They lost their brothers to addiction. Now they tackle deadly stigmas with humor

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – Podcasts are next to godliness –  

Oct. 22, 2020 – There was nothing funny, of course, about the death that motivated Wachs’ podcast, “Last Day,” which premiered its second season Wednesday. Her little brother, Harris Wittels — a comedian, writer and guest performer on “Parks and Recreation” — died from an accidental heroin overdose on Feb. 19, 2015. He was 30.

Wittels’ death shocked and rattled the Los Angeles comedy community. His entertainment tenure was short but indelible: He coined the term “humblebrag,” and his chill, off-color, Phish-loving persona endeared him to podcast listeners as well as mentors and colleagues such as Sarah Silverman and “Comedy Bang! Bang!” host Scott Aukerman. He was set to play Aziz Ansari’s best friend in the Netflix series “Master of None” (the role was instead assumed by Eric Wareheim), and many of his famous friends grieved publicly and poignantly. But it was a much deeper, more intimate loss for Wachs, who wrote her 2018 memoir, “Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful,” purely as an act of survival, says the 39-year-old mom of two. “I felt like I was dying of grief and pain.” She heard from many grateful, grieving people who told her they devoured the book in a single day — including Jessica Cordova Kramer, executive producer of the activist podcast “Pod Save the People.”

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Backstreet Boys ‘Broke Into’ AJ McLean’s House To Stage Intervention

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

It takes what it takes –

2020 – After two decades of substance abuse, the final straw came when he returned home from a drug- and alcohol-fueled Vegas trip. He said:“I never slept. I missed my first two flights back home and reeked of alcohol when I got home. My wife and I had always had this agreement, which was, if I smelled like alcohol, I wasn’t allowed to play with my kids — I couldn’t be around my kids. But what really hit me was the moment, my youngest daughter Lyric said to me that night, ‘You don’t smell like my daddy.’ And when she said that to me, that was it. Enough said. I felt disgusting.” “You don’t smell like my daddy.” That is just heartbreaking…

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How Sobriety Helped Me Wake the F*ck Up Politically

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Think Feel Act –

Oct. 20, 2020 – Hearing racist and homophobic insults were a standard part of life in Waco. So common that I didn’t think much about it. I, too, even engaged in ignorant dialogue and derogatory slurs “as a joke.” Now I can see that the joke was on me. 

You know how they say if you hang out in a bar long enough, you’ll end up ordering a drink? My version of that is: If you live in Texas long enough, you’ll end up voting Republican. I voted Republican in the 2008 election — despite my views on the aforementioned social issues. I found myself in a conservative echo chamber where it was “easier” to repeat talking points than to read about which candidate was aligned with my values. As I said, it was a confusing time. While this was all going on, I self-medicated regularly from ages 15 to age 29. Whether it was alcohol, drugs, sex, or calorie-counting, I taught myself how to use those self-destructive behaviors as tools to avoid my depression and anxiety. I didn’t care much about tomorrow, let alone engaging in constructive political discourse. Though I was a high-functioning substance abuser, the thought of fighting for social change never crossed my mind when I was actively trying to hide from reality.

At age 29 in 2015, I moved to the hyper-political New York City — right before the 2016 presidential election campaigns began. I also quit drinking just a few months after moving here. Suddenly, I was plugged into a reality where nearly everything seemed to be a political statement that I could no longer ignore. So I learned. A lot. It was easy to avoid politics back in Texas. In fact, it’s rude to discuss politics and religion there. Folks often view anything that challenged the status quo as inappropriate. Now, in New York City, it’s considered tone-deaf to ignore the patriarchy, privilege, and pillaging that have shaped our country. 

