Answer Addiction

Author: The Fix

  • Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Importing Opioids

    Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Importing Opioids

    The businessman would receive large shipments of opioids from China and mail them out domestically.

    A Chinese businessman living in Massachusetts has pled guilty to charges of importing opioids. 

    Bin Wang, 42, was arrested in July and charged with importing shipments of carfentanil, fentanyl and other opioids. Wang would receive large shipments of opioids from China and mail them domestically, including to buyers in Ohio, according to a press release by the Ohio U.S. Attorney’s office.

    On Tuesday, Wang pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to importing and distributing opioids. He will be sentenced on November 13.

    Opioids, particularly powerful synthetics, are reportedly made in China and shipped into the U.S. using couriers like FedEx and even the U.S. Postal Service.

    “Increasingly, the opioids that are killing our friends and neighbors are being sent here from China,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David Sierleja. “Shutting down this pipeline will help in our efforts to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic. We will focus on prevention, education, and aggressive law enforcement, both here and around the world.”

    This requires a new approach to intercepting drugs.

    “The importation of opioids and other synthetic drugs from China has played a significant role in America’s current drug use epidemic. Over 60,000 people a year die from drug overdoses in this country, and halting all methods of drug trafficking—including by way of the Internet—is a top priority of the DEA,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon. “This investigation makes clear that geographic and technological hurdles will not stop DEA and our partners from bringing to justice those responsible for the illegal distribution of drugs in the U.S.”

    Despite that tough stance, it is reportedly very difficult to catch opioids coming into the country from China. In part, that is because the shipments are small, and the volume of mail coming into the country makes it difficult to pinpoint suspicious packages. In addition, prosecuting Chinese manufacturers can be difficult.

    Officials first started investigating the drugs that led to Wang in 2016, after a series of fatal overdoses in Ohio. They determined that the drugs were bought online through a Chinese website, and that a Chinese man known as “Gordon Jin” was shipping the drugs to Wang in Massachusetts, who then distributed them domestically.

    Undercover agents purchase opioids from Jin, and were able to track the shipments to Wang, who was operating companies from a warehouse in Woburn, Massachusetts.

    “This investigation is a great example of a collaborative effort of federal agencies and a local drug task force working together to identify and track down people and organizations that are responsible for the ever-increasing shipments of very powerful synthetic opiates into Ohio,” said Don Hall, director of the MEDWAY Drug Enforcement Agency.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Hilarious World of Depression" Podcast To Feature Andrew Zimmern, Neko Case

    "Hilarious World of Depression" Podcast To Feature Andrew Zimmern, Neko Case

    The hit podcast is set to return for its third season on August 13th. 

    TV personality and chef Andrew Zimmern will be a guest on this season’s Hilarious World of Depression podcast, the podcast that sheds light on the dark world of depression.

    In each episode, host John Moe and his guests untangle the mystery (and stigma) of depression through candid conversation.

    Rachel Bloom, co-creator and star of the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, was a guest last season. Moe described her character, Rebecca Bunch, as “one of the most truthful portrayals of mental illness that I’ve seen, both the devastating effects and the just-getting-through-the-day parts.”

    The pair discuss Bloom’s childhood in Manhattan Beach, her upbringing, love of musical theater—and, of course, her history with depression.

    “At around age 9, I started to develop really, really intense, intrusive looping thoughts,” she told Moe. “And so for me, depression has always been wrapped up in intrusive, looping, negative thoughts.”

    Former guests also include singer-songwriter Aimee Mann and Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco.

    Moe shared that the new season will incorporate the podcast’s listeners more, so they may comment and ask questions.

    “This is our audience season. We will continue to have celebrity guests and hear their stories, but we’re also going to have more of our listeners be part of the podcast,” said Moe. “This show has evolved to become part of the mental health discussion, and that brings even more voices to the conversation.” 

    The Hilarious World of Depression is part of the Make It OK campaign by HealthPartners, to reduce stigma surrounding mental health issues.

    “Humor can open a door for conversation about mental illnesses and begin the healing process,” says Donna Zimmerman, HealthPartners senior vice president for government and community relations. “The Make It OK campaign works to reduce the stigma of mental illnesses and we are delighted to continue our partnership to reach new audiences this season with messages of hope and recovery.”

