The Wednesday Weekly - Addiction + Recovery News, April 13, 2022
Read the latest SLP Insights interview: Dr. Katie Witkiewitz on multiple pathways to recovery
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Read the latest SLP Insights interview: Dr. Katie Witkiewitz on multiple pathways to recovery 〰️
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
Highlights
National
MAT for opioid use disorder (OUD) often brings discrimination | Beverage industry bets on AF mocktails | US DOJ publishes guidelines to prevent discrimination against people using medication for OUD
Fentanyl
DEA warns of spike in mass overdose events | W. VA increases penalties for fentanyl, CO lawmakers consider doing same |
State and Local
Mothers erect billboard to criticize San Francisco drug policies | LA state senator steps down to seek treatment for gambling | New Yorkers push for more safe injection sites | Jury selection begins in FL suit against Walgreens
Studies/Research in the News
Moderate drinking linked to increased cancer risk in women | Psilocybin may protect against developing addiction
Opinion
Can you make friends without alcohol? | Stigma failed Kurt Cobain
Books and Movies
Book: ‘Dear William’ memoir is a father’s tale of addiction | Book: ‘Confessions of a Cannabis Addict’
Podcasts
Mackenzie Phillips returns to Dopey | Dr. Carl Erik Fisher discusses history of addiction with Elizabeth Vargas on Heart of the Matter | Psychedelic therapies on the Addicted Mind Podcast
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National
Treatment for opioid addiction often brings discrimination
It’s a problem people in the addiction recovery community have dealt with for decades: On top of the stigma surrounding addiction, people who are in medical treatment for substance abuse can face additional discrimination — including in medical and legal settings that are supposed to help.
AP News - April 9, 2022
These New Drinks Are Taking Over Your Grocery Store’s Alcohol Aisle
The sober truth for the alcohol industry is that the trend is now headed away from casual consumption, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This recent cultural shift toward teetotaling is largely seen in the younger generations, who've managed to bring the average down for the first time in 25 years. The progression hasn't been lost on innovative new companies, who've decided to capitalize on the trend by remodeling what our idea of a "mocktail" is.
Eat This, Not that - April 6, 2022
Discrimination Based on Opioid Treatment Violates Law
A deepening opioid epidemic is prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to warn about discrimination against those who are prescribed medication to treat their addictions. In guidelines published Tuesday, the department's Civil Rights Division said employers, health care providers, law enforcement agencies that operate jails and others are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act if they discriminate against people for taking prescription drugs to treat opioid use disorder.
US News and World Report - April 5, 2022
Native tribes demand Congress provide ‘all the resources necessary’ to combat opioid crisis
In the wake of a landmark settlement deal with the nation’s largest drugmakers and distributors, Native American leaders told lawmakers Tuesday that the federal government must also fulfill its commitments to helping tribes fight the opioid epidemic.
The Hill - April 5, 2022
U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Medical Marijuana Research Bill
U.S. House of Representatives passed on Monday, April 4, a bipartisan marijuana research bill that would remove barriers to conducting research on marijuana and allow scientists to access cannabis from dispensaries of legal cannabis states.
Forbes - April 5, 2022
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Podcasts Comments
Fentanyl
Nationwide spike in ‘mass overdose events’ driven by unintentional fentanyl use, DEA warns
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is sounding the alarm over a troubling trend in which people are overdosing after unknowingly ingesting the highly potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. In a letter to federal, state and local law enforcement this week, the DEA said there’s been a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events involving three or more overdoses occurring at the same time and location.
The Hill - April 8, 2022
Some Colorado Democrats are open to increasing penalties for fentanyl possession
Pressure is mounting among Democrats in the legislature to consider increasing the penalties for possession of fentanyl, and it could result in lawmakers walking back part of a 2019 drug law. Last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers — including the Democratic Speaker of the House — introduced a fentanyl “accountability and prevention” bill that was meant to respond to rising use and overdose deaths from the drug.
