Tag: News

"Shock Value" Anti-Opioid PSAs Debut To Mixed Response

The four videos feature actors portraying individuals who go to extremely violent lengths to enable their opioid dependency.

The Trump administration unveiled a quartet of public service announcements (PSAs) as part of its proposed $4.6 billion fight against the opioid epidemic.

The four videos, all purported to be based on true stories, feature actors portraying individuals who go to extreme lengths to enable their opioid dependency: one is seen smashing their hand with a hammer, while another drives a car into a dumpster.

The videos, which began airing on television and and social media on June 7, have drawn not only comparison to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s “This is your brain on drugs” campaign of the 1980s, but also a mixed response from drug policy organizations, with some expressing positive views while others labeled the PSAs as “shock value” or “disingenuous and misleading.”

The ad campaign, which is the first stage in an educational effort called “The Truth About Opioids,” is a joint effort between the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Truth Initiative and the Ad Council.

An array of media partners, including Facebook, Google, YouTube and Amazon have committed to donating airtime and ad space for the PSAs, which according to Ad Council CEO Lisa Sherman, is worth roughly $30 million.

Jim Carroll, deputy director of the ONDCP, was unable to provide an exact figure on how much his agency spent on the campaign, but noted that “very few government dollars” were used, due to the Truth Initiative and Ad Council donating their work and the media partners’ donated airtime.

Fred Mensch, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Drug-Free Kids—the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s moniker since 2010—spoke highly of the PSAs, which he described as having “the potential to generate a dialogue between parents and kids on this complex health issue.”

But Daniel Raymond, deputy director of planning and policy at the Harm Reduction Coalition, called the spots “the 21st century version of the egg-in-the-frying-pan” commercial, referring to the “your brain on drugs” spot, which was created by Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

“We don’t need shock value to fight the overdose crisis,” said Raymond. We need empathy, connection and hope for people struggling with opioids. The White House missed an opportunity to combat stigma and stereotypes, portraying people who use opioids as irrational and self-destructive.”

Stefanie Jones, director of audience development for the Drug Policy Alliance, praised the Truth About Opioids web site for providing useful information and resources, but found that the ads “take really extreme cases,” she said. “It’s all about self-harm to seek opioids, and they also end with the same ‘fact’ about how dependence can start after five days, and that’s just an incredible simplification.”

The nature of the PSAs seem to suggest what Trump alluded to in March 2018 about a “large-scale rollout of commercials” intended to raise awareness about opioid dependency.

At the time, Trump said that he had long been in favor of “spending a lot of money on great commercials showing how bad [opioid dependency] is.” He added that his administration would make the spots “very, very bad commercials” in which “you scare [audiences] from ending up like the people commercials,” and cited similar examples in anti-smoking PSAs.

In May 2018, Axios quoted an unnamed source with an alleged connection to the PSAs, who said that “[Trump] thinks you have to engage and enrage.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 June 2018
Vince Vaughn Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI

The actor and his passenger were arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Manhattan Beach, California.

Actor Vince Vaughn has been arrested for what would be his first DUI offense, TMZ reports.

Early Sunday morning (June 10), the 48-year-old actor and a passenger were passing through a DUI checkpoint a little after midnight outside of Los Angeles, according to Manhattan Beach police.

CNN reported that the Old School actor was arrested for driving under the influence and for resisting, delaying or obstructing officers. Vaughn’s male passenger was also arrested on charges of obstructing officers and public intoxication.

However, Sgt. Tim Zins of Manhattan Beach police clarified that the arrests were not spurred by “fighting with officers, but more of delaying the investigation” by initially refusing to exit their vehicle. “There was no officer use of force or anything like that,” said Zins.

Both men posted bail from Manhattan Beach Jail later Sunday morning.

Earlier in the week, Manhattan Beach police had posted on Facebook informing locals about the DUI checkpoint, which ran from Saturday evening to early Sunday morning: “The intent of the checkpoint is to encourage sober designated drivers. By publicizing these educational and enforcement efforts, the Manhattan Beach Police Department believes that drinking and driving while unlicensed will be reduced.”