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Doctor/lawmaker who fought drug abuse, tried to swap opioids for sex

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Who hasn’t? Raw deal –  

Oct. 22, 2020 –  Now the Democrat, who also goes by “Doc” and who has worked to fight drug abuse in Suffolk County, N.Y., could face up to nine years in prison. Spencer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges of third-degree sale of a controlled substance and third-degree possession of a controlled substance, Newsday reported. A judge released him without bond after he surrendered his passport and gun. Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini told the newspaper that Spencer “essentially confessed” to the incident. Sini called the incident “obviously troubling” for someone of Spencer’s occupation and noted that an investigation would continue.

“It is extremely disturbing that an individual is engaging in this type of behavior who is a sitting county legislator as well as a medical doctor,” he said. “Someone who has spoken about drug prevention and substance abuse disorder.”  Spencer’s attorney, Mark Goidell, said in a statement to Newsday that his client “dedicated his life to the well-being of the community, his family and his patients. Nothing about these charges diminishes those contributions.”  Yet following a decades-long prescription drug epidemic that has raged nationwide while doctors and pharmaceutical companies have denied responsibility, the charges…

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Robert Downey, Jr. Opens up About Heavy Drug Use

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – The son also rises! –  

Oct. 24, 2020 – In a new interview on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, the now-sober Iron Man actor recalls being in a “near-coma” at points before being revived in order to start working. He confirmed to Letterman that he used heroin and cocaine and drank heavily, as well. He claims this substance abuse issues began when he was 8 years old and did not stop until age 38. “Back then, when I was a kid, doing that, you could say that it was ‘fun’, but it was pretty stressful too,” he said, per the Hindustan Times.

He recalled one instance while filming 1995’s Home for the Holidays, which Jodie Foster directed and produced. She noted his abuse during the production and advised him not to “try this again.”

“There was a single crossover, and I call it the most relaxed performance in the history of cinema,” Downey said. “She was really critical of just being like, ‘Well, looks like you’re getting away with it on this one. I wouldn’t try this again because we’re kind of a forgiving group.’ I was like, ‘Wasn’t that last take great?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re great. It’s going great.’”

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Mitch Winehouse: Drug addiction is as indiscriminate as cancer

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Father knows best? –

Oct. 22, 2020 – MY RESPONSE to some of Amy’s ‘situations’ was that I would pretend to have a heart attack and go into hospital, thinking that would shock her into going straight.

“At the end of the day though, that stuff doesn’t work. Amy stopped taking drugs when she wanted to stop taking drugs…”

Mitch Winehouse, father of the late singer Amy Winehouse, is reflecting on some of his attempts to intervene when his daughter was struggling with addiction.

As one of the most discussed singer-songwriters of her generation, Amy’s lasting legacy is a tale of two halves. Although remembered as a great singing talent, during her short life, she became just as famous for her battles with drugs and alcohol, as she was for her iconic voice. In 2011, aged 27, she died of alcohol poisoning.

In the wake of her death, Amy’s family set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation (amywinehousefoundation.org), a charity that helps to support other young people struggling with addiction.

“We created the foundation literally the day Amy passed away,” recalls Mitch (69). “I was in America and I said to the family, ‘We can either jump in a hole, or we can do something positive’.”

Among other things to date, the charity has addressed around 300,000 kids in schools as part of its Resilience Programme, and also runs Amy’s Place, a residential recovery house for young women.

“We provide counselling support, and in some cases, we fund residential rehab,” says Jane, Amy’s step-mother and a co-founder of the charity. “It’s virtually impossible to get funded for residential rehab in this country. It’s an area that’s on the decline as the drug treatment budgets are decreasing, so we’re trying filling the gaps where we can.”

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To Limit the Spread of Coronavirus in the US, National Mask Mandate shall be Considered, Says Former FDA chief

In the United States, the spread of the coronavirus is happening at a very fast pace as the country has made a new record of average seven-day cases since the start of the pandemic. The previous record average cases for a week were 67,293 cases but on Sunday it reached 68,767 new cases. The country also reported record for daily new cases both on Friday and Saturday with the new cases reported being more than 83,000. Seeing the grim situation former commissioner of the US food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Scott Gottlieb wrote in an open-ed that now may be the time to introduce a limited and temporary mask mandate.

