Category: From Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

MIGHTY BIG TRANSFORMATION – 

July 18, 2021 – “Mighty Ducks” star Shaun Weiss is making strides in his recovery.

The former actor graduated from a drug court program this week in California, the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office announced.

The graduation also means Weiss’s burglary case in the county has been dismissed. He was arrested in Marysville, Calif., last January for breaking into a person’s garage and gaining entry into their car.

The accomplishment follows a turbulent period for Weiss, who in recent years has faced a number of hurdles amid a struggle with addiction. He first entered into the Yuba County Drug Court program on March 3, 2020.

The Yuba County DA’s Office praised him for his recovery in statements shared to agency’s Facebook account.

“Shaun demonstrated perseverance during his recovery complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. He had to move treatment and transitional living programs on several occasions. He underwent dental reconstructive surgery, and had a close family member suffer a serious accident during his treatment,” the agency wrote in a statement.

“Shaun regained employment and has been traveling across the country making guest appearances and signing autographs. He received tremendous support from friends and fans of the character, Goldberg, he played in the 1992 hit ‘The Mighty Ducks,’” the statement continues.

Photos that were released of the actor last fall showed a much happier and healthier Weiss. In honor of reaching his 200 days of sobriety in September, a close friend named Drew Gallagher shared a photo of Weiss, then 42, looking virtually unrecognizable as compared to his mug shot stemming from an arrest in January.

more@FoxNews

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

HELL IS HARD TO GET OUT OF – 

July 25, 2021 –  But in time, after daily use, my body built up tolerance to the pills, and one wasn’t enough. Soon I needed two to feel the high, and eventually three. I would buy whatever was available.

When I ran out of pills, the withdrawal was certain and unbearable. I had restless leg syndrome, chills, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, sweating, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and fever, all for several days or longer. I would do anything to avoid getting dopesick, even returning to the drugs. To wean myself, I tried using synthetic narcotics like methadone and Suboxone, which provided some relief, but they’re highly addictive substitutes. What’s more, many of the clinics that sell these alternatives only take cash and charge hundreds of dollars for a five-minute appointment. The prices were so high that I couldn’t always afford to get clean. An appointment to get Suboxone was $300, and the medication cost me $14.00 per pill — while street pills cost me $5.00 each. It was easier and cheaper for me to buy black market pain pills than to get treatment. When I was arrested for selling stolen goods at pawn shops, I was getting high every day and at rock bottom.

After being taken to the county jail, I was thrown into a “cold cell” to detoxify with no medical assistance. Although I was taking a daily cocktail of Xanax and 30-milligram morphine pills, the nurses refused to provide me help, instead ignoring me during three days of unbearable opiate and benzodiazepine withdrawal. I was then inventoried into the criminal legal system as a repeat offender with no option of drug court or any alternative treatment.

more@TruthOut

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

IT’S ALL DOWNSIDE –   

July 26, 2021 – “Targeted drug enforcement and over-policing in communities of color have led to severe consequences to Black and brown populations,” said Perez. “I’m not just talking about high-level trafficking. I’m talking about severe consequences for simple use and possession.”

The drug war also targets non-citizens, including green card holders, asylum seekers and DREAMers, and low-level drug offenses can put them at risk of immigration detention and deportation, she said. In fact, drug offenses are one of the most common causes of deportation, second only to illegal entry.

“The drug war is also at the center of our deportation machine,” said Perez. In 2019, for example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 67,000 non-citizens for minor drug violations.

Despite heavy policing, the rate of drug use has not declined in the U.S. Perez called for a new path forward, which includes drug decriminalization in combination with other public health efforts. While decriminalizing drugs may seem radical to some, she said it can lead to numerous benefits and has been implemented successfully in other nations. Portugal, for example, decriminalized drugs in 2001. As a result, the country saw large reductions in drug overdoses and HIV infections, as well as a growing number of people voluntarily seeking treatment. The nation’s leaders also invested in public health services.

“Research tells us that every dollar spent on treatment saves more than a dollar on crime reduction,” said Perez.

This year, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize drug possession and is funding treatment services with its cannabis tax revenue. Perez hopes that Oregon’s decision will encourage other states to follow suit.

“This victory in Oregon is really a landmark declaration that the time has come to stop criminalizing people for all drugs regardless of type,” she said.