According to TMZ, this would be Vaughn’s first DUI offense, if he is charged.

The last time the Wedding Crashers actor made headlines for drunken behavior was in 2001. Vaughn was in Wilmington, North Carolina while filming Domestic Disturbance, when he got into a bar brawl with some local men at the Firebelly Lounge, the Associated Press reported at the time.

Co-star Steve Buscemi, who was also involved, was taken to the emergency room for multiple stab wounds, according to Entertainment Weekly. He was later flown to New York to see a plastic surgeon before he could return to set.

Vaughn and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg were arrested. According to the Guardian, two local men allegedly picked a fight with the men when one of their girlfriend began talking to Vaughn.

Police said the brawlers “refused to disperse, so they all got pepper spray. In all, there were about ten involved when we got there, but the four kept fighting. Normally, we don’t have any problems there.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 June 2018
Surfer Andy Irons' Life, Death & Addiction Struggle Examined In New Doc

“Andy Irons: Kissed by God” sheds light on the champion surfer’s battle with drug addiction and bipolar disorder.

The surfing world knew Andy Irons as a three-time world champion and Surfing Walk Hall of Famer whose pursuit of excellence in his sport reaped four Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and the Billabong Pro Teahupoo in 2010.

Those closest to him remember Irons as a fierce competitor—especially against fellow professional surfer Kelly Slater—whose strength and determination was challenged by mental illness and a dependency on drugs and alcohol that contributed to his untimely death at the age of 32 in 2010.

One of those people, filmmaker Enich Harris, has released a new documentary, Andy Irons: Kissed by God which looks at both his iconic career and personal struggles.

Harris became close with Irons as a member of the film and marketing department for the surf company Billabong, which was Irons’ primary sponsor for the majority of his professional career. Harris would eventually travel the world with Irons, documenting his stratospheric rise in the surfing world and his rivalry with Slater, which was marked equally by admiration and intense drive to be the best.

That aspect of Irons’ life is well known to the surf and sporting world, but the extent of his struggles on dry land are the primary focus of Kissed by God.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18, Irons relied on alcohol and drugs to ward off the powerful shifts in mood and personality that accompany the condition.

Eventually, he turned to opioids, which had a deleterious effect on his life and career: he withdrew from surfing in 2009 to seek treatment for his dependency, and returned the following year for what appeared to be a dramatic return to form with the 2010 win at the Billabong Pro Teahupoo.

But that same year, he reported fell ill, and took himself out of the Rip Curl Pro Search to head home to Hawaii for recuperation. He never made it— authorities found his body in a hotel room in Grapevine, Texas, where he had stopped for a connecting flight.

The medical examiner’s report listed heart attack as the primary cause of death, with “acute mixed drug ingestion” credited as a secondary cause. An autopsy found alprazolam, methadone, traces of methamphetamine and benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in his system.

Irons’ death was not only a loss to the surfing world; he left behind a wife, Lyndie, who gave birth to their son, Axel, four weeks after his death, as well as his brother, Bruce.

Both appear in the film, and as Harris told the OC Register, their participation provided them with an outlet to touch upon and bring some relief their loss.

“It was such an open wound,” he said. “There was healing that went on in the process, for them talking about him again. It’s very healing for them to know that Andy didn’t just die—his message can go on to help the next generation of kids growing up.”

Harris hopes that younger viewers, especially those that may be enduring similar issues, may find hope in Irons’ story. “Mental illness and drug abuse, that’s the message I want people to take away,” he noted. “It’s not the right road to down.

“If you’re struggling with the same things, talk to people, get help,” said Harris. “He was an amazing, all-powerful human, but those struggles were bigger than him.”

View the original article at thefix.com

12 June 2018
How US Public Schools Are Taking Action Against The Opioid Crisis

From drug searches to peer-support groups, schools across the nation are taking a number of approaches to combat the opioid epidemic.

Some high schools aren’t wasting time and are confronting the opioid crisis head-on.

According to CBS 6 News, Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York is one such school. At the high school, drug searches with police K-9s take place about twice per month, says Saratoga County Deputy Sheriff Ken Cooper, who serves as the school resource and emergency liaison officer.

