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In an e-mail obtained by NEWSCHANNEL 13, former New Life Church Pastor Ted Haggard admits to sexual contact with a gay escort and using drugs. This is the first public revelation of what Haggard claims is the full story of what happened between him and his accuser, Mike Jones. Haggard sent the e-mail to close family friend Kurt Serpe back in October. In it, he writes: "I was referred to Mike Jones from the concierge at a Marriott hotel when I asked for a masseur." The e-mail then becomes more detailed and sexual in nature.

Obsessive internet use is a public health problem which is so serious it should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist. Sufferers spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing. They suffer four symptoms: They forget to eat and sleep; they need more advanced technology or more hours online as they develop 'resistance' to the pleasure given by their current system; if they are deprived of their computer, they experience genuine withdrawal symptoms; And in common with other addictions, the victims also begin to have more arguments, to suffer fatigue, to...

Thousands of problem gamblers in have launched a $3.5 billion class action lawsuit in Ontario, saying they were allowed into provincially run casinos despite signing up for a program that should have denied them entry. According to the CBC's website, the suit was filed earlier this week in Toronto, claiming the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. did not fully enforce a "self exclusion" program that allows problem gamblers to ban themselves from casinos. Those who sign up for the program are photographed and their personal information is stored in binders at all of the province's casinos. If program members are...

Prescription painkiller addiction has grown exponentially in the last several years fueled by the illicit online pharmacies whose spam inundates your inbox. The DEA is abruptly shutting down this cheap & easy supply. What seemed like a problem will be revealed as the tip of the iceberg, sending a tsunami through the criminal justice, social services, and health care systems. SAMHSA best practice Medication Assisted Treatment is capable of managing most cases on an outpatient basis avoiding a progressive deterioration, costly to individuals and taxpayers. Communities must act now. http://myspace.com/nhsoklahoma

Like most patients assigned to my substance abuse clinic these days, John, a stylish 22-year-old cosmetology student, did not arrive voluntarily. After two drunken driving violations, one in which another motorist was injured, a judge ordered John to attend a weekly recovery group I conduct for young adults facing similar legal troubles. But that was hardly the biggest stick the judge had at his disposal. “This Scram keeps me from even thinking about drinking,” John immediately told me as he raised a pant leg and pointed to a boxy plastic ankle bracelet that looked neither cool nor comfortable. Scram, for...

On Tuesday, Starbucks is going ot start selling "+Energy" as a special ingredient in their coffee drinks. This new powershot is going to be able to be added to any drink Starbucks makes, adding in extra B-vitamins, guarana and ginseng into their Frappucinos and Lattes. The shot is supposed to be able to be added to both hot and cold drinks, as a group of food scientists and culinary experts worked at creating a taste good enough to compliment the existing Starbucks lineup. Spokeswoman Bridget Baker said that "It's a well-thought out and complementary flavor," Baker said, when asked how...

In Brief: The brain of an addicted smoker treats nicotine as if it is essential for survival. Genetic traits may predispose some smokers to stronger addiction. Most smokers try to quit unaided, resulting in a high failure rate. If you smoke, no one needs to tell you how bad it is. So why haven’t you quit? Why hasn’t everyone? Because smoking feels good. It stimulates and focuses the mind at the same time that it soothes and satisfies. The concentrated dose of nicotine in a drag off a cigarette triggers an immediate flood of dopamine and other neurochemicals that wash...

Exponential growth in addiction met with a dramatic reduction in supply, creates a situation where a large number of people get sick and desperate. Prices spike as addicts clamor to find the drugs they need so badly. Alternative, and often illegal, methods for raising funds are employed. Progressively risky behavior and criminal associations occur. People lose jobs, lose housing, and lose families, dismantling a network of support systems that are challenging, if not impossible, to rebuild. The magnitude of people potentially involved will send shockwaves through the criminal justice, social services, health care, and criminal justice service delivery systems as...

SAMHSA announced in March 2008 that Oklahoma topped the nation in prescription painkiller addiction. Effective law enforcement strategies by the DEA and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs have abruptly shut down many of the online pharmacies, loose physician prescription practices, and multiple doctor sourcing. The result is a dramatic reduction in supply. The huge growth in painkiller addiction fueled by cheap and easy supply is being faced with a shutdown in supply. The result will be a sudden overwhelming number of sick and desperate people. Before we become too judgmental of such people, let us not forget...

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), son of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), boasted that his personal struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and mental illness have made him a better member of Congress. “Look, the majority who elected me to serve as their representative obviously have mental problems of their own,” Kennedy admitted. “Drunks, addicts and the deranged deserve to be represented by someone they can more easily identify with. I’m their man.”

