Answer Addiction

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  • New Documentary Explores Hollywood’s "Secret" Addiction Epidemic

    New Documentary Explores Hollywood’s "Secret" Addiction Epidemic

    The film purports to expose “how many A-list celebrities are becoming victims of Hollywood’s secret opioid epidemic and what role the studios will play in ending the crisis.”

    A new documentary titled Fatal Addiction: Hollywood’s Secret Epidemic attempts to shed light on the amount of drug use among actors and other stars, particularly focusing on opioids.

    Led by celebrity journalist Nancy O’Dell, the film purports to expose “how many A-list celebrities are becoming victims of Hollywood’s secret opioid epidemic and what role the studios will play in ending the crisis,” according to the synopsis.

    A review by entertainment reporter Amy Zimmerman of The Daily Beast paints a picture of a sensationalizing film that puts too much blame for the opioid epidemic and other drug crises on Hollywood but that offers some important insights into the problem of Hollywood drug use.

    Among the most notable insights are the stories about young actresses being pressured to take Adderall “so they can keep going and stay thin.”

    Cocktails of dangerous drugs, often involving opioids, have claimed the lives of many A-list celebrities, from Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe to Heath Ledger and Prince. Fatal Addiction tells stories of drug use that was expected and encouraged.

    “There was so much drug use on that set, it was kind of mind-numbing. And as a kid, you’re not sure how to negotiate that,” recalls Mariel Hemingway about her time filming Woody Allen’s Manhattan as a teenager.

    In the case of Prince, the iconic performer was first put on opioids due to “hip problems,” and years later, by the time of his overdose, “his house was full of pills, full of opioids.” The primary drug responsible for his death was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than heroin.

    The film does touch on the role of the pharmaceutical industry and doctors too willing to prescribe opioids in the epidemic and the deaths of many celebrities.

    “Anna Nicole Smith’s doctors, as one example, are called out for ‘unbelievably bad medicine,’” Zimmerman writes, “a point that could have been made without going into extreme, gruesome detail about Smith’s state at the time of her death.” 

    Smith was found dead in her hotel room in 2007 and was determined to have died of “combined drug intoxication,” with all the drugs in her system being legally prescribed medications. Many celebrity overdoses have resulted from a combination of substances, particularly opioids and benzodiazepines.

    “Fatal Addiction isn’t a paradigm of sensitivity and nuance, and often falters when it attempts to propose actionable solutions,” Zimmerman concludes. “But as a history of celebrity addiction and a testament to this particularly deadly era, it’s alarmingly successful.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Women Push For Gender-Targeted Harm Reduction, Drug Treatment Programs

    Women Push For Gender-Targeted Harm Reduction, Drug Treatment Programs

    A handful of harm reduction organizations are beginning to take steps to design programs with women’s unique needs in mind.

    Women around the world are being failed by harm reduction and drug addiction treatment programs designed for men, according to a report published in the Pacific Standard.

    In order to address this problem, organizations such as Women and Harm Reduction International Network and Harm Reduction International are taking steps to design programs with women’s unique needs in mind and ensuring that women are well-represented in leadership. 

    In spite of the fact that women who use drugs are just as likely to develop an addiction disorder as men who use, drug policy in many countries has only left women facing additional hurdles to treatment and a massive amount of stigma.

    Women have unique challenges such as pregnancy and the threat of being seen as a “bad mom,” higher rates of becoming victims of domestic abuse, and an expectation of performing sex work in relationships where both partners use drugs. Bree Cassell, a young woman who has struggled with heroin addiction and who was interviewed for the report, says that women assume “he can’t sell his body, I have to sell mine.”

    Sex work exposes these women to a significant additional risk of violence, but when their work is criminalized, they cannot safely report it to authorities.

    If pregnancy occurs when a woman is addicted to drugs, there is an expectation that drug use stops immediately. This is not only unrealistic, it is extremely dangerous to the embryo or fetus. It’s safer to keep using opioids, especially if the switch can be made to methadone or another opioid addiction treatment drug. However, the fear of having their children taken away can keep these women away from treatment programs altogether.