“Kids start out with marijuana use, they don’t think that the next thing is heroin or another drug, but it is,” Cooper told CBS.

During the searches, trained K-9s locate any illegal items in a student’s locker. If the dog finds something, it scratches at a locker or barks. According to Cooper, students have reacted mostly positively to the searches.

“I think overall students, parents are OK with us coming in and searching. They don’t want drugs on campus,” he tells CBS.

Another step being taken at the high school is stationing school resource officers throughout, with the hope that students will feel comfortable talking to them if they have friends who may be using drugs.

“We want them to give us the good information, so we can actually help,” Cooper told CBS.

Additionally, CBS reports, the school has trained teachers, school nurses and other staff members about the signs of substance use disorders. The school also advertises a help hotline and students are even learning about opioids in their health classes.

Shenendehowa High School isn’t alone in taking an early approach to the crisis.

In Lakewood, Ohio, a peer-to-peer approach is being taken. High school students have partnered with a nonprofit called Recovery Resources of Cleveland and have created the Casey’s Kids program, according to Cleveland.com. In the program, high schoolers chosen by health teachers and counselors work to educate middle school students about substance use disorders.

“There’s a lot of research that says kids sort of have better outcomes in this program when it’s delivered by other kids. They’re more apt to listen and trust information that’s delivered by other kids,” said Lakewood City Schools’ Teaching and Learning Director Christine Palumbo.

Some states are even passing laws requiring schools to educate students about the opioid crisis, according to Education World.

In 2014, New York passed a law requiring schools to update their health curriculums to teach students about the opioid crisis.

Recently, Maryland followed suit and passed the Start Talking Maryland Act, which mandates that public schools educate students about the dangers of opioid use, beginning in the third grade. The bill also mandates that nursing staff be trained to administer the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone.

“It’s a crisis that we need to identify and make educators as well as parents aware of it, and provide the resources to deal with it,” Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, told The Baltimore Sun.

View the original article at thefix.com

11 June 2018
CDC: US Suicide Rate Has Risen 30% Since 1999

The Centers for Disease Control also found that only half of people who died by suicide had been diagnosed with a mental health issue.

A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that suicide rates have risen by 30% across the United States since 1999.

The report, released Thursday, made another surprising revelation: only half of those who took their own life were diagnosed with a mental health condition. This goes against the commonly-held belief that depression is the main cause of suicide.

The CDC reports that other leading contributors to suicide besides mental illness include struggles in relationships, finances, and substance abuse.

“Suicide rates in the United States have risen nearly 30% since 1999, and mental health conditions are one of several factors contributing to suicide,” wrote CDC researchers in the report. “From 1999 to 2015, suicide rates increased among both sexes, all racial/ethnic groups, and all urbanization levels.”

The heavily covered tragic suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain reflect the increasing risk of suicide by Americans in their age bracket.

“Middle-aged adults had the largest number of suicides and a particularly high increase in suicide rates. These findings are disturbing,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director at the CDC.

The only age group that did not see an increase in suicide rates were those over the age of 75. The increase in suicide rate was otherwise seen across the board, culminating in nearly 45,000 deaths by suicide in 2016.

“What we tried to do in this study was look at the state level at trends over time,” explained Dr. Schuchat. “Unfortunately, the suicide rates went up more than 30% in half of the states.”

The only state that did not have an increase in suicide rate was Nevada, but that state has experienced a historically high suicide rate as is.

“A key thing that we focused on was looking at individuals who committed suicide, comparing those with mental health diagnoses with those who didn’t,” said Dr. Schuchat. “More than half of all the individuals who committed suicide had no mental health diagnoses.”

While these rates seem bleak, Dr. Schuchat believes it’s possible to turn the situation around.

“I have learned that it is important to talk about survivor stories. We know that suicide is preventable,” Schuchat said. “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

11 June 2018
Fentanyl-Related Deaths Skyrocket In Ohio

“There is nothing that worries me more than synthetic opiates—and what will be the next, more powerful synthetic that hits the street,” said one police official.