Colorado Public Radio - April 7, 2022
West Virginia: New bill to increases penalties relating to fentanyl
West Virginia has a tough new law aimed at cracking down on fentanyl and those who sell it. The bill is meant to protect first responders since emergency crews can be exposed to Fentanyl without even knowing it. Governor Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 566 into law while he was surrounded by a group of law enforcement officers and legislators. The new law doubles the penalties for knowingly exposing government workers, especially first responders, to synthetic heroin known as fentanyl.
WBOY - April 7, 2022
Milwaukee County OD deaths, fentanyl analogs involved in 1/3
You have likely heard of fentanyl, a highly potent opioid contributing to about 80% of overdose deaths in Milwaukee County, but two lesser-known opioids are catching the attention of the medical examiner's office as they end up in more death reports. According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, of the 101 confirmed drug deaths so far in 2022, seven have involved a designer opioid called metonitazene, and 33 have involved fentanyl analogs called meta- and para-fluorofentanyl.
Fox6 - April 7, 2022
Press Release: DEA Warns of Increase in Mass-Overdose Events Involving Deadly Fentanyl
Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration sent a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement partners warning of a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events. Administrator Anne Milgram outlined the current threat and offered DEA support to law enforcement officers responding to these tragic incidents.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration - April 6, 2022
Xylazine, a Dangerous Veterinary Tranquilizer, Is Showing Us the Future of the Overdose Crisis
The national spread of xylazine is a public health threat. It also foreshadows the future of the overdose crisis—increasingly driven by powerful synthetic compounds mixed into potent combinations. Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, increasingly used as a synthetic cutting agent for opioids like heroin. We recently published a study, based on years of research across the U.S., which found that xylazine is popping up in cities all over the country. Use of the drug is increasing at exponential rates where it lands, causing outbreaks of skin infections and overdoses.
Time - April 6, 2022
State / Local
Check the status of current CA legislative proposals (updated March 29, 2022)
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Check the status of current CA legislative proposals (updated March 29, 2022) 〰️
San Francisco, CA: Mother of addict slams San Francisco open-air drug policies
Mothers of drug-addicted children have made it their mission to battle city and state policies they say discourage their children and other addicts from getting sober. On April 4, they erected a massive billboard in San Francisco’s Union Square — a fashionable tourist district — that reads, “Famous the world over for our brains, beauty, and now, dirt cheap fentanyl” in block letters against a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay at sunset.
NY Post - April 11, 2022
Pennsylvania: A powerful sedative in Philly’s drug supply is causing severe wounds and agonizing withdrawals. It’s quickly becoming unavoidable
Public health officials, advocates, and drug users are concerned about the rise of "tranq dope" -- a sedative that makes overdoses harder to reverse and may be causing serious skin lesions.
Philadelphia Inquirer - April 10, 2022
Vermonters encouraged to watch for changes in pandemic-related drinking habits
Many Vermonters experienced isolation, stress and other impacts on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. They may also have increased the amount of alcohol they drink. During National Alcohol Awareness Month this April, the Health Department is asking Vermonters to reflect on changes in their drinking habits over the past two years and seek out the readily available help and supports if they need it. Drinking too much alcohol has both short-term dangers, including injuries, violence and alcohol poisoning, and long-term health risks, such as the development of chronic diseases and addiction. Drinking too much can also create situations that impact family relationships and employment.
Vermontbiz.com - April 9, 2022
Louisiana state senator from New Orleans cites gambling addiction, depression in resigning
Karen Carter Peterson, the Louisiana state senator representing New Orleans, has resigned after more than two decades in the Louisiana Legislature. "As I’ve previously shared, I have personally struggled with depression and a gambling addiction for the entirety of my legislative career; in fact, it has been close to 30 years," Peterson said in a prepared statement. "At this time, I must place all of my energy on my own mental health and personal well-being, and therefore have tendered my resignation effective immediately."
4WWL - April 8, 2022
Philly City Council members seek emergency declaration over Kensington’s opioid crisis
City Council members are calling on Mayor Jim Kenney and Gov. Tom Wolf to declare an emergency over the opioid crisis in the Kensington neighborhood, saying the city needs more state and federal funding to address the community’s needs. “The people of Kensington, and all citizens of Philadelphia, deserve for their government to take every approach, however novel, to secure resources that will address this humanitarian crisis,” the resolution reads. Meanwhile, Kensington residents — who have witnessed numerous failed city efforts in their community — say they’ve been working together to address problems in the neighborhood, and insist that they must lead any revitalization plans, though any government funding would be welcome.
