Category: Addiction News

Medical Marijuana Patients Forced To Choose Between Housing Or Pain Relief

The government’s stance on medical marijuana is leaving some low-income patients in a major bind.

Some medical marijuana patients across the country are having to choose between having a place to live or effective pain relief.

People who apply for, or already receive, federal housing assistance may face discrimination if they use cannabis—even if it is for medical use, even if it is legal in their state.

That’s because the federal government’s stance has not changed along with the policies of individual states, the majority of whom have legalized cannabis in some form. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says federal housing policy will continue to prohibit cannabis use until the federal government officially changes its stance on it.

Currently cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, in the same category as heroin and LSD. Drugs in this category are defined as having no medical value and a high potential for abuse.

Lily Fisher, 55, is a medical cannabis patient under Montana’s medical cannabis program. Fisher, who has a prosthetic foot as a result of developing blood clots while being treated for breast cancer, relies on cannabis for pain relief.

Fisher previously tried both hydromorphone and oxycodone for her pain, but ultimately preferred cannabis over taking opioids because it gave her fewer side effects.

While applying for federal housing assistance, Fisher learned that her status as a medical marijuana patient would disqualify her from the process.

In August, she was notified that she had been removed from the Section 8 waiting list because the state “recently received information from our field office that [she had] engaged in illegal use of a drug.” She would have to reapply.

“It never even crossed my mind in a million years that that would be an issue,” she said, according to the Billings Gazette. “I started getting shook up and nervous because I’m about to be homeless.”

Another woman, 66-year-old Mary Cease of Pennsylvania, was also denied access to a Section 8 housing voucher. Cease is a disabled veteran who also prefers cannabis over opioids. “It’s a crazy thing to do to an old woman who has no criminal background, and who owes nobody anything, and is living in a place where you cannot expand your mind,” she said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In June, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a representative from Washington, D.C., introduced a bill that would allow the use of cannabis in federally subsidized housing in states where it is legal. “Individuals who live in states where medical and/or recreational marijuana is legal, but live in federally-assisted housing, should have the same access to treatment as their neighbors,” Norton said.

If such legislation should pass, it would represent a huge victory for medical marijuana patients who fear discrimination in not just public housing, but in the workplace too.

“No one should have to choose between staying off opioids and a roof over their head,” said Mary Cease’s lawyer, Judith Cassel.

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
Journalist Reports On Daughter’s Overdose Death To Raise Awareness

“The opioid epidemic has hit home in a tragic and devastating way for me, personally. On May 16, my 21-year-old daughter Emily died from an overdose.”

South Dakota news anchor Angela Kennecke has reported on the opioid epidemic for a decade, but she never imagined that she would be sharing the news of her own daughter’s overdose death with viewers.

However, that’s just what Kennecke did when she returned to work four months after her daughter fatally overdosed on fentanyl.

“The opioid epidemic has hit home in a tragic and devastating way for me, personally,” Kennecke said from the news desk. “On May 16, my 21-year-old daughter Emily died from an overdose.”

In an interview with CBS, Kennecke said that Emily’s father called her and said that he thought Emily had overdosed. “I can’t even describe to you what it’s like to hear those words,” Kennecke said.

After speaking at Emily’s funeral, Kennecke felt the need to take her family’s story public in order to raise awareness about opioid addiction, and the role it can play in all families.

“I never would have dreamed that, but because it’s hit home in such an awful, devastating way, I just feel so compelled to let everybody know what happened to my daughter can happen to you. It could happen to your child,” she said.

Kennecke said that after years of asking people to talk about their most intimate losses, she felt that she should share her experience.

“I thought I can let this loss, this devastation destroy me, or I can do something about it. I thought I have to talk about it. I have an obligation to talk about it,” she said. “My number one reason to talk about it is to erase the stigma around addiction, especially the use of heroin and opioids.”

Kennecke said that she knew Emily was using marijuana, but she never imagined that her daughter would be injecting opioids.

“It was the most shocking thing to me,” she said in the interview. “Needles? Middle-class kid, privileged, all these opportunities and things like that. It’s hard to explain addiction. It’s hard to understand. My child ran out of the doctor’s office once when she was going to get a shot.”

Kennecke said that she had to walk a fine line between helping Emily and alienating her. She said that she was working to get Emily help, but said, “I just didn’t get there in time.”