    Season 3 is set to debut on Monday, August 13. This season will also feature Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall), singer-songwriter Neko Case, and comedian and actor Charlyne Yi, among others.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • HIV Outbreak In Massachusetts Linked To Injection Drug Use

    HIV Outbreak In Massachusetts Linked To Injection Drug Use

    Between 2015 and 2018 there were 129 new HIV cases linked to drug use in two Massachusetts cities.

    Fentanyl use in two Massachusetts cities is driving an HIV outbreak that officials say could be forecasting a national public health crisis.

    Lawrence and Lowell Massachusetts, two cities along the New Hampshire border, have seen such a sharp spike in new HIV cases that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has become involved, according to The Huffington Post.

    Between 2015 and 2018 there were 129 new HIV cases linked to drug use diagnosed in the cities. In the four years prior to that there were only 41 new cases of HIV related to injecting drugs diagnosed annually in the entire state.

    “This tells us we cannot rest on our laurels,” said Thomas Stopka, an infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. “There are potentially other communities that are at great risk as well. HIV can and is raising its head again in places where risks align.”

    In 2015, opioid injecting was linked to an HIV outbreak in rural Indiana. The risk factors in the Massachusetts outbreak are similar, but in an urban setting. One risk is pervasive fentanyl use. Because the synthetic opioid has a shorter half life than heroin, users inject more often. This means they have more opportunity to be exposed to dirty needles.

    In addition, neither city had a needle exchange program before the outbreak, although both have since established exchanges. Finally, high rates of homelessness compound health risks, as does the fact that doctors don’t routinely screen for HIV, even among intravenous drug users.

    “This may be forecasting what could conceivably happen around the country,” said Amy Nunn, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.

    This spring, epidemiologists from the CDC spent time in Lawrence and Lowell to try to establish why the outbreak was occurring. They presented their findings in a meeting on July 24.

    “The most striking finding was the sheer number of cases,” said Stopka “[It] was substantially higher than what was seen in years prior.”

    The number of new drug-related HIV cases “definitely caught a lot of folks’ attention and really spoke to the great need in terms of a response,” he said.

    Most of the new cases were among white men ages 20-39, men like Mark, a 29-year-old who injected drugs before finding out that he was HIV positive.

    “We all use,” Mark said. “We all know the other one has it. We don’t tell each other. People will lie right to your face about having it. It’s spreading around like wildfire.”

    Stigma around HIV — even among drug users — keeps them from disclosing their status even if they know if. In addition, the draw of a high can cause people to put their health on the back burner, Mark said.

    “People just don’t care,” he said. “When it comes down to it, if you’ve got a bag in your hand and somebody next to you’s got a dirty needle, you’re not going to run and find a clean one.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Racism Brought About Acupuncture For Addiction Treatment In The US

    How Racism Brought About Acupuncture For Addiction Treatment In The US

    Community leaders in the Bronx in the ’70s were wary of using methadone to treat addiction so they opted to take a holistic approach.

    A distrust in the profit-driven pharmaceutical establishment formed the roots of acupuncture for addiction treatment in the United States, according to a report in The Atlantic.

    According to writer Olga Khazan, it all began with community activists in the Bronx. During the 1970s, the northernmost New York City borough faced a daunting drug problem with few resources to fight it.

    Community activists the Young Lords and the Black Panthers, and their supporters, rallied for the creation of an in-patient drug treatment program at Lincoln Hospital, and won.

    About 200 people were in line at the opening of Lincoln Detox, but according to Khazan, the community, including detox staffers, were not convinced that methadone was the answer to the Bronx’s drug problem.

    As Samuel Roberts, professor of history and sociomedical sciences at Columbia University, explained, this sentiment was rooted in a distrust for the establishment disseminating the pharmaceutical drug. “Methadone was highly regulated—it’s run by white doctors, in white coats, in white hospitals,” Roberts told Khazan.

    This fueled a growing interest in acupuncture—a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine that involves inserting thin needles at strategic points to balance the body’s flow of energy—because it did not require medication and facilitated the idea of community members treating one another.

