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  • Bow Wow Reveals Past Addiction, Urges Fans To Be "Drug Free"

    Bow Wow Reveals Past Addiction, Urges Fans To Be "Drug Free"

    The 31-year-old rapper got candid about his past battle with lean and how it affected his life. 

    In the wake of rapper Mac Miller’s suspected fatal drug overdose, fellow artist Bow Wow admitted that he, too, struggled with substance abuse.

    The rapper, actor and TV personality, born Shad Moss, said that a decade ago, he would drink “lean” every day—alienating his fans and family, and affecting his physical health long-term.

    After overcoming that period of his life, Bow Wow now has a different message for his fans: “Stop with these dumb ass drugs.”

    “Kick that shit! Be a good son or daughter. Be the best you,” he wrote on Twitter. “We gotta save the youth from going out early. Parents watch your kids. Explain to them. We want y’all to live man.”

    Moss said he “almost died” from using syrup like he did. He admitted that he was using “the whole time” during the Up Close and Personal tour with Chris Brown (2007), and missed shows because he was “high and sick.” He was also hospitalized from going through withdrawals.

    “To this day I’m affected. My stomach will never be the same and it hasn’t been,” Bow Wow continued in his tweets. He says it changed everything, from his attitude to his relationships. “My fans started to turn on me, my family too,” he wrote.

    This candid confession came as fans and fellow artists mourn the passing of rapper Mac Miller, who died on Friday, September 7. Many suspect a drug overdose, but toxicology tests will take weeks to confirm the cause of death.

    The rapper (born Malcolm McCormick) was candid about his problems with depression, drug use, and suicidal thoughts. In a 2013 interview with Complex, he described using “lean”—a cough-syrup based drink—to cope with feelings of depression. “I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy [during the Macadelic tour]. I was so fucked up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost,” he said at the time.

    Bow Wow, who is currently on tour in Australia and New Zealand, said he’s going to “start being more vocal” about these issues.

    “Drug free is the way to be! Smarten up, tighten up out here,” he wrote on Twitter. “We can’t lose no more of you. Not one! I love all y’all. The young artist all the kids around the world… don’t follow a trend. Break the cycle.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Los Angeles Cracks Down On Unlicensed Pot Shops

    Los Angeles Cracks Down On Unlicensed Pot Shops

    Authorities estimate that there may be more than 200 retailers operating in Los Angeles without proper licensing.

    Misdemeanor charges were filed against more than 500 individuals in Los Angeles as part of City Attorney Mike Feuer’s campaign against unlicensed marijuana-related businesses.

    At a press conference on September 7, Feuer said that the charges were part of 120 criminal cases, and carry a possible sentence of six months in jail and fines of up to $1,000.

    Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michael Moore, who was also in attendance at the press conference, added that city prosecutors may try to seize properties that are linked to illegal marijuana businesses by civil action.

    As both KTLA-TV and High Times noted, Feuer’s office began its crackdown on unlicensed marijuana businesses in June 2018 in an attempt to align the city’s cannabis industry with the regulations established by the 2016 passage of Proposition 64 by the state of California, which legalized recreational marijuana for individuals 21 years or older. 

    When the law was implemented in 2018, the state added a number ofnew and far stricter regulations in regard to packaging, contents and testing cannabis products, which took effect on July 1, 2018.

    Products that did not comply with the new regulations were required by law to be disposed of at the business’s expense, forcing many retailers to either sell their product at deep discounts or destroy it; by some estimates, the latter was estimated at $350 million in potential cannabis sales.

    According to Feuer, the new regulations—and making sure that businesses adhere to them—are in line with what Los Angeles-based voters sought from Proposition 64.

    “[They] wanted common-sense rules to regulate recreational marijuana so public safety is protected in our neighborhoods,” he said at the press conference. “Our message is clear: if you are operating an illegal cannabis business, you will be held accountable.”

    The city has so far charged 21 individuals who have pled guilty or no contest to misdemeanor charges or infractions related to marijuana regulations. One person was reportedly sent to a diversion program, and 11 cases appear to have been dismissed.

    Authorities estimate that there may be more than 200 retailers that are operating in Los Angeles without proper licensing. “The Los Angeles Police Department will continue to assign resources, dedicate personnel to take [enforcement] action—criminal action—against unlicensed retailers, manufacturers [and] cultivators who have not followed the rules,” said Police Chief Michael Moore.

    Some in the cannabis industry have supported Feuer’s efforts. Adam Spiker, executive director of the Southern California Coalition, said that cracking down on black market retailers is beneficial for the state’s industry as a whole. “I applaud the city for doing this,” he said. “You can’t have a regulated industry without strong enforcement.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Fentanyl Changed The Opioid Crisis

    How Fentanyl Changed The Opioid Crisis

    The prevalence and potency of illicit fentanyl has changed the course of the opioid crisis for the worse. 

    While prescription painkillers were previously attributed to the most deaths in the opioid epidemic, they no longer do. Instead, the leading cause of death in this context is now illegal fentanyl, according to a recent Bloomberg editorial.

    The National Center on Health Statistics states that in 2017, illegal fentanyl played a role in 60% of opioid deaths, in comparison to 11% of opioid deaths five years ago. 

    Fentanyl was created in 1960 and was used as a treatment for cancer pain. Illicit fentanyl has become common in the black market because it can be easily manufactured in a lab. Its potency also means it can be put into very small packages that are easy to conceal. 

    “Drug labs in China fulfill online orders from American users, or from traffickers in the U.S. and Mexico who add the fentanyl to heroin and other drugs to boost their effect, or press it into phony prescription-opioid pills,” the editorial reads. 

    Because of this, the editorial states, addressing the issue of illegal fentanyl needs to be focused first on China, which U.S. law enforcement officials claim is the source of nearly all illegal fentanyl. 

    The editorial states that the Obama administration had reached out to the Chinese government to ask for help in policing producers of fentanyl. But, with the Trump administration in place, that cooperation appears to have fallen by the wayside. 

    “What’s needed is a steady and purposeful diplomatic push, along with expert support for fortifying China’s capacity to inspect and regulate its thousands of drug labs,” the editorial board writes. 

    When fentanyl is exported from China, it mainly comes through the mail to both users and dealers. While Congress has allotted Customs and Border Protection more chemical-detection equipment, it is not possible to scan all packages entering the country. 

    “The task would be easier if Congress passed pending legislation to require the U.S. Postal Service to obtain basic identifying information from senders—including the name and address of sender and a description of package contents—as private parcel services do,” the editorial board writes.

    In addition to being sold on the dark web, fentanyl can also be found on regular websites, the board says. Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has spoken out about the need for internet companies to put more effort into taking down those listings. 

    While this all has to do with the supply, the aspect of demand must also be addressed, the board says. The more than 2 million Americans struggling with opioid or heroin use disorder need access to treatment, specifically medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and behavioral therapy.

    “Fentanyl and other opioids are killing more than 130 people a day. The crisis demands a thorough, well-coordinated national response. What the White House and Congress have come up with so far falls short,” the board concludes.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Medical Marijuana Patients Forced To Choose Between Housing Or Pain Relief

    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

  • Journalist Reports On Daughter’s Overdose Death To Raise Awareness

    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

  • Andrew Zimmern Talks "Emotional Sobriety"

    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

  • Joe Manganiello On Recovery: Stigma Kept Me From Getting Help Sooner

    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

  • Link Between Suicide And Opioid Use Examined

    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

  • CBD Oil Quickly Becoming Popular Opioid Alternative

    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

  • Former Purdue Pharma Exec May Profit From Opioid Addiction Drug

    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