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Category: Addiction News

  • How The Mediterranean Diet Affects Mental Health

    How The Mediterranean Diet Affects Mental Health

    A new study found that certain foods correlated with better moods.

    The old saying “you are what you eat” could ring true for people with depression, according to a recent scientific review, which found that eating a Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of depression by as much as a third. 

    According to ABC 30, researchers analyzed 41 studies that looked at how food affected people’s moods. The researchers found that people who ate Mediterranean diets were 33% less likely to be depressed. 

    Mediterranean diets place an emphasis on eating fruits, vegetables, legumes and other plants, according to Healthline. The diet encourages eating fish over red meat and—perhaps most importantly for mental health—incorporates plenty of healthy fats, like those found in olive oil and nuts. 

    “Especially the omega three fatty acids—those are known to have pretty clear effects with depression,” said Charles Conway, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. Conway has researched more modern approaches to treating depression, including vagus nerve stimulation, but found that one’s diet is still important for mental health. 

    The researchers found that certain foods correlated with better moods, including avocados, berries, tomatoes, leafy greens, walnuts, seeds, and beans. Many of these are part of a Mediterranean diet. 

    However, foods that are associated with a modern Western diet could make depression symptoms worse or increase the risk of depression. These include processed foods, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and saturated fats. 

    Omega-3 fatty acids have long been associated with brain health and boosting one’s mood. A 2014 review found that people who consume these “good fats” are less likely to be depressed.  

    “Among the biological properties of omega-3 PUFA, their anti-inflammatory effects and their important role on the structural changing of the brain should be taken into account to better understand the possible pathway through which they can be effective both in preventing or treating depression,” study authors wrote.  

    The authors concluded that there needs to be a better understanding of how to integrate these healthy fats into a Western diet. 

    “The problem of how to correct the inadequate supply of omega-3 PUFA in the Westernized countries’ diet is a priority in order to set food and health policies and also dietary recommendations for individuals and population groups,” they wrote. 

    In addition to eating a healthy diet, Conway said that exercising is also an effective way to reduce your risk of depression and control symptoms. 

    “Pushing yourself to exercise regularly probably helps with some degree of mood improvement,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Death Certificate Project Goes Too Far, Addiction Specialist Says

    Death Certificate Project Goes Too Far, Addiction Specialist Says

    “Scaring providers into not prescribing opioids, I think that is not the ethically appropriate way to go forward,” said one addiction expert.

    Dr. Ako Jacintho, a family practitioner in San Francisco, says that he saw the opioid epidemic coming. His patients were asking for stronger medications and more pills. Instead of filling their requests, Jacintho trained as an addiction specialist, hoping to head off the problem, according to NPR. 

    However, that hasn’t protected him from an investigation that the California Medical Board is conducting into possible misuse of prescriptions. Jacintho received a letter from the board as part of the Death Certificate Project, which is examining death records in the state and seeking information from doctors who wrote prescriptions that may have contributed to fatal overdoses. 

    In Jacintho’s case, the board wanted to know about a 2012 methadone prescription that he wrote for a patient who later fatally overdosed on methadone and Benadryl. Jacintho reviewed the patient’s records—which the medical board had requested—but stuck by his decision to use methadone to treat the patient’s pain. 

    “If they’re looking for clinicians who are overprescribing, I’m the wrong doctor,” he said.

    Jacintho said that it’s especially unfair to look at prescribing practices from seven years ago in light of our new understanding of opioids. In 2012, when he wrote the prescription, doctors were told to treat pain aggressively, even by the California Medical Board’s own recommendations. 

    “It actually says that no physician will receive disciplinary action for prescribing opioids to patients with intractable pain,” Jacintho said. ”This person had intractable pain.”

    The letter from the board alleged that Jacintho prescribed toxic levels of the medication, but the doctor argues that it’s not that clear cut. “Toxicity is a very subjective word. What’s a toxic level for someone may not be a toxic level for someone else.”

    After the letter, Jacintho further reduced the amount of opioids that he prescribes to patients, something that worries Dr. Phillip Coffin, director of substance use research at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

    “It’s like leaving a pair of scissors in an abdomen after surgery. If you’re just going to discontinue opioids, basically you’re ripping out the scissors and telling the person: ‘Good luck.’ Let them deal with the intestinal perforation on their own,” he said. “Scaring providers into not prescribing opioids, I think that is not the ethically appropriate way to go forward.”