    Some traveled to Montreal to receive training in practicing acupuncture, which they would bring back to Lincoln Detox. (Tupac’s stepfather Mutulu Shakur was among these people. He’d later found his own organization, the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America.)

    Lincoln Detox would later drop methadone altogether, opting instead to offer acupuncture treatment and other holistic treatment instead.

    Bob Duggan, who founded Penn North, a recovery center in Baltimore, learned about acupuncture for addiction recovery from Lincoln Detox, and brought it to Baltimore. Daily acupuncture is a mandatory part of the center’s recovery program.

    There are currently more than 600 recovery programs in the United States that use acupuncture, according to the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA).

    While there’s no clear consensus among the research community in the efficacy of acupuncture for addiction recovery, Sara Bursac, executive director of NADA, says the practice is effective as part of a multi-faceted program that includes counseling and 12-step meetings.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • 5 Ways Sobriety Changes Over Time

    5 Ways Sobriety Changes Over Time

    I want to be able to use my story to let people know that getting and staying sober at a young age is possible and even enjoyable.

    When I first got sober a little over five years ago, I couldn’t imagine a time when sobriety wouldn’t be front and center in my life. The beginning of sobriety felt so all-consuming. It came into play in every aspect of my life and dictated what I chose to do and who I chose to do it with. It was the first thing I thought about when I woke up and the last thing I thought about before going to bed. I thought it would always be that way. 

    But now, five years later, sobriety is just a part of who I am. The role it plays in my life, as well as its prominence, has changed. I no longer think about it every single day. I no longer wonder how I will manage at a social gathering. I no longer worry about what people will think. 

    People so often talk about how sobriety has changed their life, but they rarely talk about how their sobriety itself has changed. As with most things in life, it doesn’t stay the same forever. Here are just a few ways I’ve noticed my recovery change as time has passed. 

    1. It becomes freeing rather than limiting. Five years ago, I viewed sobriety as something restrictive, something that was going to make my life smaller. I thought it would keep me from doing things like going out with friends, traveling, celebrating special occasions. I had no idea that over time, it would actually prove to be the opposite. Over the years, my sobriety has morphed into something that makes my life bigger. It allows me to take chances with confidence I’ve built, not confidence that comes from alcohol. It gives me the opportunity be fully present for every single moment, which is especially rewarding when it comes to traveling. 

    2. It fades from the foreground of your life. Maybe this isn’t the case for everyone, but for me it has been. Early on in sobriety, I thought about it all the time. I planned my days around treatment and 12-step meetings. I talked about recovery often, and about the milestones along the way. Now this isn’t really the case. It isn’t that these things aren’t still important to me, because they are. It’s just that they have become normal parts of life to an extent. Sometimes days can pass and I realize I haven’t even thought about the fact that I am sober. Today it’s just part of who I am at the core and that is something I have become comfortable with.

    3. The motivating factors change and evolve. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still glad I’m sober for many of the same reasons I had when I initially stopped drinking. I’m glad I don’t wake up having to apologize. I’m glad I know what I did the night before. I’m glad I get to skip over the whole hangover thing. But it’s more than all that now. Now, my motivation has deeper roots. Much of the time I’ve been sober, I’ve spent sharing my story and hoping to help others. Over the past few years, that has become my biggest motivator to stay sober. I want to be able to use my story to let people know that getting and staying sober at a young age is possible and even enjoyable. In early sobriety, that was far from a motivation for me because I didn’t think anyone would care what I had to say. Today, I know they do. 

    4. It becomes less taboo of a topic. Early on in sobriety, I often felt like people were tiptoeing around the topic of my sobriety. I’m not sure whether they didn’t know what to say or were just scared to bring it up. Either way, it felt like it was off limits for some people. As time passed, friends and acquaintances seemed to become more comfortable asking me questions, like if I minded if they drank around me, or how sobriety as a whole was going. I know my own comfort level played a role in other’s feeling comfortable speaking about it, but I think some of it was just a natural progression as well. When you stick with something for a long time, it becomes part of who you are and people seem to be more open to discussing it, which I’ve found to be beneficial for both myself and them.

