recovery Archives - The Addiction Reporter

When Is a Treatment Program Unhealthy or Unsafe?

Post author:Melissa
Post published:11/01/2023
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

There has been discussion lately in the media about support groups and alternatives to 12-step programs. While some may be legitimate or work as a supplement to 12-step programs, others are not only ineffective but possibly unsafe to their participants. So how can you know which groups to steer clear of? Are there any warning signs to look out for when choosing a treatment center or other program?

Enthusiastic Recovery: A Cautionary Tale in Unhealthy Practices

One group that has been in the media is a group called Enthusiastic Recovery, run by an ex-con named Bob Meehan. Meehan targets desperate parents in his scheme, promising to get their teenagers “off drugs” and charging them top-dollar as he uses unusual, unsafe, and unhelpful tactics. Meehan has been getting away with his scheme for years. When one program is closed, another one opens – usually under a new name in a …

The money Biden proposed could go to treatment and recovery.

Biden Proposes Billions in Federal Aid to Fight Addiction

Post author:Melissa
Post published:05/11/2021
Post category:News
Reading time:2 mins read

The Biden administration is getting ready to commit billions of dollars to help fight the addiction epidemic. The President recently requested $10.7 billion from Congress to support medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and other mental health services.

Biden Hopes to Help Neglected Communities

Biden also wants his new drug policy to be one of recovery rather than incarceration. During his campaign, he expressed regret for how he and others dealt with the crack epidemic. Now, as a man whose son struggles with addiction, he understands that substance use disorder is a disease.

Sadly, in the 1990s, during the height of the crack epidemic in urban areas, addiction was treated as a moral failing. Thousands of Black Americans lost friends, families, and freedom to the crack epidemic. But after addicted people were incarcerated, Black families were fractured and criminalized, often leading to a cycle of trauma and poverty for the next generation.

Biden …

One in Five Pharmacies in Blocks Access to Suboxone

Post author:Melissa
Post published:04/28/2021
Post category:News
Reading time:2 mins read

A new study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found that only one in five pharmacies will fill a prescription for the life-changing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) drug Suboxone. Suboxone is considered a gold standard treatment for opioid use disorder by the FDA. Just this morning, the Biden administration announced that they are decreasing barriers to prescribing the drug.

Sadly, research shows that although a doctor may prescribe Suboxone, also known as buprenorphine, to a person in need, a pharmacy may block access during a critical time in their lives. Without access to MAT, many people will succumb to their opioid use disorder.

The Research on Suboxone and Pharmacies

The researchers did the study after learning, anecdotally, about patients having trouble filling prescriptions for Suboxone. “Buprenorphine is a vital, life-saving medication for people with opioid use disorder, but improving access has been a problem for a variety of …

Medication-Assisted Treatment for Meth Addiction Being Tested

Post author:Melissa
Post published:01/29/2021
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

For the past few years, an addiction epidemic has raced across the U.S. While opioids have been taking lives through overdoses, another dangerous addiction has silently raged; methamphetamine. Until recently, there were no medications to help people cope with the withdrawal and intense desire to use that causes meth addiction to be so nefarious. New Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) research shows that a powerful combination of medications — injectable naltrexone and oral bupropion — can help people stay sober. This study would be the first time MAT has been successfully helped people with meth addiction.

What Was The Study About?

The clinical trial tested two drugs that have already been approved for opioid addiction but are already used off-label to treat alcoholism in some places. The study combined injectable naltrexone and oral bupropion and measured their safety and efficacy when treating meth addiction. The test used subjects who were considered to …

Florida Serenity Ranch Recovery CEO Convicted

Post author:Melissa
Post published:11/24/2020
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

Following a six-week trial, the Serenity Ranch Recovery network CEO, Sebastian Ahmed, was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. After a trial that lasted over a month, a federal court in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, convicted him of several crimes, including health care fraud and money laundering.

Fraud in the Serenity Ranch Network

While the people who came to him needed help for drug or alcohol addiction, the services provided by Serenity Ranch Recovery weren’t meant to keep them sober. The sober home network, like many others in recent years, was a moneymaking venture. Patients tended to be young, addicted adults who were still on their parent’s health plans. They were typically addicted to “hard” drugs such as Oxycontin or heroin.