After her loss, Kennecke said she went from asking “why me” to “why not me,” when she realized that addiction can touch anyone. Now, she has set up Emily’s Hope, a fund that will help others afford treatment.

“That’s really all I can do with this,” said Kennecke.

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
Andrew Zimmern Talks "Emotional Sobriety"

“I have found that it takes a very concentrated, focused effort in later years of sobriety to pursue a higher plane of wellness.”

Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern has tried some strange food and drink as the host of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, but one thing you won’t see him put to his lips is alcohol.

Although he now travels the world trying the local cuisine, Zimmern was once an “everything addict,” shooting heroin, pawning his grandmother’s jewelry and sleeping on the streets of New York City when his addiction was at its peak. Now, Zimmern has been sober for 27 years and still very much lives a life in recovery, something he is very vocal about.

“I think it’s a mistake for anyone to hide their choice to not drink,” Zimmern said in an in-depth interview with Quartzy about his sobriety. “We make choices all the time about food, beverages, and all sorts of things we put into our bodies. The silence reinforces the stigma and shame, and there’s a lot of stigma and shame associated with many personal choices.”

Being open about his history with addiction is also a way to protect himself, Zimmern said.

“I’ve found that if people don’t know you’re sober, then someone can very casually spin around and put a beer or a joint in your hand—things that might be very benign for most people, but for a recovering person can be very dangerous,” he said. “So not only for personal wellness, not only for the ease with which it helps you navigate sobriety, I recommend transparency. I think it has way more benefits than it has pejorative associations.”

Zimmern said that many of his problems disappeared when he decided to get sober, and more were solved in the early years of his sobriety. However, after decades of sobriety, he still had a few core problems in his life that caused deep hurt, he said.

“I believe that for most people who have my kind of story, you stay sober a long time and a lot of shit gets better, but there are a couple little things that are still there,” he said. “I have found that it takes a very concentrated, focused effort in later years of sobriety to really target those things and pursue a higher plane of wellness.”

For Zimmern, that meant doing therapy around trauma and intimacy.

“I’ve been abstinent from drugs and alcohol for 27 years. And I’ve now been abstinent from the problems and the consequences associated with my trauma and intimacy issues for a bunch of years,” he said. “I still have challenges in those departments, but no longer do I feel powerless. I now have a solution for how to deal with all of that—the same way I learned solutions to deal with my chemicals and booze. And I call this whole jumble of stuff emotional sobriety.”

This is a lesson many people could benefit from, Zimmern believes.

“We’re living in very anxious, dangerous times. I think that there is a lot of fear and anxiety in the world,” he said. “Anyone who has a tendency toward something that makes them feel better is going to want to take their favorite medication, whether that’s food, gambling, drugs, alcohol, whatever.”

Zimmern said that through therapy he has learned that there is strength in being vulnerable and kind, both personally and professionally.

“My sponsor told me flat out, ‘You need to treat everybody in your life the same way that you would treat a newcomer in a 12-step meeting.’ I’ve never forgotten that.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
Joe Manganiello On Recovery: Stigma Kept Me From Getting Help Sooner

“When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me.”

Joe Manganiello, star of True Blood and Magic Mike XXL, has been sober for 16 years, and he recently spoke out about his sobriety, and how hard it was to initially get help.

On September 7, Manganiello was honored at Summer Spectacular Event for the Brent Shapiro Foundation. Brent, the son of OJ attorney Robert Shapiro, died of an overdose at the age of 24.

As Manganiello received the organization’s Spirit of Sobriety award, he told the audience, “Sixteen years ago, I crashed and washed ashore on the banks of sobriety. When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me. That type of stigma kept me from getting the help that I needed when I knew I needed it.”

Manganiello has been open about his alcoholism in the past. He told The Huffington Post, “There was a period of about four years where I needed to quit drinking. And the drinking got in the way [of my career]. It was one of those obstacles that I had to get over and once again I needed to clear the road in order for these things to happen, so it really is an inside job. I had to clean up my act and figure that whole situation out. My life was ruined. I was homeless, careless and broke with no career, so yes, it was worth it [to get sober].”

