Alcohol causes more deaths than all drug overdoses combined.

The Issues

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Drug Trends

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Press Room

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Make a difference

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The Big News

We said goodbye over the weekend to addiction treatment pioneer Gordy Grimm

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, whose funeral was held right down the road from Hazelden Betty Ford’s Center City campus, where he had been a leader from 1965 to 1995. The Rev. Grimm was Hazelden’s first full-time pastor and one of the foremost figures

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in developing what came to be known as the Minnesota Model of addiction treatment, which ultimately spread around the world. The model was characterized by many things, most notably its commitment to the dignity and respect of people with addiction, its alignment with the spiritual principles of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and its use of an interdisciplinary treatment team to care for the whole person—physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually.

Grimm started Hazelden’s spiritual care department and founded an accredited training program for clergy that became world-renowned. He also started Hazelden's Professionals in Residence program and, for a time, led the training division that later became our accredited graduate school of addiction studies. In addition, Grimm spent time responsible for Hazelden's health promotion, public policy, development and research efforts. Known by some as Hazelden's “goodwill ambassador,” Grimm was a public advocate and was instrumental in some of the earliest efforts to secure insurance coverage for addiction. His strongest legacy, though, is the spiritual essence he instilled. Thanks in part to his influence, addiction care today continues to reach beyond medicine to also help people find purpose, meaning and protective connections rooted in loving kindness. “After longtime presidents Patrick Butler and Dan Anderson, no one looms larger than Gordy Grimm in the history of Hazelden Betty Ford and its influence on addiction treatment around the globe,” said our CEO Mark Mishek. “He will be forever remembered.”

Thank you to our friend Greg Williams for sending word of another farewell—to The Rev. Sarah E. "Sally" Brown, who wrote Hazelden Publishing’s definitive biography of legendary recovery advocate Marty Mann. Brown passed away two weeks ago at 96. Her husband, who co-authored A Biography of Mrs Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous, died in 2016, and they had been married for an incredible 72 years. Brown’s memorial service

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will be held Feb. 29 in Palo Alto, California.

Our thoughts are with the families of Grimm and Brown, who both lived remarkable lives.

In other news, the number of death certificates mentioning alcohol more than doubled from 35,914 in 1999 to 72,558 in 2017, according to a new analysis

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, with increases most pronounced among women. For years, federal officials and others have cited prior research that estimated 88,000 Americans die annually from alcohol-related causes. But that number was based on more than just death certificates, which don’t always note of alcohol’s role. So, the new data is likely very conservative. The dramatic rise parallels huge increases we’ve seen in drug overdoses and suicides and is consistent with other data points and trends that have been identified in recent years, including declining life expectancy. Clearly, substance use and mental health are broad public health crises that go far beyond any one substance or mental illness.

The new research on alcohol-related deaths prompted CNN’s Sanjay Gupta to visit the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, where he discovered, among other things … a bar

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The Mental Health for US coalition is holding another forum tonight (Jan. 13)—this time at the University of Southern California—to raise election-year awareness of mental health and addiction issues. Watch live on Facebook

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Read more →

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This week’s featured media is the latest episode in our award-winning Let’s Talk Addiction & Recovery podcast series, with host William C. Moyers talking to psychiatrist Kristen Schmidt about some of the differences in how women experience addiction and recovery relative to men. Watch

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, read or listen

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Share: Tweet

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| Facebook

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| LinkedIn

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Treatment Industry Issues and Reforms

Is the future of addiction treatment all about data? Learn more →

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Our chief medical officer is presenting a free webinar Wednesday on personalizing care

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to meet the individual needs of addiction care patients and how new research will enable even more personalization in the future.

Interesting overview of the mental health and addiction startup landscape

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, which—in what appears to be a conservative estimate—includes 700+ startups.

Another look at sober homes and fraud

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The Tradeoffs podcast takes a fresh look at involuntary addiction treatment laws

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Nice profile on Kenton County Detention Center’s implementation of our Comprehensive Opioid Response with Twelve Steps (COR-12), which may serve as a treatment framework for other corrections institutions

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A pilot support program

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is giving people who leave prison a second chance to avoid addiction and improve their health.

