The Big News

One group that doesn’t get the robust advocacy it needs is young children experiencing the impact of addiction in their family. Kids can be profoundly impacted by a parent’s or sibling’s addiction, and they grow up at greater risk of developing addiction themselves. And yet, insurance doesn’t cover care and prevention efforts for such children or the family, and children and families generally get scant mention in policy plans like the 2020 National Drug Control Strategy or relevant federal budgets (see here and here). That’s why advocates like our Jerry Moe and Sis Wenger, the CEO of the National Association for Children of Addiction, say children are the first hurt and the last helped.

National Children of Addiction Week just wrapped up, and we spent the week advocating for “kiddos,” as some of our Children’s Program counselors like to say. Jerry spoke in Ohio and did interviews with media from nearby West Virginia, two states hit hard by the addiction crisis. Lindsey Chadwick and our Children's Program in Colorado hosted an art show featuring the drawings and paintings of young children growing up in families affected by addiction, and discussed it on a Denver TV station. And, Jerry fielded online, anonymous questions in real-time during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) hosted by NPR. That Q&A lives on—please help advocate for children by sharing it with others who may have questions about how to support kids affected by addiction in their family. Jerry will continue to answer questions over the next couple of weeks.

In other news, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Terry DeMio wrote this week’s must-read piece, digging into the exploding meth problem in Ohio and Kentucky. Among other things, she captures the real story behind the meth wave that many are missing: “The United States has an addiction crisis. … Addiction, which has been with us forever, is what needs to be fixed.” DeMio quotes an addiction expert in Northern Kentucky who astutely notes, “We just simply move like a herd of locusts from one drug to another. … We go from opioid (pain pills) to opioid (heroin) to opioid (fentanyl) to stimulant (meth). We try to get them off of the drug they're on. What we need to do is treat the addiction. They're using (a) drug as a coping mechanism.” For more on this framing of the crisis, see our Emerging Drug Trends report: Widening the Lens on the Opioid Crisis.

Good news in New Mexico, where this year’s marijuana legalization effort has failed. And, in Viriginia, where a legalization bill sunk earlier, lawmakers are moving forward with a decriminalization strategy instead; see the Cannabis section below for more.

Perhaps the most interesting health-related article we read on marijuana last week was a study summarized by CNN in this way: “Don't trust your memories if you're high on weed.”

A state senator with whom we met recently in New York is now a recovery advocate, too—speaking publicly, and very deliberately, about his 33 years of sobriety. “Stigma is still the largest challenge that we face,” Sen. Peter Harckham told the New York Times. “It prevents people from coming into treatment. … If we’re talking about ending stigma, people like myself have to speak up.” Thank you, Senator, for sharing your story to spread hope and smash stereotypes.

With another presidential election ahead and addiction still the biggest public health crisis in America, why aren’t candidates talking about it more? HuffPost reached out to some recovery advocates about the promises and results of the last election. The HuffPost article is part of a nine-piece package called Pain in America, looking at underlying causes of the opioid crisis and how we treat pain.

This week’s featured media is a video of Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer paying tribute on the House floor to the late Rev. Gordy Grimm, our former colleague and a pioneer in the field of addiction treatment.

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Treatment Industry Issues and Reforms

Interesting article warning against the over-medicalization of addiction and mental health care. Learn more →

The state House in Washington approved legislation to remove “pre-authorization” barriers that sometimes cause dangerous delays in providing people the addiction care they need.

An unusually fired-up Dr. Drew Pinsky—who recently floated running against Congressman Adam Schiff—advocated on TV last week for a five-point plan to address the mental health and addiction crisis in California. His proposal, also aimed at helping people who are living without homes, is drawing controversy because it includes allowing involuntary commitments to treatment and re-criminalizing drug possession to create motivation for people to choose treatment over jail. Watch.

We are looking to expand and renovate at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The plan—pending city approval—includes a new “Day Treatment Pavilion” that would support a significant and long-progressing evolution away from a more programmatic residential treatment model to an increasingly individualized, person-centered approach that engages patients longer across multiple levels of care. Day treatment—generally five hours of care, five days a week—is an important step for many patients after they have stabilized in residential care and initiated recovery, allowing them to gradually transition toward lower levels of outpatient care and eventually to community-supported self-management of their recovery.

