Author: The Fix

Finland May Be Next Country To Decriminalize Marijuana

Advocates hope the number of signees, as well as those that support the effort but did not sign, will push the government towards decriminalization.

Finland’s Parliament is reportedly considering the decriminalization of marijuana after more than 50,000 residents signed a petition to revise the country’s current laws.

The proposal sought to remove criminal penalties for the possession of 25 grams or less of cannabis, as well as the cultivation of up to four plants, both for personal use; the organization behind the measure, Kasuva Kannabiksesta, cited the deleterious impact of marijuana convictions on Finnish citizens, who can be barred from education or work opportunities for minor convictions, as a primary factor behind the petition.

Advocates are hoping that the sheer number of signees, as well as those that support their efforts but did not sign the petition, will help to push the Finnish government towards ratifying decriminalization.

The People Of Finland Support Decriminalization

The petition’s primary sponsor, activist Janne Karvinen, said that the majority of the 50,000 signatures were gained in its final month, which he credited to a strong social media push.

He also believed that the actual level of support for decriminalization in Finland was even greater than the number of signees. “There’s certainly more than 50,000 – or even more than 100,000 – people in Finland who support this issue,” he told, Yle, Finland’s national public broadcasting company.

In addition to the aforementioned allowances for personal use, the petition would also call for new penalties for individuals who use marijuana in public areas where children are present.

Even Minor Drug Charges Impact Job Opportunities In The Country

In terms of the current policies regarding marijuana use, the petition’s authors stated that they have done more harm than good by imposing severe penalties on cannabis users; individuals convicted of even minor drug charges can be barred from more than 60 job and educational opportunities.

It also noted the financial toll of employing police officers to make arrests on such charges and then processing individuals through the legal system.

By calling for decriminalization and not legalization, the petition’s authors said that Finland would remain within the requirements of United Nations (UN) obligations, which do not allow member nations to regulate and sell cannabis. As the petition states, “The ban on an act may not be completely abolished or made legal, but the punishment for the act will be abolished or the act will be transformed into a mere offense, for example, a fine.”

As Marijuana Moment noted, this language may address how Canada and Uruguay have remained within the UN regulations while still allowing for cannabis legalization.

Karvinen told Yle that he believed the Finnish Parliament would pass the initiatives called for in the petition on the grounds that members “do not want to oppose the benefits decriminalization would bring.”

However, the newspaper also quoted Mika Luoma-aho, a researcher on drug policy from the University of Lapland, who opined that the government is most likely not ready to accept such a measure “But it will force a debate,” said Luoma-aho. “I want to hear the discussion that quashes the initiative and then continue the dialogue on that basis.

View the original article at thefix.com

1 November 2019
Haunted House Depicts Chilling Reality Of "Vicious Web Of Addiction"

The Haunted Trap House was described as a “walking, shrieking, living, screaming PSA.”

A Maryland community put on a unique haunted house experience to bring light to the county’s opioid nightmare.

The Haunted Trap House, which ran from Oct. 24-26 in Centreville, drew “realistic scenes depicting the tragedy of a young teen who becomes entangled in the web of addiction.”

This included a dramatization of shooting heroin and fentanyl, arrest, the impact on family, and overdose. The Washington Post described it as a “walking, shrieking, living, screaming PSA.”

The horror show also featured experts on site, ready to help connect people to recovery support. “If we can help one person—just one person stops using or doesn’t start using because of this—it’s all worth it,” said Eric B. Johnson, who helped organize the event.

A Modern Revival Of The Haunted Crack House

Johnson was a part of the original “Haunted Crack House” from 30 years ago at 13 years old. The Haunted Trap House is a modern revival of the original project, renamed for the opioid nightmare haunting Queen Anne’s County.

“The opioid epidemic is devastating to our community,” said Maggie Thomas, a local health department official who helped organize the Trap House.

Community members young and old participated in bringing the recent Trap House project to life—many of them impacted by drug abuse. “It got my favorite uncle. It was a really hard loss,” one young participant said, according to the Post.

A teacher said, “I heard the middle-schoolers on our bus talking about how good the heroin is. Middle-schoolers.”

Johnson, too, lost his brother-in-law to a heroin overdose last year.

Johnson and his team hoped to spark important conversation surrounding the dire issue.