Cannabis

Our facility for adolescents and young adults provides comprehensive treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. But, according to the USA Today, not enough places do—leaving parents with too few options for kids who are experiencing marijuana-induced mental-health problems like pychosis. Learn more →

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Marijuana industry supporters hope legalization will be a boon for social equity and justify the public health costs. But, as we continue to highlight here, that doesn’t seem to be the reality in states that have legalized so far. For example, less than 2%

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of the industry features minority ownership.

We often say decriminalizing marijuana—that is, reducing possession to minor tickets and warnings, rather than crimes, and expunging prior convictions—is about people, while full legalization is about industry. That certainly appears to be true as New York looks at legalization anew

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in 2020, with commercial incentives leading the push. Our aim is to spread the facts about people and public health

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, which are better served by decriminalization than ushering in the next Big Tobacco.

The renewed legalization effort in New York comes after last year’s bid failed amid opposition from doctors, law enforcement and educators. Instead, legislators opted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot and expunge prior convictions—a good move. Governor Cuomo’s new wrinkle is a proposed new cannabis research center

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to look into health and safety issues. But, in our view, research should continue in the states that have already legalized and not be held out as a carrot to expand the experiment in another state.

In Illinois, where recreational sales began Jan. 1, a person in long-term recovery from addiction described in the Chicago Tribune a new challenge: staying sober “with the smell of weed all around me

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Chicago’s mayor wants to license recreational marijuana consumption

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sites, but she faces stiff opposition.

A new article in the American Journal of Public Health examines the medical marijuana industry’s use of “research as marketing

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” to mislead consumers and convey unsubstantiated health and safety claims.

It’s understandable that people want new and better solutions to health problems. But the hope placed in marijuana by some far outpaces any known scientific reality. The latest concerning experiment: marijuana as a replacement for Adderall and Ritalin

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in the treatment of ADHD.

Corinne Gasper lost her daughter to a marijuana-impaired driver

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. Now she’s advocating against aggressive efforts to commercialize today’s super-potent pot.

Just two weeks into the marijuana legalization experiment in Illinois, doctors report, anecdotally, a spike in pot-related ER visits

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Big companies are taking a step back

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from developing food and drink products made with CBD, after the FDA raised safety concerns. And, a spate of new class-action lawsuits

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threatens the CBD industry.

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health analyzed 12,638 homicide victims and found 37.5% tested positive for alcohol, 31% for marijuana, and 11% for both substances. The prevalence of marijuana almost doubled

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from 2004 to 2016.

A lab says its marijuana breathalyzer

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will hit the market this year.

Opioids

Paying hospitals to get patients into opioid treatment after overdosing just might work. Learn more →

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More than two-thirds of teens and young adults who overdosed on opioids and survived did not receive timely evidence-based addiction treatment, according to a new study

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A study in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice found that one avenue to opioid addiction treatment—a federal database of clinicians who prescribe buprenorphine, a key antiaddiction medication—is rife with inaccuracies

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and unlikely to connect patients with care.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill

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that would have removed prior‐authorization barriers in the Medicaid program for medications used to treat opioid addiction, but signed a similar bill that removed the barriers for commercial insurance. Activists protested on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan

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outside of the governor’s office, questioning the inconsistency, which appears to help only those who can afford private insurance. We have been opposed to such “prior-auth” barriers, which save costs but cause potentially life-threatening delays in care. Our own Emily Piper, former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, led the way in getting our home-base state to lift prior-auth requirements in 2018. In his veto memo, Gov. Cuomo cited an “unfair competitive advantage

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” that the bill would give to “one pharmaceutical manufacturer in particular”—a company that he says has failed to offer “sufficient competitive pricing.”

A new study

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furthers the case in our 2017 report, Widening the Lens on the Opioid Crisis

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, finding that more than 90% of people who use opioids illicitly are also using at least one other drug, while fewer and fewer are using opioids alone. This, again, is why drug-specific treatment is generally insufficient and why comprehensive treatment should be the standard.