Philadelphia Inquirer - April 7, 2022
Advocates push for more ‘safe injection sites’ in New York
At City Hall on Thursday, advocacy groups pushed for new legislation that they say is evidence-based claiming these deaths are preventable. Among them was Jawanza Williams, the director of organizing at Vocal-NY, calling on the state legislature to pass the Safe Consumption Spaces Act to bring more safe injection sites to New York.
PIX11 - April 7, 2022
New York: In Rochester, people rally for better addiction treatment
People in recovery say judgment-free addiction programs help. NY lawmakers could fund them. “When you give us structure, compassion and care, without that finger-wagging, authoritative criminalization part of it, you're gonna get people recovering from their own free will,” she said. That strategy would receive funding and support from the Safer Consumption Spaces Act, a state bill that is drawing support from leaders in Monroe County. Over a dozen people, including political officials and drug treatment advocates, rallied at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Rochester on Thursday to endorse the act and a separate bill that would decriminalize the opioid-use disorder treatment drug buprenorphine.
WXII - April 7, 2022
Florida: Jury selection starts in Florida's opioid suit against Walgreens
Jury selection began Tuesday in New Port Richey for Florida's suit against Walgreens. Attorney General Ashley Moody plans to hold the company accountable for the role she says it played in bringing a deadly opioid epidemic to Florida. After California, Florida reported the second-highest number of overdose deaths last year, at 7,200. Florida accounts for 7.5% of all overdose deaths in the country. Florida has already prevailed in several of these fights, winning more than $3 billion from other pharmaceutical companies. Last week, the state settled for $870 million with defendants including CVS. The money is supposed to go towards drug prevention measures and treatment and recovery services. Moody details in court filings how a Walgreens drug distribution center sold 2.2 million pills to a single pharmacy in Hudson — a roughly six-month supply for each of Hudson's 12,000 residents.
Axios Tampa Bay - April 6, 2022
Meth addiction: Tracking origins of dangerous 'super lab' methamphetamine as overdoses rise in Pennsylvania
"Chasing the dragon" is the term addicts use to describe seeking that next high. Authorities are seeing more and more of that with methamphetamine. They fear this powerful and dangerous drug could lead to a new wave of addiction and a public health hazard.
6abc - April 6, 2022
Massachusetts Mass. opioid settlement to provide $525 million for treatment, prevention
Massachusetts cities and towns will split more than $210 million in money paid by opioid manufacturers and distributors, while state government will get another $310 million to invest in ongoing efforts to rein in the addiction and overdose epidemic, officials announced Tuesday.
The Herald News - April 6, 2022
California: Anti-Drug Billboard Will Hurt Tourism In San Francisco, Groups Worry
A new billboard from Mother's Against Drug Deaths in San Francisco's Union Square District makes mention of the city's opioid problem, according to KPIX in San Francisco. But several groups in the city have stated their opposition to the billboard, claiming that it is just not the right time for the billboard's message. The billboard states that "Famous the world over for our brains, beauty and now, dirt-cheap fentanyl." It goes on to read, "It's time to close open-air drug markets." According to KPIX, a joint statement from the San Francisco Travel Association, The Hotel Council of San Francisco, the Union Square Alliance and The Golden Gate Restaurant Association mentioned that the "passionate campaign being launched today...although impactful" is not the right approach.
Newsweek - April 5, 2022
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Studies/Research in the News
Social Media Posts About Non-suicidal Self-Harm Have Hallmarks of Addiction-Related Content
Social media posts related with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) showed patterns in language and content similar to addiction-related content. These findings were published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.
Psychiatry Advisor - April 8, 2022
Alcohol linked to greater risk of cancer in women: What to know
One study published in 2019 found that women who were not at high risk for breast cancer based on family history increased their risk of breast cancer from moderate drinking. "We're finding that probably anywhere between 5% and 10% of all cancers worldwide are due to alcohol use," Dr. Suneel Kamath, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center in Ohio, told "Good Morning America." "It's something that we need to talk a lot more about."