I've been trying to cope with life as it is today. It's different than it was, that's for sure. About July of 2006, I met the woman of my dreams. Intelligent, very pretty, highly sexually-charged, professional, able to understand my offbeat humor, seemingly very compatible with me in every way. Soon after starting to date, we began to plan to marry. Our target date was June of 2007. Some things began to bother me, however. She seemed to make major changes, quickly. She converted in levels of religious fervor, and seemed to change in core directions, too quickly. I began...

Last August, I ran into Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, outside the Senate chamber in the Capitol. This was before the Obama surge, before he had omnipresent Secret Service agents... Frankly, he reeked of cigarettes. Obama ran off before I could ask him if he'd just snuck a smoke, so I called his campaign. They denied it. He'd quit months before, in February, they insisted. They reported back that he had told them he hadn't had a cigarette since he quit. Except….last night on MSNBC's Hardball, Obama admitted that his attempt to wean himself from the vile tobacco weed had not...

WASHINGTON -- Why do some 90-year-old chain smokers avoid lung cancer, while other people who smoke far less wind up dying of the disease? How can some people light up now and then without getting hooked, while others are addicted practically from their first puffs? The answer, at least in part, may be in your genes. Scientists have identified certain genetic variations that appear to make people more likely to get hooked on cigarettes and more prone to develop lung cancer. The findings could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit. The...

According to established theory, sex addiction is very real. Social scientists agree that sexual addicts act in a compulsive manner without regard for the risks involved as they hunt for sexual experiences. Neither their station in life, nor the possible damage to their family means anything to the prowling sex addict. So if family considerations mean little to the addict, laws and other social conventions mean still less. David Paterson shows some of the signs of sexual addiction, but he has no history with prostitutes. Such “walks on the wild side” were done by Eliot Spitzer, but not Paterson. Paterson...

Excessive emails and text are a mental illness March 23, 2008 11:03am Article from: The Sunday Telegraph PEOPLE who send excessive texts and emails may have a mental illness, according to an article in a leading psychiatric journal. As more people leave the office computer, only to log on as soon as they get home, the American Journal of Psychiatry has found addiction to text messaging and emailing could be another form of mental illness. The article, by Dr Jerald Block, said there were four symptoms: suffering from feelings of withdrawal when a computer cannot be accessed; an increased need...

Tense? Angry? Can't get online? Internet addiction is now a serious public health issue that should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist. Excessive gaming, viewing online pornography, emailing and text messaging have been identified as causes of a compulsive-impulsive disorder by Dr Jerald Block, author of an editorial for the respected American Journal of Psychiatry. Block argues that the disorder is now so common that it merits inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the profession's primary resource to categorise and diagnose mental illnesses. He says internet addiction has four main...

ELIOT'S SEXUAL HEALING By LUKAS I. ALPERT March 21, 2008 -- Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has gone into therapy in the wake of the hooker scandal that swept him out of office, a Spitzer insider told The Post yesterday. As part of the therapy, Spitzer will explore whether he has an addiction to sex, the source said. The last time Spitzer was seen publicly was on Saturday, when he hopped behind the wheel of an SUV outside his Upper East Side building with his wife, Silda, two of their daughters, and their Wheaton terrier, James, and made a beeline to...

Oregon Pyschiatrist Wants Internet Addiction Recognized as Mental Illness One MD reaches out to the medical community, urging them to take steps to combat what he sees as a virtual epidemic with very real effects. Anyone familiar with South Park's 2007 Emmy winning episode Make Love, Not Warcraft knows that popular culture has already started to recognize that addiction can come in virtual forms, especially with the ever-expanding online world. The medical community remains divided, though, on whether to treat internet addiction as a serious mental illness akin to gambling, alcohol, or sexual addictions. One psychiatrist is speaking out on...

Study aims to clear haze surrounding pot addiction By Terri Somers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 14, 2008 Atrophy of the brain and cirrhosis of the liver are long-term side effects of heavy alcohol dependence. And withdrawal for alcoholics can bring sometimes fatal delirium tremors and convulsions. Those facts are well known. Barbara Mason But much less is known about marijuana, the nation's most widely used and socially accepted illicit drug. Our knowledge of marijuana is often based on personal experience, observation or anecdotes, despite a growing collection of scientific studies on the topic. Scripps Research Institute addiction expert Barbara Mason...

Arelia Margarita Taveras is a gambling addict, she spent her whole money in casinos and now is owning them like a million dollars! Why? She blames it on the casinos. And not only that, she is suing for $20 million. I’ve seen this happen to some relatives of mine, they get caught up in gambling and end up losing a lot of money. Ms. Taveras had a good job, she made $500,00 dollars working as a lawyer, an her life was destroyed because of this addiction. She was one lawyer who represented victims’ families in the WTC attacks, and also...

