - Jan. 18, 2022
Snapchat makes it harder for kids to buy drugs
Snapchat's parent company said it changed its friend recommendation feature, making it tougher for drug dealers to connect with children.
NBC News - Jan. 18, 2022
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
State / Local
Michigan: Prescription heroin, free needles are part of harm reduction strategy
From free needles to supervised injection sites where drug users can shoot up amid people trained to respond to overdoses to a vending machine that doles out Narcan, harm reduction — the newest strategy to stem the vast number of drug overdose deaths — is making headlines across the nation and in Michigan.
Detroit Free Press - Jan. 21, 2022
Massachusetts marijuana excise tax revenue exceeds alcohol for first time
Since adult-use retailers opened in Massachusetts in November 2018, gross total sales have now reached $2.54 billion, according to data from the Cannabis Control Commission. While tax data shows alcohol consumption is hardly plummeting, the meteoric rise in cannabis use speaks to changing attitudes about recreational alcohol and marijuana use.
WCVB 5 - Jan. 21, 2022
San Francisco, CA: Jeffrey told me his story of addiction and recovery. Then the Tenderloin pulled him back and he found fentanyl
He was alive, he assured me, but just barely. The man I’d followed for three years through the harrowing ups and downs of addiction and attempted recovery had relapsed again. He’d returned to San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, rented a hotel room on Turk Street and plunged into a three-week, drug-fueled descent. Listen to Jeffrey’s story here at SF Chronicle Podcast (SF Chronicle Podcasts, Jan. 25, 2022).
San Francisco Chronicle - Jan. 21, 2022
Connecticut: Some local schools have Narcan to treat overdoses
While state officials and legislators are discussing whether to require schools to have naloxone, some schools in north-central Connecticut already have the opioid-overdose reversal drug on hand.
Journal Inquirer - Jan. 20, 2022
Vancouver, B.C.: Island Tailgate Toolkit harm-reduction program expands to rest of B.C.
A groundbreaking program on Vancouver Island designed to destigmatize mental health and substance use conversations and connect construction workers with lifesaving resources is branching out into the rest of B.C. The project was designed to reduce the stigma associated with substance use and raise awareness of pain management, pathways to treatment and other information about mental health and substance use.
Canada Construct Connect - Jan. 19, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
Studies/Research in the News
Redefining alcohol use disorder
Researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a new framework that they believe will help identify people previously overlooked for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This framework focuses on 13 risk factors, such as impulsive behavior, reward sensitivity, and punishment sensitivity, that could lead to someone developing an AUD.
Science Daily - Jan. 24, 2022
Binge Drinking Increased Among Older Men, Not Older Women, from 2015 to 2019
Binge drinking has increased among older men, but not older women, according to new research from Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Psychiatry Advisor - Jan. 21, 2022
Distribution of At-home Drug Disposal Products by Healthcare Facilities to Postoperative Patients Reduces Opioid Misuse
Patient education, when combined with an at-home opioid disposal product, increases the likelihood that surgical patients will dispose of unused medications, thereby reducing opioids in communities. These are among the findings of an analysis published in the January issue of The Journal of Nursing Administration.
Galveston Daily News - Jan. 21, 2022
No amount of alcohol is good for the heart, new report says, but critics disagree on science
In a bold move, the World Heart Federation released a policy brief Thursday saying that no amount of alcohol is good for the heart.
CNN - Jan. 20, 2022
Newcastle University finds poor areas spent more on alcohol in lockdown
Lockdown alcohol consumption increased most among heavy drinkers, those in deprived communities and people in the north of England, research has shown. "This research really highlights the fact that the people that you'd be most worried about - and that's the people who are already heavy drinkers, they're living in deprivation - they are the ones that increased their drinking the most."
BBC News - Jan. 20, 2022
Many Americans Recover From Addiction And Thrive : Consider This from NPR
A recent study on recovery success, co-authored by Dr. David Eddie, shows that three out of four people who experience addiction eventually recover, if they get the care they need.
NPR - Jan. 19, 2022
Offering buprenorphine medication to people with opioid use disorder in jail may reduce rearrest and reconviction
A study conducted in two rural Massachusetts jails found that people with opioid use disorder who were incarcerated and received a medication approved to treat opioid use disorder, known as buprenorphine, were less likely to face rearrest and reconviction after release than those who did not receive the medication.
DrugAbuse.gov - Jan. 18, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
Opinion
SLP Insights: Interview with Dr. Carl Erik Fisher
In the inaugural edition of Sober Linings Playbook’s new interview series, SLP Insights, SLP interviews Columbia University’s Dr. Fisher about his new book, “The Urge: Our History of Addiction.”