    Kim Kirchmeyer, executive director of the medical board, said that most of the doctors who have received letters have not faced disciplinary action, although formal complaints have been filed against 25 doctors. She said that despite concern the death certificate project will continue, systematically working through records from previous years. 

    “If we save one life through this project, that is meeting the mission of the board, and that makes this project so worth it,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • FDA Has "Cozy Relationship" With Pharmaceutical Companies, Says Adviser

    FDA Has "Cozy Relationship" With Pharmaceutical Companies, Says Adviser

    “The FDA has a lack of transparency. They use the advisory committees as cover,” said the head of the FDA’s opioid advisory council. 

    A Food and Drug Administration adviser says that the agency is putting the needs of pharmaceutical companies above the public by continuing to approve dangerous pain medications. 

    Speaking with The Guardian, Dr. Raeford Brown, head of the FDA’s opioid advisory council, said there are “cozy, cozy relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and various parts of the FDA.”

    Brown has been vocally opposed to the approval of the drug Dsuvia, an opioid more powerful than fentanyl that the FDA recently approved against the recommendation of the advisory committee. (The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of the committee.)

    Brown said that the committee voted to approve the drug while many committee members were away at a professional conference, which he believes was a willful manipulation of the system. 

    “There’s no question in my mind right that they did that on purpose. The FDA has a lack of transparency. They use the advisory committees as cover,” Brown said. 

    He pointed to Dsuvia’s approval as the latest sign that the FDA has allegiances to pharmaceutical companies. 

    He said, “I think that the FDA has learned nothing. The modus operandi of the agency is that they talk a good game and then nothing happens. Working directly with the agency for the last five years, as I sit and listen to them in meetings, all I can think about is the clock ticking and how many people are dying every moment that they’re not doing anything. The lack of insight that continues to be exhibited by the agency is in many ways a willful blindness that borders on the criminal.”

    This approach is fueling the rise in opioid-related deaths, he said. 

    “They should stop considering any new opioid evaluation. For every day and every week and every month that the FDA don’t do the right thing, people drop dead on the streets. What they do has a direct impact on the mortality rate from opioids in this country.”

    Brown pointed out that the FDA relies on pharmaceutical funding for 75% of the budget of the division that approves opioid medication. He explained that this allows pharmaceutical companies to unfairly influence the process, something that the FDA denies. Brown worries that despite the widespread deaths caused by the opioid epidemic and the resulting media coverage, little will change at the FDA.

    “Nothing is fundamentally being done to effect change in the regulation of opioids,” he said. “If the FDA continues to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to turn out opioid after opioid after opioid, and the regulation of those opioids is no better than it was in 1995, then we’ll be cleaning this up for a long time.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Tom Sizemore Arrested For Heroin Possession

    Tom Sizemore Arrested For Heroin Possession

    If convicted, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor could be sentenced to a year in jail.

    Actor Tom Sizemore has been charged for possession of heroin and faces the possibility of a year in jail and a monetary fine.

    TMZ reported that Sizemore, whose film and television roles include Saving Private Ryan and the recent Twin Peaks reboot, was charged with two counts of possession of heroin and two counts of possession of medication without a prescription by the Burbank City Attorney in California, after police reportedly discovered the drugs in his car during a routine stop.

    All four charges are misdemeanors, but if convicted, Sizemore could be incarcerated for up to a year in jail and subjected to a $1,000 fine.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sizemore was pulled over by police officers from the Burbank Police Department on January 5, 2019, because his vehicle had expired registration tags and was missing its front license plate.

    Arrest records show that Sizemore, who was traveling with a male passenger, consented to a search of his vehicle, during which officers found heroin and another substance, initially described as methamphetamine in early media reports, but labeled in the city attorney’s documents as “medication without a prescription.”

    Both Sizemore and his passenger were reportedly released after posting bail.

    If Sizemore is convicted, the misdemeanor charges do not carry the possibility of a prison sentence, but he could be sentenced to a year in jail, which is designated by local law enforcement or government agencies for holding inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences. 

    A Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee, Sizemore has a long history of run-ins with the law, including a 2003 conviction for physical abuse and harassment against then-girlfriend and “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss and a 2007 arrest for methamphetamine possession.

    Last year, Sizemore was named in a lawsuit by a former child actress who claimed that he had sexually molested her during the production of a 2003 film. Sizemore denied the charges via a statement from his publicist.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Bam Margera Completes Court-Mandated AA, But Friends Are Worried

    Bam Margera Completes Court-Mandated AA, But Friends Are Worried

    The troubled skateboarder has completed treatment, but those who know him fear the worst could be ahead.