Rather than receiving treatment, most young people were left to languish with a few 12-step meetings and little else. While this took place, Mr. Ahmed billed the …

Experts Predict Addiction Will Be Pandemic, Too

Post author:Melissa
Post published:06/22/2020
Post category:Uncategorized
Reading time:3 mins read

In the past three months, the whole world has been on high alert. Social isolation, job loss, and less access to mental health assistance have set the world up for a lot of pain. Experts agree that mental health problems and addiction disorders are going to kill many people this year. Some estimates are up to 150,000 deaths “of despair” in 2020 alone.

Addiction Is Invisible Right Now

For many people in isolation, few people see how they are actually doing. People who are prone to abuse drugs and have access to them may end up relapsing due to loneliness, fear, and other emotions.

Others may develop an addiction to help them cope with the realities of our “new normal.” It can be especially challenging to deal with life for people who have mental health disorders. Many people have lost access to their family, friends, and therapists. With funding cuts …

Grant Awarded to Create, Upgrade Much-Needed Sober Housing in Mass.

Post author:Melissa
Post published:12/13/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:2 mins read

In Massachusetts, in some ways, they are catching up to the opioid epidemic and facing it head-on. This sometimes means sending addicted patients home with medication-assisted treatment, offering sober coaching programs, and even providing drop-in clinics in some cities where drug addiction therapy is scarce. Now, The Center for Community Recovery Innovations (CCRI) has awarded a total of $696,995 in grant funding to help house recovery populations that include men, women, families, veterans, the homeless and ex-offenders.

The money will go to creating and modernizing 118 affordable sober housing units in communities across Massachusetts.

The grants come from the Center for Community Recovery Innovations, Inc. (CCRI), a nonprofit subsidiary of MassHousing. The goal of the award is to help nonprofits create or preserve affordable sober housing in Massachusetts.

This is not the first grant that has been awarded to support substance-free housing. Total, CCRI has awarded more than $10 …

How Will the Opioids Crisis Response Act Fight Addiction?

Post author:Melissa
Post published:09/17/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

Much to the excitement of addiction recovery advocates and after a time stalled in Congress, lawmakers are finally close to passing a hefty bill to combat opioid abuse. The measure would combine law enforcement and public health measures, and includes initiatives and funding to help make addiction recovery services more accessible to people with opioid use disorder. If passed, the law will be the most comprehensive action to date to deal with the opioid epidemic.

The bill is a rare bipartisan effort in a time where many initiatives have stalled entirely due to the deep political divides in both the House and the Senate. The bill itself stalled in the House of Representatives earlier because Democrats objected to a part of the law that would benefit a group tied to the pharmaceutical industry that helped create the epidemic of addiction that our country faces today.

Finally, a compromise was reached …

Kratom Recall Due to Salmonella Expands Nationwide

Post author:Melissa
Post published:03/20/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control notified the public that a salmonella outbreak caused by Kratom had prompted a recall of the product. Kratom products sold under brand names including Botany Bay, Enhance Your Life and Divinity by Divinity Products Distribution are all part of the voluntary recall. Kratom is often touted as an opioid substitute that can help people with a variety of issues, from addiction and chronic pain to anxiety and inflammation. The supplement, which is currently legal, is a plant native to southeast Asia that has become more popular in recent years due to its easy availability on the internet.

The Oregon Health Authority asked people to stop using kratom last week when testing found salmonella bacteria in several product samples. Four people in Oregon have already gotten sick from the bad batches they consumed.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a “voluntary destruction and recall” for …

Office of National Drug Control Policy Needs New Drug Czar

Post author:Melissa
Post published:01/25/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

The Trump Administration recently employed 24-year-old Taylor Weyeneth to be the deputy chief of staff (also known as the drug czar) of the Office of National Drug Control Policy or ONDCP. While many addiction advocates were hoping the Administration would be filled by an experienced professional, the appointment of Mr. Weyeneth proved to be profoundly flawed.

Before Mr. Weyeneth’s work for the Trump administration, there were only two jobs from which he gleaned experience the only position he’d held since graduating from college in 2016. One of these tasks was working on President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported earlier this month. Aside from his young age, and lack of experience in the field of mental health or addiction, this young man’s lack of knowledge also spilled into the jobs he listed on his resume. Included in the resume was a post he held at a law firm, …