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  • Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson Talks Mental Health, Psychiatric Drugs

    Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson Talks Mental Health, Psychiatric Drugs

    “People’s brains develop at different stages in their lives, and there’s no cookie-cutter approach to the human brain. It’s terrible what they’re doing to kids.”

    Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of British metal legends Iron Maiden, has a reputation for being very outspoken and polarizing. Now the frontman is speaking out against giving psychiatric drugs to children.

    As Dickinson said in the Heavy Hour podcast, he is “not a believer” in giving psychiatric meds to children. He recalled the time when a doctor wanted to put his son Austin on Ritalin.

    “I was just, like, ‘I won’t give drugs to my son. What is this? He’s five years old,’” Dickinson explained. “He looks pretty normal to me. He runs around a lot; that’s what five-year-olds do.’”

    Dickinson added that “maybe” psychiatric drugs could be given to children “in extreme cases, but even then, I’m not sure. What the hell did we do before drugs with kids?”

    As the father of three children, Dickinson acknowledges that “every family comes with the baggage of the previous family; it inherits it. And so you have to run with that. A certain amount of it is instinct; some of it is learned behavior; some of it is behavior that you might have to unlearn.”

    Mental health issues may not be able to be “learned” away as Dickinson suggests, but his stance against prescribing children psychiatric drugs is a matter of dispute among many mental health treatment providers.

    One study published earlier this year suggests that children are actually under-prescribed psychiatric medications that could help their ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorders. On the other hand, California had to pass multiple pieces of legislation to stop the growing trend of the overmedication of children in foster care.  

    The classic Iron Maiden song “Ace’s High” includes a legendary speech from Winston Churchill, who some believe had bipolar disorder.

    Dickinson says, “Churchill would unquestionably have been medicated. And many of the great leaders of the world would have been medicated. People’s brains develop at different stages in their lives, and there’s no cookie-cutter approach to the human brain. It’s terrible what they’re doing to kids. And it’s all because of the drive to categorize and put people in little boxes to make it easy for people.”

    Dickinson’s children also steered clear from illicit drugs, thanks to their rock star father, who brought them out on the road when they were young.

    Dickinson told The Mirror, “What was great for my kids was when they were growing up we took them out on the road. They would be backstage, and there would be some idiot who’d done too much coke sweating profusely, teeth chattering. ‘Daddy, why is that man doing that?’ ‘That’s because he’s on drugs,’ I’d say. ‘Drugs? Are they a bad thing?’ I’d say, ‘Judge for yourself.’

    “The best possible antidote for people not to take drugs is to go and see a bunch of people who are completely messed up out of their brains. They got an education in drugs and made good decisions.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Tech Companies Dispute Playing Major Role In Opioid Crisis

    Tech Companies Dispute Playing Major Role In Opioid Crisis

    “The opioid epidemic is, in a majority of cases, primarily an offline problem,” said a representative of the Internet Association.

    A summit on Wednesday, June 27, hosted by the Food and Drug Administration, was predicted to draw representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter, among other relevant tech companies, as well as academics, lobbyists and government officials. 

    According to Wired, the FDA said the summit was meant to encourage tech officials to “discuss ways to collaboratively take stronger action” when it comes to illegal opioids in the online market.

    However, there was some controversy around the summit due to tech and pharmaceutical companies disagreeing about who was more responsible for the opioid crisis. 

    Initially, the invitation for the summit stated that the FDA planned to ask tech companies to sign what it called a “Pledge to Reduce the Availability of Illicit Opioids Online,” which would be published 30 days after the summit. 

    However, after discussing it with tech companies, the FDA decided not to follow through with the plan. 

    “We will consolidate the feedback and ideas discussed at the summit and turn it into an actionable plan—not just for those in the room but for all internet stakeholders to join,” an FDA spokesperson said, according to Wired.

    The involvement of the tech industry in the opioid crisis has been a topic of discussion in the past few months in Washington, D.C., Wired states. 