    Even after completing his court-mandated, three-month-long online alcohol program and attending AA meetings, Bam Margera’s friends are worried for his life.

    Margera’s colleague and Jackass co-star Brandon Novak told TMZ that he’s worried about Margera’s decision to leave rehab early. Novak, who is in recovery, expressed his disappointment in Margera leaving rehab, because he felt he would otherwise be killing him, saying, “enable an addict, bury an addict.”

    But Margera wasn’t satisfied with sitting in rehab, sharing these feelings in a journal entry he posted on social media.

    “Dear assholes who want to talk shit about my sobriety…” he began.

    He went on to explain that he left because the rehab facility did not seem to think that he needed any detox or medications, so he figured he was wasting his time. His lawyer also mentioned that Margera is ahead of his legal obligations in regards to his DUI.

    Margera was placed in rehab after getting a DUI in Los Angeles in January last year. At the time, he was already struggling with drinking.

    “I never had any pill problems and I’ve never tried heroin in my life, but it’s been a real struggle for me to stay off the alcohol,” he said in a 2017 interview. “But just as long as you’re surrounded by good people and you have something to do, you’ll be good.”

    He avoided jail time, opting for three years probation and mandatory alcohol programs as well as compulsory visits to Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Margera was managing to stay sober until late last year, when he posted a video of himself in distress and telling the story of the life-threatening robbery he had just experienced.

    “I just arrived in Cartagena alone and I took a taxi, a random one, from the airport to here and I wouldn’t speak Spanish, they couldn’t speak English, and they translated on their phone to read ‘empty your wallet’ as they put a gun on their lap to show it to me. So I did and I had 500 bucks,” he recounted in the video. “They let me go. Welcome to Colombia.”

    At the end, he cracked open a beer. Following the post, Steve-O publicly expressed his concern that Margera wasn’t even sober prior to the robbery. Steve-O himself, like Novak, is a now-sober Jackass alumnus.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Addiction or Mental Illness: Which Should You Treat First?

    Addiction or Mental Illness: Which Should You Treat First?

    Substance use can alter behaviors, moods, and personalities so severely for people with addiction that without specialized knowledge and experience, it’s difficult to determine underlying causes such as mental illness or trauma.

    I credit psychological intervention for pushing me into recovery from alcoholism.

    Addiction is a mental illness, but is it one that needs to be treated before anything else? Or should we be stopping people from hitting their addiction bottom and helping them recover from their comorbid conditions concurrently?

    What Is Addiction?

    Before we can discuss treatment, we need to understand what addiction is and how it is defined. The two major guidelines for diagnosing mental health conditions around the world are the DSM and the ICD. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is the standard diagnostic tool for mental health conditions in the United States and often used in North America. The ICD (International Classification of Diseases) is endorsed by the World Health Organization and often used in Europe.

    In the DSM-5, substance abuse and substance dependence are combined under the same name of substance use disorder, which is diagnosed on a continuum. Each substance has its own sub-category, but behavioral addiction is also in the DSM-5, with gambling disorder listed as a diagnosable condition. Other similar entries, such as internet gaming disorder, are listed as needing further research before being formally added as a diagnosis. In the ICD-11 there is a subset of mood disorders called “substance-induced mood disorders,” which are conditions caused by substance use. To qualify for this category, one must not have experienced the mood disorder symptoms prior to substance use.

    Hypothetically, a person who has alcohol-induced mood disorder might find health with abstinence alone, but substance use disorders do not occur in a vacuum and no one can go through the experience of addiction without it altering their mind and body, sometimes irreversibly. With enough time, substance-induced disorders change the function of the brain and alter emotion regulation. That doesn’t mean that addiction will cause another mental disorder; addiction is a mental disorder.

    Not everyone with an addiction is concurrently experiencing another mental disorder. Substance use can alter behaviors, moods, and personalities so severely for people who are addicted that without specialized knowledge and experience, it’s difficult to determine what, if any, underlying cause is responsible for the changes. Drugs, even those that are prescribed and used as directed, can have side effects that seem to mimic the symptoms of other diagnosable conditions. These effects can also appear if a person is in withdrawal. Because of this inability to isolate co-occurring conditions, there was a time when it was popular for doctors and clinicians to first treat substance use disorders before exploring the possibility of other mental illnesses. That is no longer considered the best approach to care.

