The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - January 4, 2023
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Does CDC data indicate 2022 was a turning point in the deadly opioid crisis? | President Biden signs bipartisan measure to improve addiction treatment
Fentanyl
How to talk to your teen about fentanyl
State and Local
"Dopey” podcast saves Detroit man from addiction | California taking addiction fight to the streets
Studies/Research in the News
Psychedelics to treat SUDs
Opinion
Is big business destined to run legal weed?
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Comments
National
Dax Shepard’s Most Powerful Quotes About His Struggle With Addiction and Path to Sobriety
“All the things I'd done were terrifying to her, and she had a hard time believing I would ever be able to stay married and monogamous and a father and all those things. For the first year and a half [that] we were together, that was what we battled over almost weekly,” he told Playboy in 2012, noting that he had a history of drinking and using “cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything.” Shepard later turned his life around and pursued sobriety.
Yahoo! - Jan. 2, 2023
U.S. opioid crisis hit a deadly peak in 2022 but also perhaps a turning point
When the history of America's long, devastating opioid crisis is finally written, 2022 may be remembered as both a low point and a turning point. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the avalanche of overdose deaths — driven largely by the spread of illicit fentanyl --may have crested in March. Researchers found a staggering 110,236 people died in a single 12-month period, a stunning new record. But there are signs help may finally be on the way.
NPR - Dec. 31, 2022
Anthony Hopkins marks 47 years sober with inspiring speech to those struggling with addiction
Sir Anthony Hopkins shared an inspiring speech reminding his followers to "be kind to yourself" as he recently marked a personal milestone. The "Silence of the Lambs" actor, who turns 85 on New Year's Eve, took to Instagram Thursday to share a video, saying, "I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and also to say I'm celebrating 47 years today of sobriety."
Yahoo! - Dec. 30, 2022
President Signs Bipartisan Measure to Improve Addiction Treatment
Legislation will expand access to medication proven to reduce overdose deaths. President Joe Biden signed a multipart end-of-year appropriations bill on Dec. 29 that includes the bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act. The measure included in the omnibus package will make buprenorphine—a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for opioid use disorder (OUD)—more readily accessible to people seeking treatment.
Pew Charitable Trusts - Dec. 30, 2022
After record drug deaths, there have been major reforms in addiction treatment
The opioid epidemic surged in 2022 — killing record numbers of Americans, but help may be on the way in the form of more aid to communities and major reforms in opioid addiction treatment.
NPR - Dec. 30, 2022
Addiction Treatment for Inmates Draws Biden Drug Focus for 2023
Incarcerated Americans struggling with addiction are slated to be the focus of 2023 Biden administration plans to quell soaring national drug use, a top White House official told Bloomberg Law. The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is working with the administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration and the Health and Human Services Department on a plan to provide addiction treatment services to incarcerated individuals across federal correctional systems, Rahul Gupta, the office’s director, said in an interview Thursday.
Bloomberg - Dec. 29, 2022
The benefits of ‘Dry January’ last longer than a month, studies show
Studies show that people who participate in Dry January and other sobriety challenges frequently experience lasting benefits. Often, they drink less in the long run and make other sustained changes to their drinking habits that lead to striking improvements in their health and well-being.
Washington Post - Dec. 27, 2022
Somalia's opioid overdose: Young, female and addicted
It was the discovery of the body of a 22-year-old woman on the streets of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last year that brought into the open the problem of female drug addiction in the city. Health workers said she died from an opioid overdose.
BBC - Dec. 27, 2022
Participation in Dry January is growing. Can it lead to ‘mindful drinking’?
Is there something to the “sober curious” movement, one of the many buzzwords for giving up alcohol for a variety of health reasons? Experts told me that Dry January can serve as a reset or spur heightened awareness around drinking. It might be one of the most enduring gains of the activity.
Los Angeles Times - Dec. 27, 2022
Psychedelic therapies are on the horizon, but who will administer the drugs?
Psychedelics are gaining momentum as potential therapies for certain mental health conditions and may soon be prescribed by doctors in some states. As clinical trials on psychedelics continue, and as legalization efforts gain win after win, schools are ramping up efforts to train the therapists and practitioners who will administer them.
