Category: From Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – THE MOST TRAGIC IRONY – 

May 5, 2021 – A Modesto man devoted to living a better life was hit and killed by Brandon Howze, who was allegedly drunk at the time. Friends of Ray Galindo say the tragic irony is Galindo was leaving an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when it happened.

Galindo spent over a decade in and out of the program. On Tuesday, friends and family attended his funeral. DUI arrest and crashes have been increasing in the Central Valley since the pandemic, according to Rhonda Campbell, Victim Services Specialist at Mothers Against Drunk Driving Sacramento.

“Drunk driving numbers were up six percent during the lockdown. I’m finding, as a victim advocate, as more and more things are opening up I’m getting more and more victim referrals,” she explained.

Campbell said with statistics showing 30 people dying every day in the United States from impaired driving, more needs to be done.

“Tougher penalties, it’s more consequences. I think the first couple of times people get a DUI ticket, it’s expensive but a lot of times that is not enough of a deterrent,” she explained.

AA brothers who spent years sitting next to Ray say his determination to be a better person will leave a lasting impact and serve as motivation in their own sobriety.

“It just makes me want to try hard to stay in the program and be a better person,” one person said.

more@CBSLocal

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

IF IT’S IN A PACKAGE, IT’S PROCESSED – 

May 7, 2021 – Scientists already knew prior to this study that the Western diet of heavily processed foods was linked to health issues.

“Broad changes in societal dietary habits, especially consumption of processed foods that are frequently rich in fats and simple carbohydrates but lacking in fiber are widely believed to have contributed mightily to the increased incidence of chronic inflammatory diseases that has accompanied industrialization,” the authors write at the start of their paper.

By contrast, non-processed foods are those which are closer to the form in which they would appear in nature such as vegetables, fruits and meats. Gewirtz elaborated on the broader problems with processed food, which refer to any kind of food that is created from highly refined ingredients.

As Gewirtz explained, processed foods are less healthy because of “natural components of unprocessed foods that they lack” as well as because of additives that are often “synthetic” and do not normally appear in foods. “Our research shows that one key component of fruits and vegetables that is lost in processing is fiber,” He added. Gewirtz also noted that many processed foods contain emulsifiers, which further harm the body.

more@Salon

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – 

April 29, 2021 – Peter Werth was born in South La  and raised in a poor area of El Monte. My dad was a WW2 POW and when he came to America he carried back a lot of turmoil with him.  Soon after arriving in the states he joined the US army and became a sharp shooter in Korea where he proudly served his 4 year term. Honorably discharged with colors, the LAPD  recruited him to be a highly ranked DEA cop. Mix that with alcohol and a wife who was also a closet alcoholic and I was raised in a very “colorful” and violent home.

My drinking career started when I was a very young which began my slide into being a full-blown alcoholic with all its incumbent struggles and consequences.  I had run-ins with the local police, truancies and everything else that comes with being a teenage alcoholic. 

I was exposed to AA at age 14 when a judge sent me to six meetings for buying beer at a 7/11 with a fake ID. Little did I know that was the first of many more face to face scoldings and nudges from the judge !!!

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your Drug of Choice? and when did you stop using?
A. Alcohol/Cocaine 4/28/17

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

Q. Do you log on to ZOOM 12-step meetings? How often? Do you share?
A. Several times a week. Yes, I share 

more@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

TURNING HEARTACHE INTO HEALING – 

May 5, 2021 – I am an anesthesiologist who administers fentanyl every day to patients. I have also heartbreakingly lost both of my adult sons to accidental opioid overdoses. I came to understand what opioid addiction looks like from a parent’s perspective, but, in the beginning stages it was very hard to detect, even for me. Everything that I share here, I have seen up-close in my home. I’m sharing these details so other parents can understand.  The first signs of drug use are subtle.

First, you might find a few pills either in a pocket wrapped in foil or dropped in the bathroom. They soon develop an increasing preoccupation with money, followed by missing cash. You know you took $100 out of the bank, but yet you only seem to have $60 in your wallet. They frequently go missing for extended periods of time where they are unreachable by their cellphone via calls, texts, or tracking.

Another clue is that they start falling asleep a lot. I’m not talking about sleepiness because your teen stayed up late studying. This is falling asleep eating at the dinner table or standing at the refrigerator looking for a snack. It’s called dipping out, and it becomes more exaggerated if they progress to intravenous opioids. The opioids provide a degree of muscle rigidity that holds them slightly upright, but very far tilted. Anyone sober would wake up and jerk themselves upright. An impaired person will fall oh-so slowly right into their dinner plate, taking slow, deep, noisy breaths.  Start paying attention to bathroom habits. All opioids and heroin cause constipation, so if a bottle of stool softener or laxatives suddenly find their way to your kid’s bathroom, ask questions. IV drugs can cause urinary retention and users might fall unconscious on the toilet because they can’t pass urine. They know they have to go, but they just can’t, and fall asleep sitting there.

more@USAToday

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – DID DO HARM – 

April 30, 2021 – They had a short break on Friday before returning to one of the longest running deliberations in the history of the Oklahoma County courthouse.

“They’ve never told us they’re deadlocked,” said attorney Tommy Adler. “They’ve just told us they want to keep working.”

Adler has been representing Nichols for four years. He was hired to fight the murder charges state Attorney General Mike Hunter brought against the physician for the deaths of five of her patients.