Yale has traditionally been very involved in identifying strategies and interventions to treat addiction, especially opioid addiction. It has also been at the forefront of demonstrating the effectiveness of certain harm reduction strategies. For example, it offered one of the earliest syringe exchange programs and conducted much of the science that showed their effectiveness in decreasing the transmission of viral infections such as HIV. Yale also has a strong history of advocating for policies to make medications that treat opioid overdose such as naloxone more readily available.

More innovation is needed now, according to Jeanette Tetrault, MD, professor of medicine (general medicine) and public health, and associate director of training and education of the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine. “Recent statistics show that there were 93,000 overdose deaths in the last year. This is a 30% increase from the year before,” she says “The status quo isn’t working.”

more@YaleMedicine

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

THE FINAL SOLUTION – 

July 27, 2021 – The killings have alarmed Western governments, U.N. rights experts, and human rights groups. Duterte has acknowledged that he failed to fulfill a campaign promise to eradicate the drug menace and deeply entrenched corruption within six months of becoming president. But he said he had found at least nine police generals and Bureau of Customs officials were involved in the drug trade.

“I did not know that I was fighting my own government,” he said, although the involvement of law enforcers and public officials has long been reported.

Randy Delos Santos, whose 17-year-old nephew, Kian, was shot to death in 2017 by three officers who were later convicted of murder, said the poor have been traumatized by the drug crackdown.

“He has not won this war on drugs, because the problem is still there, but a lot of families have lost their breadwinners,” Delos Santos told The Associated Press. “We’re the biggest loser and we still live in fear.”

An ICC prosecutor said last month a preliminary examination found reason to believe crimes against humanity had been committed under Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and sought permission to open a formal investigation. Duterte said he will never cooperate with a possible investigation.

Allies have defended Duterte’s record, with documentaries on state-run TV and speeches highlighting his administration’s efforts to fight criminality, poverty, corruption, and decades-long communist and Muslim insurgencies, as well as build infrastructure. 

more@TheDiplomat

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – KEEP LOOKING – 

July 26, 2021  –

ROCK: He knew he needed help, but there were few therapists specializing in this kind of trauma in Boston. Holland shoved his pain back down. It took another five years, his brother’s suicide and a pulmonary embolism for Holland to try again. This time, he found a men’s support group.

HOLLAND: But it was uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be there, and my heart was beating.

ROCK: At the first session, Holland remembers that everyone’s eyes were locked on the carpet. Sharon Imperato of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center helped facilitate Holland’s group and has worked with male survivors for nearly 20 years. She says that on average, men seek services around age 40 for many reasons – a partner demand they get help in hopes of saving the marriage, a man wants to be a better father or his children are turning the age when he was abused. Imperato says that many men don’t recognize their trauma, sexual abuse or rape.

SHARON IMPERATO: Which is knowing that someone had hurt them, someone had chose to hurt them and it was having an impact on their life. So it’s the impacts that brings them it.

ROCK: Imperato also trains other providers. She says the mental health field itself has yet to fully recognize the prevalence of male survivors, let alone learn the skills to provide appropriate support.

IMPERATO: Even this day and age, people are still shocked that men experience sexual violence and the rate that they experience it. I’m just not sure if providers are necessarily asking or looking for it.

ROCK: Jim Holland says he couldn’t have recovered without his support group. It taught him that he was not alone and to let go of his shame.

HOLLAND: It allowed me to bare my soul, so to speak, in front of a group of other guys without being judged. You always have to remember that you’re not to blame for what happened to you. You were a child.

ROCK: To fully recover, Holland says he had to find a way to talk to his 13-year-old self. For the first time in 30 years, Holland remembered his hideaway in the closet of his childhood bedroom, where he’d bury himself among trash bags filled with clothing in search of safety.

more@NPR

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

THE ART OF DESTIGMATIZATION – 

July 30, 2021 – FRANKLIN — Amy Adams has the same name as the Hollywood superstar actress, but not the fame.

Instead, Adams is focused on sending the message that there’s no stigma tied to mental health challenges associated with drug addiction. She’s doing it with her new public art installation, “I Am Here.”

It will go on exhibit publicly starting Saturday on the front lawn of the First Congregational Church in downtown Natick, and will remain there for several weeks. Adams gave the Daily News a sneak peek on Wednesday as the installation sat in the driveway at her home in Franklin. She and her husband will load it into the family car, and take it to Natick in time for Saturday’s 11 a.m. dedication.

