The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - November 1, 2023
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Adolescent opioid use disorder treatment lags demand | College course examines liquor in literature
State and Local
Kentucky commission studying hallucinogenic drugs for addiction treatment hears about dangers of ibogaine | Shatterproof’s Treatment Atlas addiction locator now includes Connecticut
Studies/Research in the News
Scientists in Brazil developing vaccine for cocaine addiction | What the research has to say about social media addiction
Opinion
Pres. of ASAM says ‘special registration’ for telehealth treatment of addiction is misguided | Addictive tech design is not free speech
Books and Movies
John Stamos memoir discusses actor’s alcohol addiction, recovery
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
(Inter)National
State attorneys general allege addiction through data collection
Meta is facing a major enforcement action from 42 U.S. attorneys general, focused on alleged mental health harms to young people facilitated by the company's platforms. This represents the culmination of an investigation that was first announced in 2021.
IAPP - Oct. 27, 2023
How Jelly Roll overcame addiction and prison to become the new (tattooed) face of country
Rising country music star Jelly Roll has topped the Billboard country airplay charts this year with his songs “Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner.” But the singer’s path to country music stardom wasn’t always smooth, as he battled addiction and spent time in prison. L.A. Times pop music critic Mikael Wood wrote about how Jelly Roll became the unlikely new face of country music.
Los Angeles Times - Oct. 27, 2023
To better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature
Students read fiction, poetry and drama about many aspects of alcohol and other addictive substances: celebrating them, struggling with them, even prohibiting and regulating them. Students compare the literary representations of substance and alcohol abuse with medical descriptions and impacts. Since alcohol affects and disables people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or class, it is easy to find literature about the impact of alcohol from many points of view.
The Conversation - Oct. 26, 2023
Why Wynonna Judd’s weight loss journey is an eye-opener: She beat both food addiction and depression
When US country music star Wynonna Judd opens each of her acts these days by sharing information about her weight loss journey, it is not just about looking young and fit at 59. It is also a story of battling serious obesity issues, binge-eating, body dysmorphia, a condition where a person feels their appearance is flawed, and dealing with her mother’s suicide. People use food to soothe the reward centres of the brain when feeling low. ‘This leads to abnormal weight gain which perpetuates negative body image. This is a vicious cycle,’ says Dr Shaunak Ajinkya, Consultant Psychiatrist, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai.
The Indian Express - Oct. 26, 2023
Executives with addictions are hiring sober companions for up to $4,000 a day for continuous recovery support
While some executives suffer in silence out of fear of losing their powerful positions and damaging their reputations, others seek help from conventional routes, such as rehab and support groups. Increasingly, however, high-powered corporate professionals are hiring sober companions who provide discreet, and sometimes round-the-clock, support for their recovery journeys.
Fortune - Oct. 25, 2023
Fentanyl addiction treatment for kids and teenagers lags far behind demand
An alarming rise in overdose deaths among children and teenagers is colliding with an inadequate pediatric mental health system — including a lack of addiction treatment. Why it matters: Limited treatment options and coverage gaps mean that many kids aren't getting needed care that could help prevent them from developing a deeper and potentially deadly addiction.
Axios - Oct. 24, 2023
Dozens of states sue Meta claiming social media addiction harms children’s mental health
More than 40 states and the District of Columbia have sued Meta, accusing the tech giant of building addictive features into its popular social media platforms that contribute to a youth mental health crisis. The features designed for these apps, the infinite scroll feature, for one example, are done with a awareness that they drive addictive behavior, that there are no guardrails, that young people aren't self-regulating, and that they're adopting these technologies, to their detriment.
PBS - Oct. 24, 2023
States sue Instagram-parent Meta over 'addictive' features and youth mental health harms
Dozens of states sued Instagram-parent Meta on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of harming young users’ mental health through allegedly addictive features such as infinite news feeds and frequent notifications that demand users’ constant attention.
CNN - Oct. 24, 2023
Why substance abuse treatment is never 'one size fits all'
Few people are untouched by addiction. It cuts across age, socioeconomic status, gender and race, and has been with us for all of recorded history. Treatment can be challenging, though, as people entering recovery often need comprehensive and multifaceted care. Destinee Lucier, assistant clinical director at Lake Avenue Recovery and Addiction Treatment Center in Worcester, joined All Things Considered host Arun Rath to break down what evidence-based treatment is available. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
WGBH - Oct. 24, 2023
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Comments
State / Local
Wisconsin: Winnebago County Jail’s Drug Addiction Treatment Program Shows Promising Results in its First Year
A year after launching a drug addiction treatment program in the jail, Winnebago County is seeing successful outcomes.
WTAQ - Oct. 27, 2023
Oregon: Lane County approves methadone clinic in downtown Eugene
Lane County Commissioners voted unanimously this week to let Oregon Recovery and Treatment Centers open a methadone clinic in downtown Eugene, saying the new clinic would help provide much-needed drug addiction treatment to the area, earning praise from liberal and conservative commissioners.
Eugene Register-Guard - Oct. 27, 2023
Oregon lawmakers prep to tackle drug addiction in 2024 session
A new committee will meet for the first time as lawmakers start to look for solutions to Oregon’s drug addiction crisis. Oregon lawmakers want to look at the state’s drug addiction crisis – and seek solutions – from all angles before the next legislative session starts in February. That work starts in earnest at 1 p.m. Wednesday, when the new Joint Interim Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response meets for the first time. Legislative leaders announced the eight-member committee in September amid concerns about drug addiction, deadly overdoses and what role Oregon’s drug decriminalization law plays after voters in 2020 passed Measure 110, which also put marijuana revenue toward addiction programs throughout the state.
