The Opioid Dilemma: Saving Lives in the Long Run Can Take Lives in the Short Run Limiting prescriptions seems logical, but a simulation study shows it would actually increase deaths, not decrease them, in the initial years..Learn More   Which Misused Prescription Meds Send Americans to the ER? Most folks treated in a U.S. emergency room for misuse of prescription medications get into trouble because they mix different substances, a new study reports.Learn More   This Is What it's Like to Overdose on Heroin Nine Times I couldn't see anything, but I could hear my mom chattering on the phone. Quick, Cuban Spanish broken by an occasional burst of laughter. Her television blared in the background. A reality show, I think. I couldn't feel my body, either.Learn More   The “I Do” of Addiction People might mean well, but, benign or not, when somebody asks, how’s your mama doing, my impulse...

A growing number of women in the U.S. are turning to heroin after first taking prescription opioid medication. This places them at greater risk for HIV and hepatitis C, and for spending time in the court system. Scientists, however, have little insight into why this is happening. A University at Buffalo researcher, with colleagues from Columbia University and the University of Rochester, has received funding to provide some clues by working with a unique drug treatment court (DTC) in Buffalo. Sarahmona Przybyla, PhD, an assistant professor of community health and health behavior in UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, was awarded $30,000 through the University of Rochester Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) for the 10-month project. Przybyla’s co-principal investigator is Diane Morse, MD, an infectious disease physician at the University of Rochester. The script was flipped between the 1960s and early 2000s, according to federal data from the National...

Incidence of Driving While Drugged Has Risen Sharply on NJ Roads Report says more drivers who were killed on New Jersey’s roads in 2015 and 2016 tested positive for drugs than for alcoholLearn More   Drug numbers paint grim reality of addiction New numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control show last year, 72,000 people died in the United States from fatal overdoses.Learn More   Addiction is a disease. My drug-addicted parents showed me that. I got out of bed and followed the smell of bacon and the sound of my parents’ voices to the kitchen. The Eagles were harmonizing from the tape deck, and I could hear laughter mixed with kissing.Learn More   Comprehensive health care must include mental substance abuse treatments As the Trump administration, Congress and insurance companies debate various future health-care plans for the American people, it’s important to remember that comprehensive coverage must include mental...

A surprising bullying battleground: Senior centers The unwanted were turned away from cafeteria tables. Fistfights broke out at karaoke. Dances became breeding grounds for gossip and cruelty.Learn More   At NJ hospitals, ex-users urge opioid overdose victims to seek treatment “The first time I did heroin was in Brooklyn House of Detention,” recalled Eric McIntire, sitting in a windowless conference room at Barnabas Health Medical Group in West Orange. His two iPhones, which ring loudly and often, were on the table in front of him.Learn More   'Epicenter' of N.J.'s opioid epidemic may be getting better Monmouth and Ocean counties are two Jersey Shore neighbors that are part of what has been called the "epicenter" of the state's opioid epidemic. Learn More   Alcohol, Tobacco More Harmful Than Illegal Drugs It's smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol -- and not taking illegal drugs -- that pose the greatest risks to people's health,...

Five major psychiatric diseases have overlapping patterns of genetic activity, new study shows Certain patterns of genetic activity appear to be common among five distinct psychiatric disorders — autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism — according to a new study. The paper, appearing in the journal Science, was released Thursday.Learn More   NIH releases first dataset from unprecedented study of adolescent brain development This interim release provides high-quality baseline data on a large sample of 9-and-10-year-old children, including basic participant demographics, assessments of physical and mental health, substance use, culture and environment, neurocognition, tabulated structural and functional neuroimaging data,Learn More   Which opioid addiction treatments work? White House OKs study to find answers The White House has approved a new, national research effort headed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the most effective treatments for people battling opioid addiction. Learn More   New APA Guideline Recommendation...

Opioid Users Are Filling Jails. Why Don’t Jails Treat Them? Getting methadone in jail gave a Connecticut heroin user a firmer foothold in recovery. But fewer than 1 percent of jails and prisons allow it.Learn More   Ohio foster care system flooded with children amid opioid epidemic On a winding trail in southeastern Ohio, four children symbolize the devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.Learn More First Responders Spending More On Overdose Reversal Drug In Prince George's County, Md., every first responder carries naloxone, the drug that can reverse an opioid overdose. Learn More   'Delicate balance' between alcohol's protective and harmful effects A new study on a large population sample has concluded that heavy drinking can have disastrous health effects, whereas light to moderate alcohol consumption could be beneficial.Learn More   Inside the Mind Of An Addict: Hating That You Love Your Drug-of-Choice My writing...

Submitted by CF Caldwell (Dr. Caldwell is former Chair of the Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Board) For me, the opioid, heroin, and alcohol addiction, all addictions, are a manifestation of a kind of conditioning of the US population. The beginnings were the advent of patent drug administration from our physicians. Physicians have been trained via drug company support in medical schools. Physicians have learned to diagnose any malady – a good thing – and to ‘treat’ any malady with a corresponding, appropriate drug – not always good. Therefore, we have come to believe that any malady responds to a drug, good or bad. That is the conditioning. Prior to this onslaught of patent drug interventions, there were non-drug remedies. Native Americans had them, as did much of the populations in rural America, where the paucity of main-steam medical care exists. (Certainly, the Asian countries had remedies, sans patent drugs, as...

Our Weekly Addiction News & Policy Update is a compilation of news items provided to Wellspring by a variety of sources. Wellspring staff assembles this information and is pleased to provide it to you. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The content of this email does not represent the official views or policies of Wellspring Center for Prevention. The content has been collected from a variety of sources and is provided for informational purposes only. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by Wellspring of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. If you do not wish to receive this email in the future, simply email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and ask to be unsubscribed. No Kegs, No Liquor: College Crackdown Targets Drinking and Sexual Assault Dozens of universities have introduced stricter rules on alcohol, especially...

PLEASE NOTE; Our Addiction News & Policy Update will not publish on Friday, September 30th or October 7. We will resume publishing on Friday, October 14th. Thank you! Our Weekly Addiction News & Policy Update is a compilation of news items provided to Wellspring by a variety of sources. Wellspring staff assembles this information and is pleased to provide it to you. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The content of this email does not represent the official views or policies of Wellspring Center for Prevention. The content has been collected from a variety of sources and is provided for informational purposes only. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by Wellspring of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. If you do not wish to receive this email in the future, simply email us...

Our Weekly Addiction News & Policy Update is a compilation of news items provided to NCADD by a variety of sources. NCADD staff assembles this information and is pleased to provide it to you. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The content of this email does not represent the official views or policies of Wellspring Center for Prevention. The content has been collected from a variety of sources and is provided for informational purposes only. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by Wellspring of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. If you do not wish to receive this email in the future, simply email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and ask to be unsubscribed. Addictions are harder to kick when you're poor. Here's why Most addictions end by the time users hit age 30 –...