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Pittsburgh’s first sober pop-up bar, shares her story of recovery and self-care

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Everything is Possible –

Sep. 15, 2020 – “At first, I thought, ‘I got this,’” says Hilliard. “Shortly after, I realized what I actually signed up for — a lifelong road of healing, patience, gentleness and acceptance.”

As one of the creators of Empath, a pop-up sober bar, one of Hilliard’s self-care routines was as social as it was personal.

As reported in NEXTPittsurgh, since its first gathering in April 2018, Empath has hosted dance nights, happy hours, yoga and sound bath events. Hilliard had noted the social challenges facing people in recovery and the many connections Empath was able to build in the community. Her hope? That Empath was helping to revolutionize Pittsburgh’s social scene. Invigorated by music and dancing or a wellness event followed by healthy mixed drinks, people at Empath events bond, laugh and develop new relationships, she says.

“When I began my recovery, I immersed myself in physical self-care — like taking long baths, going for nature walks, meditation, yoga, dancing, etc. All these activities are a form of self-care and so beautiful, but I was doing to bring my life into balance. I wasn’t living my life how I wanted and being truthful with myself,” says Hilliard.

more@NextPittsburgh

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‘Sober Curator’ showcases fun ways to live a dry lifestyle

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – She’s Curious and Sober –

Bryson started drinking at age 16 and was a self-professed party girl in her 20’s. Old scrapbooks contain memories of nights she’d rather forget.

Sep. 14, 2020 – “I just surrounded everything with beautiful cocktail stickers and pretty paper and tried to glamorize it and make it look good, but it really wasn’t,” Bryson said. “It may have been how the night would start but it was never how the night would end.”

She’s now been sober for more than a decade and while it isn’t always easy, she is certain of one thing: the party doesn’t have to stop just because the alcohol does.

“I got sober so I could live a great life, and I have figured out a way to do that and now I just want to share those tips with others,” she said.

She launched The Sober Curator – a first-of-its-kind website showcasing things to do, drink, see and experience for those living a dry lifestyle.

more@King5

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NY charges Johnson & Johnson with fraud over opioid claims

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Innocent until proven greedy –

Sep. 17, 2020 – “Misrepresentation of opioids to consumers for profit is inexcusable,” Cuomo said in a statement. Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

New York said Johnson & Johnson manufactured opioid products in the state such as the fentanyl patch Duragesic and drug Nucynta, and said its “Norman Poppy” was once responsible for as much as 80 percent of the global supply for oxycodone raw materials.

The New Brunswick, NJ-based company was charged with violating two New York insurance laws, with civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.

more@NYPost

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Doctor faces charges for over-prescribing for cash after 2 patients die

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Paging Dr. Morte –

Sep. 17, 2020 – Now the Scranton doctor accused of over-prescribing opioids in exchange for cash incentives from a drug manufacturer is facing federal charges for his allegedly illegal prescriptions. Now, more than two years later, the doctor faces a federal indictment accusing him of being part of an elaborate scheme to overprescribe an opioid called Subsys to 13 of his patients.

According to paperwork filed in federal court, two of Moran’s patients — a 35-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman — overdosed and died from the drugs he prescribed.

The indictment alleges the drug company paid Moran ‘kickbacks’ to prescribe the drug and disguised those payments as speaking fees.

It is alleged Moran was paid $140,000 over the course of two years to prescribe this drug.

more@PennLive

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5 Tricks Helped Me Not Drink During My First Week of Sobriety

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Use them all! –

Sep. 19, 2020 – Some say that’s the hardest. It’s that period of uncertainty where the newly sober attempts to make all sorts of concessions concerning their hell-raising lifestyle and break lifelong habits that have historically led them to the bottom of a 12-pack and a night of drunken indiscretion. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to hold it down without falling off the wagon. I didn’t even scrape my knee trying to get on. How did I do it? Well, it certainly hasn’t been the easiest of challenges. But I’d like to think that the following five tricks helped keep me in check right out of the gate.

more@Brobible

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Owner of substance abuse facilities accused of sexually assaulting patients