Manganiello told Men’s Health that his problems were “all internal…the drink just helped me to quell all the ill feelings I could remember having since I was a child. I was an addict before I ever picked up a drink.”

He also told GQ, “Had I not been able to [quit drinking], I’d be dead.”

Manganiello added that when he got sober, he became “the man that I dreamed of being, and the result was I met the woman of my dreams,” namely Modern Family star Sofia Vergara.

Robert Shapiro told US Weekly that with the Spirit of Sobriety Award, which is given out every year, “we honor someone that has been open and honest about their recovery because it serves as an inspiration to others.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
Comedian Jake Fogelnest: From Self-Loathing to a Life Beyond His Wildest Dreams

Notice they don’t call it the “9th Step Maybes.” It’s not the “9th Step Possibilities.” It’s the “9TH STEP PROMISES.” It’s very clear: we must be painstaking and take the suggestions. But if we DO…some amazing stuff will happen before we know it.

Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, Netflix. Jake Fogelnest’s TV writing/producing credits are too long to list – and he wouldn’t want me to. I know Jake as a kind, funny, and humble man I met outside of the Hollywood Improv last summer, who treats everyone he meets with the same consideration. I was thrilled when he agreed to be part of this interview series.

The Fix: What is your favorite thing about being sober in comedy?

Jake Fogelnest: My favorite thing about being sober in comedy is that I’m ready to work WHENEVER. Whether it’s late nights or early mornings, I’m ready to show up. If I’m writing alone, there’s nothing better than going to bed at 10pm, waking up at 6:00am and just starting to write as the sun comes up. If I’m in a writers’ room, I love being able to come in fresh and ready to go until we need to stop (hopefully at a reasonable hour – usually we do). Or if I’m shooting something, I love that I can make a 4:30am call-time and be relatively alert. Adding a hangover into any of those situations? NO THANKS.

I even have friends who can drink “normally.” Maybe they’ll overdo it once a year and then have to show up for work hungover and just suffer through it. I always feel SO bad for them! My sobriety ensures I never have a day like that! It’s such freedom! The worst thing I’ve had to endure in sobriety are days where I didn’t get enough sleep or if I have a minor (not contagious) cold.

This may sound really simple. I’m basically saying, “My favorite thing about being sober in comedy is that I can show up to work like every normal person on the planet does for their job every day.” I know there’s gotta be some Al-Anon people reading this right now going: “Oh, he’s all proud that shows up for work on time? Let’s throw this little asshole a parade.” Sorry. I know it’s small, but even after all these years of recovery, I’m grateful I can show up. I could be dead!

What is the most challenging thing?

The most challenging thing is recognizing where alcoholism shows up in other areas of my life. Just because I stopped drinking and using drugs 12 years ago doesn’t mean that I don’t have the disease of alcoholism. I’m in recovery, but the alcoholic thinking is still there. It has been HUMBLING to recognize how my character defects can still show up. They find new creative ways to do so all the time!

If there was an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Holding onto Resentment,” I’m afraid I would be at least eligible for a nomination. I might not win, but I think I’d be a strong contender. I could list who I think some of the other nominees might be. It would give you a hell of a headline! Sadly, through recovery I’ve learned restraint of pen and tongue… which really fucks up clickbait!

Seriously, it’s all challenging, you know? It really depends on the day. You get some time under your belt and you think, “I got this.” And yeah, maybe I do “got this” in the sense that I’m probably not going to go out and drink tonight. However the underlying stuff that made me reach for a drink in the first place? That comes up all the time. Most people would never know. Or maybe everyone knows! Truth is, I don’t care anymore. As long as I’m taking the night right action and not being a jerk.

I can say I’ve been a LOT better this year about practicing self-care, reaching out for help and making sure I stay in touch with my higher power. It sneaks up on me, but I do get reminded: this journey is never done. I think I’ve only recently come into TRUE acceptance of that. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with the concept of uncertainty. I had to because I realized IT WAS NEVER GOING AWAY. They say this disease is cunning, baffling and powerful. What I have found challenging is how cunning, baffling and powerful it can be… and it has NOTHING to do with drinking. Now it’s just about living.

How has your career evolved since you committed to recovery?

I wouldn’t have a career if I didn’t have recovery. Recovery has to come before everything else. There are times in my sobriety and my career where I didn’t put it first and WOW did that always come back to bite me in the ass. Recovery first, everything else second. Always.

