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  • Toronto Health Officials Recommend Decriminalization of All Drugs

    Toronto Health Officials Recommend Decriminalization of All Drugs

    “The potential harms associated with any of these drugs is worsened when people are pushed into a position where they have to produce, obtain and consume those drugs illegally.”

    On Monday, the Toronto board of health unanimously accepted the decision to propose that Canada’s federal government decriminalize all drug use.

    The board made the decision upon reading a report by Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s chief medical officer, which made the case for treating drug use as a public health, not a criminal, issue.

    “What we are saying here is drug use has always been with us. Humans have always used drugs in one way, shape or form,” said de Villa, according to the Canadian Press.

    “The potential harms associated with any of these drugs is worsened when people are pushed into a position where they have to produce, obtain and consume those drugs illegally. That’s what we’re trying to address through this particular report and this recommendation.”

    However, a representative for Canada’s national government said it has no plans to decriminalize or legalize all drugs. “We are aware that decriminalization, as part of a comprehensive approach to substance use, seems to be working in places like Portugal, but more study would be required as the circumstances are very different in Canada,” said Health Canada spokesperson Maryse Durette.

    Durette is referring to Portugal’s decision in 2001 to decriminalize all drugs use, in response to “one of the worst drug epidemics in the world,” according to NPR.

    Since then, Portugal has been cited by drug policy reform advocates as a harm reduction experiment that has yielded positive outcomes. Since the government made the decision to approach drug use as a public health issue rather than a criminal one, reports have shown decreases in drug-related HIV and hepatitis infections, fatal overdoses, drug-related crime and incarceration rates.

    Canada may not be ready to change policies regarding “hard drugs” like heroin and cocaine, but in June it became the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to legalize cannabis.

    Still, the Toronto health officials are hopeful that the tide will someday turn. “The only way that federal laws are going to change is if we provoke that national conversation,” said board chair Coun. Joe Mihevc.

    In 2017, nearly 4,000 Canadians died of a “apparent opioid overdose” in 2017, according to a recent Health Canada report. According to de Villa, 303 of them occurred in Toronto; a 63% increase from the previous year.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Coffee Won't Help Sober You Up

    Coffee Won't Help Sober You Up

    While you might feel more caffeinated, coffee does not improve motor skills that are affected by alcohol.

    Many people who need to quickly sober up reach for a cup of coffee, but while the caffeine might make you feel more alert, it won’t do anything to reduce the effects of alcohol.

    Professor Tony Moss of London South Bank University said that people might feel more sober because they’re caffeinated, but coffee does not improve hand-eye coordination or other motor skills that are affected by alcohol, according to The Independent.

    “We know from wider research that coffee isn’t an antidote to alcohol,” Moss said. “Taking coffee is a stimulant that will reverse that feeling of being slightly tired as your blood alcohol is coming down.”

    However, you’re still impaired, even if you feel slightly better.  

    “The only thing that’s going to sober you up in that respect is a bit of time,” Moss said.

    During a segment for Food Unwrapped, Moss gave five students a glass of vodka and tonic. Each cocktail was custom made to have enough alcohol to make the specific student feel tipsy, according to their body mass. The students were then asked to complete a hand-eye coordination test, guiding a metal loop around a wire without touching it. All five of the students failed the task.

    After having a strong cup of coffee, the students reported that they felt more alert, but all five still failed the test. A breathalyzer reading showed why: drinking the coffee had done nothing to change their blood alcohol levels.

    While coffee won’t sober you up, it might help you feel a bit better after drinking, especially if you’re hungover. Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told The Independent that while no food or drink can make you less intoxicated, there are certain choices that will make you feel better after drinking.

    “Firstly, your body is often dehydrated after drinking alcohol so it is imperative to drink more water than you usually would,” she said. “Secondly, think nutrients. Although we often crave sugary foods when there is alcohol in our system, try and start your morning with a nourishing dish to help your body to recover. Try something like a refreshing smoothie bowl or a filling porridge with nut butter and berries.”

    If you are trying to sober up, the most useful thing about a cup of coffee is the time it takes to consume. A typical beer or glass of wine takes 2-3 hours to break down in your body, so enjoying a leisurely expresso with a friend will do more than a strong brew to return your motor function to normal.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Native American Walk for Sobriety Focuses on Self-Empowerment and Self-Esteem

    Native American Walk for Sobriety Focuses on Self-Empowerment and Self-Esteem

    “Mass extermination and ethnic cleansing of Native Americans over centuries has Indian Country’ suffering from historic trauma. And for many of us, unsolved grief has led to alcoholism.”