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Prison sounds too nice –

Sept. 17, 2020 – The owner of several Houston substance abuse recovery facilities has been accused of sexual assaulting three women he met as patients, according to court records. During the press conference, Detective Baker expressed concern that there could be more victims that have not come forward.

more@HoustonChronicle

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E-Cig clouds aren’t ‘Vapour’, scientists warn, they are ‘Aerosol’

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Chemical Addiction –

Sept. 19, 2020 – As such, public health experts argue ‘aerosol’ is a more accurate description, as e-cigarette clouds have been shown to contain harmful chemicals that may hang in the air and settle on nearby surfaces.

The change in name might sound pedantic, but new research suggests it has a real impact on public policy and how individuals assess their risk of exposure from tobacco products.

Comparing three terms for e-cig emissions among 791 college students, researchers found the word “vapour” was linked to a lower sense of risk from secondhand exposure.

On the other hand, students who were asked questions using the words “chemicals” or “aerosols” were twice as likely to describe emissions as “harmful” or “very harmful”.

These individuals were also more likely to support a 100 percent tobacco-free campus policy.

“Smoke-free and tobacco-free campus environments are always a common-sense public health measure, and are especially so at this time, given the strong link between tobacco use and COVID-19 transmission among young people,” says public health scientist Matthew Rossheim from George Mason University.

“Colleges and universities are encouraged to urgently adopt tobacco-free campus policies to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.”

more@ScienceAlert

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Episode 2 ‘Still in Love’ Chasing the News…cold stone sober! – Hosted by William Cope Moyers

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

“Maintaining sobriety and fidelity during an era of uncertainty”
Two couples discuss the pandemic, commitment and Zoom rooms.

SIGN IN HERE:

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Older People are Physically and Mentally More Fit than Older People in the 1990’s

The physical and mental health of older people is much better than their age-fellows from the 1990s. This change was observed and explained by a recent study under the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). It revealed that being physically and mentally fit has helped to increase the life expectancy of older adults.

This study analyzed the physical and mental health of people from 45-80 years old range and compared the outcomes to the same age people from 1990s.

Also read- HIV- Positive Pedophile Man Raped a Minor Girl

Taina Rantanen, the lead researcher of this study says that they used different performance-based measures to see how these older people do their routine tasks. Then they evaluated the effects of these measurements on their cognitive health.

Among all participants, different factors such as speech, speed, verbal communication, memory, and everything is much better than thirty years ago. These people are more physically and mentally fit than people who are older than 80 years old. But some factors such as the lungs test were studied without identifying the differences in these cohorts.

An overall increase in the body size of these people and increased physical stamina ensures good walking speed as compared to people who were born before these people. among the highly significant underlying factors in these differences was the longer education.

A bigger body size increased age expectancy and improve physical and mental health all are much better than other older people who were born before these people. It shows that these people have grown up with a little different environment as compared to older adults 30 years ago.

There are many things that have changed, for example, better dietary habits, improved healthcare system, better education, accessibility to health and education, and much more productive life.

The increased life expectancy not only means more years to life but also shows better health. This observation is accompanied by the least chances of getting sick, better treatment facilities, and overall improved life.

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This study produces unique results because there is not much evidence on how the older generation is different from their counterparts of a few years ago. It may also give a feeling that understanding a person’s old age is somewhat old-fashioned which is considered to be lazy, sick, and vulnerable.

From the researchers’ point of view, the old age doesn’t always mean weak, sick, and bed-ridden. The situation is pretty much changed after the improved lifestyle, better food availability, healthcare system, and changed parameters. Right now, two entirely opposite things are happening together; one is that life expectancy is increasing. And second, the number of old people is also increasing.

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Sleight of Hand; Slight on “Real” Inclusivity

By bob k

Thank the Lord (in a manner of speaking) for the wonderful liberals among the God-believers in Alcoholics Anonymous as I encountered them years ago. These delightful creatures were more interested in seeing me get sober than in coaxing me into a new relationship with the Almighty. Alcoholics Anonymous provides the narrowest of gates for some of us. I remain genuinely grateful for the broad-minded folks who helped me to slither through.