A proposed ballot measure in Oregon would mandate addiction recovery centers in communities around the state.

Reminder: 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.

Cannabis Colorado’s rules governing how and where cannabis companies can advertise are strict—an attempt by policymakers to prevent marketing messages from reaching minors.

So, pot companies are adopting highways instead. Learn more →

After legalization efforts failed earlier this year, Virginia is now moving toward decriminalization. Legislators passed two separate bills that need to be reconciled but that both scrap criminal charges for possessing marijuana and replace them with small fines. It’s an attempt to diminish the role marijuana plays in the racial disparities of our criminal justice system without greenlighting a profit-driven commercial marijuana industry, which would bring with it public health repercussions.

Nearly 5% of U.S. adults reported driving under the influence of marijuana in 2018, according to a CDC report.

In Minnesota, transportation leaders agree with us: hit the brakes on legalizing commercial pot.

The promises of social equity in California's marijuana industry are falling apart as L.A.'s cannabis industry devastates some black entrepreneurs. In state after state, commitments to racial justice are evaporating as soon as the commerical marijuana industry is legalized. “It’s not only a broken promise, but a fraud,” said one Massachusetts resident, referring to the lack of funding for programs in minority communities there.

The TODAY show helps explain that dabbing—inhaling the vapor of marijuana concentrates with a dab rig or, more commonly, a vape-like dab pen—is increasingly popular among youth and much riskier than other ways of injesting cannabis.

Amsterdam’s mayor is looking to bar tourists from buying cannabis in its coffee shops.

Yelp is giving black-market pot shops a place to be found.

Girl Scouts in Illinois are making a point to sell cookies outside pot shops.

Opioids Lindsey Greinke, a recovery advocate in Washington state, is pushing for a state law to ensure proceeds from opioid lawsuits go to treatment and prevention, not the general fund. Learn more →

While opioid overdose deaths nationally were down slightly last year, the epidemic rages on in many places like Franklin County, Ohio, where the coroner may soon need a second morgue.

Nearly one-half of older adults take five or more medications, and as many as one in five of these prescriptions is potentially inappropriate.

Virginia is suing an opioid company for ellegedly misrepresenting the results of clinical trials that resulted in patient overdoses and other bad outcomes.

The CDC says adults make it too easy for toddlers to get at their meds.

An $18 billion offer from three major drug wholesalers aimed at settling litigation over their alleged role in the opioid crisis fell through, after more than 20 state attorneys general rejected it.

Reminder: the deadline for Americans affected by the opioid crisis to file individual claims against Purdue Pharma is June 30.

Alcohol

Our own Lydia Burr spoke to WCCO Radio’s Esme Murphy about rising alcohol use and alcohol-related deaths among women. The interesting factors they covered included changes in cultural norms and marketing practices, and the different ways people of different genders metabolize alcohol and experience addiction-related stigma. Listen →

Lydia also spoke to the online publication Fatherly about mothers, wine and “parenting under the influence.”

Drinking daily, even a little more than recommended, can accelerate aging of the brain.

More beer outlets could mean more violence, researchers say. Here’s a similar report.

A first-of-its-kind study scores states on alcohol policy, finding even Utah, the state with the strongest alcohol laws, has a lot of room for improvement.

A new study shows that just having a parent with an alcohol use disorder affects how your brain transitions between active and resting states – regardless of your own drinking habits

Here’s further evidence that parents providing alcohol to their teens does not work to promote safe drinking habits. In fact, this latest study found it raises their risk of binge drinking and alcohol-related harm. More on this topic in our Emerging Drug Trends report: Does Socioeconomic Advantage Lessen the Risk of Adolescent Substance Use?

Health Care Reform and Parity

The Massachusetts Senate approved a mental health parity bill after the Boston Globe editorial board encouraged legislators to “go the distance” on the issue. Learn more →

Two bills—SB854 and SB855—were introduced in the California legislature that seek to improve access to mental health and addiction treatment by modifying requirements for health plans and insurers. Here is what supporters have in mind.