NBC - Dec. 26, 2022
‘Dry January’ can work, yes, but beware a ‘boozy December’: experts
“Dry January,” as the name implies, involves avoiding alcohol for 31 days during the month of January. There is “growing evidence that support provided through organized abstinence challenges is associated with changes in beliefs linked to harmful drinking,” the researchers said in the study. “However, there is a need for further research to help us to understand what forms of support are most effective for different drinkers.”
NY Post - Dec. 24, 2022
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Comments
Fentanyl
Fentanyl killed their son. Now they’re begging parents to understand the dangers
It is critical that parents talk to their teens about fentanyl, and approach the conversation in a spirit of curiosity, asking “thoughtful, open-ended questions” about their knowledge of the drug, and do more listening than lecturing. Parents should also seek to create a safe space where teens can confide in them if they are facing mental health or substance abuse problems.
CNN - Dec. 28, 2022
Parents, here are tips to save your teens from fentanyl
Pediatricians like me aren’t used to our patients dying. Most children and teens are healthy and thrive, and although some might experiment with drugs, teen overdoses are relatively uncommon. A rising threat, however, is forcing all of us – especially parents – to grapple with a new reality. Parents are key to keeping teens safe. The new CDC data tells us that teens most commonly overdose at home. So, what can parents do?
CNN - Dec. 27, 2022
State / Local
'Dopey' podcast helps save Detroit area-native from drug addiction
A Grosse Pointe native, Rentz, 34, began abusing drugs at 16 and has struggled with it ever since. But with the aid of a recovery podcast that’s been a lifeline for thousands, he’s regained control of his life, is on a healthy path and has found a way to give back to those who helped him get sober.
Detroit Free-Press - Dec. 29, 2022
SC universities, state agencies combine to fight addiction
South Carolina’s three research universities are joining with the state agencies that protect public health and fight addictions to try to find the best ways to help the 1 in 10 state residents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. The agreement comes as governments across the state are getting ready to get the first chunk of $360 million over 18 years from an opioid settlement with a pharmaceutical company and three major opioid distributors. The South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addiction will collect data to analyze what approaches to addiction work best and what doesn’t and then make sure the money directed toward the problem is spent wisely.
Fox Carolina - Dec. 29, 2022
California: More street medicine teams tackle the homeless health care crisis
Living on the streets of California is a deadly affair. The life expectancy of an unsheltered person is 50, according to national estimates, nearly 30 years less than that of the average Californian. Now, the state Medi-Cal agency is endeavoring to improve health care access for people experiencing homelessness. Through a series of incentives and regulatory changes, the Health Care Services Department is encouraging Medi-Cal insurers to fund and partner with organizations that bring primary care into encampments. They’re known as street medicine teams. There are at least 25 in California.
CalMatters - Dec. 27, 2022
New Mexico: Treatment for opioids in New Mexico prisons is smart and humane
Disability Rights New Mexico and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico have filed a federal lawsuit to require the Corrections Department to provide the medication for opioid use disorder and declare its current practices unlawful and in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Currently the New Mexico Corrections Department doesn’t provide this type of medication in its facilities, except for those who are pregnant.
Albuquerque Journal - Dec. 27, 2022
Studies/Research in the News
Psychedelics' use studied for alcohol, drug disorders
Psilocybin and many other psychedelics are broadly prohibited under federal law, categorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration as having “no currently accepted medical use.” Yet U.S. researchers have been legally scrutinizing possible uses of psychedelics in scores of clinical trials approved by the government, addressing their effects on anorexia, migraines and a range of other maladies. The Food and Drug Administration has deemed psilocybin a potential “breakthrough therapy” for treating depression, a designation that could fast-track the path to new pharmaceuticals.
Los Angeles Time - Jan. 2, 2023
Opinion
Is legal weed doomed to be run by big business?
Pro-marijuana advocates have become surprising foes of some efforts to legalize. Here’s why. one surprising trend is emerging: push and pull among pro-cannabis advocates who say that legalization may not be the right move after all — or at least not the way it’s shaping up. Their concern? Who will actually benefit from a federally regulated industry.
Vox - Dec. 28, 2022