I also think accepting that things don’t happen on MY timetable has been a huge blessing in making my way through career stuff. It’s show business. There are so many ups and downs. There is also so much waiting. You also need to self-motivate. All things that can totally activate an alcoholic.

Today I am grateful for a fantastic career. Is it exactly where I want it to be in this moment? NOPE! But I don’t think it ever will be. I think that has less to do with alcoholism and more about being any type of creative! Even for the most successful people in the world, there’s always going to be SOMETHING unfinished or unrealized. Some script you can’t quite crack, some project you can’t find financing for, some scheduling that doesn’t work out. Who’s a big successful person? Steven Spielberg? He’s big, right? I bet even Mr. Steven Spielberg himself has at least ONE thing he just can’t get made. Maybe it’s a sequel to E.T. where E.T. comes back to teach Elliott about SPACE JAZZ! I just made that up, if Steven likes the idea, he can call WME. But bringing it back to recovery (sorry I brought it to SPACE JAZZ), I truly believe that everything happens when it is supposed to. Some days do I get a LITTLE impatient with that stuff? FUCK YES. But that’s when I turn it over… or call a friend and complain.

No compare and despair shit though. Someone else’s success is NOT my failure. Others might be able to do that. For me, it’s bad for my brain and recovery.

I’m just incredibly grateful that nothing has come to me a SECOND before I was truly ready to handle it. If it were up to me and things were operating entirely on my timeline, I bet “my best thinking” would lead me straight into a brick wall. Having a spiritual connection and knowing that more will be revealed is essential to me. But yeah, at the same time, I really should have an overall deal somewhere. I mean, fucking come on. (It’s good to have a HEALTHY bit of ego.)

In the Big Book of AA, the 9th step promises say: “If we are painstaking about this phase of our recovery, we will be amazed before we are halfway through.” Are you amazed?

I love the promises so much. It’s probably my favorite thing in the big book.

Am I amazed? CONSTANTLY. Where my life was before sobriety and where it is today? They say “beyond your wildest dreams” and they aren’t kidding. I could sit here and rattle off all the ways the promises have come true in my life. I could even throw in some stuff about the “cash and prizes.” But I don’t want to speak from a place of ego. I think it’s more valuable to share about the promises and how important they are to show to newcomers!

Whenever I find myself talking with people early in their sobriety, I point them straight to the 9th step promises. I think it’s a BIG thing to make a promise. Think about how cruel it would be to promise all that stuff to someone and not deliver on it? Notice they don’t call it the “9th Step Maybes.” It’s not the “9th Step Possibilities.” It’s the “9TH STEP PROMISES.” It’s made very clear: we must be painstaking and take the suggestions. But if we DO… some amazing stuff will happen before we know it.

Here’s another way I’m amazed — and this one isn’t so cheery. Even though I have felt the promises first hand and I’ve seen them come true for others, as I continue to deepen my recovery— I still battle with willingness! I have a lot of fear of fear that holds me back. Not so much with career stuff anymore, but in other areas of my life. That being said, it feels really GOOD to talk about this knowing that I am back at being painstaking as I continue to look at this new stuff. For example (and this is a lame small one), after 12 years of sobriety, today is one month and 24 days without smoking a cigarette. It feels great. I hate it.

How did you handle your first 30 days in relation to your comedy / writing career?

For my first 30 days I didn’t worry about my comedy/writing career. I worried about getting sober. It’s not like anyone was knocking down my door at that time, but even if they were — I still had to put recovery first. There is no career if I’m sick.

I did what I had to do to make a living and that’s about it. I was VERY lucky that my employers at the time were actually directly responsible for getting me to a place of acceptance that I needed recovery. The “wildest dreams” took a backseat. I think there’s this misconception people have in early sobriety that they’re going to “miss out” on something, particularly “momentum in show business.” Guess what? Show business keeps moving without you. If you’re talented and you work your program, show business will be waiting for you when you’re healthy and ready. Whatever big opportunity you think you’re missing out on is NOTHING compared to what could come your way in sobriety.

What do you think it is about comedy and the entertainment industry in general that attracts so many addicts? Or the addicts that are attracted to comedy?