A federal appeals court ruled that HHS violated federal law and ignored the purpose of Medicaid by allowing Arkansas to impose work requirements, resulting in 18,000 people losing coverage in 2018. To date, the Administration has approved work rules in 10 states, with an additional eight states awaiting approval. Arkansas became the third state to have its work requirements blocked.

A new study has found that 1 in 5 U.S. patients get surprise charges from surgery—even if their surgeon and hospital are in-network—raising the total bill by an average of $14,083.

Roughly one in seven people in the U.S. live in families that have problems paying their medical bills, according to the latest survey data from the CDC.

This one’s a little far afield but wild enough to share … Utah is sending some public employees to Mexico to fill their prescriptions because it’s so much cheaper than getting the medications in the U.S.

Advocate Spotlight More than 1,200 recovery advocates converged on the state capitol in Albany for Friends of Recovery-New York’s 11th annual Stand Up for Recovery Day. The ask: $40 million in additional funding for recovery supports. See photos →

The new, five-episode docuseries “What’s Eating America?”—from celebrity chef and recovery advocate Andrew Zimmern—debuted last night on MSNBC. In the project, Zimmern moves from entertainer to advocate, tackling the tough subjects of immigration, climate change, addiction, voting rights and health care. We contributed and are looking forward to the episode on addiction, set to air March 1.

Comedian and podcaster Artie Lange recently celebrated a year in recovery: “No deep thoughts to share. Just #Gratitude.”

The Recovery Advocacy Project’s Mobilize Recovery gathering is happening again in 2020, providing opportunities for new and experienced advocates to learn, connect and get more involved.

Sarah Keast, who lost her husband to addiction, shared her family’s story with Good Morning America, no doubt making it easier for other families who can relate to seek help.

We’ll once again be supporting Minnesota Recovery Connection’s annual Recovery Advocacy Seminar—this year on Feb. 28—by moderating a discussion with a new generation of advocates.

Miscellaneous Musings A lab in the UK is developing technology it hopes will be able to identify cocaine use through a quick fingerprint analysis. Could a new era of drug testing be ahead? Learn more →

• A researcher at the University of Arizona is looking into how diets, such as intermittent fasting, may affect substance use disorders.
• We’re very proud of Hazelden Betty Ford’s Medical and Professional Education programs, which demonstrate the power of advocacy through education, and the supporters who make them possible. In 2019, more than 2,000 people participated in our programs on site, online and on the road. See the annual report.
• Last week, we provided our own short review of the powerful Netflix docuseries The Pharmacist. Here’s another take from Salon and a Q&A with the pharmacist himself, Daniel Schneider.
• The youth vaping crisis was one of the top issues discussed during the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
• Juul bought online advertisements on teen-focused websites for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Seventeen magazine after it launched its e-cigarette product in 2015, according to a new lawsuit.
• Almost a quarter of the street drugs in the UK are “fake” (i.e. more dangerous than usual due to unknown content and strength), according to a new drug-checking service.
• Headspace has raised $93 million for its popular meditation app. Already with more than 2 million paying customers and 600,000 corporate customers, it has also scrapped plans to be the first FDA-approved meditation app, reasoning: “Why invest in the approval process when you’re succeeding without it?” Hard to argue with that. Also, why would the FDA ever endorse a meditation app in the first place? Seems that would be out of scope and potentially an unfair tipping of the competitive scales. Medicines, on the other hand, should all require approval by the FDA for safety reasons, and yet we only have a couple of FDA-approved medicines derived from marijuana. Medical marijuana companies are allowed to make the same calculation as the meditation app: Why invest in the approval process when states allow us to sell our product unapproved?
• A longtime addiction treatment professional and social worker reflected on the differences between recovery-oriented care/support and non-recovery-oriented practices.
• Brené Brown, the wildly popular researcher, speaker and author who wrote The Gifts of Imperfection from Hazelden Publishing, is launching a podcast called “Unlocking Us” next month.
• 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.
• William White remains on a break from his blog, so this week we share a chronological history of Narcotics Anonymous that he compiled with our friend Chris Budnick and H. Boyd Pickard. NA was interestingly predated by something called “Addicts Anonymous,” which held its first meeting 73 years ago yesterday at the federal Narcotic Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.
• Thank you for reading. What do you think? Send us a note anytime, and have a great week!