    Back in April, at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that tech companies had not been “proactive enough” when it came to getting rid of illegal drugs online.

    Additionally, earlier this month the FDA sent letters to nine companies operating 53 online pharmacies, and instructed them to cease the marketing of opioids. 

    But tech companies are fighting back, claiming they aren’t to blame. On Tuesday, June 26, the Internet Association—which represents tech companies like Twitter, Google, Facebook Reddit and more—held a call with reporters prior to the summit.

    “The opioid epidemic is, in a majority of cases, primarily an offline problem,” said a representative of the Association, according to Wired. The representative cited research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which stated that most people misusing opioids get them from non-online sources. 

    Of those sales that are taking place online, the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies cited a report stating that most of them are happening on the dark web. Additionally, the report found that some of the “open” web sites claim to sell opioids but actually do not, and instead steal people’s information.

    Despite some tech companies claiming they are not to blame, some steps have been taken to eliminate opioid sales online. Google promoted the DEA’s Drug Take-Back Day in April with a special tool on its homepage.

    Additionally, Facebook recently announced it would redirect users who are trying to buy opioids on the platform to a help hotline, and Instagram has begun monitoring hashtags related to opioids. 

    Libby Baney, an advisor to the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, tells Wired that this is a start but companies also need to acknowledge the role they have played. 

    “This is a historic opportunity to do more with what we already know is true,” she said. “If it ends up being us versus them and there’s pointing fingers and a lot of ‘We’re already doing this or that,’ that’s an old-school way of thinking that isn’t responsive to the public health need.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Medication-Assisted Treatment Options Limited For Medicare Recipients

    Medication-Assisted Treatment Options Limited For Medicare Recipients

    “Medicare beneficiaries have among the fastest growing rate of opioid use disorder, but they don’t currently have coverage for the most effective treatment,” says one official.

    Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction and dependence is now seen as the gold standard of care by many addiction treatment professionals, but barriers to treatment make it difficult for many Americans over the age of 65 to access medication-assisted treatment on Medicare. 

    According to a report by the Associated Press, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors, will not cover treatment with methadone, one of the oldest and most effective forms of medication-assisted treatment.

    The program covers buprenorphine, another form of MAT, but only a fraction of doctors who accept Medicare have obtained a federal waiver that allows them to prescribe buprenorphine. 

    This combination leaves a vulnerable population at risk. The AP reports that 300,000 Medicare patients have been diagnosed with opioid addiction, but only 81,000 prescriptions for buprenorphine have been written for Medicare patients. 

    “Medicare beneficiaries have among the highest and fastest growing rate of opioid use disorder, but they don’t currently have coverage for the most effective treatment,” said Rep. George Holding, a Republican from North Carolina. Holding is sponsoring a bill that would recommend changes to Medicare’s policy toward methadone. 

    Some patients on Medicaid can access methadone treatment, either by paying about $80 per week out of pocket or qualifying for state programs that cover the treatment. However, worrying about how and if their treatment will be covered can take a real toll on their mental health. 

    Joseph Purvis, a former heroin and prescription painkiller user, said he became depressed when he realized that Medicare might not cover his methadone treatment. “I was terrified that I might have to leave the program,” he said. “There’s no way I wanted to go back to addiction on the streets.” 

    Luckily, he was able to access treatment, thanks to a state program. However, he believes that Medicaid should cover this important treatment. “Some people think of methadone as a crutch for addiction but it’s not,” Purvis said. “It’s a tool that allows people to live a somewhat normal life.”

    The issue of access to MAT is especially important given that Medicaid just passed regulations drastically tightening access to opioid pills. The restrictions passed despite objections from some medical professionals who said that many seniors are on high levels of opioids that need to be carefully reduced. 

    “The decision to taper opioids should be based on whether the benefits for pain and function outweigh the harm for that patient,” Dr. Joanna L. Starrels, an opioid researcher and associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said in response to the regulations. “That takes a lot of clinical judgment. It’s individualized and nuanced. We can’t codify it with an arbitrary threshold.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Support Group Helps Mothers Affected By Opioid Crisis

    Support Group Helps Mothers Affected By Opioid Crisis

    “Families that are battling this disease, we suffer in silence. The fact that we can have love and kindness from somebody makes a world of difference.”

