The Big News

The CDC says U.S. life expectancy ticked upward in 2018—by about 5 weeks from a year earlier—thanks to declines in cancer and overdose deaths. According to the new data, overdose deaths declined for the first time in 28 years and life expectancy increased for the first time in four years.

The President touted the statistics before and during his State of the Union speech Tuesday and vowed to stay focused on the opioid crisis. Some countered, saying the Administration does not deserve credit.

New research and data coming from states with legal marijuana continue to raise concerns. For example, a new study found the percentage of drivers in Washington state involved in fatal car crashes testing positive for marijuana has doubled since the state legalized marijuana in 2012. Another found that teen brains are more vulnerable to the effects of marijuana than alcohol. See the Marijuana section below for more, including our op-ed in today’s Chicago Tribune.

Individual Americans can now submit individual Purdue Pharma lawsuit claims.

Case counts for vaping-associated lung injury continue to creep upward: the latest stats show 2,711 cases and 60 deaths. With that backdrop, along with exploding rates of vaping among teens in recent years, tobacco company CEOs were grilled today by Members of Congress about their role in the youth vaping crisis. Watch the video.

ONDCP Director James Carroll will testify at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Feb. 27 about the recently released 2020 National Drug Control Strategy and the Administration’s response to the ongoing addiction crisis, including “the need to expand access to evidence-based treatment.”

Carroll and our board member, North Dakota First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum, wrote a joint op-ed about ending the stigma of addiction—the first step in ending the addiction crisis.

Our friend Gary Mendell, founder of Shatterproof, was among those attending last night’s State of the Union address as a guest of a Member of Congress. Earlier in the day, Shatterproof and Hazelden Betty Ford announced we are collaborating on the launch of a new online educational resource—“Shatterproof Just Five”—for families facing addiction.

Congrats to the Super-Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs! It was nice to see All-Pro cornerback Tyrann Mathieu get a championship ring after overcoming early-career challenges with drugs and mental health. Special congrats to our friend Leigh Steinberg as well. Steinberg, the super sports agent who inspired the movie Jerry Maguire and then lost everything before resurrecting his life and career in recovery, is the agent for MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Another highlight of Sunday’s Big Game was pop star Demi Lovato’s stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It came on the heels of an emotional performance at the Grammy’s, where Lovato performed publicly for the first time since surviving an overdose in July 2018—six years into her addiction recovery journey. We’re happy the 27-year-old is healthy and back on the biggest stages in the world again!

This week’s featured media is the latest in our award-winning podcast series, with host William C. Moyers talking to clinical leader Janelle Wesloh about promising innovations in recovery support and why daily encouragement is a powerful motivator. Watch, listen or read.

We’re also big fans of the Mom Enough podcast, which recently featured an episode with our colleague Ahmed Eid on prevention, interventions and treatment for opioid use disorder. Another episode with our colleague Helene Photias (on helping children hurt by parental addiction) will be published Feb. 10.

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Treatment Industry Issues and Reforms Brandon’s Law—a bill to forbid false advertising and misleading marketing in California’s addiction and mental health treatment industry—has been reintroduced in the state Senate.

Last year’s version passed but was vetoed because it referenced sober homes, which aren’t licensed or regulated. The new bill drops sober homes and instead focuses solely on state-licensed treatment facilities. Learn more →

Speaking of misleading marketing, Hazelden Betty Ford and the Elizabeth B. Ford Charitable Trust have filed a federal lawsuit against the “My Way Betty Ford Klinic” in Germany for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising. When vulnerable people reach out for help–-whether in the U.S. or around the globe—they should know who and what they’re getting and not have to worry about deceptive practices of any kind.

An investigative report digs into the “wilderness therapy” industry.

With deaths involving stimulants, cocaine and methamphetamine way up, the search is on for medications to help treat addiction to those substances.

“Addiction treatment comes with its own strict privacy rules. Perhaps it shouldn’t.” That’s the opening to a balanced article on the 42 CFR Part 2 issue, published by Massachusetts General Hosptial’s Proto magazine, which is sent to Members of Congress, physicians and researchers and others. Our own Jenni Lohse contributes.

California’s Orange County has taken further steps to limit the concentration of its sober homes and addiction treatment facilities.

A recent participant in our Summer Institute for Medical Students says the immersive, stigma-smashing experience at one of our residential treatment centers was “one of the most humbling and valuable experiences I’ve had in my life.”

Cannabis “We have a big problem. Too many people think marijuana is harmless, and if we don’t counter that misperception with accurate information, we’ll have major public health costs to pay.”

That’s from our op-ed in today’s Chicago Tribune, by Hazelden Betty Ford Chief Medical Officer Marvin D. Seppala, MD, (pictured) and Director of Chicago Services Michael Mahoney. Learn more →

While some Minnesota legislators are pushing for marijuana legalization against long odds this year, our message continues to be: slow down and continue to monitor the public health data coming out of states where cannabis is already legal and commercialized. This is no time to expand such a risky experiment – one that will most negatively affect youth and vulnerable adults.

Bud and Breakfast is like Airbnb—only it offers rentals to people planning marijuana-based getaways. (Sent in by a reader who called it “this week’s top bad idea.”)

An addiction neuruoscientist says universities should not accept cannabis industry donations to fund cannabis research.