The members of AA are a diverse group, of course. There were then and are now, many of a different ilk. The “Get God or die” proclaimers are alive and well and in most instances, they loudly vocalize their pronouncements of what PRECISELY needs to be done to get sober. As they see it, that involves suiting up for the “God could and would if he were sought” team.

The inimitable Joe C. of Toronto and I have more than once discussed AA’s decreasing inclusiveness over the past few decades. That unfortunate development has been closely tied to a resurgence of interest in our society’s now eighty-one year old text, and the spread of “Thumperism.”

Ten years ago, the late conference speaker Sandy Beach, anonymously penned a screed against atheists and agnostics in AA. In his “WHITE PAPER ON THE MATTER OF AA ATHEIST/AGNOSTIC GROUPS AND RELATED CONCERNS,” Mr B. let it be known that heathens could quietly take up membership in AA, but they needed to shut the Hell up about their non-conforming beliefs. That rambling discourse brought to mind the odd position taken up by the U.S. military regarding members of the LGBTQ community. “Please afford us the opportunity for plausible deniability. We’d like to go on pretending that you’re not even here.”

In “The ‘Don’t Tell’ Policy in AA” one of the finest essays ever to appear on this website, Roger C. looks at the similarity to AA in the U.S. military’s “Speak No Evil” stance.

Freethinkers in AA have been anything but silent in the twenty-first century. They are writing books, starting groups, and speaking out. The growth of the secular demographic in recent years has been remarkable. Closet atheists and agnostics have exited their armoires and are breathing the fresh air of free expression. Most recently, Zoom has brought the idea of non-religious AA to folks who otherwise could not have imagined such things.

Sorry, Sandy.

Of course, the fundies have been inspired to push back — hence the polarization.

But let’s return to the liberals. Those generous folks offered me a navigable path to sobriety. Forgive the cliches, but I was invited to replace the rejected God of my understanding with various G-O-D’s that included “Good Orderly Direction,” and “Group of Drunks.” Uncapitalized “higher powers” were offered for my consideration. The closest of my new friends made little effort to convert me.

Regarding my uncontrollable drinking, I was open to accepting the help of those who had overcome problems with alcohol that were similar to my own. I came to see a benefit in confession, restitution, helping others, and blending myself into the AA community. Earlier, I had come to a full acceptance that there is no path to moderate drinking for people like me and that quitting drinking on one’s own is a very tall order. The substitutions for God had not been presented to me as temporary measures, but many of my new friends were surprised that years of AA sobriety resulted in no alteration of my “Big Picture” worldview.

The Bigga Booka

The literature presents a different picture.

For the sake of brevity, I will bypass the 12 + 12 with its “Seven Deadly Sins” etc., to focus exclusively on the Bigga Booka, as my North Bay friend Lena likes to call the divinely-inspired source of all wisdom. The root of the popular “higher power” term is found in AA’s second step: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The liberals had told me that there were a lot of powers greater than me including alcohol. Employers, police, judges and wives were also mentioned.

It did not escape my notice that none of those “powers” come with capital “P’s.” Did any of these come with power sufficient to restore human beings to sanity? As it turns out, the somewhat liberal-sounding “Power greater” has a very brief shelf life. This temporary power is a mere place-holder – a set of training wheels shortly to be discarded. Those paying close attention were warned of this early in the book: “It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power (capital “P”) greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point.” (BB, p. 12, Bill’s Story)

On page 46, the pretense that “Power greater” and “God” are something different is dropped: “… it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power which is God.”

Presto Change-o

Magicians have some very cool names for their trickery – “prestidigitation,” “misdirection,” “legerdemain,” “hocus pocus,” “sleight of hand.” A distraction is created to disguise what’s really going on. While the left hand is doing something dramatic and eye-catching, the right hand engages in something sneaky. “Power greater” and “own conception of God” are left hand activities. The right hand is the Hand of God. It was there all along. In the literature, these issues are quite transparent. The “non-God” God option is a temporary measure – a single step onto Jacob’s ladder.