Addicts are sensitive people. So are creatives. It makes sense that sensitive creatives would seek to self-medicate. That’s all creatives, not just comedians! But let’s talk about people who do comedy for a second. The job of a comic is to be hyper aware of the world and reflect it back to people in a funny way. That can be a painful process filled with sensory overload. You’re gonna want to numb out. Shut your brain off. In fact, it’s essential that you do so, otherwise you’re gonna go insane. There’s just a healthy way to do that and an unhealthy way to do it. Ugh, I remember sitting in a meeting early in sobriety listening to some asshole saying something like, “Just breathe” and I wanted to punch his fucking lights out.

The guy was right by the way. Breathing is good. Sorry.

What advice would you give a comedian who struggles with chronic relapse?

Relapse is part of recovery. I’ve relapsed. I’m very grateful to have 12 years now, but it took a few rounds to get there. The biggest piece of advice I could give? That SHAME you have around relapsing? Yeah, that’s fucking useless. I’m not saying don’t take it seriously. I’m not saying there’s not consequences to your actions. I just find addicts and alcoholics put this tremendous extra layer of ULTRA-SHAME and SUPER-GUILT on top of everything that really serves us NO purpose. It’s bullshit self-loathing. Believe me, I’ve been sober a long time and I’m a fucking expert at doing it. I could teach a masterclass on that website.

Here’s the thing though: FUCK THAT SHAME. Just come back. No one gives a shit. No one is judging you harder than you are judging yourself. I guarantee, you’re your own worst critic when it comes to relapsing. Just fucking come back.

Anything I missed?

No one’s life has ever gotten worse because they decided to stop drinking. No one. Ever.

Jake’s story shows that it’s possible to stay fully grounded despite achievements, never forgetting what recovery has always been about: one addict helping another.

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
Link Between Suicide And Opioid Use Examined

Researchers hope that the results of a new study will help them better identify those at risk for suicide.

A three-year, $1.4 million study will examine the connection between opioid use and death by suicide, in hopes of more effectively identifying high-risk patients.

“We know that opioid use, opioid overdose and suicide are related, but we need much more specific information to guide our efforts at prevention,” Gregory Simon, MD, principal investigator of the Mental Health Research Network and a co-investigator on the study, told Health IT Analytics. “The findings from this study will be a great asset to the public health community.”

The goal of the research is to develop predictive models that can help doctors better identify and intervene with patients who are at higher risk of attempting suicide.

Researchers will analyze data covering about 24 million medical visits, 35,000 suicide attempts, and 2,600 suicide deaths. They will try to predict how likely it is that a suicide will occur within 90 days of the time an individual visits a medical professional.

Opioid overdose deaths have increased exponentially in the past decade, while deaths by suicide increased 27% between 1999 and 2015. During that time suicides that involved opioids doubled, and may have increased even more.

“We’ve done preliminary work suggesting that 22 to 37% of opioid-related overdoses are, in fact, suicides or suicide attempts,” said Bobbi Jo Yarborough, PsyD, an investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon.

Despite the rising risks, doctors and mental health providers often have difficultly identifying which patients are at risk for suicide.

“While health care settings are ideal places to intervene to prevent suicides, clinicians aren’t able to easily determine which of their patients are at elevated risk,” Yarborough said. “Our ultimate goal is to develop the most accurate suicide risk prediction tools and put them into the hands of clinicians. If our study is successful, clinicians will have a powerful new resource in the fight against suicide.”

Researchers will look at risk factors including illegal or prescribed opioid use, opioid use disorder, discontinuation or substantial dose reduction of prescription opioids, and prior non-fatal opioid-related overdoses. They will also examine how these factors affect men and women differently in order to understand whether one group is more likely to attempt suicide while using opioids.

Healthcare providers say that while suicide is highly stigmatized, talking openly about it can reduce the number of deaths.

“I have learned that it is important to talk about survivor stories. We know that suicide is preventable,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director at the CDC, said in June. “We are in a different era right now, with social media increased and also social isolation is high… We think helping overcome the isolation can improve the connectedness.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 September 2018
CBD Oil Quickly Becoming Popular Opioid Alternative

One expert says CBD oil sales are growing nationally, particularly in states that allow medical marijuana but not recreational.