The state of Washington’s cannabis industry is grappling with issues of racial equity and out-of-state investments. The state’s Commission on African American Affairs says racial disparities in cannabis-related arrests persist, that black-owned cannabis businesses are “on the verge of extinction” and that out-of-state investments will only exacerbate inequities.

We’re seeing this everywhere: illicit pot is getting cheaper as legal prices rise.

The editorial board for the Albuquerque Journal says a haze of unknowns clouds legislation on recreational cannabis.

Massachusetts considers banning pot-related billboards—a good idea.

More than 2 million people with heart disease in the U.S. have used or are using marijuana, researchers found in a new study that called for more research about the drug’s potential cardiovascular risks.

Opioids A judge sentenced John Kapoor, founder and former CEO of Insys Therapeutics, to 5.5 years in prison for a bribery and racketeering scheme around the company's potent opioid, Subsys.

At 76, Kapoor is the highest-ranking pharmaceutical executive to be sentenced in a case linked to the opioid crisis. Learn more →

The new, four-part Netflix docuseries “The Pharmacist” premieres today. It tells the story of Dan Schneider who embarked on a crusade to catch his son’s killer—and shady opioid dealers.

Areas hit hardest by the opioid epidemic still struggle with access to buprenorphine, according to a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services' internal watchdog.

According to a Reuters report, Purdue Pharma allegedly offered $1 million in kickbacks to electronic health record company Practice Fusion, in exchange for Practice Fusion engineering its software to encourage more prescriptions of Purdue Pharma’s opioids.

Here’s where the Purdue Pharma-Sackler legal saga stands.

The U.S. House passed a bill to extend a temporary ban on fentanyl look-alikes for 15 months.

After Jamie Maynard became addicted to opioids, she sometimes scored hits for other users. When one overdosed, she became the subject of a homicide investigation. In an in-depth New Yorker piece, reporter Paige Williams says that’s the “wrong way to fight the opioid crisis.”

The government is investing in an AI-based tool that could help catch illegal opioid sales on the internet.

Chronic pain patients in New Hampshire are pushing for a bill that would roll back guidelines intended to limit opioid prescriptions.

Another look at how medications effective in the treatment of opioid addiction are grossly underutilized in the criminal justice system—something we’re trying to change.

By the time paramedics arrive, overdose victims revived with Narcan have often left the scene already. And teens whose overdose lands them in the ER often don’t get follow-up treatment.

“Know More,” the first installment of the The Truth About Opioids advertising campaign.

Alcohol As more women struggle with alcohol use and more providers strive to meet the growing need, our colleague Lydia Burr contributed to this story of hope. Learn more →

The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport wants to allow drinks before dawn.

More on the possible relationship between falling alcohol use and rising marijuana use among millenials …

Researchers in the UK are trying to determine how minimum prices for alcohol affect underage drinking.

Our friend Dr. David Frenz participated in a robust public radio discussion on alcohol use trends.

More on the acclaimed researcher who has become the guinea pig in a clinical trial investigating whether brain implants can help treat alcohol use disorder.

Health Care Reform and Parity

A major doctors group, the American College of Physicians, endorsed either a single-payer system or a public option. Learn more →

As out-of-pocket costs rise, insured adults are seeking less primary care.

Add the U.S. government to the list of groups going after patients for thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Nurse practitioners are everywhere these days!

Advocate Spotlight Spiritual gurus Russell Brand and Tommy Rosen connected about recovery and transcending addiction in the latest episode of “Under the Skin with Russell Brand” on Luminarypodcasts.com. Watch a clip →

In a new episode of his YouTube docuseries Seasons, pop star Justin Bieber talks in-depth for the first time publicly about his health, including challenges overcoming mental health and substance use disorders.

Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern celebrated 28 years of recovery on Instagram, posting a “TBT” photo of himself from the early 1980s.

Philadelphia recovery advocate Devin Reaves is profiled in Men’s Health.

New York Times writer Nancy Wartik shared about her recovery from “moderate alcohol use disorder.”

Miscellaneous Musings From @RecoveryAlmanac and in recognition of Black History Month: In 1978, author Chaney Allen published one of the first autobiographies of an African American in recovery.

She is also known for founding the California Black Commission on Alcoholism and the California Women's Commission on Alcoholism. Learn more →

• Click here to voice support the Family Support Services for Addiction Act—which would create a $25 million grant program over five years to help national and local nonprofit organizations provide family support services for addiction treatment.
• Sunday marks the beginning of Children of Addiction Awareness Week.
• Following in the footsteps of the Minnesota Wild, another NHL team is hosting a recovery night—this time the Tampa Bay Lightning!
• More states and school districts around the country are passing legislation to allow students to take mental health days, as young people struggle with depression and anxiety.
• A new book chronicles how methamphetamine addiction reshaped rural Missouri, and beyond.
• The U.S. has the highest suicide rate among wealthy nations, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund.
• So far, digital assistants like Alexa and Siri aren’t much help when it comes to addiction.
• Welcome to Lakeview Center of Pensacola, Fla., which has joined the Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network as a collaborative member.
• William White remains on a break from his blog, so this week we share a talk he gave in 2004 at the Betty Ford Center’s Awareness Hour on the history of addiction treatment and recovery in America. By the way, our Awareness Hour, which has a rich legacy that began in 1976, is back for a new season!
• Thank you for reading. What do you think? Send us a note anytime, and have a great week!