Fentanyl is taking over the illicit drug market in the greater Cincinnati area, sparking a 1,000% increase in overdose deaths in Hamilton County.

In 2013, authorities there logged 24 fentanyl-related deaths. Last year, they counted 324, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The drug’s popularity has grown so explosively it’s overshadowed heroin deaths. Last year, the Hamilton County coroner found fentanyl involved in 85% of overdose deaths the office examined, while the county’s crime lab detected the substance in more than 90% of the drugs tested in the first five months of this year.

“Fentanyl and similar synthetic opiates have produced overdoses and deaths in not only unprecedented numbers but previously unimaginable,” Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan told the Ohio paper. “It is no longer a heroin epidemic but a synthetic-opiate epidemic.”

The problem in Ohio mirrors the issue nationwide, Synan said. In 2016, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, fentanyl was involved in roughly half of opioid-related deaths.

“It’s the small amounts of the extremely deadly substances that are killing people,” Hamilton County coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco told the paper.

Just days after the Cincinnati paper published its report, the Billings Gazette in Montana detailed an apparent uptick in fentanyl-related deaths in the county that houses Fort Peck Indian Reservation. There, officials are bumping up naloxone training efforts and considering reactivating a regional drug task force.

And in May, the Minneapolis Star Tribune detailed a spike in fentanyl-related overdoses in Minnesota, where officials are pushing to treat fatal overdoses as homicides.

Even as the epidemic spreads, officials in Ohio are warning it could get worse as underground chemists start pumping out new analogues of the dangerous drug, some of which could be more potent.

And, as officials elsewhere have warned, fentanyl is starting to pop up in cocaine and meth supplies.

“The introduction of synthetic opiates like fentanyl has killed tens of thousands of Americans and should be seen as the country’s most pressing health, national security issue and social crisis we face right now,” Synan said. “There is nothing that worries me more than synthetic opiates—and what will be the next, more powerful synthetic that hits the street.”

View the original article at thefix.com

11 June 2018
President Trump Will "Probably" Support Ending Federal Marijuana Ban

Despite what he and Jeff Sessions have said in the past, President Trump has promised to support bipartisan legislation to legalize marijuana.

On Friday, President Donald Trump publicly said that he would be willing to support a bipartisan bill by Congress to lift the federal ban on marijuana.

Historically, marijuana has been subject to a federal ban alongside LSD and heroin. Recently, some states have moved to legalize marijuana, placing the drug in a strange middle ground where it is both legal and illegal depending on the tier of law considered.

The bipartisan proposal would allow each state to decide on its own how to treat marijuana within its borders, while recommending a few federal restrictions such as an age limit set at 21.

“I support Senator Gardner. I know exactly what he’s doing,” Trump told reporters, referring to Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. “We’re looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes.”

President Trump’s remarks greatly deviate from his appointed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ stance on pot. Sessions has previously reversed the Obama-era hands-off marijuana policy to start cracking down on cannabis again.

“The previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” Sessions wrote in a memo allowing federal prosecutors to return to “previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.”

The president himself has been wishy-washy about marijuana. During his campaign, he has at times said he would respect states’ decisions on marijuana, while he would also criticize legalization efforts.

Senator Gardner wants to ensure that no matter what states decide, the federal government will keep its hands off.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is another one of the bipartisan supporters of the measure. She said that Washington “needs to get out of the business of outlawing marijuana.”

With such a change, legal marijuana businesses in states like California would no longer have to worry about the looming threat of federal drug enforcement coming to sweep away their investments. This would also help with the fact that banks hesitate to do business with legal marijuana dispensaries because of fear of being prosecuted by the federal government.

View the original article at thefix.com

11 June 2018
Canada Moves Closer To Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

Canada is taking a countrywide approach to avoid the issues that have unfolded in the United States, according to one Canadian senator.

Canada is one step closer to becoming the first major global economy to legalize recreational marijuana, with the Senate passing a legalization plan on Thursday.

The plan and all its amendments will now move on to the House, according to the BBC. If approved there, legal sales are expected to start within 12 weeks, meaning it could be legal to purchase marijuana in Canada by the end of the summer.