6th Graders To Get Drug TestsPOSTED: 10:41 am EST March 7, 2008 UPDATED: 5:59 pm EST March 7, 2008 ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- A new drug testing system could soon take place in Royal Oak starting in September. Superintendent Thomas Moline said he will be taking a proposal to the school board that will allow voluntary and random drug testing for students as young as 11 years old. Moline said nobody can predict who's going to use drugs and he wants to include middle school and elementary school students. He said it is part of the Save Our Youth Task...

Aboriginal children in Outback Australia are so neglected by their alcoholic parents that some have suckled from dogs' teats in a desperate search for food, it has been reported. The shocking revelation came from a coroner investigating the appalling rates of suicide among Aborigines living in the remote and beautiful Kimberley region of Western Australia. Earlier this month the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered a much-publicised apology to Aborigines for past injustices, but critics questioned whether his words would lead to any practical improvement in the wretched lives of indigenous people. "The plight of the little children was especially pathetic...

We must end teen booze culture says mother of fatal "happy slapping" kid Daily Mirror campaign: Can it! Stop kids boozing By Lucy Thornton15/02/2008 The mum of a 15-year-old girl locked up for drunkenly filming a "happy-slapping" killing last night said her daughter was ensnared by Britain's terrifying culture of teenage boozing. The divorced 33-year-old, speaking after the girl admitted aiding and abetting the manslaughter of Gavin Waterhouse by two teenagers, said: "The whole country must fight this violent and horrific problem. "Every town has youths drinking themselves senseless. My daughter wanted to fit in, so she joined in. If...

We all know that many smokers are aware of health risks that come along with smoking cigarettes. We also know that that some of them are seeking support and help for their habit. I don’t want you to understand me as some kind of a guru who is making smart statements on how to quit smoking cold turkey in 15 hours for free. No no. My idea for smoking cigarettes is very similar to yours. You see, I’m aware that smoking is a nice hobby, in fact it’s irreplaceable, it can be your best friend, so why quit smoking anyway?...

The Louisiana Supreme Court has permanently removed Shreveport City Judge LaLeshia Walker-Alford from the bench and declared her seat vacant. In the ruling handed down on Friday afternoon, the court also said Alford cannot attempt to qualify for a judicial office for five years. She's also been fined $5,000 by the court to cover investigation and prosecution fees. Alford's term would have expired at the end of this year. Elections for the judgeship will be in October. In April 2006, the state Judiciary Commission ordered Judge Laleshia Walker-Alford off the bench. Alford has been on paid administrative leave since she...

A woman in her late teens died from an acute asthma attack triggered by secondhand cigarette smoke shortly after arriving at her job as a waitress in a bar in Michigan, researchers reported on Friday.

Petaluma, Calif. (AP) -- A month after spending his nights on San Francisco's streets, penniless and addicted to speed, James Jennison tenderly petted a calf that he'd helped deliver about an hour earlier. The calf wobbled as it nuzzled Jennison, who was grinning from his morning's work at this drug rehabilitation dairy farm in the rolling hills about 40 miles north of San Francisco. "It was, I'd have to say, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," said Jennison, 29, a former AOL computer technician. Jennison, like some 22 million Americans, has struggled to lead a life while...

Chocolate Is The Most Widely Craved Food, But Is It Really Addictive? ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2007) — Chocolate is the most widely and frequently craved food. People readily admit to being 'addicted to chocolate' or willingly label themselves as 'chocoholics'. A popular explanation for this is that chocolate contains mood-enhancing (psychoactive) ingredients that give it special appeal. Polyphenol antioxidant Evidence and logic, however, find little support for this. Substances present in chocolate which have been highlighted as potentially pharmacologically significant include serotonin, tryptophan, phenylethylamine, tyramine and cannabinoids. However, many of these compounds exist in higher concentrations in other foods with...

I'm doing a little research on drugs and the media... er... drugs in the media. I seem to recall that, back during the early eighties, there was a female anchor doing a live broadcast for a national network's evening news. Instead of performing amicably, she was high on drugs (cocaine?) Her eyes were dialated, her speech was slurred, and she was replaced right after the first break. Anyone know who this mystery anchorwoman was and what happened to her? Wish I could remember more details

BRISBANE, Australia, December 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Australian research team has found a close connection between previous abortion and drug and alcohol abuse. The work is added to a growing body of scientific research showing the long-term negative psychological effects of abortion on women. Young women who have abortions are more likely to drink heavily and abuse hard drugs, the study found. The study of 1,122 young women, born at the Mater hospital in the early 1980's, showed that about one third had an abortion. This one third was three times more likely to have abused methamphetamine, heroin...

It’s not a smoking gun, but it’s smoking-related, and it’s there in bright medical images: evidence of microscopic structural damage deep in the lungs, caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. For the first time, researchers have identified lung injury to nonsmokers that was long suspected, but not previously detectable with medical imaging tools. The researchers suggest that their findings may strengthen public health efforts to restrict secondhand smoke. “We used a special type of magnetic resonance imaging to find these structural changes in the lungs,” said study leader Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., a magnetic resonance physicist in the Department of Radiology at...