Major national drugstore chains are suing physicians

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in two Ohio counties for allegedly causing the country’s current opioid crisis by excessively prescribing the highly addictive drugs.

Endo Pharmaceuticals has agreed to an $8.8 million settlement

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with Oklahoma over the state's claims about the company's role in the opioid crisis.

Fewer than one in 10 primary care providers in the U.S. can prescribe the opioid-addiction medication buprenorphine, and access is even more scarce in rural counties hardest hit by overdoses, a new study

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suggests. And, yet, in rural areas with no pain or addiction specialists, family doctors have to fill the gaps

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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have released a report on opioid prescribing guidelines

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for acute pain.

Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter Terry DeMio describes what it has been like to cover the despair, bravery, helplessness, iron will and death

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associated with the opioid crisis the past seven years.

A new study found that drug overdose data are greatly underreported

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in nationwide statistics.

Alcohol

Though not all that surprising, it’s interesting to see a new study suggest that if both of your parents have experienced alcohol use disorder, your risk of also developing it is greater than if only one parent has that history. Learn more →

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A Minneapolis bar is launching a 4-month focus on its “dry” menu to expand and elevate non-alcoholic beverages

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. “We want to make sure that anybody walking through here is as comfortable as possible,” said Marvel Bar’s general manager.

Researchers were surprised

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by the high levels of alcohol consumption among cancer survivors they studied.

The World Health Organization says alcohol consumption in Russia decreased by 43%

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per capita from 2003 to 2016. That’s quite a contrast to the previously mentioned increase in deaths that we are experiencing in the U.S.

As a loyal reader and contributor noted: here’s another one for the bad ideas list—gin-flavored yogurt

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And, here’s a miracle cure

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that might scare you.

A high schooler writing about the complexities of teenage drinking culture

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cites social norms research conducted by FCD Prevention Works, which is part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Health Care Reform and Parity

California’s governor wants to create the state’s own generic drug label to drive more competition and bring down prices. Learn more →

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Often missing

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from the Medicare-for-all debate: mental health and addiction care issues.

Kansas will likely become the 37th state to expand Medicaid

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under the Affordable Care Act.

Reducing hospital costs is key to reducing health care costs, but cuts to rural hospitals

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could lead more to close.

Providing close follow-up care from a team of clinical and social workers to the sickest, most vulnerable patients does not reduce hospital readmissions

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, a new study concluded, disappointing many who had high hopes

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for the idea.

Plans with annual deductibles of $3,000, $5,000 or even $10,000 have become commonplace since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act as insurers look for ways to keep monthly premiums to a minimum. But in rural areas, where high-deductible plans are even more prevalent and incomes tend to be lower than in urban areas, patients often struggle to pay those deductibles

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In just a few years, Google has achieved the ability to view or analyze tens of millions of patient health records

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in at least three-quarters of U.S. states, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Some local and state officials want Medicaid to start picking up the tab for inmates' health care

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Advocate Spotlight

It was neat to see Brad Pitt publicly thank fellow actor Bradley Cooper last week for helping him get sober. Learn More →

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Similarly, actor Rob Lowe cited rock star Steven Tyler

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as a positive influence on his sobriety.

Actress Marlee Matlin

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celebrated 33 years of recovery with a grateful post on social media.

Aleksandra Bembnista and Dorota Trojak

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say they were “terrified” to share about their addiction and recovery at an opioid summit held by their employer, Lockheed Martin, but report that none of their fears materialized. “No one looked at us differently, our jobs didn't change, and if anything, so many people approached us (or emailed us) thanking us for speaking up and giving them hope.” Now, that’s recovery advocacy!

For years, some considered recovery advocate Elvis Rosado

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the heart—and muscle—of Philadelphia’s response to the opioid crisis. But after saving dozens from overdose, he’s moving on from the stress, which has taken its toll on him.

Recovery advocates Jennifer Gimenez and Tim Ryan

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are married!