Good Morning America - April 7, 2022
Does The Number of Addiction/Mental Health Facilities Affect the Amount of Overdoses per State?
For the past 20 years, the data shows that the amount of drug overdose deaths in the United States have been regularly increasing, but when analyzing the data on facilities and deaths per state, it is hard in any situation to say for certain that the number of overdoses per state is directly related to the number of addiction/mental health facilities in the state. The amount of deaths have proven to be greater than the amount of facilities in each state, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the amount of facilities affects the number of overdose related deaths.
Medium.com - April 7, 2022
People who used 'magic mushrooms' less likely to develop opioid use disorder, study finds
A "shroom craze" may get even wilder after a new study that suggests a psychedelic drug found in some mushrooms may have protective benefits against addiction. Harvard University researchers found opioid use disorders were 30% less likely among people who used psilocybin compared with those who never had it, according to the study published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
USA Today - April 7, 2022
Smoking, alcohol, internet addictions common in patients with psoriasis
Addictions to smoking, alcohol and the internet were common in patients with psoriasis, according to a study.
Healio - April 7, 2022
Teens With Severe Substance Use Disorder May Not Grow Out of It
For a majority of adolescents with severe substance use disorder (SUD), symptomatic substance use will persist in middle age, according to a study published online April 1 in JAMA Network Open.
Physicians Weekly - April 6, 2022
Good News: People Can Recover and Thrive After Mental Illness and Substance-Use Disorders
Past research on mental illness has focused mostly on chronic and recurring mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders that keep people from thriving and enjoying life. New research published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, however, reports that many people who have suffered from mental illness are able to thrive and lead a high-functioning life.
Newswise - April 5, 2022
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Comments
Opinion
Convene the Opioid Settlement Fund immediately to save lives
Twenty-one experts with intimate, ground-level views of the immense pain and extraordinary need resulting from opioid overprescription and abuse, including personal experiences of recovery — that’s who is supposed to be helming badly needed disbursements from the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund, to pay for treatment and prevention, if only the state government will let them. For months, Albany policymakers dragged their feet on appointing members of the Opioid Settlement Board, claiming that a chapter amendment expanding the body from 19 to 21 members and making tweaks to the appointment process needed to pass before they could fill the board’s seats and let it get to its crucial mission.
NY Daily News - April 11, 2022
Biden’s delicate dance on weed is getting clumsy
The president should be using his bully pulpit to lead public opinion to even further support cannabis decriminalization and, eventually, forge a bipartisan path to doing just that.
Boston Globe - April 10, 2022
Contingency Management: Paying people to stay off drugs works. So let’s keep doing it.
A welcome addition to the widespread problem of treating addiction is the concept of using a paid incentive to encourage abstention from drug use as revealed in Emefa Addo Agawu’s April 3 Opinions Essay, “She was paid to stay off drugs. Here’s why this approach could help many others.” This new strategy called “contingency management” is similar to several other successful drug prevention programs that use drug testing to confirm qualification for receiving valued incentives, such as continued employment or continued participation in a favored activity, such as school sports.
Washington Post - April 9, 2022
Can you make friends without alcohol? It took me a year to say yes
I was surrounded by the familiar, but felt entirely foreign. I needed to build a new relationship with my city of birth. But as I faced the prospect of making new friends more suited to who I am now, I realised socialising would prove to be the biggest challenge of decoupling from alcohol.
The Guardian - April 9, 2022
Was I really an addict? How the pandemic made me realize I had an alcohol problem
I was 39, a mother of two young children, a business owner, and a wife. No longer could I deny that I had a drinking problem. Although I haven’t had a drink since October 2021, alcohol continues to occupy an outsized place in my life.