According to one Canadian Senator, Canada is taking a countrywide approach to avoid the issues that have unfolded in the United States, where cannabis is legal in some states but prohibited under federal law.

“We’ve very much learned from the early mistakes made by some U.S. states and other jurisdictions,” Canadian Sen. Tony Dean, an independent who sponsored the bill in the Senate, told USA Today. “We know we have a national challenge with cannabis. We have some of the highest youth consumption rates in the world, an illegal cannabis market worth upward of $6 billion annually, we know it’s harmful for kids, especially younger kids… and we had a government that wanted to tackle those issues.”

Having a national system will allow the Canadian government to address these issues above board, according to Roy Bingham, the CEO and co-founder of cannabis data firm BDS Analytics.

“Canada is creating a normal industry. What we have in the United States is a very abnormal industry,” he said. “In Canada, you see tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical companies, all these mainstream industries interested in getting involved.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ran on a platform of marijuana legalization in 2015. The senate measure will make recreational use and sale of marijuana legal, but it will leave the specifics of the cannabis laws up to each province or state.

Marijuana firms, researchers and public health experts will all be watching Canada closely to see how the market for legalized cannabis unfolds.

“It’s going to be a bit of a science fiction experience for a while,” Benedikt Fischer, an expert on substance use at Toronto’s biggest psychiatric hospital, told The Guardian. “It’s unique in the world, because it’s happening for the first time in a wealthy country. It’s not like in the U.S., where there are these state experiments. Most people kind of ignore Uruguay. And so the world is really looking at this.”

One issue will be setting the price of cannabis high enough to prevent new users from getting started with marijuana, but low enough to discourage black market sales.

“What I am mainly following … is who will be the new legal growers, and whether authorities manage to get some of the illegal growers to become legal growers,” said Tim Boekhout van Solinge, a Dutch criminologist.

Other issues including the impact of legalization on use of other drugs and dealing with impaired drivers, will also be closely monitored by policymakers and researchers from around the globe.

“They’re waiting to see if the sky’s going to fall,” said Jordan Sinclair, company spokesman for Canopy Growth, a medical marijuana grower in Canada. “[Investors] are waiting to see if all the stigma and all the demonization of this product that’s built up in 90 years of prohibition is true. It’s on us to demonstrate that it’s not.”

View the original article at thefix.com

9 June 2018
Marijuana “Tasting Rooms” Proposal Vetoed By Colorado Governor

Critics contend that Hickenlooper’s veto will backfire, driving the rise of more unregulated, indoor clubs.

Colorado governor John Hickenlooper vetoed a bill on Monday that would have allowed marijuana sellers to establish “tasting rooms” for their product. And while some observed that it wasn’t the first time Gov. Hickenlooper has shot down similar bills, the veto took the wind out of many Colorado pot retailers’ sails.

Many sellers had hoped their state would allow people to use marijuana in a regulated, public space. In a statement explaining his veto, the governor cited concerns about impaired drivers and other public health issues.

“We may agree with the proponents’ goals to protect the public and children; however, we strongly disagree that this bill is the correct path to achieve those goals,” Hickenlooper wrote.

He was also concerned that passing the bill might prompt a federal crackdown on Colorado’s pot industry.

The governor did, however, acknowledge that the most recent version of the bill was a far cry from previous versions. In fact, the bill “dramatically scaled back some advocates’ ambitions for stand-alone businesses reminiscent of a neighborhood bar or an upscale club,” The Washington Post reported.

Interestingly, the bill that Hickenlooper vetoed didn’t allow marijuana to be smoked in the establishments themselves and also left it up to local municipalities to make decisions around “tasting rooms.”

Proponents of the bill believed it could “resolve a stubborn conflict in Colorado and other states with legal marijuana,” given that while pot possession in Colorado is legal, public use (including in streets and parks) could lead to a police citation. By and large, most states have delayed developing statewide systems for public consumption.

Alaska, the Post added, is one notable exception: regulators there will begin discussions later this month about letting people smoke pot inside stores.

Denver regulators were forced by a voter-backed initiative into allowing sites, otherwise known as “social consumption facilities,” where customers bring their own weed.