    Over the weekend, a band of community members participated in the 4th annual Native American Walk for Sobriety in Richmond, California.

    The event, which took place on Saturday, July 14, was organized by the California chapter of the United Urban Warrior Society (UUWS), a national organization that advocates for the rights of Native Americans.

    “The most important goal of the Native Walk for Sobriety [are] the ideas of self-empowerment, self-worth and self-esteem,” said Mike Kinney, chairperson for the California chapter of the UUWS.

    The walk is especially important to the Native American community because substance abuse has long been a problem: “mass extermination and ethnic cleansing of Native Americans over centuries has Indian Country’ suffering from historic trauma,” Kinney explained in a recent essay published by the Richmond Standard. “For many of us, unsolved grief has led to alcoholism,” he said.

    The goal of the walk is to make the community aware of the issues surrounding substance abuse, said Kinney. “Native Americans have historically had extreme difficulty with the use of alcohol. Problems continue among contemporary Native Americans.”

    As more people become aware of these issues, some Native American communities, like UUWS, are taking action to stop the cycle. “The return to our traditional spiritual beliefs and values helps us to lead lives free of alcohol, and Native Sobriety walks are crucial in raising awareness surrounding the issues of alcoholism and alcohol abuse in the Native communities,” said Kinney in his essay.

    A day prior to the approximately one-mile walk from the Grocery Outlet to the Native American Health Center in Richmond, supporters of the UUWS gathered at the local Souper Center to serve a hot meal to about 145 people in need. The service was made possible by a donation from Rebecca Marlin Pet Care in nearby San Pablo.

    “We in the Native Community know how important it is for we as Native People to set positive and spiritual examples to our high-risk teens and young adults,” said Kinney.

    “Historically, Indian Country has always had social marches throughout the United States to bring awareness to mainstream society to better educate them about our conditions and how we were living both then and now. Native Sobriety Walks are a direct outgrowth of that,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Young Men Scale Mountains in Unique Recovery Program

    Young Men Scale Mountains in Unique Recovery Program

    The 2xtreme Foundation helps youth overcome drugs, family issues, and more.

    One support program has set itself aside from the rest, by guiding young men in crisis along a better path—a program that concludes with scaling 20,000 feet of mountain.

    The program, a part of the 2xtreme Foundation, involves 10 months of mental and physical preparation for the group climb. Not only that, the young men—who struggle with family life, drugs, school, or other issues—are taught the importance of accountability and community service.

    John Davis, who founded 2xtreme more than 20 years ago, is the cornerstone of the program, according to testimonials provided on the foundation’s website.

    “John was different from the beginning. It wasn’t just the climbing and the outdoor approach—it was how he reached out to me and was willing to meet me where I was at as an individual,” said Bryce, who first met John when he was in high school. “John accepted who I was, and changed the focus from what was wrong with me and how to fix it, to what I was doing and where I wanted to go.” After graduating high school, Bryce was able to scale Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, with the 2xtreme Dream program. 

    The mountain-climbing expeditions have also been to Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and the Andes in South America.

    “I learned a lot of life lessons about being a man, taking responsibility, dealing with guilt and failure, and celebrating my successes,” said Nelson, another participant.

    The latest group completed the program in May and began their climb in June.

    “Ten months ago I was really heavy into drugs. I didn’t have a good relationship with my parents and they sought out to find John,” said Luke.

    “Being sober for the past nine months has really allowed me to mature. It’s funny how everything plays out, I feel like the last nine months have been one of the best nine months of my life. I’ve met incredible people. I’ve had incredible experiences and [now] I’m going to be halfway across the world hiking [and] building relationships with people that I’m going to have the rest of my life.”

    The ultimate goal of 2xtreme is to establish a center where young men can receive mentoring and counseling, and have a place to do indoor climbing, gaming, and skateboarding.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Vancouver Sees Success in Peer-Supervised Injection Sites

    Vancouver Sees Success in Peer-Supervised Injection Sites

    The chief coroner of British Columbia estimates that without the safe injection sites and without opioid antidotes, the death count would be triple what it is.

    In Vancouver, Canada, individuals who wish to use injection drugs have the option of doing so in a safe environment, supervised by their peers.

    According to NPR, downtown Vancouver is home to the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), a place that serves as a safe space for those using injection drugs. The location is equipped with various supplies like clean needles and sanitizing pads. On the wall, there is a poster highlighting the safest places on the body to inject. The site also provides treatment materials, if someone requests them.

    Hugh Lampkin, a site supervisor and vice president of VANDU, explained that the site’s injection room is an area where an attendant watches over individuals using drugs and administers overdose antidotes if necessary.

