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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Everyone needs a second chance –

Oct. 20, 2020 – ‘I’m struggling and I just hope I can raise the funds to end this ordeal. My love goes out to all of you and I’m sorry to have to ask for help.’

Donations have since flooded in, with the page raising £4,734 in 22 hours. 

In a short video message he said: ‘Thankyou so much everyone who sent something in so far. I really appreciate it. I am actually overwhelmed by the support I have received and hopefully I will get there some day.’  

Mr Walker reduced viewers to tears as he was shown walking out of hospital, covered in blood, to buy vodka after being told his alcoholism would kill him in Theroux’s documentary. The former university medical researcher’s late mother had struggled with alcoholism.

In comments alongside donations of mostly £5 and £10, people wrote messages of support for Mr Walker.

Amber Leach, who donated £5, said: ‘I think you’re very brave and hope you get the treatment you need. It will get better, don’t give up!’

Georgia Bishop, who donated £5, added: ‘I’m sorry I can’t afford to donate more. I really hope you can get the help you need. Well done for being brave enough to ask for help x’

Danielle Grant, who donated £25, said: ‘Joe getting sober was the best thing I ever did, stay close, get rehab sorted and live a better life. Hugs.’

Russ Ellams, who donated £10, said: ‘Joe, Im in recovery, I know what you are going through. I understand completely. I really hope you get to rehab. You deserve it.’

Tansy Hawksley donated £5 and wrote: ‘I recently went out with someone who has been clean for 17 years after a third party paid for their rehab.

more@DailyMail

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – “Right Before Your Eyes” –  

Oct. 18, 2020 – A local filmmaker’s movie is now available on Amazon Prime. Lebanon County resident David Vincent Bobb directed, wrote, and produced the movie, “Right Before Your Eyes.”

It’s inspired by his life story, overcoming addiction, and making amends with his son who has autism. He filmed a lot of the movie in the Midstate, including the Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg, where his recovery began.

“The movie is here to inspire. That’s the biggest thing, to give hope and to inspire, especially for the guys here at the mission, and anyone else who goes through this or is going through it, to show them, that no matter how bad it gets, there’s always hope and I’m living proof of that,” said David Vincent Bobb.

The movie ran in select theaters in Pennsylvania last summer. In addition to Amazon Prime…

more@ABC27

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Please Live Longer –

Oct. 23, 2020 – “The fall/winter surge will intensify in November and December, reaching a peak in January. Many states will face enormous pressure on hospital capacity and will likely have to re-impose some social distancing mandates. The best strategy to delay re-imposition of mandates and the associated economic hardship is to expand mask use.” … Yet under the assumption that states shut down when their daily death rate exceeds 8 deaths per 1 million people in the population but mask-wearing doesn’t change, the study’s model projections forecast the death toll could reach 511,373 deaths by February 28.

The scenario that 95% of people in each state wear masks — in addition to states reinstating social distancing mandates if their daily death rates exceed 8 deaths per 1 million people — resulted in the lowest death toll projection, with 381,798 deaths by February 28, according to the study.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data on Covid-19 cases and deaths in the United States from February 1 through September 21. That analysis — along with other factors, such as pneumonia seasonality, testing rates and mask use — helped inform model projections for the course of the pandemic through February 28.

The study had some limitations, including that the findings are only forecast projections from models and not definitive about what the future holds — and mask wearing tends to fluctuate, so the 49% figure used in the study appears to now be outdated.

IHME Director Dr. Chris Murray also emphasized during a virtual press briefing on Friday that the institute’s weekly modeling projections provide more updated data than what is provided in the study. However, the study still helps offer insight into how mask-wearing can make a difference.

“We think the key point here is that there’s a huge winter surge coming and our models have been showing that for many months,” Murray said on Friday.

more@MSN

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Stick with the Winners! –

October 23, 2020 – Joey Carson is a Transformative leader and change agent with over two decades of broadcast television and digital content production experience. His numerous television credits include a variety of nonfiction and scripted programming for MTV, HBO, A&E, FOX, ABC, NBC, FSN, Oxygen and the multi- Emmy Award-winning documentary “Autism: The Musical”. He was previously chosen by the Producers’ Guild of America and The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “Digital 50”, new media producers and innovators shaping the future of digital storytelling via broadcast, games, interactive television and mobile content.