The work displays two human figures made of concrete — one seated on a bench, another standing nearby — and a dove, also made of concrete.

more@MetroWestDailyNews

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STILL GROWING A HEALTHY SOCIETY –   

July 30, 2021 – The gist of this little pearl of wisdom is that if you have been unable to deal with your personal traumas, you are more likely to project those traumas onto others. While there is certainly truth in that saying, the opposite is also true: healed people can heal other people.

Look no further than Baker Lake’s Allan Qiyuaryuk, who started an Alcoholics Anonymous group for the community this summer.

Speaking to Kivalliq News earlier this month, Qiyuaryuk was very open about some of the trauma he has experienced. Following the loss of his partner, who was also the mother of his four children, Qiyuaryuk admitted that he became one of the worst alcoholics in Baker Lake.

It’s impossible to imagine how hard it must be to lose a lover and the mother of your children. Indeed, it was difficult not to become emotional while listening to Qiyuaryuk tell his story over the phone.

It took him another six years to finally seek help at a treatment centre in British Columbia. But even that couldn’t keep him sober.

It wasn’t until he was faced with being cut off from his family and, in particular, his children that Qiyuaryuk was finally able to find the motivation to quit drinking.

But Qiyuaryuk was not just content with turning his own life around, he wanted to create a space where other could come to heal.

Although the goal of Alcoholic’s Anonymous is to become self-sufficient, it also relies on the power of community to help achieve that goal.

Aaron Solberg, reverend deacon at St. Aidan’s Anglican Parish, who helped Qiyuaryuk set up the Alcoholic’s Anonymous program in Baker Lake, put it best when he said: “You help people the most often when you want to help yourself.”

So far, the group has hosted half a dozen meetings. Attendance has not been as high as Qiyuaryuk would have liked, but just like a person who is suffering, it has room to grow.

Gabor Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian physician with a background in family practice and a special interest in childhood development and trauma, has attempted to deconstruct addiction. He defines addiction as “any behaviour that gives a person temporary relief and pleasure, but also has negative consequences, and to which the individual will return time and again.”

But to Maté, addiction is not a disease, rather it stems from an attempt to solve a deep-seated problem, most often due to trauma or loss.

Alcohol doesn’t necessarily have to be seen as something evil. Some people are capable of having just a few drinks and stopping. But those who are using it to numb their pain can easily become consumed by it. The more alcoholics rely on booze to escape, the more they suffocate the parts of themselves that are desperate for love and understanding.

Trying to overcome the emotional and psychological barriers that lead to alcoholism can seem daunting.

That’s why it can be so helpful to join a community of like-minded people who are dedicated to healing themselves.

more@NunavutNews

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

EVERYONE CAN DO IT –   

July 28, 2021 – Appearance on The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, one person wrote, “Worried about you Lily. I feel like we’ve grown up together and I’ve never see you this thin.”

Judging someone’s appearance, especially in a public forum, is out of line even if concern really is the motivation behind it. Plus, as Lily wrote back, “You’ve never seen me two years completely sober, not smoking and exercising every day.” Lily’s whole aura seems to exude contentment and joy lately, and we love that for her. Congrats to the queen of MySpace on her sobriety birthday!

more@BuzzFeed

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

THREE POINT VENTE – 

July 10, 2021 – “There was a point where it was just waiting for the train to crash,” Baker told The Times. “You know how that goes. Like people get into situations like mine where they lose this and they lose that. The next natural story is, ‘Vin Baker, boom. Something’s happened.’ He is a preacher’s son from a small shoreline Connecticut town who was formally introduced to the basketball world in a 1992 Sports Illustrated profile titled “America’s Best Kept Secret.” In the accompanying photo, Baker is flashing a huge smile in his red University of Hartford uniform while students surround him with fingers pressed to their pursed lips.

He’d never had a drink before he got to college. He was terrified of drugs, especially cocaine, because of the overdose death of Len Bias in 1986. The Bucks took Baker eighth in the 1993 draft, and by his second year he was an All-Star.

Baker was nearly 7 feet tall but gifted with more than a big man’s skills. Think Anthony Davis squaring up from 20 feet on one end, then rejecting a shot at the rim on the other.

more@LATimes

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

MAY THE TASK FORCE BE WITH YOU –

August 1, 2021 – James Kigar, who co-owned a substance abuse treatment center in Boynton Beach, is fighting 119 felony charges, each count punishable by up to five years in state prison. The 60-year-old Boca Raton man denies the allegations that he “bought patients by paying kickbacks to sober homes.”” 

more@SunSentinel

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