Starting A Conversation

“Our hope is that after touring this event, families will engage in thoughtful discussions about the risks of substance use and the benefits associated with healthier decisions,” organizers said on the haunted house’s Eventbrite page. “In the end, we’d like our community to come away with a better understanding of community resources available to those in need—and be further mobilized in our fight to address the opioid epidemic.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Generic Xanax Recalled Due To "Foreign Substance"

The FDA and Mylan have released instructions for wholesalers, retailers and consumers who believe they may have the lot in question.

The makers of the generic version of Xanax have issued a voluntary nationwide recall of a single lot of the drug due to the possible presence of a “foreign substance.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an announcement from Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which did not specify the nature of the foreign substance, and emphasized that while exposure to it is “expected to be rare,” the company also did not want to rule out “the remote risk of infection.”

The FDA and Mylan also released instructions for wholesalers, retailers and consumers who believe they may have the lot in question.

Batch Information

The lot is a single batch of 0.5 mg alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax, which is packaged in a 500-count bottle. The batch was distributed in the United States between July and August of 2019, and has the following identification:

Alprazolam Tablets, USP C-IV 0.5 mg

Lot Number: 8082708

National Drug Code (NDC): 0378-4003-05

Expiration Date: September 2020

Yahoo Lifestyle attempted to ask Mylan what the foreign substance in question was, and was referred by a company spokesperson to the press statement issued by the FDA. No recall has been issued for Xanax or other batches of alprazolam.

Contact Your Doctor If You Experience Issues Related To The Drug

Mylan also noted that while no reports of “adverse effects” due to the batch have been issued, it also stated that consumers who experienced any problems related to the drug should contact their physician or healthcare provider. They can also report any problems to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program by calling 1-800-332-1088 or submitting a form online.

Distributors and customers have been informed by letter about the recall and according to the FDA, will arrange for pickup of all recalled products. Wholesalers and retailers were advised to examine their inventory for the batch in question and quarantine any that they might find; if a batch was distributed to retail level customers, they are advised to contact the regulated substance disposal company Stericycle at 1-888-843-0255.

Consumers should also contact Stericycle at the aforementioned number in order to receive a documentation package to return the medication.

Yahoo Lifestyle noted that the recall comes on the heel of drug maker Sanofi issuing a “precautionary” and “voluntary” recall of the heartburn medication Zantac in the United States and Canada. The FDA announced in September 2019 that low levels of a cancer-causing chemical were found in the product.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Schools In Philly’s “Opioid Zone” Help Kids Process Grim Reality Of Addiction

The goal is to teach students in the notorious area coping techniques so their focus can return to school.

Educators in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood play a larger role than they signed up for—they provide support to kids exposed to the grim reality of drug abuse daily, in a neighborhood notorious for its visible drug problem.

Charlotte Maddox, principal of Lewis Elkin Elementary School, showed WHYY reporter, Joel Wolfram, images of what the school has to deal with on a daily basis.

“Used syringes in a jar. A man sprawled unconscious on the playground. The shattered window of a teacher’s car, which had been hit by a stray bullet,” Wolfram observed.

Discussing Their Surroundings

At the beginning of each day, students are encouraged to share what’s bothering them. By getting it off their chest, the goal is to get them back to focusing on school and processing whatever was on their mind.

“They’re kind of focused on that in their minds. So when it comes time to read, it’s hard for them to look at the words on the page and read because they’re more worried about what happened at home last night, what happened outside their house, what happened on the way to school that morning,” said Chelsea Trainor, a third-grade teacher at Elkin.

Another school in Kensington, Memphis Street Academy, teaches kids in grades 5-8 coping techniques like deep breathing and yoga.

Processing Trauma

Wolfram illustrates the horrors that these kids come face-to-face with every day—“family members dying of overdoses, screams outside at night that made it impossible to sleep, drug dealers soliciting them on the street, and accidentally stumbling into someone who was injecting drugs in public.”

By acknowledging what they are going through, the goal is to help process the trauma as it’s happening, so it doesn’t worsen with age. “At the root of all of that is not knowing how to cope with emotions and having to deal with pretty big emotions at a pretty young age,” said Brittany Buchanan, a fifth-grade counselor at the Academy.

“With all of this that’s happening on the outside of the building, we need to be beacons of hope on the inside of the building,” said Maddox.