The World Link - Oct. 27, 2023
Nebraska: Former Scottsbluff Police captain admitted to opioid addiction, theft of evidence
According to details disclosed in the meeting by Nebraska Crime Commission attorney David Stolz, records submitted by Scottsbluff Police Department Police Chief Kevin Spencer cited Wasson as having allegedly admitting to having stolen fentanyl from the department’s evidence room. The theft was reported by Wasson to have been occurring “a little less than a year,” Stolz said. Wasson cited himself as suffering from an opioid addiction in making the admission.
Star-Herald - Oct. 27, 2023
Kentucky commission weighing investment in psychedelic to treat addiction hears from detractors
Deliberation over a proposal to invest state money in clinical research of a psychedelic drug as a potential treatment for opioid addiction is intensifying. After the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission heard from dozens of ibogaine proponents at two public hearings over the summer, commission members heard for the first time from opponents last week, who warned of ibogaine’s potentially harmful impacts on the heart — a reality that may compromise the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s willingness to give an initial green light for clinical trials.
Murray Ledger - Oct. 27, 2023
Oregon: How these Oregon high schools aim to help teens recover from drug addiction
Teenagers fighting drug addiction say going to school can be one of their biggest obstacles, with access to drugs and social, academic and emotional stress creating specific challenges. Oregon is turning to recovery high schools, which incorporate abstinence strategies and recovery counseling into the daily curriculum.
Axios - Oct. 25, 2023
New addiction treatment locator now available for Connecticut residents
People in Connecticut who are struggling with addiction now have a powerful new resource for finding help. State officials unveiled a “Treatment Atlas” Tuesday morning in Hartford. It is an online resource that directs people to the right kind of treatment and can help families through their darkest times. Getting help with addiction is now easier. Unveiled Tuesday was Shatterproof’s Treatment Atlas. It’s a website available to everyone. Answer a series of questions, and you’ll be directed to the treatment that is right for you.
WTNH - Oct. 24, 2023
Minnesota: Gambling treatment is free for Minnesotans struggling with addiction
In September 2000, Teri checked into Project Turnabout's Vanguard residential gambling treatment program two hours west of Minneapolis. The program is one of only a handful of residential gambling treatment options in the country, and for Minnesota residents, it's free, funded mostly through unclaimed lottery proceeds.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - Oct. 22, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Studies/Research in the News
Scientists In Brazil Developing A Vaccine For Cocaine Addiction
Researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil have developed a vaccine they hope to use to treat cocaine addiction. The vaccine, Calixcoca, has shown promising results in animal trials and is set to move on to the final stage of trials, testing on humans. The vaccine, called Calixcoca, has shown promising results in the first stages of clinical trials, though researchers are quick to say it is far from a "panacea."
All That’s Interesting - Oct. 27, 2023
Scientists Unveil World-First Experimental Cocaine Addiction Vaccine
Scientists in Brazil, the world's second-biggest consumer of cocaine, have announced the development of an innovative new treatment for addiction to the drug and its powerful derivative crack: a vaccine.
Science Alert - Oct. 27, 2023
Is Social Media Addictive? Here’s What the Science Says.
Experts who study internet use say that the magnetic allure of social media arises from the way the content plays to our neurological impulses and wiring, such that consumers find it hard to turn away from the incoming stream of information.
New York Times - Oct. 25, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Opinion
Push for Telehealth Special Registration Is 'Misguided'
The president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), Brian Hurley, came out in opposition to establishing a special registration process for telehealth controlled substance prescribing. Hurley says a special registration would lead to a greater entanglement of law enforcement in treatment and limit access to care. Further, the special registration could lead to higher regulatory burdens and dissuade the use of telehealth in treating addiction with controlled substances. The special registration process, in Hurley’s view, would establish an additional regulatory process akin to the now-defunct X waiver.
Behavioral Health Business - Oct. 27, 2023
It’s Time for Hollywood to Step Away From the Opioid Crisis
The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in American history—and, of late, irresistible source material for Hollywood. Some projects have taken a more sensitive approach than others, but for the most part, they portray their subject matter as the staggering tragedy it is. Pain Hustlers, a new addition to the genre that begins streaming Friday on Netflix, takes a different tack.
The Atlantic - Oct. 25, 2023
California is right: Addictive tech design is not free speech
Unlike previous battles over privacy rules, design regulation is an area that is still in its infancy and in which tech companies have avoided any meaningful oversight. The linchpin of what makes technology addictive lies in its design: the endless scrolling, the intermittent rewards, the dopamine hits. These designs are crafted explicitly to keep users engaged, thumbs scrolling and eyes glued to screens.
The Hill - Oct. 24, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Books and Movies
John Stamos Details Alcoholism and Sobriety Journey In New Memoir
John Stamos is giving readers a raw look into his struggle with alcoholism in his new memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me.” Throughout the book, the 60-year-old discusses the formative moments that led him to recovery and sobriety, including a 2015 DUI incident.
Today - Oct. 24, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Podcasts Comments