    5. It becomes a source of pride rather than insecurity. It took me awhile, but today I can say I do not have a single ounce of insecurity about my sobriety. I no longer wonder what people will think or whether I should even tell them I am sober. I no longer worry that their opinion of me will change drastically. I’ve realized that it’s on them and not me if they have an issue with the way I choose to live. Today I get to be comfortable in who I am and how I choose to lead my life. Today my sobriety is something I am beyond proud of. I am 26 years old and I have been sober for more than five years. That’s pretty damn neat if you ask me, and I’ve learned that anyone who thinks otherwise isn’t someone I need in my life.

    In writing this, I fully realize these are my own experiences. No one person’s sobriety and recovery is the same as another person’s. As such, the way sobriety grows and evolves will vary. But no matter what, I think it’s important to stop every so often and evaluate how your sobriety is different now compared to early on, and whether those changes are positive ones. It’s so vital to stay in touch with yourself and know what is going on inside, and that is often tied into recovery.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Alaska Congressman Shares Story of Granddaughter's Addiction

    Alaska Congressman Shares Story of Granddaughter's Addiction

    During a public forum, US Rep Don Young revealed that his 27-year-old granddaughter battles addiction and has relapsed three times.

    U.S. Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) gave voice to the emotional toll taken on family and friends of individuals with substance dependency when he spoke about his granddaughter’s struggle for sobriety at a public forum on August 1, 2018.

    Speaking at an event on Alaska Native issues in Juneau, Young—who has a history of blunt and occasionally inflammatory statements on various social and political topics—spoke movingly about the sadness and frustration he has experienced while trying to help his granddaughter. He also noted that expanded access to treatment facilities is a requirement to assist those who hope to break the cycle of dependency.

    Young, who at 85 is the longest currently serving member of the House of Representatives, visited the Juneau forum as part of an extended stay in southeast Alaska during the House’s August recess. He was queried on a variety of subjects by members of the audience, including increased funding for the Indian Child Welfare Act and the National Rifle Association, which he supported. 

    The focus turned to drug and alcohol dependency when Juneau resident Logan Henkins spoke about his battle with substance abuse, from which he said that he had been sober for 60 days. Young told the assembled audience that he was personally acquainted with the struggle through his 27-year-old granddaughter, whom he said had relapsed three times.

    “The challenge we have is when she goes to rehab,” said Young. “Where does she go when she gets out?” He noted that his granddaughter will experience weeks of sobriety before “she falls back to those that she ran with before. That is what drives me crazy,” he said.

    Young opined that stronger punishment of drug dealers, whom he told the audience were “killing your kids,” would offer a solution, but also said that access to treatment is crucial for helping individuals like his granddaughter. “Support forces, halfway houses, some place you can stay away… we ought to have that,” he stated.

    Young, who is seeking re-election this year, also touched on substance dependency when he was asked to support Savanna’s Act, a bill that would increase support for tribal governments to investigate missing and murdered Native American women. Young, who said that he would consider the legislation, added that the reason for these incidents is “mostly” related to drugs and alcohol, and added that tribal leaders needed to address the issue within their own ranks. 

    “We have a responsibility within our own tribes,” he said. This prompted a response from Richard Peterson, president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, who said, “We’re in this together, and we have to remember that. I remind you, congressman, sovereignty doesn’t mean that we’re alone.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Students Allowed To Use Medical Cannabis In School Under New Illinois Law

    Students Allowed To Use Medical Cannabis In School Under New Illinois Law

    Both students and parents must first meet specific requirements in order to administer the product on campus.

    A bill that will allow parents or guardians to give medical cannabis to children in school was signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.

    HB 4870 was signed on August 1, 2018 after passing the Illinois House and Senate with near-unanimous support in May; the bill amends the state’s School Code to authorize parents or guardians to administer a “cannabis-infused product” to qualifying students on school property or a school bus.

    Both students and parents must first meet specific requirements, including double certification from registered physicians, in order to administer the product.

    The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D- Chicago), is also known as Ashley’s Law, after Ashley Surin, who filed a federal lawsuit against the state and the Schaumberg School District 54 in 2018 for the right to use medical marijuana in school to treat debilitating seizures.