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your Drug of Choice? and when did you stop using?
A. Alcohol. I stopped twice; once in 1985, then again in 2015 after 25 years of sobriety and a 4-year relapse. Sober over 5 years now.

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

Q. Do you log on to ZOOM 12-step meetings? How often? Do you share?
A. Yes, I do them weekly in an intensive 12-Step Study group. I share in every meeting and also lead them frequently.

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

GIRLS gone mild –

Oct. 23, 2020 – The pandemic has brought a whole new layer of anxiety, and also a whole new mode of needing to sit with myself. It’s like hitting a new level in a video game and having to battle different goblins, but it’s proved possible, and on some days even lovely. Being a writer, I am pretty accustomed to long stretches of time with just my dog and my thoughts and the clacking of computer keys, and I feel very blessed doing that with only the buzz of coffee. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in your sobriety?  So many magical things have occurred, in work, in travel, in health. Maybe they’re miracles, maybe I just didn’t notice this stuff before. But the very best thing is how so many of my relationships have strengthened themselves, even certain ones that seemed beyond repair for whatever reason. I’ve been able to show up as an adult to these dynamics, and they’ve been able to see me show up, and the love just flows. To those reading this who want to help, what can they do? It’s really scary to ask for help. It’s scary to admit you need it, maybe even scarier to admit it to yourself than it is to admit it to somebody else. But the moment you ask, a lightness really does appear. An amazing place to start is to call the SAMSHA national helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

more@HollywoodReporter

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Scumbag Millionaires –  

Oct. 23, 2020 – Walmart has been tightening its policies on filling opioid prescriptions, according to its “opioid stewardship initiative” – not just questioning particular scripts, but refusing to fill any prescription for controlled substances from doctors about whom the company had doubts. In part to appease federal regulators, Walmart applied various restrictions on controlled substances. But soon state authorities accused the company of violating state regulations – even of committing crimes – by blocking prescriptions or even just filling smaller quantities of drugs than doctors had specified. The company also received pushback from medical groups that accused Walmart of trampling on doctors’ prescribing prerogatives. 

Walmart’s damned-if-you-fill-the-script, damned-if-you-don’t bind reflects the problems faced by large chain pharmacies, which also include CVS and Walgreens. They are among the chief targets in opioid-related lawsuits that may be some of the most complicated and expensive litigation in American history – the so-called National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The companies didn’t get there on their own: Contradictory regulations, demands, and threats from Washington and the states have combined to create a tangle trapping the pharmacies, leaving them exposed to plaintiffs’ lawyers in a massive “multi-district litigation” playing out in an Ohio court. 

The nationwide tobacco litigation of the 1990s was complex enough, involving the states and a handful of cigarette manufacturers. By contrast, plaintiffs in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation – counties, boroughs, parishes, cities, townships, municipalities, and villages – number in the thousands. They are looking for just about everyone in the opioid business – manufacturers, distributors, and retailers – to pay for the opioid misuse that has been so costly to society. Plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking damages well into the billions.

more@ThePress

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

All taxes go for free rehabs? –

Oct. 19, 2020 – Transform’s campaign for legalising the three drugs is backed by the former president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos. He has publicly stated that only through legalisation can the resources of mafia organisations be taken away. “I am totally in favour of legalising cocaine,” Santos said.

The book proposes that a specialist regulatory agency, overseen by the government, could license production of the drugs.

Only a single adult use dosage of the drugs would be available in unbranded pharma-style plain packaging with highly visible health warnings and risk information. The new regulatory agency would determine prices and there would be a ban on advertising the drugs.

The sale would be managed by a state monopoly to minimise profit incentives, which Transform said would only increase sales. Specialist new pharmacies would open under strict controls with vendors trained to offer health and risk-reduction advice to drug users.

The book’s authors stressed that sales should be limited to over-18s, with only one dose per purchase.

more@TheGuardian

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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.”

more@LATimes

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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…

more@PerezHilton

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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. 

more@TheTemper

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