    The idea behind such sites, which are often peer-run, is harm reduction, Lampkin says. In other words, if people are going to use drugs, Lampkin and his colleagues would rather they do so in the safest manner possible to minimize the chance of overdose.

    Lampkin himself has a history of heroin use and discovered VANDU at a point when he was really struggling. VANDU hosted support groups and meetings, which Lampkin joined.

    “I was telling a bunch of strangers my life story, and it was something I’d never done before,” he told NPR. “After that just about everybody came up and either hugged me or shook my hand.”

    He says that in his experience, peer-run sites are preferred to sites run by authorities due to having fewer rules, no paperwork, and peer supervision.

    “If you put this up against another service provider where you have a PhD or a psychologist, I would put my money on a place like this.”

    According to Mark Lysyshyn, medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, these sites and the people that run them are helping authorities when it comes to the opioid crisis.

    “These community agencies and groups of peers and associations of drug users, they’re the ones who are making the innovations. They’re telling us what to do,” he said. “They showed us how to create pop-up supervised injection sites. They know the community, they know where to put these things. So they’ve been able to solve a lot of problems.”

    Vancouver officials say that no one has died at any of the medical or peer-run sites. Chief coroner of British Columbia, Lisa Lapointe, tells NPR  that without such sites and without opioid antidotes, her office estimates the death count would be triple what it is.

    Though injection drug use is illegal in Vancouver, NPR says, the police support the injection sites and do not make arrests. On the other hand, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the U.S. maintains that the sites host illegal activity and anyone involved with operating one could face legal consequences.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • YouTube Creators Detail Their Mental Health Struggles

    YouTube Creators Detail Their Mental Health Struggles

    “My life just changed so fast. My anxiety and depression keeps getting worse and worse. This is all I ever wanted, and why…am I so unhappy? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s stupid. It is so stupid.”

    For many, having a YouTube channel with millions of subscribers would be a dream come true. From the outside, it looks like a fun way to avoid having a real job and rake in a ton of money. But it’s certainly not as easy of a life as it looks. There’s a lot of pressure to keep cranking out content to keep your channel going, and there’s no promise of a steady income.

    As Engadget reports, a number of YouTube creators have been speaking out about their mental health struggles. One YouTube creator, Elle Mills, who has over one million subscribers, posted a video called “Burnt Out at 19,” where she said, “My life just changed so fast. My anxiety and depression keeps getting worse and worse. This is all I ever wanted, and why the fuck am I so unfucking happy? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s stupid. It is so stupid.” 

    Many YouTube creators also feel the pressure of having to constantly crank out content without a break. Jacques Slade, whose channel has close to one million subscribers, tried to take several days off and relax, but he panicked. “I don’t have content for the next four or five days,” he said to himself. “What’s that gonna do to me? What’s that gonna do to my bottom line? When I come back, are people still gonna watch my videos?” 

    Where people with “regular” jobs can count on a regular paycheck, people with YouTube channels make money depending on how many ads their videos have, the length of the videos, and how many people are tuning in. With Google’s ad guidelines, videos can be removed for trivial reasons, which can cut down on a creator’s income. And it isn’t just the pressure of cranking out new videos that can take its toll. There’s also the fear of not staying relevant with a very fickle audience.

    As Karen North, a professor of communication at USC explains, “For YouTubers, the entire relationship [with their audience] is based on what they upload. Therefore there’s a tremendous amount of pressure to maintain not just the quality but the image that they manufacture on a daily basis… [If someone is] absent due to illness or vacation for a few days, audiences want entertainment, and they won’t just wait for next week’s episode. Instead they’re going to go search for something else to fill their time.”

    One full-time YouTube creator, Sam Sheffer, still recommends taking mental health breaks from social media, “even if that means not uploading for two weeks. As long as you do things with the right intent and come back strong, things will work out.”

    To try and make YouTube a healthier environment for creators, the company has now set up a $4.99 membership fee for some channels and others can sell merchandise from their pages to boost their income as well. (You have to have at least 100,000 members to charge the membership fee, and you have to have over 10,000 subscribers to sell merchandise.)

    There has also been an effort to provide YouTube creators with mental health services, and there have also been support groups at events like the VidCon conference.

    One YouTube creator says, “I’d like to see YouTube take a more active and actionable role in helping creators outside of the platform, which itself still needs a lot of work.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kanye West: Mental Health Intervention Led to 'Scream Therapy'

    Kanye West: Mental Health Intervention Led to 'Scream Therapy'

    Kim Kardashian staged an intervention for West’s anxiety and enlisted the help of famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who then turned him on to scream therapy.