    There are also more addiction treatment programs for men only than for women only, and coed programs can be uncomfortable for women who have experienced abuse, which is more likely among women with addiction disorders.

    In order to try and combat these problems, harm reduction organizations are trying to build programs designed for women from the ground up. Not only do they offer women-only days for their needle exchange programs and offer to bring these services to women’s homes rather than making the patients travel to them, their leadership is structured with women in mind.

    “Men are welcome to participate in Reframe the Blame planning and events, but the campaign is designed from a feminist model in which leadership and decision-making is shared among participants, rather than controlled by a single head,” Tessie Castillo writes. “The model recognizes that women may benefit from different leadership models than those currently operating at most businesses and non-profits.”

    These are essential steps to take as gender gaps in addiction and overdose deaths continue to close and women who inject drugs suffer higher rates of HIV.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Dark Web Drug Sales Continue To Thrive

    Dark Web Drug Sales Continue To Thrive

    One expert says the ever-changing legal status of various drugs is allowing Darknet drug sales to thrive. 

    An increasing number of illicit drug deals are taking place via the dark web, according to Nikita Malik, Director of the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism (CRT) at the Henry Jackson Society.

    While researching for a report on how terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State use the dark web (or Darknet) for their illegal activities, Malik noticed just how many sales of controlled substances were taking place on marketplaces like the now-defunct Silk Road and AlphaBay. This activity, she says, has been boosted by the changing of the legal classification of said substances.

    “A common form of criminal activity on the Darknet is the sale and distribution of illicit drugs, which has been bolstered by a change in the legal statuses of products or substances from ‘legal’ or ‘unregulated’ to ‘illegal,’ ‘controlled,’ or ‘banned’ substances,” Malik wrote for Forbes. “These changing legal statuses, combined with stricter regulation and the implementation of new laws by law enforcement, has meant that sales of the highest category of banned drugs and substances has increasingly migrated to marketplaces on the Darknet.”

    Malik points to the role of the dark web in the sale of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than heroin, in the UK. The Guardian reported in 2017 that 1,000 “trades” had been made on the dark web involving fentanyl within the space of a few months, citing experts with the Oxford Internet Institute. The same team found that the U.S. “accounts for almost 40% of global darknet trade,” with the UK sitting at 9%.

    After the Silk Road marketplace was shut down in 2013, numerous other dark web sites have popped up that allow users to anonymously purchase goods and services with blocked IPs and using the untraceable cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Though agencies such as the FBI and the National Crime Agency (NCA) work to infiltrate and shut down these operations, fentanyl continues to enter the U.S. at alarming rates. 

    Fentanyl has been named as the driving force in a “third wave” of the opioid epidemic in the U.S. as sales of drugs containing fentanyl increase in number, as do overdose deaths. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose deaths involving fentanyl went from 1,615 in 2012 to 18,335 in 2016—an 11-fold increase in the space of four years.

    “These figures, as well as multiple case studies and convictions, clearly reveal that the Darknet provides access to illegal drugs and banned substances,” Malik concludes. “Moreover, sales are expected to increase as the platform remains largely unregulated.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Actress Claudia Christian’s On A Mission To Spread The Word About Naltrexone

    Actress Claudia Christian’s On A Mission To Spread The Word About Naltrexone

    Christian founded the C Three Foundation to educate the public and medical professionals about the alcohol treatment method. 

    June 12 marks the first ever Global Sinclair Method Awareness Day, a method for the treatment of alcohol addiction that TV actress Claudia Christian swears by. Christian, best known for her role in the sci-fi series Babylon 5, founded the C Three Foundation after struggling with alcoholism for years and finding a solution in what is commonly called The Sinclair Method (TSM).