Philadelphia is the expected site of the nation’s first overdose prevention centers, after a recent victory in court by Safehouse, the local organization that proposed the sites.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Lady Gaga’s Mother Discusses Singer’s Childhood Mental Health

“What I didn’t realize because I wasn’t prepared, was how to really deal with it. When I was growing up, times were different.”

With her incredible success, Lady Gaga has used her powerful platform to speak out about mental health with her Born This Way Foundation.

Now, her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, spoke with CBS This Morning about how parents can deal with children that are struggling with their mental health.

Throughout her life, Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has struggled with depression, anxiety and PTSD.

“As a parent, I wasn’t prepared to really address this,” Cynthia explains. “Stefani was very unique, and that wasn’t always appreciated by her peers, and as a result, she went through a lot of difficult times – humiliated, taunted, isolated.”

My Generation Was Told To Suck It Up

Upon entering middle school, Germanotta saw her daughter go from “a very happy and aspirational young girl to somebody that started to question her self-worth, to have doubts about herself. What I didn’t realize because I wasn’t prepared, was how to really deal with it. When I was growing up, times were different. The way that we would deal with things was what we learned. I relied on the generational grit of just sucking it up and getting on with it.”

Once she saw her daughter clearly struggling, Cynthia says, “It’s very hard to know what to do. The profound impact that it can have (on families). It basically turns the focus of everything onto that one individual. Families feel conflicted about it, they don’t really understand it, it causes conflict, and a lot of stress within the families. It can also cause feelings of guilt and helplessness, not knowing how to help my daughter. What I’ve learned is that no family is immune to this.”

Parents: Listen To Your Children, Share Your Own Struggles

For families that are struggling with troubled teens, Germanotta recommended that parents simply listen.

“What I learned from my daughter is to listen and validate her feelings. I think as parents our natural instinct is to go into problem-solving mode, when in fact they really just want us to take them seriously and understand what they’re saying.”

While a lot of troubled youth don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about their struggles out of “fear of being judged,” Germanotta adds that “as parents we don’t talk about our own struggles. I encourage parents to be vulnerable. Talk about your current and past struggles. The biggest thing is to talk to them.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Tim McGraw Says Faith Hill's Ultimatum Helped Him Get Sober

The country superstar has been sober for 11 years.

In a new book hitting stores next month, Country legend Tim McGraw details the moment his wife, Faith Hill, gave him a life-changing ultimatum: keep her or the booze, but not both.

McGraw’s book is a wellness guide called Grit & Grace: Train the Mind, Train the Body, Own Your Life. In it, the singer recalls being in bad shape after losing three important people in his life: his father, his stepfather, and a mentor he had in high school.

As Radar reports, McGraw said it was the “darkest period” of his life, and alcohol was his “crutch” to try and get him through.

“I drank more to dull the discomfort,” he explained.

Sober Up Or You’re Gonna Lose Everything

But then Hill laid down the law. “Getting real like only she can do, Faith told me, ‘Partying or family, take your pick.’” McGraw knew there was “no question” what he was going to choose, and it wasn’t long before he sobered up.

As McGraw told Men’s Health, “I partied too much. And did other things too much. Chemically. No needles or that kind of stuff, but…use your imagination. When your wife tells you it’s gone too far, that’s a big wake-up call. That, and realizing you’re gonna lose everything you have. Not monetarily, not career-wise, but family-wise.”

Time To Change

McGraw has now been sober for over a decade, and he credits exercise for keeping him clean and sober. He told People, “I felt like I had to change my life. And it wasn’t like I was out doing crazy things, it was just that I was drinking too much. Some people might look at it and say – hey, I drank twice as much as that. But it adversely affected my life and it was time to change it. The ritual now is to run. Me and a few of the guys in the band we take off and run for 4 or 5 miles. It is literally timed so I ran straight into the dressing room, get ready and hit the stage.”

McGraw and Hill also just celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary on October 7, proving that McGraw definitely made the right choice in getting sober 11 years ago.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Learning to Have Sex in Recovery

I had forgotten that I was once again in control of my own life… I needed to take charge of my sexual experiences just like I had taken charge of my recovery.

So you used to hang from the chandeliers and now you avoid seeing yourself naked in the mirror? I can relate, friends. When I made the decision to stop using drugs 21 years ago, I was told “the only thing I needed to change was everything.” While this was not entirely true, there was one area that needed a complete overhaul: my relationship to sex. I wondered how I would ever transition from substance-fueled sex to a physical interaction that requires a bit of delicacy, and, dare I suggest, intimacy?