    My Story: Therapy Helped Me Recognize My Alcoholism

    I started therapy before I could realize my excessive drinking was actually alcoholism. I was riddled with anxiety and constantly on edge. I lied compulsively about the most unnecessary and mundane things. My partner helped me start therapy, calling the first point of contact for me and taking me to my first two appointments, and then patiently waiting outside for me. He wasn’t enabling me by keeping me from hitting bottom, he was supporting me and protecting me in a loving way; in a way that worked.

    In the early days of therapy, my psychologist gently guided me towards recognizing my alcohol use as problematic. My therapist convinced me to go to a psychiatrist who started me on antidepressants and gave me anti-anxiety medication to use when needed. My treatment was moving forward, but I was still drinking. I spent most therapy sessions crying, but my ability to live day to day was slowly changing.

    I was Googling local 12-step meetings while hungover and then deleting my search history while drinking. I was taking my medications but still getting drunk on the regular. I had to do some work on my crippling anxiety and debilitating depression to get to the point that I could even fathom walking into a new space with new people. I drank because alcohol made it easier to have fun and to talk to people. I was living with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol worked to calm symptoms like hyperarousal and insomnia. I was using alcohol to cope with issues that my shame wanted to keep buried and my therapy wanted to draw forth. It took nearly nine months of therapy before I quit drinking.

    Once I was able to cross that threshold, things really began to change for me. My medication was able to work as intended because I wasn’t combining it with other mood-altering substances, and my therapeutic work could go deeper because I wasn’t self-medicating with alcohol. I gained tools to manage my mental health challenges. My alcoholism treatment has gone so well because I have concurrently received care for my comorbid conditions.

    Integrated Treatment

    That’s just one personal story of recovery and successful treatment of co-occurring mental illnesses. But it turns out that’s actually the best treatment: individualized integrated care. In the book The Anatomy of Addiction, Dr. Akikur Mohammad writes that the “best approach to treating a dual diagnosis…is…integrating mental health and addiction treatment in a single, comprehensive program designed to meet the individual needs of the specific patient.” How do we determine a patient’s needs? According to Dr. Mohammad, “the best diagnostic instrument is the clinician’s experience in treating addiction.”

    How many times have you heard the adage: “You have to let an addict hit bottom”? If you take a seat in any 12-step recovery meeting, you’ll likely hear someone speaking about their own experience hitting bottom. The idea is that one must reach a point of complete and utter desperation before being able to start recovery. Being desperate enough to change because your life is wretchedly entwined with addiction makes for a good story, but waiting to fall into such desperation doesn’t make for a solid treatment plan. The evidence base supports this view, but people don’t necessarily believe it.

    Generally, public views about drug addiction are incongruent with current medical knowledge on the disease. A 2014 study that surveyed over 700 adults across the country found that the majority of Americans hold stigmatized views. Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they oppose giving people with drug addiction equivalent insurance benefits compared to 21 percent who believe the same about those with mental illness. Half of all respondents were against increased government spending for treatment of drug addiction, compared to 33 percent for mental illness. About a third of folks don’t believe recovery is even possible for someone with either a drug addiction or a mental illness. And the number of people who believe that treatment options are not effective? Fifty-nine percent for drug addiction and 41 percent for mental illness.

    Consequences of Discrimination Against People with SUD

    These public opinions have real world consequences. They translate into low support for policies that could provide equal insurance coverage and policies that could allocate government funds into public health programs to improve the success rate of (and access to) evidence-based treatment. Drug addiction or substance use disorder (SUD) is a mental illness, but in the United States it’s treated as distinct from mental illness as a whole.

    Did I hit bottom? In retrospect, I find solace in the narrative that I hit “my” bottom. That’s the problem with the notion of rock bottom, it is a storytelling plot point that can only be defined in hindsight. Not even the precepts of Alcoholics Anonymous (the original peer support program that all 12-step groups are derived from) says that a person needs to hit rock bottom. According to the 12 Traditions, which are the general guidelines for 12-step groups, “The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop [fill in behavior or addiction here].”

    One thing is undeniable: people with real or perceived substance use and/or mental disorders face discrimination and an uphill battle to a healthier life. Everyone is different, and different treatment plans will have different outcomes for different people. Relying on one method of recovery for all people is irresponsible, illogical, and ineffective.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Woman Sentenced For Leading Massive Meth Ring In Missouri

    Woman Sentenced For Leading Massive Meth Ring In Missouri

    The woman’s brother says their dad groomed them to become criminals as they were growing up. 