    TSM involves the use of naltrexone—a medication for treating alcohol or opioid use disorder—one to two hours before drinking. Doing this on a regular basis breaks the behavior-reward cycle that is key to addiction disorders by disrupting the endorphin reward system, blocking the pleasant intoxication when alcohol is consumed. 

    “Naltrexone does not make one ill from drinking. Instead, the drug removes the incentive to drink, helping the addicted brain to unlearn previous harmful behaviors over time,” says a press release from the C Three Foundation. “’Drink yourself sober,’ is how Christian and others describe the method because one must drink alcohol with naltrexone for the treatment to work.”

    According to the foundation, TSM was found to have a 78% success rate after “120 peer-reviewed clinical trials” tested the method. Naltrexone can be purchased in generic form for $1-2 per pill, making it much more affordable than inpatient detox and rehab.

    However, the method comes into conflict with traditional addiction treatment methods, which often emphasize abstinence as a necessity and work under the assumption that addiction cannot be “cured” or unlearned.

    The problem with TSM, as described by someone who tried it, is that there is always the temptation to skip the pill.

    “The problem is that, as someone who loves getting drunk, this begins to take on the connotation of, ‘You aren’t going to be able to have as good of a time tonight if you take this pill,’” wrote Joe Ricchio for The Fix. “For a while, I continue to fire them down the hatch immediately to nip this thought process in the bud as soon as it begins—but eventually my lust for alcohol, the reason I began this process in the first place, takes over and I decide that I will have a few ‘snow days’ from the pill.”

    The C Three Foundation’s goal, however, is simply to educate both medical professionals and the general public on TSM so that people with addiction can make an informed choice.

    Abstinence and 12-step programs have come under increasing scrutiny as relapse rates reach 40-60%, and an increasing number of people are seeking out alternatives. The foundation believes TSM should be a better-known alternative for alcohol addiction treatment.

    “Right now, no one but C Three Foundation is out there educating these medical professionals,“ said C Three Foundation Executive Director Jenny Williamson. “This is one of our biggest challenges to gaining mainstream adoption of TSM.”


    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Do Teens With Mental Health Issues Vape To Self-Medicate?

    Do Teens With Mental Health Issues Vape To Self-Medicate?

    A recent study examined the association between teenage mental health issues and combustible cigarette use.

    A study recently published in Pediatrics found that teens with mental health issues are more likely to use e-cigarettes.

    Researchers surveyed 7,702 adolescents ages 12 to 17 and found that those with “externalizing problems” such as “rebelliousness and sensation-seeking” were more likely to smoke both standard combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes, while those with internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression were only more likely to use e-cigarettes.

    “Our results are in line with existing literature that suggests a stronger connection between externalizing problems, like rebelliousness and sensation-seeking, and combustible cigarette use, than between internalizing problems and combustible cigarette use,” said study leader Kira Riehm, MSc, to MedPage Today.

    Studies have demonstrated an association between mental health issues and combustible cigarette use. As e-cigarette use increases among underage teens to the point of being called an “epidemic” by some health experts, researchers are beginning to look into how mental health plays into the growing trend of vaping.

    The findings that teens who use e-cigarettes are more likely to have internalizing mental health problems but not externalizing could suggest that vaping is more of a way to self-medicate for anxiety, depression and related issues rather than simply trying something that has become trendy.

    This could be related to the current availability of information on the risks of smoking combustible cigarettes paired with a lack of information about the risks of e-cigarettes and prevalent myths.

    Studies on teens’ knowledge of vaping risks and even what’s in their e-cigarettes came up with alarming results, including the fact that a significant number of teens were unaware that there was any nicotine in their vaping products. This problem has repeatedly landed the nation’s biggest e-cigarette company, Juul, in hot water. 

    Juul has been accused of marketing to teens with colorful packaging and fruity flavor packs that make smoking more attractive to young people. The popularity of these products, which Juul claims are meant only for adults who are trying to transition away from combustible cigarettes, is largely responsible for an increase in nicotine use among teens after years of decline.