Still, state and local regulators assert a tight grip on the business models that govern those facilities. In fact, as the Post notes, “permitted locations have limited interest”—perhaps an understatement, given that Denver officials have issued one permit for a pot club, not to mention only receiving two applications overall since last summer.

Meanwhile, others continue to watch Denver’s system closely: Las Vegas-area officials, for example, have been playing a wait-and-see game with their own licensure. If Denver’s system works, Las Vegas may follow suit.

Until then, San Francisco is the only city in the U.S. that allows lounges where people can legally smoke marijuana products.

In the meantime, critics contend that Hickenlooper’s veto will backfire, driving the rise of more unregulated, indoor clubs. Despite the setback, though, many proponents of the bill remain resolute.

“In its wisdom, the Colorado Legislature sought to close a significant gap in regulation,” said Chris Woods, the owner of an Aurora-based marijuana retailer. “It’s unfortunate that the governor chose not to offer another regulatory tool to state and local regulators. This fight is not over.”

View the original article at thefix.com

9 June 2018
Anthony Bourdain Dies At 61

The “original rock star of the culinary world” was a celebrated writer and chef who had conquered heroin addiction and became world famous in his forties.

Beloved chef and world-renowned television personality Anthony Bourdain was found dead Friday morning in his hotel in France. He was 61.

CNN confirmed that the TV host died by suicide. He was in France working on an upcoming episode for his long-running food and travel show, Parts Unknown. Bourdain is survived by his 11-year-old daughter, ex-wife Ottavia Busia and girlfriend Asia Argento.

Coined the “original rock star of the culinary world” by the Smithsonian, Bourdain made a name for himself with the publication of a New Yorker article — Don’t Eat Before Reading This—where the chef spilled some “trade secrets” about his time spent in professional kitchens and the cast of characters he encountered.

With book editors intrigued, Bourdain would soon write his literary opus, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The New York Times bestseller gave outsiders a no holds barred look into the raucous world of cuisine. Infused with Bourdain’s trademark no-nonsense personality, readers were introduced to the chef who was caught up in the frenzied world of sex, drugs, and dinner service.

Bourdain’s celebrity exploded shortly after the release of Kitchen Confidential.

Bourdain detailed in a 2016 Biography interview how the memoir changed his life smack dab in the middle of his forties: “Oh, man, at the age of 44, I was standing in kitchens, not knowing what it was like to go to sleep without being in mortal terror. I was in horrible, endless, irrevocable debt. I had no health insurance. I didn’t pay my taxes. I couldn’t pay my rent. It was a nightmare, but it’s all been different for about 15 years. If it looks like my life is comfortable, well, that’s a very new thing for me.”

He would go on to become one of the most popular celebrity chefs of this generation with a string of food and travel shows such as A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, The Layover and Parts Unknown.

Bourdain was also open about his battles with addiction. He began using drugs during the early portion of his restaurant career and eventually became an avid heroin user.

He told Biography, “I got off of heroin in the 1980s. Friends of mine from the ‘70s and ‘80s, they just got off five, six, maybe 10 years ago. And we’re the lucky ones. We made it out alive. There are a lot of guys that didn’t get that far. But you know, I also don’t have that many regrets either.”

Celebrities, politicians, cooking peers and fans took to Twitter to remember the beloved chef. Former President Barack Obama tweeted, “‘Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.’ This is how I’ll remember Tony. He taught us about food—but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him.”

Gordon Ramsay tweeted, “Stunned and saddened by the loss of Anthony Bourdain. He brought the world into our homes and inspired so many people to explore cultures and cities through their food. Remember that help is a phone call away US:1-800-273-TALK UK: 116 123”

Chef Eric Ripert, Bourdain’s best friend, paid tribute on Twitter, “Anthony was my best friend. An exceptional human being, so inspiring & generous. One of the great storytellers who connected w so many. I pray he is at peace from the bottom of my heart. My love & prayers are also w his family, friends and loved ones.”

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) in the US. To find a suicide helpline outside the U.S., visit IASP or Suicide.org.

View the original article at thefix.com

8 June 2018