When it comes to pain management, there may be a safer alternative to prescription pain medication: CBD oil, also known as cannabidiol.

In Georgia, according to WSB-TV Atlanta, the hemp-derived CBD product is legal because it only contains trace amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

CBD oil is sold at Little Five Points Pharmacy in northeast Atlanta, and pharmacist Ira Katz tells WSB-TV that it has been effective for some of his patients.

“We know that this can reduce pain,” he said. “I have several patients that we’ve been putting this on, recommending this to them, and it’s great. It helps. It makes a big difference.”

The oil does not give users a high. “People are turning to cannabidiol as an alternative when they can’t get low THC oil,” Anthony LaBorde, store operator for Discount Nutrition in Midtown Atlanta and Acworth, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We get people coming in here who say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is marijuana, I can’t believe you sell this.’ There’s complete confusion.”

Studies have found that CBD oil is effective for treating neuropathic pain, arthritis pain, anxiety, sleep disorders and depression.

“I’ve had some patients that have been able to get off some of those pain medications, which they hated taking,” Katz told WSB-TV. “It has no addictive properties and far less side effects than do a lot of the prescription pain medications.”

According to Bethany Gomez, research director for the Chicago-based Brightfield Group, sales of CBD are growing across the nation, particularly in states like Georgia that have some form of a medical marijuana program, but do not allow cannabis for adult use. In 2016, the market for the product was $174 million, compared to $590 million this year.

“CBD is very widely used by people who would not come anywhere near cannabis, who don’t want anything to do with the mind-altering effects of marijuana but want treatment for chronic pain, anxiety and women’s health conditions,” Gomez told the Journal-Constitution.

Despite the apparent benefits, CBD oil still concerns some local law enforcement officials. Wesley Nunn, president of the Georgia Narcotics Officers Association and commander of the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force, fears shops may be disguising THC oil as CBD oil, the difference lying in the potency of the product.

“You don’t know what’s in it. That’s the problem,” Nunn told the Journal-Constitution. “If it’s helping with seizures, appetite disorders and PTSD, let’s get it regulated… There’s so much money being pushed behind the marijuana trade, and people are trying to get on board.”

View the original article at thefix.com

11 September 2018
Former Purdue Pharma Exec May Profit From Opioid Addiction Drug

Richard Sackler’s involvement with a new formulation of buprenorphine has drawn a wave of criticism.

A new formulation of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, is due to hit the market—but some have taken issue with one of the inventors’ ties to Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.

Richard Sackler is listed as one of six inventors on a patent for a new formulation of buprenorphine issued in January, the Financial Times reported. Sackler is also the former chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, according to the Washington Post, and the son of Raymond Sackler, one of the company’s founders.

Purdue Pharma is the target of more than 1,000 lawsuits from cities, states, counties and tribes across the United States. The pharmaceutical giant and maker of OxyContin is accused of exaggerating the benefits and downplaying the risk of the opioid painkiller, and fueling the national opioid addiction epidemic.

“It’s reprehensible what Purdue Pharma has done to our public health,” says Luke Nasta, director of Camelot, a New York-based treatment center. The Sacklers “shouldn’t be allowed to peddle any more synthetic opiates—and that includes opioid substitutes.”

According to the patent, unlike the tablet or film formulation that’s currently available, the new drug will come in a fast-dissolving wafer that is placed under the tongue.

According to the inventors, the fast-dissolving formula will make it less likely for the drug to be abused and sold on the black market.

Colorado recently added to the mounting lawsuits against Purdue Pharma—accusing the company of playing a “significant role in causing the opioid epidemic.”

“Purdue’s habit-forming medications coupled with their reckless marketing have robbed children of their parents, families of their sons and daughters, and destroyed the lives of our friends, neighbors, and co-workers,” said state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman in a statement. “While no amount of money can bring back our loved ones, it can compensate for the enormous costs brought about by Purdue’s intentional misconduct.”

Members of the otherwise little known Sackler family have come to light for their ties to Purdue Pharma.

This past March, a group of about 50 people came together at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to protest members of the Sackler family’s alleged involvement in perpetuating opioid abuse. Led by artist Nan Goldin, the protestors threw pill bottles marked “OxyContin” into the reflecting pool in the Sackler Wing of the museum, named for the family’s contributions to the museum.