    For kids with mental health problems, e-cigarettes represent a two-way street, says Boston Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Nicholas Chadi.

    “We have to be careful when we think of e-cigarettes as substances because it falls in the bigger picture of substance use in general,” said Chadi. “This is a two-way highway, where people with mental health problems are more likely to start using these substances, but the reverse is also true—people who start using these substances also have increased chances of developing mental health symptoms.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Study: Tinder Users More Likely To Have Eating Disorders

    Study: Tinder Users More Likely To Have Eating Disorders

    Though men were more likely across the board to engage in any single unhealthy weight control behaviors, women were more likely to have practiced all of them.

    People who use dating apps like Tinder are 2.7 to 16.2 times more likely to have an eating disorder or engage in unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) such as fasting, vomiting, or abusing laxatives, according to a recent Harvard study.

    Researchers surveyed over 1,700 U.S. adults ages 18 to 65 in the fourth quarter of 2017 and discovered a strong correlation between the behavior of swiping for dates and going to extremes to look good.

    The study examined eating disorders and related behavior over all dating apps, but specifically mentioned Tinder, Grindr, and Coffee Meets Bagel. The survey found that about 33% of men and 17% of women who responded use dating apps, and of those, unhealthy and disordered weight management practices were significantly elevated.

    About 45% of female dating app users and 54% of male dating app users reported fasting for weight control. Respectively, those numbers were 22.4% and 36.4% for vomiting, 24% and 41.1% for laxative use, 26.8% and 40.2% for diet pill use, 15.8% and 36.4% for anabolic steroid use, and 20.2% and 49.8% for muscle-building supplement use.

    Though men were more likely across the board to engage in any single UWCB, women were more likely to have practiced all of them.

    “Women who use dating apps had 2.3 to 26.9 times the odds of engaging in all six UWCBs compared to women who were non-users,” the authors wrote. “The same trend of elevated odds was found among men. Men who use dating apps had 3.2 to 14.6 times the odds of engaging in all six UWCBs compared to men who were non-users.”

    People of color were also found to be more likely to practice and all of the examined UWCBs.

    Study author Dr. Alvin Tran of the Yale School of Medicine told CNBC that the nature of dating apps could be creating an environment in which appearance is heavily emphasized, as well as “avenues for racism and avenues for body shaming.” Dr. Tran and his fellow researchers point to an analytical paper in Sexuality & Culture titled “Dude, Where’s Your Face?” 

    “Results indicated that men tended to privilege masculinity, to visually present themselves semi-clothed, and to mention fitness or bodies in the text of their profile,” the paper’s abstract reads. 

    Dr. Tran’s study notes that it’s unclear whether using dating apps leads to UWCBs or whether those who already engage in these behaviors are more likely to use dating apps. They also acknowledge that their survey sample was entirely U.S.-based and over-represented women, and recommend that “future studies aim to assess the association between dating app use and UWCBs temporally and use a more representative sample.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Researchers Posing As Opioid Users Struggle To Get Treatment Appointments

    Researchers Posing As Opioid Users Struggle To Get Treatment Appointments

    Researchers posing as Medicaid patients in need of buprenorphine were often denied appointments by providers. 

    Researchers called hundreds of addiction treatment providers across the U.S. while posing as individuals in need of help—in a study of the barriers that people with addiction disorders face when seeking treatment. What they found was a minefield of discouragement, especially when they were posing as people on Medicaid.

    According to ABC News, two researchers reading from scripts called 546 prescribers of the opioid addiction treatment drug, buprenorphine, to attempt to schedule an initial screening appointment.

    After three tries, 77 of the prescribers were unreachable, often due to outdated contact information on government websites. When they were able to make contact at all, 46% of prescribers denied the researchers appointments when they said they were on Medicaid, compared to 38% when they said they could pay with cash.

    This is a serious problem in light of the fact that finding the motivation to go through such a frustrating process is even more difficult when you’re coping with an addiction disorder, says study co-author Dr. Michael Barnett.