Gottlieb wrote that the mask mandate can be limited for a period of only two months and that it will be easier for the people to wear face masks in winter as compared to summer. He added that this little inconvenience of wearing masks will allow the spread of the coronavirus to be reduced and keep more businesses and schools open.

Also Read: Young Kids are being Influenced to Eat Junk Food by YouTube Influencers, study says

According to the latest predictions, the deaths by the virus are expected to increase in the winter so Gottlieb believes that to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country the policymakers will need to do something as the stay-at-home orders will get no support.

More than 100,000lives can be saved in the US alone if the people start wearing masks, according to the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation data released on Friday. The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees with the idea of implementing a mask mandate by saying that if the people of the US are not wearing masks, then maybe the government officials of the country should mandate it.

While the spread of coronavirus in the country looks uncontrollable Gottlieb believes that things will look much worse over the period of next month or so and that he doesn’t forecast any forceful policy being implemented to reduce the spread of the virus in the US. He added that if strong policies are not implemented and this window is missed then the cases are going to accelerate and will get much more difficult to control it than it is now.

Gottlieb said that the states should be given the opportunity to decide how they are going to force the mandate however, the ultimate goal should be to make masks wearing a cultural and social norm, and not make it a political statement. President Trump appointed Gottlieb as the commissioner of the FDA and served during the period from May of 2017 to May of 2019.

The US is now at a dangerous tipping point and the country is now entering what will be a steep slope of the epidemic curve, said Gottlieb. People are now socially gathering indoors and also family events are now being moved indoors due to the colder weather which is one of the major reasons for the high rate of the spread of the virus, according to the officials.

The governor of Maryland believes that the number 1 source of the spread of coronavirus in the state this week is the gathering of families. Moreover, health officials in North Carolina reported that the case count in the state has hit its highest on Friday and believes that social and religious gatherings are mainly the reason.

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Basic hygiene Practice is the Only Way to Control Coronavirus

Medical experts believe that following a basic hygiene practice is the only way to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Initiated from Wuhan, China this virus has spread to dozens of countries infecting more than 1,000,00 people and 3400 deaths. CDC has shared the guidelines to control the spread of coronavirus that include washing hands properly, covering mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing, avoiding public interaction and contact with an infected patient or surface. However, these guidelines need a little more specification.

It is necessary to know that coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads through droplets that travel in the air. The droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze can travel to a maximum of six feet on the nearest surface and may live up to many days. The World Health Organization shares that it is possible to get coronavirus infection even by touching these infected surfaces where these respiratory droplets settle.

Paul Biddinger is the director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation, and Practice Program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He says that coronavirus infection is transmitted when a person sneezes or coughs near a person. This is the simplest explanation of how coronavirus spreads.

He emphasizes practicing good hand hygiene. if a person has an urge to sneeze or cough, instead of covering the face with hands, it is better to sneeze or rough on your elbow.

Also read- President Trump signed $8.3B Bill to Get Rid of Coronavirus in USA

Although the basic hygiene practices seem easy and obvious it is necessary to know that they are effective and important. Washing hands with any germicidal soap for at least 20 seconds reduces the chances of catching any virus from surfaces. Biddinger states that most people are careless about their hand hygiene.

It may sound silly that a person is watching a YouTube Video on how to wash hands properly during the coronavirus pandemic. However, knowing how to wash your hands can save you from the virus, he adds.

The hand sanitizers are only helpful if they contain 60% or more content of alcohol, confirms the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, note that hand sanitizer doesn’t work if a person’s hands are dirty and he needs to wash them anyway.

Also read- Serbia and Vatican reported their First Coronavirus Cases, First Death in the Netherlands

The importance of washing hands for preventing a disease’s spread is proven by research, for example, a  study from 2006 reveals a 16% decrease in respiratory illness by frequently washing hands. Another study from 2008 showed that it contributes to a 21% reduced risk of disease.