It wasn’t easy.

Men Are Pigs

For background, I was raised by two very conservative parents that stopped sleeping in the same room by the time I was 12. The only “talk” my mother had with me was to explain that “men are pigs.” Fairly vague, even for the 1980s. My exposure to “sex” was accidentally finding pornographic magazines in bushes, late night movies on cable tv, and being sexualized by drunk adults. Sex became hardwired in my brain as this thing that men required and to which women begrudgingly submitted. There was little to no information about having sex for fun. Sex was associated with a quiet sense of shame.

On top of this, I was fat, and that made me feel unfuckable in suburban Ohio. I was okay with this at some level – remember, “men are pigs” — but I still wanted to try it.

The summer of my 17th year, my world got turned upside down. I lost 30 pounds, and suddenly the neighbor boy wanted to show me his dick, which I found entirely confusing. He’d never even given me as much as a sideways glance. I frequently got teased for being a virgin until finally my first real boyfriend “took” what I never felt like I had in the first place. Was I supposed to be feeling something? Anything? I mostly felt indifferent.

Alcohol and drugs arrived on the scene at the same time I was trying to figure out the machinery of an adult woman. After a few drinks, I would feel this rush of male attention that suddenly made sense. I felt “sexy.” My sexuality was a lure to pull in a person I thought liked me. Sex became a way of gaining what I wanted, a way of garnering much needed attention. Sex suddenly became more interesting.

The first time I had sex with a woman, I woke up from a blackout with her underneath me. Oh hey. Sex was this jumble of things, many of which made no sense to me. I had no idea how to make this thing work. Where was the owner’s manual?

A Sense of Urgency

Imagine my surprise ten years later when, 24 hours into my last detox, my crotch suddenly sprung to life without notice. There was a sense of urgency to explore the areas I had so frequently ignored while steeped in a nod. Unfortunately, all this was taking place in a jail cell. My bunkmate complained to deputies I was keeping her up at night with my vigorous activities. For the first time in my adult life, my sexual experiences didn’t revolve around what I could convince someone to do to me or with me. I would have to figure things out for myself.

When the first 20 pounds of jail house grits and potatoes hit my thighs, I wasn’t particularly worried. I had become so thin after years of heavy use, I vaguely fit the stereotype of a woman. As I was flat chested with the collarbones sunken in, a bit of padding was a welcome addition on my bony ass…until it went from a folding chair to a whole loveseat. My reignited passion for life was matched by my love of food.

Slowly, incrementally, the increasing pounds began stripping away my self-esteem. The idea of fucking anyone seemed like an effort. I fell into a state of sadness. I would not consider letting anyone touch me, outside of a few random pats on ass from my “brothers” in the rehab.

This was in stark contrast to my life six months earlier. I had spent many years in a community of sex workers, thirsty bottoms, and quid pro quo relationships with the dopeman. There were no boundaries, and even less consent. In those days, my body was open for business, while my mind was frequently sedated and broken into tiny pieces.

What was the solution? My first sponsor insisted that I look at myself in the mirror every night while proclaiming “I love myself.” The intention was good but the reality felt forced. What was it I loved? My face– with a distinct scar across my forehead from a drunken car crash? My smile– which was marred by chipped teeth from grinding on meth benders? The insecure person inside?

My First Time…Sober

Despite my fears, I had a growing interest to road-test the plumper machine. My first sober sexual encounter in recovery was clumsy. I was on a four-hour pass from rehab but I returned in less than 45 minutes. I don’t know why I had even bothered to take my pants off. I stuck my head against the wall in the shower, soaking in the regret. I was disappointed he didn’t even notice that my bra and panties matched. The nerve!

The second was much more extravagant. We went to a cheap hotel because he did not have the proper ID to visit my sober living. I barely knew him. I just knew he wanted me. He left me a gift: a ring of hickeys around my neck that made it look as if someone had choked me. This skin memento provided uncomfortable material for my next women’s support group.

“What are you getting out of this?” one of the group members asked me.

Was I supposed to be getting something? I had forgotten that I was once again in control of my own life. It had been so long since anyone had taken my feelings and my pleasure into consideration. I needed to take charge of my sexual experiences just like I had taken charge of my recovery.