    Most people know the term “primal scream,” but they may not know that it was named after a type of therapy created by a psychotherapist named Dr. Arthur Janov. Now scream therapy is back in the news, thanks to Kanye West, and it may indeed be an effective way to shout away anxiety and depression. 

    West told the New York Times that Kim Kardashian staged an intervention for his anxiety and enlisted the help of famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Robbins turned him on to scream therapy, and West recalled, “He could look at me and you know, I don’t know why he mentioned suicide, but he could tell I was very low. Really medicated, shoulders slumped down, and my confidence was gone, which is a lot of the root of my superpower because if you truly have self-confidence, no one can say anything to you.”

    Robbins had West stand in a warrior pose, and West screamed his head off. “I was so self-conscious about the nanny and the housekeeper that I didn’t want them to hear me screaming in the living room. I think that’s such a metaphor of something for the existence of so-called well-off people that they’re not really well-off—they won’t even scream in their own house.” 

    As Yahoo reports, Dr. Janov treated John Lennon and James Earl Jones, and called his research, which is called Primary Therapy, as “the most important discovery of the 20th century.”

    Screaming can indeed be therapeutic, and as psychotherapist Gin Love Thompson explains in Shape, “For the inner-child that was silenced by being repeatedly intimidated, the domestic abuse survivor that couldn’t scream back when attacked, anyone who has suffered severe bullying, anyone dealing with grief or common psychological issues such as depression and anxiety, ‘scream therapy,’ or ‘primal release’ has the potential to be therapeutically beneficial.”

    Thompson recommends that people should not perform scream therapy unsupervised, or rely on it as the only tool in fighting off anxiety and depression. “The client must be taught coping tools before such a therapy is implemented in order to manage what it may very likely stir up,” Thompson continues. “If attempted before the client is ready, or in poorly managed situation, it could potentially be psychologically damaging… The key is learning healthy ways to express our anger and the vital tools responsible for the processing of it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mom & Daughter Pair Teens with Mentors to Support Mental Health

    Mom & Daughter Pair Teens with Mentors to Support Mental Health

    “Through that process I found out there is a humungous community of people suffering here in my own backyard.”

    Today Maddie Jenkins is a thriving 17-year-old, but three years ago she was struggling–the Virginia native attempted suicide twice within 18 months.

    “When you’re suffering from something that could be the smallest bit of loneliness or stress and there’s seven other people in the house, you start to feel super unimportant,” Jenkins told NBC 4 Washington. “Eventually, I got to a point when I hit rock bottom and I couldn’t take much more. I felt like there was no purpose.”

    Her mother, Danielle Renken, realized that not only did she need to help her daughter, but also encourage other families to have difficult conversations about mental health.

    “Through that process I really found out there is a humongous community of people suffering here in my own backyard,” Renken said

    Their experience led Jenkins and Renken to start 12 Great Dates. The organization facilitates “dates” for teen girls and a trusted adult. Each date covers a different topic, ranging from bullying, social media, make-up and more. The events encourage teens and adults to come together to discuss tough topics. The hope is that this will help prevent mental health crises among teens.

    Renken said that it is more than just a suicide prevention program: It’s also helping prevent self-harm and other symptoms of mental illness.

    “There’s a lot of attention right now on suicide, but there are thousands more struggling with self-harm, with isolation, with depression,” she said. “And sometimes those can lead to an attempt or a suicide, but sometimes they’re just left lonely right where they are.”

    Jenkins and Renken also hope that by initiating conversations they can help chip away at the stigma surrounding mental illness.

    “Mental health is no different than diabetes or anything else,” Renken said. “You get them the support they need, you get them the help they need and you learn as much as you can to make sure you’re three steps ahead of whatever is coming next.”

    Jenkins knows firsthand that this can make all the difference for teens who are struggling.

    “It’s just that, being like I said, to take the overwhelmance off your shoulders and just come and have a good time and feel like you’re normal,” she said.

    By hosting dates, she is helping provide other teens with support that they can rely on when they need a bit of extra help.

    “I think we’re building, like, a little family, so that if you come in, you’re welcome,” Jenkins said. “Like, this is like, ‘Wipe your feet on the mat and come on in.’”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Parents Sue The Man They Say Provided Their Daughter With Heroin

    Parents Sue The Man They Say Provided Their Daughter With Heroin

    “It’s time we hold these people accountable. If law enforcement has a hard time doing it, and I understand it’s a big task, we need to help them.”

    Municipalities across the country have launched lawsuits related to the opioid crisis, and now in a first-of-its-kind move, the parents of a Colorado woman have filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the man who they say provided their daughter with heroin that nearly killed her.