Prosecutors accused the doctor of running a “pill mill” and claimed she showed a pattern of overprescribing that turned her patients into addicts. Some of them were taking hundreds to thousands of highly addictive pills a month.

Adler told jurors Nichols was not a murderer and cared deeply for each of her patients.

“We obviously believe very strongly in our case, “ said Adler. “We believe very strongly Dr. Nichols was a legitimate doctor, treating legitimate patients with legitimate, serious medical needs. We hope she’s vindicated.”

He knows that is the jury’s decision to make. A verdict that could set a precedence.

“Again, I think we’ve got a fantastic jury,” said Adler. “Their families should be proud of them; their community should be proud of them. The way they’ve paid attention, the way they’ve listened to the evidence and their endurance in working on this is extremely rare.”

more@News9

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – FOREVER GRIEF – 

May 6, 2021 – She said she has struggled with her own mental health and addiction issues and said more resources need to be made available to help both adults and kids struggling with substance abuse.

“She grew up way too fast and I wish I could have helped more but unfortunately, I tried my best but given my circumstances and my problems, and the fact that I haven’t gotten help for my problems my whole life, it really didn’t give me the ability to help her,” Londono said. The BC Coroners Service is still investigating what led to Ally’s death and the Ministry of Children and Family Development said it cannot comment on specific cases due to privacy reasons.

more@GlobalNews

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

AND NO MORE SUNRISE DESPERATION – 

May 4, 2021 –  What was your sex life like before you got sober?

TAWNY: My sex life was very performative. It was for the other person. I had fun and it felt good—don’t get me wrong—but I was more concerned with pleasing the other person than figuring out what I actually wanted.

What were your initial conceptions about what sober sex was going to be like?

TAWNY: I thought sobriety was going to be the worst thing ever. I thought, ‘I’m not going to have any friends. I’m never going to date again. I’m never going to have sex. I had applied alcohol to everything in my life, and I didn’t even know, like, how am I going to hang out with my friends if it’s not for a drink?

But it actually sounds like getting sober shifted how you prioritized your own pleasure.

TAWNY: It’s almost like I’m in Sex 101, where I’m learning my body, learning what turns me on, and then gaining the confidence to share that with someone that I trust. It was really scary to do that—to tell him, ‘Look, I used to fake orgasms, but I don’t want to do that with you.’ 

When it comes to consent, did cutting out alcohol help you pick up on partners’ non-verbal cues?

NICK: It’s more than just consent. Let’s say consent is a baseline, where a hundred percent of sex sessions start with that. That’s the 101 level. If you’re drunk, you’re [also] not going to get the Master’s class or the triple Ph.D. I want to know what Tawny wants, because it makes me a better lover to be receptive to her needs.

more@MensHealth

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – CHEERLEADERS FOR SOBRIETY – 

May 6, 2021 – Max Hyde- 2 days agoAs an opioid addict of 10 years, I survived Covid by finally getting clean. Got some Kratom from a local head shop, used that lightly instead of taking opiates, and eventually weened myself off of the Kratom. I’ve been an addict since I was a child so if I can do it, you can too… 

Adrian G

2 days ago I almost became an alcoholic during covid. No job, very little drive and confidence. I hope to return to a fully functioning and hopeful human being soon. Let’s get through this yall.. 

S K 2 days ago If you’re an addict or suffering through problems, don’t be ashamed. EVERYBODY stumbles and falls. What makes you a winner is being able to get back up and keep at it step by step. I don’t look down on these folks, but applaud them for not giving up. You can do this! …

4NPUSHA ;P 2 days ago I’m a recovering addict. 3 years now and sometimes I still struggle at low points but find it in myself to fight for my beautiful life I’ve created. I hope you all find something inside yourselves to fight for , whether it’s for yourselves or for those watching you decay.. wish you all strength and hope.

more@YouTube

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

MUSICAL EXPRESSION – 

May 7, 2021 – Lerner enrolled in the Frost School of Music  at the University of Miami to study hip-hop. But college brought its own pressure, and Lerner began to self-medicate, turning to alcohol and marijuana. After a wisdom tooth extraction, he developed an addiction to oxycodone, and then to cocaine and heroin.

At the same time, Joshua Sherman, a physician based in Vermont, was working with addicts and speaking out about the opioid addiction problem. In October 2018, Sherman, who also owned Old Mill Road, a Vermont-based media company, was building a recording studio in Arlington. A month later, he was invited to speak at a panel hosted by Fed Up Vermont, an organization raising awareness about opioid addiction in Vermont.

“One elderly person stood up and said, ‘I’m 80 something years old, I’ve got three damaged grandkids that I’m now raising. I don’t have the health for it, and I don’t have the money for it, and what am I supposed to do?’” said Sherman.

more@TimesUnion

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – WHAT WAS THEIR FAVORITE TV SHOW? – 

May 6, 2021 – Craig Johnson, chief deputy sheriff at the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, told Newsweek in a Thursday email that the investigation is “on-going” and that authorities couldn’t provide further information at this time. “As far as the Melton’s church attendance I’m not certain which church they attended. There are two churches [within] walking distance of their home, and several more only a very short drive away,” Johnson added.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that drug overdose deaths have surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary data from the CDC showed that more than 87,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period that ended in September. That marked the highest number of drug overdose deaths since the 1990s.

DMT and methamphetamine are federally listed as Schedule 1 drugs, which means the government has determined that they have no currently accepted medical use and also have a high potential for abuse.

more@WFAA

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