After bumping my head one more time in the early days– literally and figuratively as the person was quite acrobatic– I made a conscious decision to give my body the rest it deserved. Until I could unravel sex from the need for validation, I would be just fine exploring my own body without the bitter aftertaste. I had confused attention with affection. I presumed that desire meant connection. For me, none of these turned out to be the case. It wasn’t bad sex, per se. It was the fact that my expectations were far exceeding the actual experiences. I had done none of the work to heal my wounded soul and had greedily assumed my equally recovering body would be able to catch up.

My Body Is a Gift

My story has a happy ending. It took many years of unraveling my emotional and physical baggage and eventually creating a filter, a boundary, and a screening process. I began to realize that it was 100% necessary to communicate my needs. I had to discover what I liked, create my list of dos and don’ts.

For the first time, I began to enjoy my sexual self with no shame. My body is a gift. Not everyone gets to unwrap it.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
Opioids Improved Her Life, But Withdrawals Were Hell

“I was afraid. I knew these drugs were heroin in another form. But after I started, I instantly regretted having waited so long.”

By the time Madora Pennington was 13, she was living with extreme pain. Pennington was born with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a painful genetic disorder that left her suicidal by the time she was 20.

Although she knew about the dangers of powerful prescription opioids, she felt she had no other option that could improve her quality of life.

“Instead of following through with suicide plans, I spoke with my doctor, who prescribed me opiates,” Pennington wrote for The Los Angeles Times. She began taking Vicodin, morphine and a muscle relaxant every night.

“I was afraid. I knew these drugs were heroin in another form,” she wrote. “But after I started, I instantly regretted having waited so long.”

Living With Less Pain

The opioids allowed Pennington to live with much less pain. For the first time, she was able to make progress in physical therapy, because her body had space to heal. Still, she recognized the powerful allure of the drugs.

“At night, when I took my tiny pills, I was transported to a realm where there are no problems. It felt so fake, so obviously chemically induced, but deeply soothing, nonetheless,” Pennington wrote.

Her doctor had warned her that she may never be able to quit morphine once she started. However, Pennington told herself that she would do anything she could to get off opioids once her pain and symptoms were under control. When she had the chance, she did just that.

“Per the medical definition, I was not an addict. I was never drug-seeking, never doctor shopping, never secretly taking more than I said, never taking for emotional relief. I reduced my intake as my Ehlers-Danlos improved,” she wrote.

Time To Taper

Her pharmacist warned her to taper her opioids extremely slowly. Still, Pennington felt unprepared for the physical and emotional symptoms she experienced as she worked to reduce her opioid intake.

“In a life filled with pain, even I never knew such anguish could exist,” she explained. She was experiencing extreme stomach pain, emotional outbursts and jitters. “I stopped titrating and parked my dose where it was, too sick to go lower,” Pennington wrote.

When Philip Seymour Hoffman left rehab and fatally overdosed in 2014, Pennington says she understood.

A doctor suggested that Pennington stay on low-dose opioids forever, but “that made me furious,” she wrote. “I wanted to be free.”

She decided to start tapering again, as quickly as she could handle. “I stopped trying to get anything done and steeled myself for the unending agony,” she wrote.

In 2014, Pennington was officially free from opioids. She had reached her goal and felt great physically, but writes that “the empty low was indescribable.”

Low-Dose Naltrexone Became A Viable Option

Finally, she was able to connect with a provider who gave her low-dose naltrexone to help ease the residual effects of opioid withdrawal. Now, she shares her experience on her website to highlight both the importance and dangerous power of opioids.

“As someone born genetically destined to suffer, I don’t quibble over hypotheticals,” Pennington writes. “It’s no one’s fault that chronic pain is so difficult to treat. I wish I’d had better advice for opiate recovery. I wish I could have gotten to my life now sooner, where I enjoy getting up every day and doing what I want. But I made it here because of the relief I got from opiates. Yes, it was worth it.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 October 2019
What Is "Cali Sober"?

Some are giving up the bottle and picking up the joint.

What does sobriety mean to you?

Many who have decided to give up alcohol have opted to keep marijuana in their lives, giving rise to the term “California sober” (“Cali sober” for short)—abstaining from alcohol but still using cannabis.

Fiona Apple mentioned in a recent Vulture profile that she used to drink to help her sleep, but now she uses marijuana instead.

“Alcohol helped me for a while, but I don’t drink anymore. Now it’s just pot, pot, pot,” she said.

