Tuesday, April 22, 2014  *  THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS  *  Vol. 1, No. 34
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Obvious Question ... Can You Snort It?
Powdered Alcohol, Coming to a Liquor Store Near You

Introducing Palcohol, the world's sneakiest and most efficient way to get drunk. This week, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the powdered booze product, and its makers hopes to unleash it on an unsuspecting public this fall. What's worse than going to a concert, sporting event, etc. and having to pay $10, $15, $20 for a mixed drink with tax and tip. Are you kidding me?! Take Palcohol into the venue and enjoy a mixed drink for a fraction of the cost. More

It Happens to Doctors and Nurses Too
Drug-addicted Health Professionals
More than 100,000 doctors, nurses, technicians and other health professionals across the country struggle with drug abuse or addiction, according to a USA Today examination of government data. Often falling victim to narcotics these practitioners' knowledge and access make their problems especially hard to detect. And the risks they pose - to the public and themselves - are enormous.   
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 Duh?
Addiction Treatment Specialists Say State Funding is Too Low

While lawmakers look for solutions to Illinois' heroin problem, addiction specialists say the state isn't providing them with enough funding.

The state's rehabilitation centers say they've had to drastically cut programming due to continual underfunding, and that projected budget cuts will make the problem even worse. More  
500,000 Future Drug Addicts? VIDEO  CBS
Doctors Give Kids Codeine Despite Lack of Effectiveness VIDEO        

A new report warns of kids being treated with the powerful painkiller codeine. The American Academy of Pediatrics finds emergency room doctors prescribe codeine to children more than 500,000 times per year. More

Youth and Alcohol Consumption       
Underage Drinking a Complex Problem
Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and to society, and is directly associated with traffic fatalities, violence, suicide, educational failure, alcohol overdose, unsafe sex and other problem behaviors. More 
Treatment Industry News   

Treatment Providers Worry Rapid Intervention Bill Will Flood Their Programs         

Mental health and substance abuse services providers worry a bill intended to funnel people away from the corrections system and into treatment could flood their programs with new clients without a way to pay for the extra load.

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Health Warning of the Week

Anti-Depressants During Pregnancy May Increase Autism Risk        

In a new study published in Pediatrics, researchers analyzed 966 mother and child pairs to better understand how SSRIs affect pregnancy outcomes.  Of the children studied, 800 were boys and all had an average age of four. Approximately 500 children were diagnosed with ASD, 154 had some form of developmental delay and 320 had undergone typical development so far.  The researchers examined the SSRIs the children's mothers took during pregnancy - including Celexa, Lezapro, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft.  

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Health Warning of the Week
This Is Your Brain On Aspartame
'Controversy continues to rage over the artificial sweetener aspartame. Since it was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1981, aspartame has made its way into more than 6,000 food items. For decades researchers have claimed aspartame is responsible for headache, memory loss, mood changes, and depression. Consumer complaints back them up. More  
Before there was Bill and Bob
A Patron Saint for Those Suffering from Alcoholism?

The name of Matt Talbot is not well known outside of Ireland, but Talbot will likely be canonized in the not-too-distant future and become the patron saint of alcoholics. He was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1975. Matt Talbot was born in humble circumstances in Dublin in May 1856. At that time, Ireland was recovering from the devastating famine of the mid-1840s. This was an era of grinding poverty and appalling living conditions, especially in the larger cities. More   

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Not Always Black or White
Addiction Expert Calls for Drug Users to be Taught How to Take Substances Safely
It was compiled after speaking to more than 80,000 drug users in 17 different countries across the world last November and December. Winstock said: "There need to be information sources for people who use drugs. "Those sources need to be credible and honest. "Those people should be made aware of the risks, and they should also be made aware how they can do so more safely." More
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More Will Be Revealed     
How Personality Increases Risk of Drug Abuse
People with certain personality traits may at increased risk for drug use problems, and studying personality may help researchers better understand and treat these problems. Many studies have attempted to link genes to the condition researchers call substance use disorder, but they've largely failed. More
Treatment Modalities Prove Effective
One Substance User Helping Another is Fastest Route to Recovery
The other day I visited a really remarkable organisation in Lambeth, south London, which is dedicated to helping drug and alcohol users to get their lives on track. What is impressive about the Aurora project is that it shows the power of one "service user" helping another, the principle which forms the basis for most successful treatment programmes. The project is entirely staffed by unpaid volunteers (apart from a manager and an administrator), all of whom are themselves in recovery. (The fact that nearly everyone is a volunteer makes the project very cost-effective, of course.).
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Teen in Trouble?
LIKE us on Facebook, Please  VIDEO
Social Media Addiction Could Lead to
Depression VIDEO     
"I got Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Myspace, Twitter," said 14-year-old Tanner Tillman, all social outlets that are invoking strong emotions to today's teens."How does it make you feel whenever you get likes on your pictures?" CBS 7 asked a group of teens. "It makes us feel happy," they replied. "What if you were to post a picture and you got only two likes?" CBS 7 asked. "I would delete it and re-post it and tag more hash tags." More
Another Tragic Obituary    