The agnostic, or atheist (God forbid), is expected to come around “sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.” Look at “Our Southern Friend” Fitz, New York Number 3. The minister’s son had abandoned the religion of his childhood after finding it incompatible with his taste for hedonistic “sinning.” A mere half-hour after being visited by Bill and Hank, Fitz finds himself on his knees crying and praying, his “militant” atheism seemingly poofed away by the Grace of God.

(I am contemplating a lawsuit against the English department of the University of Toronto as I appear to have developed a very poor understanding of words like “militant.”)

Some of AA’s self-declared “militant atheists” were angry at God. Others such as Fitz were fearful of the divine wrath destined to come as retribution for his “sins of the flesh.” It was wishful thinking that perhaps the punishing God of his Christian upbringing was mythological. The mislabelers have contributed to the poor understanding of the “real” atheist and the educated agnostic in Alcoholics Anonymous circles.

The personal story of Bill’s book-producing business partner, Hank P., was called “The Unbeliever.” He too found himself bawling and praying to what he called a “Universal Power.” Although God was likely pleased by the capital letters, He may have found the mislabeling offensive, as He reversed Hank’s awakening and returned him to drinking less than five months after the Bigga Booka came to print.

Alcoholics Anonymous employs the magician’s chicanery although a word search of the sacred text reveals no “abracadabra’s.” They are implicit, I suppose.

My new AA friends had performed all manner of liberal-sounding misdirection. Most were sincere in their inclusiveness as they sought to change my drinking moreso than my philosophy. Their liberal talk is not backed up by the literature. The book is far more supportive of the fundamentalist’s position. “Get God or die.” “no human power,” etc.

The magician’s left hand holds up the “own conception” idea for the briefest time before we are presented with AA’s conception — the “real” view of what God is. He is omnipotent, benevolent, an Employer, a Father, a Director, a Manager, and a Him. We are suddenly smothered by an avalanche of “He’s” and “Him’s.” The female fundamentalist is forced to bite her lip and say, “It’s all just fine.”

There is a small number of non-believers in AA who think the literature is fine. These strange creatures largely hang their hats on a single line: “When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God.” (p. 47)

They put on blinders to what comes next, not even a paragraph later: “At the start this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth… Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach... we had to begin somewhere.”

In a less kindly view, the clever subterfuge might be viewed as a “bait and switch.” The customer is “baited” by an attractive, advertised product that is unavailable. The customer is “baited” by an attractive, advertised product that is unavailable. Drawn to the store by the dishonest marketing of an unscrupulous retailer, prospective buyers are pressured by salespeople to consider higher priced items. In the world of commerce, consumer protection laws have criminalized the bait and switch. In the world of recovery, the little fraud is seen as helpful.

“But there is One who has all power – that One is God. May you find Him now!” (p. 59) Jeez! Why not just say that in the first place? Well at least we get to choose our own conception of God, right? … Right? … “Great Out Doors maybe?” No?

HEY!!! What happened to “Group of Drunks” and “Good Orderly Direction?”

The somewhat grumpy Bob Smith had been more honest. “God is God, young man,” he had told Clarence Snyder in 1938. Bill Wilson took a different tack of “getting them into the pews.” The savages’ belligerent defiance would quickiy melt away in the presence of God’s miracles, it was presumed.

This article will be offensive to some and it could have been more so; the “bait and switch” analogy could have been given precedence. Wikipedia refers to that as “fraud.” Rigorous honesty only goes so far, I suppose.

Speaking of deceitfulness, the time has come to reveal a little trickery of our own. Bobby Beach is bob k., and bob k. is Bobby Beach.

Some of you freaken suspected that.

Bob K has been something of an activist in the secular AA community. He has been one of the most prolific contributors to the websites AA Agnostica and AA Beyond Belief. He co-founded Whitby Freethinkers in 2013 and has made some efforts to support those who have started other nonreligious AA groups. In 2015, AA Agnostica published bob’s Key Players in AA History, a book that continues to sell well. Coming soon are a few other books, including “The Secret Diaries of Bill W.”