The guideline also includes, not to touch the face, eyes, and nose after touching any surface or after contact with a person. It is necessary to know that avoiding face touching helps in controlling the spread as a respiratory virus is much likely to spread through the eyes, nose, and mouth maybe.

 

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One Million People Test Positive for Coronavirus in Spain

Coronavirus in Spain has infected one million people making the country the first in Western Europe to reach that figure. The government of the country is planning to impose some new restrictions to stop the spread of the virus as the country reported 575 deaths in the previous week, which brings the total to 34,366 deaths.

The undesirable milestone came six weeks after Spain crossed 500,000 coronavirus cases and became the first country in western Europe to do so. Madrid region accounts for nearly 33% of all the cases of coronavirus in Spain and its government is locked in an argument with the country’s central government on the method to control the crisis.

Also Read: A ‘New Organ’ in the Human Body Accidentally Discovered by Scientists

Coronavirus in Spain started in the months when the pandemic was at its beginning and the government of the country introduced some of the strictest measures to control it and one of those measures was that the children cannot go outside. However, as the cases decreased, Spain like other countries in Europe softened the restrictions. As the month of August approached its end the new daily cases started to rise by nearly 10,000 in a day. Hospitalizations also increased by around 20% only during the last two weeks and deaths are also rising.

The government of Spain recently imposed an emergency in Madrid taking control from local authorities, to reduce the spread of the coronavirus as Madrid is facing one of the most significant outbreaks in Europe. The emergency was affected immediately and lasted for two weeks and forced the local authorities of Madrid to reimpose the travel restrictions which the national government introduced initially but was ruled out by a Madrid court.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the regional president of Madrid, said on Wednesday that surgical measures will be introduced to bring the health and economy together. She also said that the most important thing for the government is that the economy of the country does not suffer any longer.

The hospital systems across Europe are at the risk of being adversely affected by the pressure of the increasing number of hospitalizations that are putting the continent in the central stage of the pandemic. The number of cases of coronavirus was restricted when the lockdowns were imposed in the months of March and April but now, they have started to increase rapidly. Health authorities in European nations are extremely concerned due to the renewed crisis which is affecting their health infrastructure.

The health minister of Belgium called the current situation of coronavirus in the country as a ‘tsunami’ of infections and has decided to postpone all unnecessary hospital procedures, other countries having a similar situation in Europe are likely to impose similar restrictions.

France announced nearly 27,000 new cases of the virus as the country is averaging around 25,000 daily cases in the last few days. Around 34,048 people have already died of the virus in France and the total number of cases of the virus has accumulated to around 957,421. As of right now, the government of France has imposed a curfew in some major cities including Paris, and now, they are planning to expand it.

Italy registered around 15,199 cases in the last 24 hours, which is a daily record since the outbreak began in the country. Moreover, 127 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours which is by far a lot lesser than in March and April when nearly 900 people died in a day of the virus.

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Sackler Family Makes $8B Opioid Deal for 100,000’s Deaths. No Jail Time.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Crime Pays –

Oct. 21, 2020 – The controversial settlement, valued at more than $8.3 billion, would restructure Purdue Pharma, which entered bankruptcy last year. Going forward, the company would operate as a public trust under government control, continuing to manufacture opioid medications. The Justice Department also said much of this settlement will help states and communities, providing them with “extraordinary new resources” for treatment of people suffering addiction.

In recent days, critics worked to head off this deal even before it was made public, saying it would entangle the government in a risky drug-making operation without holding the company or its owners accountable.

In a letter sent last week to Attorney General William Barr, 25 state attorneys general urged the Justice Department to “avoid having special ties to an opioid company” that “caused a national crisis.”

Nearly three dozen Democratic members of Congress also sent a letter to Barr last week insisting any resolution of Purdue Pharma’s role in the opioid crisis result in prison time for company owners and executives.

“Purdue and the Sackler family perpetrated one of the most egregious criminal acts in American history,” lawmakers argued in the letter, calling for more aggressive prosecutions.

more@APNews

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