The Guardian - April 7, 2022
What I Miss About Being a Drug Addict is the Same Thing You’re Missing in Your Life
If this addict can tell you anything it’s this: Find your priority. Find your anchor. Find your non-negotiable Number One on your list. We [who have struggled with substance use disorders] know the power of singular priority. We understand how much easier things can become when you only have one thing on your mind. The hard part is being able to utilize that same single-mindedness for other healthier and more productive goals. Put yourself into the mind of a drug addict and treat the single cornerstone habit that’s going to push your life forward like you won’t even be able to function throughout the rest of your day unless you get that done first.
Medium.com - April 7, 2022
Stigma failed Kurt Cobain nearly 30 years ago and continues to fail people in addiction now
Like so many others in addiction, Cobain lost many opportunities to feel better because of stigma and outmoded drug laws — both of which continue today. Inpatient rehab didn’t work for Cobain, and he started using heroin again. Like so many people with an opioid use disorder, detox and abstinence were just not the right path for him. Buprenorphine is now considered the gold standard of treatment for opioid use disorder. But in 1992, the treatment was illegal. It’s not clear from Cobain’s biographies exactly how consistent his buprenorphine treatment was. In the summer of 1993, the physician who prescribed him the medication died. So Cobain was on his own. And his addiction escalated.
Philadelphia Inquirer - April 5, 2022
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Books and Movies
BOOK REVIEW: 'Dear William' an unforgettable journey into man's, family's addiction
In “Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss,” David Magee takes the reader on an unforgettable journey into the life of a father trying to come to grips with his own alcohol and prescription drug dependence — at a time when his two sons are becoming drug addicts, too. All this at a time when Magee, who was adopted into a dysfunctional family, is embarking on a bumpy ride as he searches for his birth family, his identity, and a sense of belonging.
Finger Lake Times - April 9, 2022
HIGH: Confessions of a Cannabis Addict New Book Release Available on Amazon
Leonard Lee Buschel’s memoir HIGH: Confessions of a Cannabis Addict, published by Logan House Publications, is now available on Amazon and in-stores at Barnes and Noble. Buschel takes us through his turbulent upbringing in Philadelphia, his teetering on the edge of destruction drug-dealing days until, finally, he miraculously finds beauty in living a sober life.
EIN News - April 6, 2022
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Podcasts: The Weekly Roundup
Recovery in the Middle Ages – The Next Big Addiction Treatment & What Are Trauma-Informed Workplaces?
This week on a very special episode of RMA, Mike and Nat do an extended news wrap-up which includes a discussion of the latest research on psychedelics for addiction treatment, a break-down of what it means to have a trauma-informed workplace, and why that is important, especially to people in recovery.
Heart of the Matter – Physician and author Carl Erik Fisher on the history of addiction and the capacity for recovery
Tune in as Elizabeth sits down with Dr. Fisher to discuss the human capacity for recovery, the institutionalized stigma surrounding substance use disorders, the “double-edged sword” of labeling addiction as a disease, and how recovery took him from Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward to an assistant professorship in the department of psychiatry at Columbia University. For more, see the complete episode transcript.
Dopey – The Return of Mackenzie Phillips
This week on Dopey! We are joined once again by Dopey legend Mackenzie Phillips! The multi talented movie, TV and music legend shares about the challenges in taking opiates as prescribed in long term recovery and recalls some super fun old school dopey stories of the old days with Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli. PLUS Strung Out author, unlicensed advice columnist and elite ex-equestrian returns to talk drugs, addiction and dumb shit on a brand new episode of the good ol' Dopey Show!
The Addicted Mind Podcast - The Power of Psychedelics and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies with Ronan Levy
There’s a rising popularity in the field of psychedelics as it relates to addiction treatment and healing trauma. But aren’t psychedelics addictive? On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Ronan Levy, co-founder of Field Trip Health, a company with a mission to heal the sick and better the well through psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies. Ronan explains the role of psychedelics in healing trauma and addiction treatment and recovery. A trained lawyer by profession, Ronan hopped into the entrepreneurial world over 10 years ago and got an opportunity to start a business in the medical cannabis industry in Canada. Eventually, he discovered the role of psychedelics and since then, he has been committed to using this platform that opens up conversations to a whole new audience so he could reach more people in the hope that we can shift the conversation around mental health from a reactive place into something we do proactively.
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