    For families affected by opioid use disorder, support groups can be their only outlet. More have cropped up amid the national epidemic of chronic opioid use and death, allowing parents, sisters, brothers, friends, and more to share their pain, frustration and loss with others who are going through the same thing.

    One such group, based in Plainville, Massachusetts, brings together mothers who meet every Saturday to talk about how opioid addiction has affected their lives.

    The group, called Unconditional Love, first began meeting in June 2014 at Plainville United Methodist Church. The women come from every stage of addiction and recovery, whether they have children with years’ worth of sobriety or whether they have lost them to addiction.

    “Families that are battling this disease, we suffer in silence,” said founder Robin Hamlin. “The fact that we can have love and kindness from somebody makes a world of difference.”

    “They all had their own journey and their own ways of dealing, and I got something from each and every one,” said Linda Irvin, who lost her son Danny. “It helped me get up in the morning and do something, even if it was just get up.”

    Hamlin, 56, started Unconditional Love four days after the death of her son Brian, who suffered a seizure with one year sober, according to The Sun Chronicle.

    Brian first became hooked on painkillers that were prescribed for an injury during college. Thirteen years later, he committed to sobriety. He was very active in his recovery, Hamlin recalled. He managed the sober home he was living in and would help his mother plan support group meetings.

    Hamlin not only runs the support group, she also visits recovery centers to share her story. Her long-term goal is to open a recovery center in Brian’s name.

    “I’m trying to have this make a difference. Is it going to change what happened to our children? No,” she said. “But it’s going to help other people, and that’s what we fight for. Because when you can talk about it, save a family or give an addict hope, then it’s a beautiful day.”

    According to the women in the group, letting go of blame, and realizing that addiction is a family disease, made it easier to cope with their pain and loss.

    “We’re all in that war, and have beautiful families that are devastated. And it needs to stop,” said Hamlin. “You work on your family your whole life and this disease comes in and slowly takes everything apart, and that’s why it’s a family disease.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Recovery Boys" Doc Candidly Explores Addiction, Trauma & Rehabilitation

    "Recovery Boys" Doc Candidly Explores Addiction, Trauma & Rehabilitation

    The documentary follows 4 young men who find support and relief through delving deep into their emotions in a rehabilitation setting.

    The documentary Recovery Boys, which is screening on Netflix as well as in select theaters, focuses on four young men seeking recovery from opioid dependency at a rehabilitation facility in West Virginia.

    Directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon, whose Oscar-nominated short Heroin(e) looked at women on the front lines of the opioid epidemic in the Mountain State, Recovery Boys breaks from what The Guardian calls the established narrative about dependency, with poor people locked in a cycle of use and despair in impoverished areas.

    Instead, Sheldon’s camera follows young men who find support and relief through delving deep into their emotions in a rehabilitation setting.

    Recovery Boys unfolds over an 18-month period in the lives of four men in treatment at the Jacob’s Ladder rehabilitation program in West Virginia.

    Each of the individuals struggled with not only opioid addiction but an array of related wreckage in their lives—Ryan, 35, told The Guardian that he went through “overdoses and car wrecks, and I was jailed a couple of times, but I didn’t want to give up.”

    For 26-year-old Rush, his stint at Jacob’s Ladder was his tenth try at rehab. “I know what people want to hear, so it is really easy for me to skate through a program undetected,” he said in the film.

    But through a program of long-term residential treatment focused on holistic therapy like meditation and daily responsibilities of farm work, the men learn to speak plainly and honestly about the pain of their emotional lives and the depths of their dependency. The benefits of such work are touched upon by a patient named Jeff, who said in the film, “Now that you’re not high, you come out and listen to all the birds. When you’re high, you don’t focus on shit like that.”