Drug Overdose Kills
Young Couple       

A young couple found dead in bed together died from a heroin overdose, according to recently released autopsy reports. Travis Wayne Edwards, 22, and his wife, Ashley Erin Younce Edwards, 20, had just moved to Charlotte from Cherryville days before they died. The cause of death is heroin poisoning," the report says.

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Commentary by Howard Josepher

If We Build It, Will They Come? Drug Treatment and ObamaCare   

The U.S. government estimates that illicit drug use costs more than $193 billion annually in crime, health care and loss of income. More effective treatment will likely save money as well as lives. The question is, will greater availability of drug treatment bring more problematic drug users into treatment? If we build it, will they come?  More 
Opioid Addiction Epidemic Fuels Growth
Bullish On the Treatment Industry by Alison Knopf
"All of a sudden there's room to create new providers and new treatment facilities," one principal with a private equity firm who asked not to be identified told Addiction Professional in an interview. "That attracts investment." Looking at treatment programs as investments does worry some people, partly because this might lead to a glut of programs. David Lisonbee, president and CEO of Twin Town Treatment Centers, says that in his home state of California there has been a ballooning of programs recently. The result is that supply has surpassed the demand-notwithstanding parity the ACA, and the fact that California enthusiastically implemented health reform, including Medicaid expansion. More 
Book of the Week
The Street to Recovery
by Kevin Kennedy 
Curly Watts is a TV icon - for twenty years appearing on millions of TV screens around the country in Coronation Street. Kevin Kennedy is one of the UK's most successful soap actors, although behind the scenes and high-profile appearances, he faced a painful personal battle. Kevin shares his experiences of alcoholism and rehab.This brutally honest autobiography provides a rare glimpse into life behind the scenes, the power of addiction, and his battle with recovery.  More 
Attraction Not Coercion
Alcoholics Anonymous Holds Open Meeting to Raise Awareness of Its Good Work
The open meeting was attended by several community services providers including councillors and those who work in rehabilitation and gave the professionals an insight to the meetings. Many support workers and councillors attended the meeting. One support worker who works for a local recovery agency said: "The open meetings offer an insight. It helps me to feel more confident referring clients to AA knowing how the group works." A woman in her 30s who has been sober for around six months thanks to attending regular AA meetings shared her story. More 
 Anonymous No More
Jodie Foster
Ditching The Drinks

Jodie Foster, in a sign things are getting very serious with her photographer girlfriend and even attending support meetings in an effort to show her lover, a recovered alcoholic herself, how committed she is to the relationship. The two-time Oscar winner's "joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has embraced a 12-step program," a friend told Star. "Now Alex has no reservations about spending their lives together ... now they are both sober." More 
New Study Confirms
Cocaine: 
Hell Of A Drug   
Recreational users of cocaine who are otherwise healthy individuals are risking life-threatening cardiovascular events, a new study shows. A team from the University of Manchester has found that the altered aortic properties in recreational cocaine users were similar to those seen in long-term crack cocaine abusers. While the health ramifications of this so-called party drug among addicts and abusers are well documented, until now little has been known of risks associated with social or recreational use.  More  
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Prevention Workouts
Does Exercise Curb Alcohol Cravings?
So why does exercise curb alcohol cravings and consumption? One possible explanation is the circadian rhythm, which is the biological clock in mammals that influences eating, sleeping, and mating behavior. A 2010 study published inAlcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examined that alcoholism isn't about "character flaws and as failures of willpower," and that it may have biological underlying of alcohol abuse and addiction. More  
Only 20 days left to go...see you there!

It's Not Your Mother's Mexican Dirt Week   Forbes
Even Recreational Marijuana May Be Linked To Brain Changes    
Journal of Neuroscience today finds that even casual pot smoking may have an effect on the size and structure of certain brain regions. The new research reports that for each additional joint a person smokes per week, the greater the odds of structural changes to areas involved in motivation, reward, and emotion. More  
 Sugar - the Cigarettes of Today
Sugar Addiction Is Exactly Like Cocaine Addiction VIDEO
"There are 600,000 food items in America. 80% of them have added sugar," warns the trailer's Dr. Robert Lustig, the University of California in San Francisco's professor of pediatric medicine. Another warns that ours is the first generation of U.S. children expected to live shorter lives than their parents. By 2050, it warns, a third of us will have diabetes.  More 
We Proudly Endose...