    Last May, Kenna Harmon was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison after admitting to her role in leading one of the largest methamphetamine rings in Missouri’s history. But her life seemed destined for trouble long before that. 

    “They had people, drug addicts coming in and out of the [house] 24 hours a day. People I wouldn’t allow in my yard were in his house,” Harmon’s uncle said at her sentencing hearing, according to the Springfield News-Leader. The uncle tried to gain custody, but was not able to. Harmon’s brother said that he and his sister grew up with little parenting. 

    “Our dad was not much of a father figure,” Jeff Harmon said. “He was training us how to be criminals, to be point-blank with it. Every single person in my family has been to prison already, including myself.”

    Kenna learned the lesson well, becoming one of the most prosperous drug dealers in the state. She even paid more than $300,000 in cash to build an elaborate stash house, where authorities later found guns, marijuana and meth. 

    Beginning in her 20s, Harmon was charged with drug felonies but stayed out of prison, receiving probation instead. However, when she married her husband Daniel, who was also a drug dealer, the couple started pushing hundreds of pounds of meth throughout the state. 

    In December of 2013 the couple was pulled over with meth, guns and cash in the car. Harmon leapt from the vehicle while her husband drove off. Although he was apprehended and held in jail, she escaped by foot. Rather than cutting back her empire after the close call, she began peddling even larger amounts of drugs in her husband’s absence.

    She funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars through a tattoo shop in Branson, Missouri, hoping to keep law enforcement from following the cash. She kept some money to build her stash house and take a trip to Hawaii, all while being watched by federal agents. 

    On Thanksgiving of 2014, agents listening to a wire tap heard Harmon make plans to meet another meth kingpin for a buy. They moved in, arresting both.

    After spending months in jail and detoxing from meth, Harmon began cooperating with officials, her lawyer said. 

    “She was heavily using methamphetamine to the point that she was in a fog for probably two or three months,” the lawyer said. “She didn’t understand… what was going on.”

    When she read her case file she seemed remorseful, reportedly saying, “This is what I was doing to the people around here.”

    Her biggest regret, however, was involving her son in a circle of crime, she said at her sentencing. 

    “Most importantly, I want to mention how I failed my son. My uncle brought it up to me the other day whenever we were talking about our family life and he said, ‘How’s your son?,’ and I just broke down because, you know, although I didn’t beat my child, I didn’t give him much of a better life than what was given me, and that’s horrible.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Is There A Link Between Anxiety And Weight Loss?

    Is There A Link Between Anxiety And Weight Loss?

    Recent findings may make developing drugs to treat obesity and anxiety much easier.

    New research on mice suggests that there is a connection between anxiety and burning fat. 

    According to New Atlas, researchers say the connection comes from a molecule that seems to connect the two. Researchers believe these findings could aid in developing drugs for managing both anxiety and obesity. 

    The research was conducted by scientists at Florida’s Scripps Research Institute and carried out on mice. Researchers focused on a molecule called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is known to “promote the growth and function of brain cells and recent research has linked it to schizophrenia, memory and experimental Alzheimer’s treatments.”

    Baoji Xu, a Scripps Institute obesity researcher, says that in observing certain mice that were engineered to lack the BDNF molecule, she noticed another potential function of it.

    She notes that just like with humans, there was a connection between times of stress and anxiety and weight loss in mice, even when the mice were specifically given a diet intended to lead to weight gain.

    “Even on a high-fat diet, these mice were really lean,” Xu said, according to New Atlas. “Could the same thing be happening in humans?”

    To fully understand this connection, researchers adjusted their study in an attempt to learn more. 

    In order to do so, researchers needed BDNF to be working in certain parts of the brain, but not in other parts. So they first eliminated the BDNF gene in the brain’s cortex, hippocampus and amygdala regions, according to New Atlas.

    After doing so, the mice still displayed anxiety symptoms. Upon further study, researchers found that the elimination of BDNF was impacting the neurotransmitter GABA, which has to do with slowing signals in the brain and creating a sense of relaxation. 

    In studying the BDNF-less mice, researchers determined that they had an “elevated basal metabolic rate,” which means they were “expending more energy just to keep their anxious bodies in working order,” according to New Atlas.

    It was also discovered that the mice produced more brown fat, which is a type of fat that burns energy to create body warmth. 

    Though the results of this study could prove helpful in creating drugs to treat anxiety and weight loss, there will have to be more thorough research conducted first. However, researchers are still hopeful based on these preliminary results. 