    Anchoring the film on a message of hope and not despair was crucial for Sheldon, who said in a statement, “I make this film not to victimize, pity or make excuses for individuals, but to uplift the stories of people who are actively trying to make change, no matter how big or small.”

    Her intention resonated with the film’s subjects, whose desire to portray their struggle with equal shades of dark and light has carried forward after the film’s completion. “My hope for this documentary is that it destigmatized the addict,” said Rush. “Everybody thinks of the guy under the bridge with the tattoos, the beard. We’re not just all bad people. We are good people inside.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Social Equity" Program To Help Those Impacted By Drug War In Massachusetts

    "Social Equity" Program To Help Those Impacted By Drug War In Massachusetts

    The programs aims to help people who have been disproportionately affected by the drug war enter the cannabis industry with ease.

    The state of Massachusetts is rolling out a new “social equity” program to help certain individuals navigate the legal cannabis industry.

    Cannabis for adult (or “recreational”) use is a booming industry. It is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, while more, including New Jersey and New York, may follow.

    Equity programs already exist in California, but the one in Massachusetts would be the first in the nation to be applied statewide.

    The idea is to provide assistance to people who have been disproportionately affected by the government’s long-waged “war on drugs.”

    To be eligible for the Massachusetts program, a person must either have a past drug conviction or be the spouse or child of a person with a drug conviction, who has lived in the state for the last year; or they must have lived in a community deemed an “area of disproportionate impact” for at least five years and earn below 400% of the federal poverty level.

    Eligible applicants will receive mentoring, technical assistance, and skills training to help them enter the cannabis industry with ease.

    “The social equity program is designed to create sustainable pathways into the adult use cannabis industry for both individuals and businesses,” said Shekia Scott, the director of community outreach for the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), which was tasked with helping those disproportionately affected by the criminalization of marijuana get in on the growing industry.

    The program’s goal is to create a comprehensive program tailored to each applicant at any skill level—whether they want to start a business or find an entry level job.

    “We want applicants to specify their needs so we can meet them where they are,” said Scott, who introduced the social equity program at a Tuesday (June 26) meeting of the CCC. “We’re not making a one-size-fits-all program, that we know usually doesn’t fit all.”

    While the Massachusetts program does not specifically target certain people of color, inevitably many black and Latino residents will be eligible to participate.

    According to the American Civil Liberties Union, black Americans are arrested for cannabis possession at more than 3.7 times the rate of whites, despite the fact that marijuana is used at comparable rates by both groups.

    According to Marijuana Business Daily, owners and founders within the cannabis industry are 81% white, while just 4.3% are black and 5.7% are Latino.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Drinking Increase The Likelihood Of Cancer Or Death?

    Can Drinking Increase The Likelihood Of Cancer Or Death?

    A new study examined how alcohol consumption affects one’s health.

    Scientists have long-proven that drinking heavily is bad for your health and increases the risk of death, but does lighter drinking carry the same risk? A new study illuminates this mystery.

    The study, published in PLOS Medicine, found that those who drink the most have the highest risks of death and cancer.

    On the opposite spectrum, the study found that a person’s combined risk of dying younger or developing cancer is actually lowest among light drinkers. The study defines this as a person consuming one to three alcoholic drinks weekly. The risk for cancer or death increases with just one drink added to the week.

    Light drinkers had a lower combined risk of death or cancer when compared with non-drinkers, but the study did not look at why.

    The data from the study concluded that the average lifetime alcohol intake reported among the adults was 1.78 drinks per week. Men reported that they drink more—at 4.02 drinks per week—than women (0.80 drinks per week).

    The study showed that for both women and men, risk of death was lowest among those who consumed less than 0.5 drinks per day.

    “The reasons for the reduced risk in light drinkers compared to never drinkers are still open to debate amongst the scientific community,” said Dr. Andrew Kunzmann, a research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland and lead author of the study, according to CNN. “Some have suggested that alcohol may have cardio-protective effects that may reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.”

