Author: bkellaway

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION – 

March 18, 2025 – Scientists challenge the prevailing genetic-focused model of cancer, advocating for a shift towards more holistic views that include non-genetic factors in cancer development.Researchers should reconsider the long-held belief that cancer is primarily a genetic disease,

Instead, they advocate for a broader, more holistic approach that considers biological systems beyond genetic mutations. They propose alternative models, including cancer as a disruption of gene regulatory networks (Huang) or as a breakdown in tissue organization, where disturbances in the cellular environment contribute to tumor development (Soto-Sonnenschein). According to the authors, exploring these alternative frameworks could lead to new insights into cancer’s origins and guide future research.

CONTINUE@SciTechDaily

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

14th STEP? – 

March 21, 2025 – Casey Mahoney, 48, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who also fined him $240,000. A Hollywood Hills man was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison for paying illegal kickbacks for patient referrals to his addiction treatment facilities located in Orange County. “This defendant illegally profited millions of dollars off of addicts who desperately needed help,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. “Bribes and kickbacks compromise the integrity of substance abuse treatment facilities and undermine patient care.

The charges relate to Mahoney’s operation of two addiction treatment facilities: the Huntington Beach-based Healing Path Detox LLC, and the San Juan Capistrano-based Get Real Recovery Inc. 

From at least October 2018 to December 2020, Mahoney paid nearly $2.9 million in illegal kickbacks to so-called “body brokers” who referred patients to Mahoney’s addiction treatment facilities. Those body brokers in turn paid thousands of dollars in cash to patients. Brokered patients sometimes were dropped off at motels in Orange County and introduced to drug dealers. Some of these patients later overdosed and died.

Brokers also arranged for patients to receive drugs to make them eligible for more lucrative levels of care at Mahoney’s facilities. Mahoney paid one broker $140,000 per month for additional patients despite knowing that brokers offered to get some patients high. Mahoney also requested that his employees send brokers to track down former patients with lucrative insurance policies, which he called his “most wanted list.” 

CONTINUE@Justice

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

SOCIETY’S CHILD – 

March 13, 2025 – The mean age of the homeless people who participated in the survey was 46. Thirty-seven percent reported regular drug use in the prior six months. A quarter of the homeless people had never used drugs. Two-thirds said they’d used drugs regularly at some point in their life. Methamphetamine use, 33%, was the most common.

About a fifth of those who reported regular drug use said they wanted treatment but couldn’t get it, according to the study.

“Our research shows there is an increased risk of becoming homeless if you use drugs; and that homelessness itself increases drug use because people use it as a coping strategy,” Dr. Margot Kushel, the director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and senior author of the report, said in a UCSF news release. Despite public perception, most people who are homeless aren’t using drugs regularly, the UCSF news release noted.

But drug use was higher among the homeless population (37%) than the general public (13%).

CONTINUE@WTOV9

The post Meth Rampant For California’s Homeless: Treatment Elusive  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – OUT ON BAIL –

March 12, 2025 – Dawn Holland, the founder and former executive director of the sober living rehabilitation facility DAWNS House in Bend, will go on trial in September for charges related to allegedly embezzling $300,000 from the non-profit.

Holland, 52, was indicted last year on eight counts of aggravated theft. She pleaded not guilty. The alleged thefts happened between 2019 and 2023.

Her 12-person jury trial is set to begin Sept. 30 and is expected to last four days.

CONTINUE@CentralOregonDaily

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

GRIEF –

March 20, 2025 – It’s stunning that it took the death of someone I love dearly to show me how deeply fear and shame are embedded in the way we treat people with an addiction. One year ago this month, police found the body of my nephew on the front seat of a borrowed car in a gas station parking lot. Austen Smith was 29. He’d been addicted to pain pills, on and off, for more than 10 years.  On some level, Austen knew the risk he was taking in those wee morning hours, but opioids had hijacked his brain. This time there was enough fentanyl in whatever Austen took to kill him.

The risk-taking piece is no surprise. Austen always pushed for more out of life. As a tike, he’d be the first into the deep end of the pool or off the diving board or down the water slide — backwards. On hikes Austen went straight up the mountain, if possible. It was Austen who pulled the cousins away from screens for a fishing trip or game of football. In his late teens, Austen started using pain pills to relieve the distress of Crohn’s disease. Sometime in his early 20s he got addicted.  