Origins of Other Recovery Organizations
Synanon's Sober Utopia: How a Drug Rehab Program Became a Violent Cult
Charles E. Dederich spent the better part of two decades wandering the country as a barely functional drunk. A sales exec from Ohio, Dederich moved to Southern California after his first divorce, and in 1956 gave Alcoholics Anonymous a good faith effort at the insistence of his second wife. She chose to leave him anyway, but the program really resonated with Dederich, who quickly became a sober evangelist for everything AA stood for.  More  
Commentary by Allison Hudson     
Alcoholism:
The Not-So-Funny
Equal Opportunist
I can't count the number of people who have said to me, "You're not really an alcoholic, are you?" Or the people who refuse to admit that my brother died because he was an addict, as if it was just a fluke thing -- a one time mistake and he overdosed. No. He died because he was addicted to opiates.
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Doctors and Medication
Fentanyl Among
'Most Dangerous'
Abused Drugs     
Fentanyl is a narcotic pain medication often administered through a patch worn on the skin, which releases the medication slowly over the course of 72 hours. "It's probably the most dangerous of all prescription medications out there." People who abuse the drug can be rendered unconscious, deprived of oxygen and are at risk of dying." More
Bill W. and Dr. Bob play-See it  before it closes May 4
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says It's A Hit 
Members of New York City's first family The de Blasio's - Mayor Bill de Blasio, his wife Chirlane McCray, and their daughter Chiara - pose with the cast of the Off-Broadway play BILL W. AND DR. BOB (at the Soho Playhouse - 15 Vandam Street) after seeing the performance on Thursday, March 27th, 2014.r.  More 
About Us
Writers In Treatment
501 (c)(3) nonprofit

REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL is a social, educational, networking and recovery forum showcasing first-time filmmakers and experienced professionals who make films about addiction and recovery. Our audience is treatment professionals, people in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives, educated moviegoers and the general public.


Publisher: Leonard Buschel
It's About Time
DUI Bill in Pennsylvania Would Crack Down on Repeat Offender
y "Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol causes nearly 10,000 deaths and 350,000 injuries annually on our highways, yet people convicted of DUI often continue to break the law. Studies have shown that nearly 2 million drunk drivers on the nation's highways have a prior conviction, including 400,000 who have five or more." More
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2013 Highlight Reel from RRFF    VIDEO
REEL Recovery Film Festival HIGHLIGHT
Reel 2013
See clips from last year's Award Winning REEL Recovery Film Festivalwith Paul Williams, Russell Brand, Robert Blake, Barbara Eden and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. See VIDEO
Sobriety 101  
10 Lessons I've Learned in Sobriety
Over the years, there have been days when I've felt secure with my sobriety, and there have also been many days when I've white-knuckled it from minute to minute. With the holiday season rapidly approaching, I thought I would share the "10 Lessons I've Learned in Sobriety" in case you or a loved one is struggling with addiction issues.
That'll Teach 'em
Heroin Users Still Get Arrested After Overdoses      
A bill recently signed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker aimed at addressing a frightening rise in heroin-related deaths prevents those who report another person's overdose from being prosecuted for drug possession. However, the person suffering from the overdose may still face jail time when they come to. More
Coming to a Rehab Near You?
Anti-seizure Drug May Help Reduce Alcohol Consumption      

A new study has found that anti-seizure drug ezogabine reduced alcohol consumption in an experimental model. Researchers believe these finding will encourage the search for other drugs that act on this system to discover more effective treatments for alcoholism. The study was published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuese. More

Big Pharma is Happy
Record Numbers on 'Happy Pills' in UK        
According to official NHS data, more than 53 million prescriptions were handed out for drugs such as Prozac and Seroxat in England last year - a record high, and a rise of 24.6 per cent since 2010. It means the UK now has the seventh highest prescribing rate for antidepressants in the Western world, with around four million Britons taking them each year - twice as many as a decade ago. More
Rapping
Schoolboy Q: Street Scholar

It didn't take a lot of effort to make as much as $80 a pill selling Oxycontin. That was years before the man now known as Schoolboy Q's major-label debut, February's Oxymoron, would reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Songs like "Hoover Street" and "Break the Bank" paint vivid pictures of his upbringing and what drove him to music, while "Prescription/Oxymoron" is a glimpse at his internal struggles with selling drugs and self-medicating.

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