    The data for the study came from the U.S. Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, covering 99,654 adults between the ages of 55 and 74 in the United States.

    The recommended alcoholic intake in the U.S. is two or fewer drinks a day for men, and one drink a day for women, per the American Cancer Society and the American Institute For Cancer Research. The study’s researchers suggest that this new data might call for a redefining of those recommendations.

    On the overall view of the study, Dr. Noelle LoConte, an oncologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said to CNN, “I think it reinforces what we already knew, which is moderate and heavy drinking is bad universally for cancer.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Marijuana Addiction On The Rise

    Marijuana Addiction On The Rise

    Around 9% of marijuana users become addicted and the government is having a tough time convincing people that marijuana addiction is real. 

    In Northern California, addiction treatment practitioners are reporting a higher demand for help with marijuana addiction, especially among adolescents.

    Many believe that marijuana is not addictive, though there are plenty of people that have struggled and are currently struggling with marijuana use disorder.

    Marijuana addiction is very real, even if it less common or life-threatening than addictions to alcohol (15% of users become addicted) and heroin (24%), according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. 

    Around 9% of marijuana users become addicted and about 17% of those who begin using in adolescence become addicted, according to the Denver Post.

    In San Rafael, California experts are seeing higher rates of marijuana addiction. According to the Post, “some say the normalization of America’s marijuana culture got its start” there, while treatment practitioners for addiction are struggling to identify why more pot smokers are struggling.

    “There should be no controversy about the existence of marijuana addiction,” said David Smith, a physician who has been treating addiction since the 1960s. “We see it every day. The controversy should be why it appears to be affecting more people.”

    Dr. Smith, a visiting physician at Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services, a treatment center for boys, wonders in The Denver Post if the potency of the marijuana is causing higher levels of addiction.

    “Back in the day when kids were sitting around smoking a joint, the THC levels found in marijuana averaged from 2 to 4%,” Smith said. “That’s what most parents think is going on today. And that’s why society thinks marijuana is harmless.”

    Currently, marijuana is more potent than ever before. The Denver Post notes that selective marijuana breeding has created an average potency of 20% THC, while other strains are 30% or higher. In addition, marijuana concentrates and extracts have risen in popularity and have THC levels anywhere from 40% to over 80%, according to marijuana industry promotional information and DEA reports.

    People with marijuana use disorder are not immune to withdrawal symptoms when they quit using. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) lists marijuana withdrawal symptoms as irritability, lethargy, anxiety, restlessness and low appetite, as well as stomach pain, shakiness, fever, chills, and headache.

    The National Cannabis Industry Association’s chief spokesman, Morgan Fox, told The Denver Post he’s not surprised the federal government cannot convince people that addiction to marijuana is real.

    “It’s their own fault,” he said of the government. “When people find out they’ve been lied to by the federal government about the relative harms of marijuana for decades, they are much less likely to believe anything they have to say going forward, even if that information is accurate.”

    Fox told The Denver Post that the National Cannabis Industry Association has no disagreement with the finding that 9% of people who use marijuana become addicted.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Why Some People May Be More Prone To Alcoholism Than Others

    Why Some People May Be More Prone To Alcoholism Than Others

    A landmark study may have pinpointed a gene that is linked to alcoholism.

    New research may provide further clues into how genetics play a role in the development of dependency on drugs and alcohol.

    A new study used rats that had been fed a steady diet of alcohol as test subjects; when offered more alcohol or a saccharine solution, a small but significant number continued to choose alcohol over the more preferable sweet offering, even when the choice meant that they would receive an electric shock.

    Upon examining the rats’ brains, the researchers found that the rats that chose alcohol had lower levels of a certain gene that controlled the release of a chemical linked to alcohol dependence.

    The study’s findings suggest that the gene may be the first step toward a greater understanding of, and even treatment for, alcohol dependency.