Sober Linings Playbook - Jan. 25, 2022
Why I am an addict
[In his new book, The Urge: Our History of Addiction, Carl Erik] Fisher asks: is addiction part of me, or is something apart from the self? The useful but disappointing answer is we don’t yet know. And perhaps we should stop asking. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps it isn’t even a fault. To panic at the altered state of the drug user — to criminalise, to prohibit, to write cautionary, overblown memoir — is to panic at the essential state of being human. And I suspect, that is where the real fear lies.
UnHerd - Jan. 25, 2022
Beth Macy (author of ‘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 - Jan. 24, 2022
Fentanyl can be 'a fatal mistake,' warn parents, health care and law enforcement
Camden County officials said a recent review of overdose deaths found 70 percent of victims had fentanyl in their system; 93 percent had opioids. Though the county is in many ways the epicenter of South Jersey's opioid crisis, it's hardly the only place where the problem exists.
Cherry Hill Courier Post - Jan. 24, 2022
Sam Quinones Talk focuses on need to address opioid crisis as 'community endeavor'
Sam Quinones, a journalist known for his reporting on the issue of addiction and the drug trade, was the keynote speaker for Clark County CARES’ seventh annual Drug Facts Week. He spoke at a Thursday luncheon in Jeffersonville about ways to address the challenges of today’s opioid epidemic.
News and Tribune - Jan. 20, 2022
I’m Tired of Explaining Why I Don’t Drink
Last April, I went to a party in the West Village. Surrounded by beautiful, shiny people, I felt dull and alone. Nursing a drink like everyone else, I just wanted to go home. That night I realized something I had ignored for a long time: Social drinking did not make me social. It made me want to crawl in a hole.
The Cut - Jan. 19, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
Reviews
‘Single Drunk Female’ star Sofia Black-D’Elia on recovery, addiction and her N.J. journey
“Single Drunk Female,” a new dramedy on Freeform starring Clifton-bred Sofia Black-D’Elia, follows the character as she tries to rebuild her life, stumbling all along the way.
NJ.com - Jan. 20, 2022
They Made the Most of the Opioid Crisis. Until They Didn’t.
The pharmaceutical industry is enjoying a very good crisis. The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, by Evan Hughes is the inside story of a band of entrepreneurial upstarts who made millions selling painkillers—until their scheme unraveled, putting them at the center of a landmark criminal trial.
New York Times - Jan. 19, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
Podcasts: The Weekly Roundup
The Astral Hustle - Carl Erik Fisher: The history of addiction
Carl Erik Fisher is an addiction psychiatrist, bioethics scholar, and Columbia University professor. In this episode, we talk about the history of addiction, dopamine misconceptions, and his new book The Urge.
Recovery in the Middle Ages – ”The Anonymous People” Documentary Discussion, The Disease Model of Addiction & MORE
Is anonymity in recovery a good thing, or does it stand in the way of the effort to de-stigmatize addiction? The movie Anonymous People purports to answer that question, and it is the topic of discussion on today’s episode. According to the filmmakers of this groundbreaking 2013 documentary, deeply entrenched social stigma and mass participation in widely successful anonymous 12-step groups have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by sensational mass media depictions of addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Mike and Nat discuss the movie and debate with the Monksters whether the disease model of addiction is helpful or hurtful to people in recovery. Plus, the week in review, Recovery in the News and the Week in Weird on a semi-anonymous, bat outta hell, sober-curious episode of Recovery in the Middle Ages.
Rehab Confidential – Dr. Susan Pierce Thompson
Joe and Amy sit down with Dr. Susan Pierce Thompson, Adjunct Associate Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, a multiple New York Times bestselling author, and an expert in the psychology of eating. We talk food addiction, why it can be harder to beat than drugs or alcohol, what sugar does to the brain, and how to rewire your brain.
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Leg/Advocacy Comments
Legislation
California bill would create safe consumption sites for drug use
Senate Bill 57, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D- San Francisco, would authorize the City and County of San Francisco, the City and County of Los Angeles and the City of Oakland to develop overdose prevention programs via consumption sites for people to use drugs under supervision from medical personnel.
The Washington Examiner - Jan. 20, 2022
New Jersey Governor Signs Bills to Expand Harm Reduction
On January 18, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed harm reduction legislation that will expand syringe service programs (SSP) in the state, establish local drug overdose fatality review teams, decriminalize the possession of syringes and permit certain expungement for the possession and distribution of hypodermic needles.
Filter - Jan. 18, 2022