Topic: addiction

Watch Russell Brand Awesomely Testify For More Compassionate Treatment Of Drug Addicts

Watch Russell Brand Awesomely Testify For More Compassionate Treatment Of Drug Addicts

Perpetually-grungy recent vegan Russell Brand has turned his life around in a number of ways. Aside from kicking addictions to liquor, heroin, and sex, he’s adopted a healthy, yoga-centric lifestyle that includes great food–and awesome outreach. Most recently, Brand testified on behalf of addicts before the British Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee regarding the UK’s drug policy. In his testimony, Brand noted that while addiction is a criminal problem, an emphasis on compassionate treatment could help clean up the streets. More »

‘Almost Alcoholic’: The Blurry Line Between Wine With Dinner and Being Alcoholic

'Almost Alcoholic': The Blurry Line Between Wine With Dinner and Being Alcoholic

Do you down a glass or two of wine each night? Or cocktails after work frequently? And do you look forward to doing so as a way to relax? If you’re like many women, you are probably raising your hand–or your glass. Drinking is a common way to cope with the over-scheduled, over-worked and over-stressed lives that we lead these days. But when do the lines get blurred between a “normal”, casual drinker and someone with a drinking problem? You may not think you or someone you know has a dependency, but according to Dr. Joseph Nowinski, clinical psychologist and co-author of Almost Alcoholic, Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drinking A Problem? your drinking could put you in this new “almost alcoholic” category. More »

Meth Babies: Just One More Reason Equal Access To Reproductive Care Matters

Meth Babies: Just One More Reason Equal Access To Reproductive Care Matters

One of the biggest arguments against providing equal and affordable access to women’s health care, including birth control, has consistently been that it’s just too expensive, and that it’s not the responsibility of the government. That if low-income women don’t want to have children, they shouldn’t have sex. And if they do have sex and get pregnant, there will be adoptive parents waiting with open arms. But those arguments doesn’t consider one giant, heartbreaking sector of the population who are being given the short end of the stick in about a million ways: children who are born to addicts of meth and other drugs, who are difficult to adopt, who are born with a landslide of problems, who, too often, are left in the care of unfit parents, and who are anything but inexpensive. More »

Tony Bennett Says Legalizing Drugs Could Prevent Deaths Like Whitney Houston’s; Prescription Drugs Aren’t Safer

Tony Bennett Says Legalizing Drugs Could Prevent Deaths Like Whitney Houston's; Prescription Drugs Aren't Safer

Whitney Houston‘s death weighed on the Clive Davis Pre-Grammys Show on Saturday night, where she was scheduled to perform. Producers decided that the show must go on, but performers, including Tony Bennett, grappled with the news of her death on stage. Many honored the late singer, but Bennett took it a step further, urging for the legalization of drugs, which he implied might prevent tragedies like Houston’s early passing. But as more evidence comes out about Houston’s death, it seems that it was likely caused by legal prescription drugs. So while Bennett’s suggestion may not have prevented her death, we do need a better solution. More »

Internet Makes Your Brain Act Like Its On Drugs; We’d Rather Get Drunk

Internet Makes Your Brain Act Like Its On Drugs; We'd Rather Get Drunk

In news that makes us think about how much time we actually spend on the Internet, researchers now say our inability to log off could be due to Internet addiction (not because we tell ourselves that we just have to see if so-and-so responds to our Facebook post or if we can get to the next level of whatever mind-numbing game we are playing).

This so-called addiction is very real according to a new study that says it creates changes in our brains similar to the effect of drugs and alcohol. Am I the only one who thinks that gaming is lame? If you want to get high, why not just go out and party, right? (In moderation, of course.) More »

Prescription Addiction: How A Neck Injury Made One Man’s Baby Hooked On Methadone

Prescription Addiction: How A Neck Injury Made One Man's Baby Hooked On Methadone

Prescription drug addiction has been all over the news recently, with reports that overdose deaths have reached epidemic levels, and more newborn babies than ever are being born with painkiller addiction. But too many assume that these stats apply only to delinquent drug abusers who find loopholes in the medical system in order to get their kicks. Not so. Last week, we told the story of Karly Long, a 29-year-old who died of an overdose after becoming addicted to prescription drugs in the course of treating her mental illness. And yesterday, Business Insider published the shocking story of Bernie Mullen, a man who was injured in a crane accident and became addicted to painkillers—resulting, years later, in his own daughter being born with her own addiction, too. More »

Real Talk: How Hard Is It To Get And Abuse Prescription Drugs?

Real Talk: How Hard Is It To Get And Abuse Prescription Drugs?

It seems like it should be difficult to get and abuse prescription drugs, but judging by some of this month’s top stories—Dr. Conrad Murray‘s guilty verdict in the Michael Jackson death trials; Kim Richards‘ recent revelation that her prescriptions are making her seem drunk; new studies documenting the epidemic of death by prescription painkiller overdose—it’s not. For all the debate over legalization of pot, we seem to have bigger fish to fry: Legal, doctor-prescribed drugs. More »

Painkiller Overdose Is Now Causing More Deaths Than Heroin and Cocaine Combined

Painkiller Overdose Is Now Causing More Deaths Than Heroin and Cocaine Combined

Death by painkiller overdose isn’t just the plight of celebrities; it’s a widespread epidemic, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report shows that 40 people die per day from overdosing on prescription narcotics like hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone, oxycodone (OxyContin), and oxymorphone (Opana). That’s more than the total death toll from heroin and cocaine combined. More »

Would You Get An Addiction Vaccine To Stop Smoking?

Would You Get An Addiction Vaccine To Stop Smoking?

If a doctor told you he could give you a shot and you would cease to crave nicotine or fiend cocaine, would you rise to the occasion (or injection rather)? Dr. Kim D. Janda, a professor at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, has devoted his life work around this very question. The entirety of his extensive research and trials have been dedicated to creating a shot that could break people free from the addictive chains of substance abuse. More »

Back To Fitness: Hello My Name Is Deborah And I’m A Running Addict

Back To Fitness: Hello My Name Is Deborah And I'm A Running Addict

A few weeks ago, I was in yoga class and talking with my teacher about my stubborn Achilles injury due to running. After I lamented on and on about the plethora of different treatments I was going through to fix this problem and the lack of running it has created in my life, he asked me, “So are you going to start running again once you’re better?” “Of course,” I instinctively replied. “Why do you think I’m doing all of this?” (I really wanted to add a sarcastic “Duh” at the end of that, but that wouldn’t have been very yogic of me, now would it?) “You’re addicted,” he said and then strolled away to start class. More »

This Is Your Brain On Sugar (Hint: It Looks A Lot Like Your Brain On Cocaine)

This Is Your Brain On Sugar (Hint: It Looks A Lot Like Your Brain On Cocaine)

There’s no shortage of evidence that certain foods—mainly those involving sugar and fat—trigger reactions in the brain similar to the ones induced by drugs. Hence our “addiction” to processed food and fast food, sugar “highs” and even “crashes,” too. But a new study out of Uppsala University adds yet another layer to our knowledge of what sugar does to the brain: It stimulates the reward centers, then screws them up. More »

Click for more posts