    “We’ve found a relationship between anxiety and weight loss,” says Xu. “This research could guide new therapies for anxiety and help researchers design treatments for obesity.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Cannabis Reform May Be Right Around The Corner

    Cannabis Reform May Be Right Around The Corner

    “It would not be shocking to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition signed into law this year,” said Tom Angell, a marijuana reform advocate.

    The influx of new members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the ousting of certain key anti-marijuana figures from the federal government could herald the approach of a “green tide,” according to a recent report released by Politico.

    Along with the many Democrats who claimed seats in the House, new governors from both parties appear to be significantly more cannabis-friendly as well, as more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana.

    The departure of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions could also pave the way to federal legalization, or at least a change from marijuana’s current status as a Schedule I substance—a federal designation reserved for the most dangerous substances including heroin. 

    Although the attorney general was seen as a serious obstacle to pro-cannabis legislation, Smoke Wallin, president of the cannabis company Vertical, was much more concerned about U.S. Representative Pete Sessions.

    This past November, Rep. Sessions lost his bid for re-election. As chairman of the House Rules Committee, he was active in blocking any legislation involving cannabis from reaching the House floor.

    With Rep. Sessions gone, cannabis experts are expecting that the backlog of bills will soon be addressed, and members of Congress are reportedly “lining up” to file new pro-cannabis bills.

    Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) have reintroduced the CARERS Act, which would “expand marijuana research, allow VA doctors to discuss pot with veteran patients and prevent the federal government from meddling with state-legal programs,” Politico reports. However, the bill would keep the Schedule I designation for cannabis.

    The appropriately-named HR 420, also known as the Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol Act, would “de-schedule” marijuana so that it is no longer treated as a dangerous substance and allow it to be regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

    With the Senate still under Republican control, led by Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been hesitant to support pro-cannabis legislation in the past, it may remain difficult to make change through the Senate. However, experts are encouraged by the recent legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill.

    “It would not be shocking to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition signed into law this year,” said Tom Angell of Marijuana Moment. “This is the first time that actually seems achievable.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Colorado Cannabis Bill Aims To Ease Restrictions For Parents

    Colorado Cannabis Bill Aims To Ease Restrictions For Parents

    Parens of children who depend on cannabis-based medications for epilepsy and other medical conditions are championing the new bill. 

    A Colorado bill aims to make it easier for parents of children enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program to get the cannabis-based medications that their children need. 

    According to current state law, children in the medical marijuana program — who are often severely ill — can have only one primary medical marijuana caregiver who is permitted to pick up his or her cannabis medications, according to Westword.com.

    Having to choose just one parent who has this permission can be stressful for families like that of Christine and Matthew Cerrato, whose four-year-old son Ethan uses cannabis to treat epilepsy and other medical conditions. 

    Because their son in so young and medically fragile, the Cerratos need to travel 80 miles to secure his medication, which is not sold locally. This is complicated by the fact that Ethan is often in the hospital: He was there 11 times just last year. 

    “For the first year, I was the caregiver. But when we’d be at the hospital, I couldn’t just leave this small child, who is sick yet also very cognitively aware, with strangers. But on the other side, what else can I do, let him lapse in treatment? There is this really bizarre gap here,” said Christine. Matthew is Ethan’s primary medical marijuana caregiver, so only he can go to the dispensary. 

    “We’ve got other kids and have to take care of groceries and meals. Matt has the availability to go [to the dispensary], but if he’s sick or occupied, he still needs to go, even though I’m totally healthy and able-bodied to do this myself,” Christine said. She pointed out that although their family can manage, other parents find the situation even more complicated to navigate. 

    “But we’re still lucky: We’re part of this gap that is married, in the same home, and Matt’s not traveling for work. We’re able to manage it, but I’ve had friends in the cannabis community go through ugly divorces… . Whatever the parental situation might be, it just doesn’t make sense,” she said. 

    When Christine posted her frustrations on Facebook one night, State Representative Matt Gray answered. After learning more about the issue he introduced the bill to allow both parents to be medical marijuana caregivers. The measure will be considered this week, but Gray says he doesn’t anticipate any opposition. 

    “This is a common-sense idea. The idea that one parent can give their kid medicine and the other can’t is kind of ridiculous,” he said. 

    Christine hopes the strange law changes soon. 

    “We’re all busy. Both of us being able to make Ethan’s purchases just makes things run more smoothly,” she said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com