The family has donated millions of dollars to arts institutions like the Met over the years.

View the original article at thefix.com

11 September 2018
Inside Burt Reynolds' Addiction Struggles & Road To Recovery

The late icon spoke openly about his battles with addiction throughout his life.

When Burt Reynolds died on September 6 at the age of 82, many who worked with the iconic star expressed great sadness at his passing.

With hit movies like Smokey and the Bandit and Hooper, Reynolds became one of the biggest sex symbols of the ‘70s, but his life and career became increasingly troubled in the following decades. (His career ended on a high note with the independent gem The Last Movie Star, and he was about to film a role in the latest Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.)

One of the tribulations of Reynolds’ life was his addiction to a controversial sleeping pill, which he spoke about openly. In the early nineties, Reynolds confessed he was addicted to Halcion, which he got hooked on when recovering from an injury he suffered during a movie shoot.

“I broke my jaw and shattered my temporomandibular joint,” he recalled. “The pain was worse than a migraine. It is like having an army of people inside your head trying to get out through ears, eyes, your nose. It never stops.”

Reynolds was hooked on Halcion for over four years. He told TV Guide he was taking up to 50 Halcion pills a day, and he went into a coma when he tried to stop cold turkey.

“Doctors told me if I had taken one more pill I would have died.” (In 1992, Halcion came under scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration, and it was also banned in Great Britain.)

Even after having a near-death experience, Reynolds didn’t enter rehab at the time. He told People, “It was very important to me not to be portrayed as a drug addict.”

He wrote in his autobiography that he didn’t take another Halcion after he regained consciousness, but he fell into addiction again in 2009, becoming addicted to prescription pills after he had back surgery.

Reynolds finally surrendered and checked into rehab that September.

“I felt that in spite of the fact that I am supposedly a big tough guy, I couldn’t beat prescription drugs on my own. I’ve worked hard to get off of them and really hope other people will realize they need to seek professional help, rather than ignoring the problem or trying to get off of the prescriptions on their own.”

View the original article at thefix.com

11 September 2018
Lil Xan Says Mac Miller's Overdose Death Made Him Want To Quit Music

The 22-year-old rapper discussed how Miller’s death has impacted him during a recent podcast interview.

The death of hip-hop artist Mac Miller (born Malcolm James McCormick) has left many of his fans devastated, including fellow rapper Lil Xan, who has claimed that he will retire in the wake of his peer’s passing.

In a recent appearance on a podcast, Leanos states that the news of McCormick’s death left him “crying in [his] apartment” and unwilling to “make music no more” [sic]. McCormick’s death, from what authorities have described as an apparent overdose, also gave Leanos pause to consider his own drug use and mental health issues, which he said he would be addressing in rehab if he did not have upcoming tour dates.

Speaking live on Adam22’s podcast No Jumper on September 8—one day after McCormick was found dead in his home in Studio City, California—Leanos said that he was overwhelmed by the news. “I’ve been crying in my apartment, ‘Mac didn’t die, Mac didn’t overdose,”” he said.

He also recalled the last time he saw McCormick, which happened to be at the rapper’s final performance at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles shortly before his death. “Before I left, he was like, ‘Be safe,’” said Leanos. “People say that, you know: ‘Be safe.’ But he grabbed me, and he pulled me back, and he was like, ‘No, I mean, BE SAFE.’ That almost made me cry. That’s my idol right there. I keep thinking about that—how it resonated in my head, how those were his last words.”

According to Leanos, the experience of McCormick’s words, followed by the news of his death, left him unwilling to continue his music career. “When your hero dies, f—k that s—t,” he said. “I don’t want to make music no more.” After the completion of his current recording contract, Leanos claimed that he planned to retire, though he did not elaborate on this particular decision.

McCormick’s death also put Leanos in a reflective mood regarding his own substance use. His use of Xanax—the drug that gave him his stage name—and opiates like Norco have been well-publicized in the past, but in his No Jumper interview, Leanos suggested that he continued to struggle with sobriety.

“I want to get sober now, completely sober, but it’s so hard,” he told Adam22, whose real name is Adam Grandmaison. “I just want to be off everything. I want to be like a normal person. If I didn’t have a tour coming up, I would be in rehab right now.”

View the original article at thefix.com

11 September 2018