Weaning With Weed

Sara, 38, who spoke with The Cut for a story on being “Cali sober,” said that she’s seen friends give up alcohol and turn to weed as they age.

She said, “At my age, I’ve noticed a lot of people are at their ‘I’m going to stop drinking’ point, and weed has become a way for them to wean themselves off of other substances.”

Sara never drank much, but discovered that she could use marijuana to relax and engage socially.

She explained, “I could smoke a little bit before we went out and I wouldn’t be as anxious socially. I could pass around a bowl with friends and it’d be like what I didn’t do in college.”

Marijuana Acts As A Substitute

The New Yorker staff writer Naomi Fry said that she can use marijuana when she’s trying to step back from alcohol.

“I like Cali sober because for me it means that even though I’m getting older, and I take monthlong breaks from drinking occasionally, it doesn’t mean that my life can’t still be enjoyable. It’s sort of equivalent to being a silver fox: your hair might be gray, and you might be taking it a little slower, but you can still be hot!”

Eve Peyser realized at age 23 that she had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but she never felt that way about cannabis. So, she stopped drinking, but continued to smoke pot.

“Something my therapist said when I was getting to the point when I was ready to quit drinking was, ‘You do what works for you until it doesn’t work for you anymore.’ I didn’t quit smoking weed because it didn’t have that super negative impact on me,” she said.

Peyser recognizes that she is still relying on weed in a way, saying, “I definitely am very hard on myself for my weed habits. In my fantasy of my ideal self, it doesn’t involve smoking weed. It involves having coping mechanisms outside of substances to deal with my problems.”

However, using some substances that aren’t as problematic is a good compromise, she says.

“We use things because we’re in pain, because we want to escape from our lives, because we want to relax. I don’t know if my usage is necessarily healthy, but it doesn’t harm me in the same way alcohol did.”

View the original article at thefix.com

30 October 2019
Meth Causes Most Overdoses In Western US, But Little Help Is Available

Meth is the deadliest drug in four out of five regions west of the Mississippi.

Fentanyl and synthetic opioids are killing more people than any other drug nationally, but in the Western United States, methamphetamine is the most common drug in fatal overdoses, and there’s little public health professionals have been able to do to stop it.

That’s according to data released Friday by the CDC, reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. Overdose data from 2017 showed that meth is the fourth deadliest drug nationally (after fentanyl, heroin and cocaine), but in all four out of five regions west of the Mississippi, it is the deadliest drug.

There’s Not Enough Recovery Resources For Meth Addiction

That’s concerning, because most addiction and recovery resources are aimed at fighting opioid addiction, said Dr. Michael Landen, with New Mexico’s health department.

He said, “I think we’re potentially going to be caught off guard with methamphetamine deaths, and we have to get our act together.”

Addiction specialist and researcher Dr. Josh Bamberger told The San Francisco Chronicle that unlike treatment for opioid use disorder, there is no effective medication-assisted treatment for meth, or drugs that can reverse a meth overdose.

“It’s a super frustrating place for a physician to be in,” he said. “The take-home lesson is that we have no effective medical treatment for amphetamine addiction. We’ve tried so many medications—antipsychotics, antidepressants, Adderall and more, but none of them has a long-term impact on the addiction. It is very hard to treat.”

Meth Is Devastating San Francisco’s Homeless Population

In San Francisco, where meth use is an epidemic among the homeless, researchers and public health officials have even tried paying people to stay clean, increasing the amount each week.

“It’s not great, but it seems to be the best way right now,” Bamberger said.

Part of the challenge in treating meth addiction is that people who have been using meth experience brain changes that can last long after the drug has left their system.

Bamberger explained, “Some people continue to exhibit psychotic behavior for days, or even months. And that can involve not just paranoid delusions, but also formication (named after the formic acid ants exude), where you feel you have ants or worms under your skin. It’s awful.”

Those symptoms can last long-term, he said.

“It can ‘concretize’ existing mental conditions,” he explained. “In my 30 years of practice in San Francisco, there is no question that my least favorite drug is methamphetamine.”

Many people addicted to meth, like “Roche,” a woman in her twenties, said they feel the hopelessness of their situation.

“Kick meth? Are you kidding?” she said. “When it’s got you, it’s got you. I have about 10 friends who are dead from smoking this—and not just from fentanyl being in it—and someday that will probably be me.”

View the original article at thefix.com

30 October 2019