    “Think about the last time you had to make four or five phone calls in a row and how annoying that was,” he explained. “Addiction makes doing tasks like that even harder.”

    According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 38% of “nonelderly” people with opioid use disorders are covered by Medicaid. Analysis by the foundation found that those on Medicaid were twice as likely to receive treatment for addiction than those with either private insurance or no insurance.

    However, the results of this latest study suggest that prescribers are still reluctant to take patients on Medicaid, likely because it doesn’t pay as much as private insurance. 

    This is particularly true for doctors, who only agreed to schedule appointments 40% of the time. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants, on the other hand, agreed to appointments 70% of the time.

    Other barriers included the cost of buprenorphine treatment, which averaged $250 to start but could go as high as $500, plus lab fees. Additionally, some states require Medicaid patients to try other avenues of treatment before they’re allowed to go on buprenorphine in spite of multiple studies finding it more effective than many other forms of opioid addiction treatment.

    “Abundant evidence shows that methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone all reduce opioid use and opioid use disorder-related symptoms, and they reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission as well as criminal behavior associated with drug use,” reads the National Institute on Drug Abuse website. NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow said of the study that the barriers discovered “should be eliminated.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Community Of Responders Campaign Aims To End Overdose Deaths

    Community Of Responders Campaign Aims To End Overdose Deaths

    The program’s goal is for naloxone to be deployed within six minutes of an overdose starting, drastically increasing the chances of the victims’ survival.

    A new campaign growing out of Green, Ohio aims to turn community members into lifesaving first responders who are ready to act in case of an opioid overdose. Combining the efforts of Cover2 Resources, NaloxBox, NaloxoFind, Project DAWN and ODMAP, the Community of First Responders (CFR) is the first of its kind in the U.S.

    CFR was organized by Greg McNeil, founder of Cover2 Resources. McNeil lost his son, Sam, to a heroin overdose and has since dedicated his life to combating the epidemic of opioid overdose in the country.

    His latest endeavor began early this year when he met one of the creators of NaloxBox—wall-mounted boxes similar to those containing AEDs but that contain naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug. These boxes can be installed anywhere, including public buildings and businesses.

    McNeil was then connected to the founder of NaloxoFind, an app that allows anyone to find naloxone locations in the area. Combining these two just made sense, but McNeil’s primary concern was that ambulances often take too long to reach individuals suffering an overdose. 

    “When a 911 call comes in about an overdose, first responders have six minutes to respond before there is brain damage,” McNeil explained to The Fix. “In 10 minutes, they’re gone.”

    For maximum life-saving potential, McNeil came up with the idea to recruit members of the public to keep naloxone on their person and respond to overdose cases after being alerted via text message when one is reported nearby. The hope is that this program will allow naloxone to be deployed within six minutes of an overdose starting, drastically increasing the chances of the victims’ survival. 

    Green, Ohio will be the testing ground for this program. McNeil had worked previously with Green Mayor Gerard Neugebauer, who was described as being very supportive of the CFR program. NaloxBoxes have already been approved for parts of the city that are most prone to seeing overdose cases. 

    “The installations will take place over the next two weeks in five hotels along the I-77 corridor covering all three interchanges in the City of Green and at Akron Canton Airport,” said McNeil. “To the best of our knowledge, these are the first NaloxBox installations in hotels and airports in the country.”

    The official launch date for CFR is June 20, when McNeil and other leaders in the fight against the opioid crisis will host a community event presenting the new program, holding a live demonstration, and treating guests to a to-be-announced musical guest. 

    So far, the Green community has been overwhelmingly supportive of CFR even before its launch—and McNeil has set ambitious goals for its future.

    “Our immediate goal is to complete installation and training for all participating hotel and airport personnel by our event launch. After the official launch of the CFR program, our goal will be to double the number of participating businesses by the end of the year.”

    Check out the Cover2 Resources podcast for more information.

    View the original article at thefix.com