    As High Times noted, HB 4870 parents and child cannot use medical marijuana on school property without first meeting several requirements.

    Both parties must enroll in the state’s Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act and receive a registry identification card.

    Parents or guardians must also have a registration card identifying them as a designated caregiver, while students must be qualifying patients as established by the Act, meaning that they have been diagnosed with one of a number of “severe, debilitating or life-threatening” medical conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, muscular dystrophy, PTSD and seizures, including those related to epilepsy.

    The medical marijuana used by parents and children also cannot disturb the school’s environment or other students, which means that smokeable cannabis or vaping is prohibited.

    Students can use orally-ingested cannabis oil or tinctures, transdermal patches or topical ointments. The law also states that a school nurse or other staff is not required to administer medical cannabis to students.

    “This will open the door potentially for kids like Ashley and other kids in Illinois to have medical marijuana on school grounds that can be administered in a situation where it’ll regulate these type of illnesses,” said Ashley Surin’s father, Jim Surin, in conversation with WCIS, the ABC affiliate serving Springfield and Decatur.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Poppy Seed Bagel Triggers Positive Drug Test For New Mom

    Poppy Seed Bagel Triggers Positive Drug Test For New Mom

    The new mom told the doctor she had eaten a poppy seed bagel but the state had already been notified of the positive drug test. 

    On the day of her daughter’s birth, Elizabeth Eden, a mom from Baltimore County, Maryland, did not expect to fail the routine drug test because of her breakfast that morning.

    “I was in labor. I was sitting in bed. I was having contractions. I was on a Pitocin drip, and the doctor came in and said, ‘You’ve tested positive for opiates,’” the new mom said, according to WBAL-TV. “I said, ‘Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,’ and she said, ‘No, you’ve been reported to the state.”

    That was in April. Beatrice, the newborn, was monitored in the hospital for five days, and the state did a home check-up. The case is now closed, but Eden said the ordeal was “traumatizing.”

    She’s written a letter to St. Joseph Medical Center, urging the hospital to raise the threshold for a positive drug test, or at least inform new moms about it.

    Poppy seeds come from the same opium poppy plant that heroin, morphine and oxycodone are derived from, and can thus trigger a positive result on a drug test.

    Research has shown that just a teaspoon of poppy seeds can raise a person’s opioid levels to 1,200 nanograms per milliliter. However, St. Joseph’s threshold is much lower—300 nanograms per milliliter.

    The chief of the department of OBGYN at the hospital explained that the low threshold is meant to be on the safe side. If you raise the bar, “you would only identify true positives, but you would also miss quite a few individuals who did use drugs and were considered screened negative,” said Dr. Judith Rossiter-Pratt.

    This isn’t the first time a new mom was snagged by a drug test because of a seemingly innocent meal.

    In April 2010, new parents Elizabeth Mort and Alex Rodriguez, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, were settling in with their infant daughter, when state authorities arrived at the home with a “court order to remove the three-day-old infant,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania reported.

    Mort had yielded a positive drug test in the hospital, only to find out later that it was triggered by an “everything” bagel from Dunkin’ Donuts she’d had two hours before arriving at the hospital.

    Another woman from the same Pennsylvania county had had a pasta salad with poppy seed dressing, triggering a positive result, and the state to take her newborn for 75 days.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • World's First Marijuana "Breathalyzer" Is On The Way But Will It Work?

    World's First Marijuana "Breathalyzer" Is On The Way But Will It Work?

    The breath analysis test can reportedly detect THC and alcohol.

    A breathalyzer that can determine whether a driver has smoked marijuana might be rolling out in cities as soon as this fall, according to Newsweek.

    The Oakland, California-based company, Hound Labs, says it has developed the world’s first marijuana breath analysis test, which could be leveraged by police departments in all the same ways alcohol breathalyzers are.

    With more and more states legalizing weed, law enforcement officials have become worried about individuals driving when they’re high, Newsweek noted.

    Unfortunately, police officers don’t have an accurate roadside test to tell if a driver has consumed weed. That’s why the marijuana breathalyzer could be a game-changer, says Hound Labs CEO Mike Lynn.