Miscellaneous Musings

Our colleague Melissa Fors, Hazelden Betty Ford’s VP of Marketing Strategy, says marketing can make a difference in reducing stigma—not just in addiction care but across all of health care. Learn more →

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In addiction treatment, there’s a justified demand for evidence-based practices. But, could the population outcomes deemed desirable by some research be detached from the desired outcomes of many individuals and their families? That’s the interesting topic of this research review that calls for consensus

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in defining efficacy in the clinical trials for medications used to treat opioid use disorder.

Why are so many young people

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killing themselves? And why are more people than ever committing suicide in the workplace

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?

Our good friend and former colleague Patrick Krill will be leading a new, large-scale research project

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on attorney mental health and well-being in California, building on the landmark study we did with the American Bar Association in 2016.

A doctoral history student takes a fresh look at the use of belladonna

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to treat alcoholism in the early 20th Century. While the substance is one in a long list of miracle cures that has inspired some contempt—because, well, there is no cure—it’s still interesting to consider the effect it may have had on the recovery of AA co-founder Bill Wilson.

Grateful to see Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection from Hazelden Publishing on a Forbes list of the best self-help books

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of the past decade.

Our good friend Lexi Reed Holtum recently stepped down

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from her position as executive director of the Steve Rummler HOPE Network. We wish the best to both her and the organization—our advocacy allies for nearly a decade.

Society tells us there are various ways to reduce stress and unwind: have a drink, watch a movie, take a deep breath, etc. But a new study finds the best way to promote a natural, neural “reset” of sorts and to relieve anxiety is to fall into a deep sleep

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Minnesotans: Andy Gold and his Addicted to Comedy tour

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are coming to the Twin Cities tonight (Jan. 13). The show will feature comedians who are in recovery!

William White remains on a break from his blog, so this week we highlight one of our interesting collaborations with Mr. White: the Digital Archive of the Journal of Inebriety (1876-1914). The first scientific addiction journal is a treasure trove of information on the earliest stages of addiction medicine in the United States. Thanks to a collaborative effort that spanned a dozen years, every issue can be accessed free-of-charge by searching the Hazelden Betty Ford Library Catalog

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online or the catalog at williamwhitepapers.com

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. Our librarian Ann Geht also maintains a full collection of physical photocopies at the Hazelden Betty Ford Addiction Research Library

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in Center City, Minnesota.

Thank you for reading. What do you think? Send us a note anytime, and have a great week!

Photo Highlights

The Rev. Sarah E. "Sally" Brown

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, who recently passed away at age 96, wrote Hazelden Publishing’s definitive biography of legendary recovery advocate Marty Mann.

We are thrilled and grateful to be the beneficiary of pro hockey hall-of-famer Grant Fuhr’s inaugural celebrity golf tournament

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, to be held in Palm Springs this April.

Aleksandra Bembnista and Dorota Trojak dove into recovery advocacy

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by sharing about their personal experiences at an opioid summit held by their employer, Lockheed Martin.

On the streets of Manhattan, advocate Kassandra Frederique protested

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Gov. Cuomo’s veto of a bill to remove “prior-auth” barriers in Medicaid for medications used to treat opioid use disorder.

For fun, enjoy this stunning photo from a reader in Maine. Perhaps it is symbolic of the bold flights and smoother landings enabled by recovery.

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta (right) visited the “NIH Bar

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” with George Koob, M.D., director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

William C. Moyers hosts Let’s Talk Addiction & Recovery

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, our award-winning podcast.

In a new episode of Let’s Talk, guest Kristen Schmidt, M.D., discusses women and addiction

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Please share questions, thoughts and ideas. Plus, follow us on Twitter

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for daily updates.

Jeremiah Gardner

Director, Communications and Public Affairs

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

1-651-213-4231

tel:1-651-213-4231

LinkedIn

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ISSUES WE CARE ABOUT

Industry Reform

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| Fighting Addiction Stigma

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| Opioid Epidemic

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| Access to Treatment

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| Marijuana Education

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| Criminal Justice Reform

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| Alcohol Prevention

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Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

15251 Pleasant Valley Rd.

PO Box 11 RW19

Center City, MN 55012-0011