CONTINUE@WBUR

The post Shame Can’t Have More Power Than Love appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

I DON’T BUY IT – 

March 20, 2025 – In her personal time, Sadie goes on buying sprees for herself. She has ordered cameras, camera accessories, scrapbooking supplies, metal-detecting equipment, lasers, board games, planners, fountain pens, tech gadgets, nail polish, computer keyboard parts and yarn. She bought everything online.

 Before she knew it, she was $20,000 in debt. “I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “I never told my husband how bad it was.” She has been paying the debt off, but she can’t say exactly where the total stands today. “I’m so ashamed I won’t even check the balance,” she says. Sadie asked to remain anonymous so her family would not find out that she’s a compulsive shopper.

Sadie’s struggle is not a new phenomenon. German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin described krankhafte Kauflust — the pathological desire to buy — as early as 1899. 

CONTINUE@SciAm

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – 

March 25, 2025  – Brette Taylor is an acclaimed actress and filmmaker. She actively works as a writer, producer, actor, and director on projects that highlight her connection to strong, straight-shooting women. “Creating characters like these, on and off screen, is what I crave”, Brette says. Brette grew up in a creative world, influenced by her mom, actress and screenwriter Christine Parks, and her Stepdad, music producer and filmmaker Bob Fries. One of Brette’s recent passion projects, “Babs” (based on her own addiction) has garnered multiple awards. Her current producing credits include the feature film “Soul to Keep” and her latest project, “Border.” In addition to her film career, Brette is also a skilled equestrian and a dedicated advocate for equine and animal safety.

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?

A. Alcohol | Cocaine | Pills | 3/3/2012.

Q. What do you like most about 12-step meetings?

A. Hearing the words “Me Too!”

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?

A. A disease.

CONTINUE@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – LISTEN –

March 20, 2025 – Wale has always been one of Hip Hop’s most introspective artists, unafraid to explore love, success and the struggles that come with both. His Wednesday (March 19) release, “Blanco,” sees him peeling back another layer by candidly addressing his battle with alcoholism.

This vulnerability raises questions about what his upcoming album will bring and how Wale’s overall journey fits within rap’s broader conversation about addiction and mental health.

The song’s lyrics paint a picture of a man grappling with his demons, using alcohol as both an escape and a burden. Lines like, “Drownin’ in sorrow, I’m back on the bottle” underscore the depth of his struggle and shows a pattern that many understand (including this writer). Yes, the D.C. talent previously spoke on hardships in his music, but this feels different – more raw, more direct, more personal.

CONTINUE@Revolt  

The post Wale Confronts Alcoholism Head-on With “Blanco”  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

EVEN THE STONED DIE YOUNG – 

March 18, 2024 –  The retrospective study found that cannabis users under 50 were more than six times as likely to experience a heart attack compared to non-users. Meanwhile, the meta-analysis, the largest pooled study on this topic to date, found that marijuana use was associated with a 50% higher risk of heart attacks.  While the mechanisms through which marijuana or its components may impact the cardiovascular system are not fully understood, the researchers hypothesize that it can affect heart rhythm regulation, heighten oxygen demand in the heart muscle, and contribute to endothelial dysfunction, which makes it harder for the blood vessels to relax and expand, and can interrupt blood flow.

“Asking about cannabis use should be part of clinicians’ workup to understand patients’ overall cardiovascular risk, similar to asking about smoking cigarettes,” said Ibrahim Kamel, MD, clinical instructor at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and internal medicine resident at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston and the study’s lead author. “At a policy level, a fair warning should be made so that the people who are consuming cannabis know that there are risks.”

CONTINUE@SciTechDaily

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

TOO LATE NOW –

March 19, 2025 – MRI images of addicted smartphone users’ brains were so colorful, meaning so active, it made them less attentive and more easily distracted — what is now informally called “brain rot.”Nelson says emerging research points to even greater risks.

“We’re just starting to see these changes, and we know they’re connected to behavioral changes, depression, anxiety,” Nelson said. “The dangers are hiding in there.”

Rosenberg agrees with that assessment.

“Social media had really influenced me in a lot of ways,” Rosenberg said. “TikTok would kind of push these videos of people popping an edible before school. And I was like, ‘If I do this, maybe I’ll be cool.’ And I started self-medicating.”

To deal with that, last year, she checked into a treatment facility. She believes that if she had not gone to treatment, “I don’t think I’d be here. It was really bad.”  

CONTINUE@CBSNews

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