    “We are trying to make the establishment of impairment around marijuana rational and to balance fairness and safety,” he noted, explaining that the device will detect THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. 

    Unlike alcohol, however, timing is crucial when it comes to measuring marijuana impairment. With alcohol, a driver is considered impaired with a blood-alcohol level of 0.8; with marijuana, it’s not so clear-cut. Many experts agree that there is a two-hour window during which the full effects of THC will show up.

    “When you find THC in breath, you can be pretty darn sure that somebody smoked pot in the last couple of hours,” Lynn said. “And we don’t want to have people driving during that time period or, frankly, at a work site in a construction zone.” (In addition to THC, the device can detect alcohol, too.)

    For many law enforcement officials, the device couldn’t come at a better time. Right now, THC can only be detected through blood tests—and even then, it remains in the system much longer than other substances.

    “Unlike alcohol, THC can remain detectable in the blood stream for days or weeks, when any impairment wears off in a matter of hours,” said Taylor West, former director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “So [what] all those numbers really tell us is that, since legal adult-use sales began, a larger number of people are consuming cannabis and then, at some point… [are] driving a car.” The new device would help police zero in on the drivers who are truly putting themselves and others at risk.

    Some critics remain skeptical that devices like the breathalyzer or Canada’s saliva-testing device will work at all. For one, new research has revealed that THC levels “don’t line up in a straightforward way with how impaired people are,” Live Science reported.

    Toxicologist Marilyn Huestis argues that the largest problem isn’t determining how far over the line someone has gone with marijuana so much as where that line even exists.

    “I used to be someone who thought [that] if we could just get a good limit, that would work,” she said. “But [with] all the work on chronic, frequent users, we realized there’s no one number that’s going to distinguish impairment.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • EDM Star Illenium Pens Message About Heroin Addiction Struggles

    EDM Star Illenium Pens Message About Heroin Addiction Struggles

    The producer and EDM artist became sober after a heroin overdose six years ago.

    Producer and electronic dance music (EDM) artist Illenium revealed to fans his struggle with heroin dependency that helped to inspire his current single “Take You Down.”

    The open letter, which was posted on his Twitter feed and website, detailed the impact that his dependency had on his career and personal life, as well as an overdose that occurred six years ago.

    Having gained sobriety after the overdose, Illenium wrote that he hoped listeners that might be going through similar issues “find peace in their struggles” and thanked those that had shared their experiences with him.

    Born Nicholas D. Miller in Chicago, Illinois, Illenium has enjoyed a rapid rise to stardom, beginning in 2013 with a self-titled EP and later, his studio album debut with 2016’s Ashes.

    It was quickly followed by a second album, Awake, in 2017, and collaborations with fellow EDM artists Kill the Noise and Mako on the single “Don’t Give Up on Me,” and with Excision (“Gold (Stupid Love)”). Miller issued the statement about the song and his experiences on August 1, two days before the official release of “Take You Down.” 

    In the letter, Miller cites stories from his fans about their own personal struggles as the impetus for sharing his experiences with them.

    “Some of you have said my music changed your life, helped you through depression, addiction, a lost love one, the list goes on,” he wrote. “Honestly, I feel bad because you don’t know how much that truly means to me, because I’ve been there, too… In the depths.”

    According to Miller, his issues with opiates began at a young age, and culminated in an overdose six years ago—approximately a year before the release of his self-titled EP. “I was trapped in [dependency], no passion, no direction, and truly hated myself,” he wrote.

    But with gaining sobriety—which came after the overdose—and the ascent of his career, came a sense of salvation through his music. “I’m not telling you to preach or say how I found some magical cure or that everyone needs to live like I do,” he wrote. “I’m just sharing my story and relating because music saved my life, too.”

    Although he noted that “Take You Down” is about his dependency, Miller also wrote that the track is about the toll taken on families and those who love the individual who is in crisis.

    He also stated that the song is also about his mother, who “never gave up on me and always continued to see the good” in him. Miller concluded the letter by thanking his fans for sharing their lives with him, as well as the fervent hope that they know “that anything can be overcome.”

    View the original article at thefix.com