    The study published in the June 22, 2018 edition of Science, was conducted by a multinational group of researchers from the University of Illinois, Chicago, University of Texas, Austin and Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

    A test group of 32 rats was trained to consume a 20% alcohol solution for 10 weeks until it became a habit for the animals; they were then presented a daily choice of more alcohol or a solution of the artificial sweetener saccharine. 

    What they found was that the majority of the rats preferred the sugar option over alcohol—a common trait among mammals, as Scientific American noted, because sugar can be easily converted into calories and provide energy for survival. But four rats (12.5% of the study group) chose the alcohol every time, even under the threat of receiving an electric shock if they made that choice.

    Additional testing confirmed the scientists’ suspicions. “600 animals later, we found that a very stable population chose alcohol,” said senior study author Markus Heilig, director of the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience at Linkoping in Sweden.

    From there, the scientists examined the brains of the rodent subjects, and found that a gene called GAT-3 was expressed to a much lesser degree in the brains of the rats that chose alcohol.

    As Scientific American noted, GAT-3 is linked to a protein that controls the levels of GABA, a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and one linked with dependency on alcohol. 

    Further research found that brain samples from deceased humans who had exhibited alcohol dependency also showed lower levels of GAT-3 in the amygdala, which is widely considered to be the brain’s center for emotions and in particular, fear.

    Heilig told Scientific American that it makes sense that the lowered levels would be found there and not in the brain’s reward center.

    “The rewarding effect of drugs happens in everybody,” he said. “It’s a completely different story in the minority of people who continue to take drugs [and use alcohol] despite adverse consequences.”

    Heilig and his team have begun work on a treatment for addiction based on their research; according to Scientific American, the drug suppresses the release of GABA, which could reduce the compulsion to consume alcohol in the face of dangerous circumstances. They are currently working with a pharmaceutical company in hopes of launching tests of their compound on humans.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Oklahoma Votes To Legalize Medical Marijuana

    Oklahoma Votes To Legalize Medical Marijuana

    SQ 788 is unique in that it does not establish a list of conditions that would qualify a person to use medical cannabis.

    On Tuesday, Oklahoma became the 30th state to allow cannabis for medical use. The ballot measure, State Question 788, passed with 56% of voters supporting the measure and 43% opposing it.

    SQ 788 will allow Oklahomans to grow, sell and use cannabis, establishing a system of dispensaries, growers and processors under the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

    A person 18 and older will be able to possess up to 8 ounces at home, six mature plants and six seedlings, according to the measure. A board-certified physician’s signature is required to obtain a medical cannabis license.

    As Vox notes, Oklahoma’s SQ 788 is unique in that it does not establish a list of conditions that would qualify a person to use medical cannabis. Common qualifying conditions in other medical cannabis states include epilepsy, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.

    Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has said that she will hold a special session to discuss the regulatory framework of the state’s new medical cannabis program. The state legislature can make a final draft of the legislation before it is enacted, but Oklahoma House Majority Leader Jon Echols said he doesn’t expect that it will see many changes.

    “The citizens of the state have decided that they are in support of this law, so there aren’t necessarily any changes that need to be made,” said Echols, according to CBS News. “We’re not looking at changing any of the fundamentals.”

    The state health department will then have 30 days to post the medical cannabis license application online for residents to access.

    Gov. Fallin said before the vote that she had “clear concerns” about SQ 788, saying the measure “is written so open-ended that it basically allows recreational marijuana in the state of Oklahoma”—a concern shared by opponents of SQ 788.

    After voters approved the measure, she released a statement saying she respects the will of the voters.

    “It is our responsibility as state leaders to look out for the health and safety of Oklahoma citizens,” the governor said. “As I mentioned in previous public comments, I believe, as well as many Oklahomans, this new law is written so loosely that it opens the door for basically recreational marijuana. I will be discussing with legislative leaders and state agencies our options going forward on how best to proceed with adding a medical and proper regulatory framework to make sure marijuana use is truly for valid medical illnesses.”

    Later this year, Michigan and Utah will also vote on whether to allow cannabis for medical use.

    View the original article at thefix.com