    “It’s time we hold these people accountable,” mother Gail Sistrunk told The Gazette. “If law enforcement has a hard time doing it, and I understand it’s a big task, we need to help them.”

    Sistrunk is suing Kyle Monson, 25, the former live-in boyfriend of her daughter Carla Pena, 29. Sistrunk and Pena’s father, Carlos Pena Jr., say that Monson endangered their daughter by providing her heroin, even when she was in the hospital with a deadly infection caused by the drug.

    Monson and Pena are both currently in jail pending hearing on theft charges. Pena’s parents hope that by launching the lawsuit they will be able to keep Monson away from their daughter and help their child stay sober if she is released from custody.

    “This isn’t only the money, we are trying to fashion a tool to help people take back control of their communities and control this plague,” Sistrunk said. “(Carla) is obviously very important to me, but who she is, is less important. (She’s) a human being. (She) could be your sister or your friend or niece. This has to stop.”

    The lawsuit says that if Pena should die of her addiction her parents would be seeking a wrongful death lawsuit. The parents tried to have criminal charges brought against Monson, but were told that they did not have enough evidence. After that, they decided to pursue the matter in civil court. 

    “My client is a loving parent trying to use appropriate legal processes to save her daughter from the kinds of influences, including the influence of the defendant, that have resulted in her daughter’s addiction,” said Peter Krumholz, Sistrunk’s attorney.

    Pena was hospitalized this spring for an infection and eventually needed open heart surgery. The health problems were believed to be caused by her heroin use. Even during the time she was in the hospital, Pena was using heroin. Sistrunk says that Monson brought the drugs in, but Pena insisted that she brought them in herself. Eventually, the hospital banned Monson from visiting, and Pena left against medical advice.

    “The staff tried to make (Monson) understand that it was likely the heroin itself that was contaminated with staph bacteria and that injecting it into (Carla’s) bloodstream was directly pumping a fresh bacteria load into her body, making it nearly impossible for her to recover,” the complaint said.

    For her part, Pena seems to still be in denial about her addiction.

    “I don’t think I need (rehab),” she told The Gazette from jail. “I’m a functioning addict.”

    “I can’t get mad at her because it isn’t her,” Sistrunk said. “I know my daughter is in there still. She’s buried deep, but she’s in there and I just have to let her come back out.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • World Health Organization Adds Sex Addiction to Disease List

    World Health Organization Adds Sex Addiction to Disease List

    However, there is still some controversy among clinicians about whether it should be included.

    A new mental health disorder has been added to the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases list—compulsive sexual behavior disorder.

    According to CNN, the inclusion came in the June update of the list, which is called the ICD-11, and is the “foundational document that clinicians and scientists around the world use to identify and study health problems, injuries and causes of death.”

    The list states that compulsive sexual behavior disorder, also referred to as sex addiction, as “persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behaviour.”

    WHO states that the disorder has to do with a person’s sexual behavior becoming a “central focus” of their life to the point that it becomes detrimental to “health and personal care or other interests, activities and responsibilities.” The organization also states that in order to be classified as this disorder, a person must have been struggling with it for six months or more.

    Though WHO has included this disorder in its list, there is still some controversy among clinicians about whether it should be included, CNN states.

    Dr. Timothy Fong, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, tells CNN that studying the disorder from an “academic perspective” is relatively recent.

    “For centuries, people have been trying to understand what is the cause of hypersexuality,” he said. “It has been called all sorts of names over the years, but it’s really only been in the last 40 years that we’ve tried to understand it from an academic perspective.”

    In 2006, CNN states, Fong authored a paper having to do with the scientific definitions of compulsive sexual behavior disorder and ways to potentially manage the disorder. He says some experts do not agree that the disorder can be classified as an addiction since no substance is abused.

    “Some people would say if it looks like an addiction and smells like an addiction and there are 12-step groups to help people with the addiction, then it is, but the psychological community is split into different camps,” Fong told CNN. “Some say it is addiction, and some of those say people just have different libidos.”

    Despite WHO’s inclusion of the disorder, CNN states there is no national data depicting how many people could have this disorder. It states that some regional and local data suggests it could be about 5 percent of the population, which Fong says means more people would struggle with this disorder than bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or pathological gambling.

    Robert Weiss, addiction specialist and author of “Sex Addiction 101” and “Always Turned On,” tells CNN that he is happy about WHO’s decision. Weiss says he has treated more than 1,000 people with compulsive sexual behavior disorder and success in treatment comes from addressing underlying problems and creating a healthier relationship with sex.

    “You don’t want to repress the desire. Sexuality is a part of being human, but you want to guide it,” Weiss told CNN.

    View the original article at thefix.com