Author: bkellaway

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STILL CRUISING –

Feb. 4, 2025 – Back in the day, Kirstie Alley was a big supporter, and she was known for her donations to Scientology’s drug rehab network, saying that it had helped her with a cocaine addiction when she came to Hollywood. But Narconon has been through tough times, shrinking from about 21 clinics in the US to only five today. Over the past decade, we documented numerous patient deaths and dozens of lawsuits as Scientology leader David Miscavige shrank the vaunted rehab network.

Newer additions to the clinic roster tend to be smaller, boutique facilities like the one that was created in Larry Hagman’s old estate in Ojai, California.

Scientology has pitched it as a sort of celebrity drunk tank, catering to VIP clientele. And this week, the Ojai clinic boasted of a visit by a couple of church celebrities.

CONTINUE@UndergroundBunker

The post Celebrity Endorsements for Scientology’s Rehab are Back! appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

ACCOUNTABILITY – 

Feb. 6, 2025 – Emily Willis’ family is suing a rehabilitation centre after the former OnlyFans star suffered from a cardiac arrest, which left her without a heartbeat for more than 30 minutes. But the impact to her health from what happened to her was devastating, with Willis now left suffering from locked-in syndrome whereby she can only move her eyes. 

Filing the lawsuit towards the end of December last year, Willis’ mother Yesenia claims her daughter’s condition got worse after being admitted to Summit Malibu. While at the facility, the lawsuit claims Willis suffered from dehydration; looking ‘unkempt’; hot and cold chills; tremors; increased heart rate; headaches; feeling ‘disorientated’; difficulty walking; and vaginal pain. Notes from staff at the centre described Willis as ‘frail and in pain’ on 1 February, just days after being admitted. The following day, nurses could not measure her blood pressure due to issues with dehydration.

After agreeing to go to hospital the following day on 3 February, Willis changed her mind. Instead, paramedics attended Summit Malibu where her vitals were measured. She was not taken to hospital.

CONTINUE@LADBible

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – GUILTY? – 

Jan. 30, 2025 – A KARE 11 investigation exposes tens of millions of dollars in questionable Medicaid billing, kickback allegations and executive enrichment.

CONTINUE@YouTube

The post Overbilling & Kickbacks. State Accuses Nonprofit NUWAY  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

HAPPY PILLS – 

Feb. 3, 2025 – Having spent most of my career researching the human toll of drug use at almost every stage of the supply and consumption chain, I believe a complete shift in the way we think about the world’s drug problem is required. We already have many years of evidence of the ways that drugs – both natural and (increasingly) synthetic – are destabilising countries’ legal and political institutions, devastating entire communities, and destroying millions of lives.  Illicit drug use has increased by 20% over the past decade, only partly due to population growth. Almost 300 million people are estimated to consume illicit drugs regularly, with the three most popular being cannabis (228 million users), opioids (60 million) and cocaine (23 million). 

CONTINUE@TheConversation

The post Addicted: How the World Got Hooked  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – BABIES MATTER –

Feb. 4, 2025 – Thirty-year-old Lydia Kareha knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom.

“My decisions led me down a really rough path,” Kareha said. “I had a lot of felonies. I thought I was going to be a felon the rest of my life.”

Kareha knows what it’s like to lose yourself and lose everything to drug addiction.

“My addiction really started when I was in high school and kind of progressed from there,” she explained. “It got really bad in about 2016, started with pills and just escalated to my main drugs of choice were crack and heroin.”

She went to rehab five times, but she still ended up back out on the streets.

“In my darkest moments, I thought, ‘This is who I was meant to be. This is as good as my life’s gonna get.’ Because I heard so many times like, ‘She’s either lost potential,’ or, ‘She’ll never reach her potential. She’s a basic, lost cause.’ I was told that so many times in rehab, ‘She’s never going to go anywhere.’ Because I tried so many times and failed,” Kareha said.

CONTINUE@News19

The post Pregnant Addict Turns Her Life Around  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

YOUNG AT HEART –

December 8, 2024 – Rancho Santa Fe author Dr. Louise Stanger has released her fourth book, “Reflections on Aging from the Sunset Marquis,” which she hopes to be an inspirational guide to embracing the aging process and never losing one’s sense of authenticity, adventure or joy.

“Life doesn’t dim with time—it deepens,” said the 78-year-old Stanger in a news release. “Every morning brings a new chance to compose your life’s melody. This book is about turning up the volume on your dreams and letting your spirit soar, whether you’re 28 or 78.”

A signing event for the new book will be held on Friday, Dec. 13 from 11:30 am. to  2 p.m. at Solana Beach’s Gerhard Clothing, 143 S. Cedros Avenue. On Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. she will appear for a joint signing event at Seaside Market in Cardiff with her daughter Shelby Stanger, the author of “Will to Wild.”

CONTINUE@SanDiegoUnionTribune

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – 

Feb. 11, 2025 – Anthony Brown is the founder and director of Coordinating & Assisting Recovery Environments. With a M.S. in Nursing from United States University, Anthony developed and directed a long-term residential treatment model, which has fueled his dream to open a home for those who have are experiencing homelessness. 

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

A. Drug of choice was methamphetamine and cocaine. Sobriety date: March 29, 1999.

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

A. The comradery.

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

A. Illness / disease.

CONTINUE@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WEIGHT UP –

Feb, 1, 2025 – Amy Schumer once hopped on board the Ozempic trend, but the side effects were so intense she had to stop. I tried Ozempic almost three years ago and I was like bedridden, I was vomiting and then you have no energy but other people take it and they’re all good,” she explained.

“I lost 30 pounds so quick,” said Schumer, who is mom to 4-year-old son, Gene, whom she shares with husband, Chris Fischer. “I looked great and I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow, so what’s the point?”

Ozempic, which is a semaglutide injection, was originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, but the medication has increasingly been prescribed off label for weight loss, along with several other similar medications.

CONTINUE@YahooLife

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – MORE OUTRAGE PLEASE –

Jan. 2025 – “I cannot tell you the amount of times I’ve had to listen to the screams on the other end of a phone when family members are notifying other family members about their sister, their uncle,” said Gwynn. “Those screams are repeated when they walk in the door.” A bill that would criminalize fentanyl trafficking unanimously passed out of a Utah House committee Wednesday after an emotional hearing.

HB87, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Gwynn, R-Farr West, would make it a first-degree felony for someone to produce, distribute, or traffic fentanyl in the state. The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved the bill, sending it to the full House of Representatives for a vote.

Gwynn, who works as the Roy police chief, was visibly affected as he described the problems caused by fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid used to relieve pain.

“Over 600 times last year in the state of Utah, someone came home and found their son, daughter, or parent deceased from an opiate overdose,” Gwynn said, his voice breaking.

CONTINUE@KSLTV

The post Emotional Lawmaker Describes Fentanyl Crisis  appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

NO OVERSIGHT – 

Feb. 4, 2025 – But a closer look reveals a dark cloud around that silver lining. Black people are still dying from drug overdoses in higher numbers than whites.  That’s due in part to systemic and social barriers to treatment. These include lack of access to healthcare, health insurance companies refusing to cover treatment, and the stigma of asking for help to overcome drug addiction. 

When the drop in addiction overdoses started making headlines last fall, Paul N. Samuels, director and president of the Legal Action Center in New York, called it encouraging news. Still, “it’s crucial to keep in mind that there are still places in this country and groups of people for which this is not the case,” he said in a statement. 

States that examine recent overdose data “have found that the declines are almost entirely among white people, while rates among Native American, Black, and Hispanic communities continue to rise,” Samuels said.

CONTINUE@WordInBlack

The post As Fatal Overdose Rates Fall – Black Drug Deaths Remain High appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.