Another Kennedy is in trouble with alcohol and the court system. Joan Kennedy was taken to a Boston hospital over the weekend after caretakers appointed by a Barnstable court decided she was too intoxicated for her own good, according to a report in the Boston Herald today. The 71-year-old Kennedy, who is the ex-wife of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after she became drunk at a social event Friday night, the Herald reported. Her caretakers were appointed as part of a deal with her children to head off a court battle over her Hyannisport home....

In Korea, a boot camp cure for Web obsession By Martin Fackler Sunday, November 18, 2007 MOKCHEON, South Korea: The compound — part boot camp, part rehab center — resembles programs around the world for troubled youths. Drill instructors drive young men through military-style obstacle courses, counselors lead group sessions, and there are even therapeutic workshops on pottery and drumming. But these young people are not battling alcohol or drugs. Rather, they have severe cases of what many in this country believe is a new and potentially deadly addiction: cyberspace. They come here, to the Jump Up Internet Rescue School,...

LOS ANGELES - Marie Osmond said her 16-year-old son has entered a rehabilitation facility, but she didn't disclose the nature of his problem. "My son, Michael, is an amazing young man, shown through his courage in facing his issues. As his mother I couldn't be more proud of him," the 48-year-old singer said in a statement issued Wednesday through her publicist, Marleah Leslie. "The press and public have always been kind and gracious in the past and I know they will continue to respect our privacy during this time," Osmond said. The statement was first reported by TV show "Entertainment...

According to three doctors at the KS Hegde Medical Academy in Mangalore, India, writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, giving up smoking can kill you. Arunachalam Kumar, Kasaragod Mallya, and Jairaj Kumar were "struck by the more than casual relationship between the appearance of lung cancer and an abrupt and recent cessation of the smoking habit in many, if not most, cases." In 182 of the 312 cases they had treated, an habitual smoker of at least a pack a day, for at least a quarter-century, had developed lung cancer shortly after he gave up smoking. They surmised a biological...

Walk along East Tusculum in Kensington and there, amid the litter in this hardscrabble neighborhood, you'll notice the used syringes - some capped, others not - on the sidewalks, in a narrow patch of grass skirting a freight rail line, and under a bridge crossing the tracks. There's one, then a dozen, and before you know it, you stop counting - just along a two-block stretch of the street. --snip--Prevention Point, the agency that distributes the syringes under a $354,000 annual contract with the city, said it was not to blame for the mess.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - More than a fourth of pregnant women in West Virginia smoked last year, putting themselves and their babies at risk. The state's 27.3 percent maternal smoking rate was the highest rate in the country and nearly triple the national average, according to a recent report from the state Department of Health and Human Resource's Health Statistics Center. The state's rate was up slightly over the previous year and has hovered around 25 percent the past 10 years. McDowell County had the highest rate of pregnant smokers, at more than 42 percent, the report said. The lowest rate,...

Drug Addiction and the Open Society Drug Addiction and the Open Society - Lee Harris Romancing Opiates: Pharmacological Lies and the Addiction Bureaucracy Today, despite America’s three-decades-long national War on Drugs, we are still in the midst of what many have called a “drug epidemic.” If we abandon our policy of “containment”—the long-term effort to reduce the production and consumption of drugs—how far would this epidemic spread through the general population? If most people, or even a substantial minority, became drug addicts whose whole existence revolved around getting their next fix, the prospects for our society would look bleak indeed....

Hollywood is now indulging in a different kind of rehab substitute. It's intense and round the clock sober companionship, aka "The Sober Buddy". Rather than spending the standard 60 to 90 days in a clinic like Promises or Betty Ford, the actor or actress or exec hires a sober companion to keep on track. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, this coach by your side makes sure you stay clean. Such intense monitoring doesn't come cheap, as ABC News-- which claims Owen Wilson has a sober buddy -- found out from Douglas Caine, founder of Sober Champion with...

I have had a few FReepermails from people lately that are ready to deal with their addiction problems and want to quit but it is challenging. I can't post details but do they really matter anyway? Anyone that has been there knows the feelings that are provoked by the thought of quitting. And the deal-making behavior that we try in order to be able to continue to consume. I myself will be 4 years sober on October 8, and I appreciate all the help that I got along the way, and continue to get. I am asking the Recovery community...

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Actor-turned-director Sean Penn refrained from smoking during his return to the spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, but could have used something to calm his nerves as he repeatedly lashed out at media for distracting him during a news conference. The intense movie star sucked on ice cubes and swore as he met with dozens of reporters to discuss his riveting new film, "Into The Wild," featuring a tour de force performance by newcomer Emile Hirsch.

Alcoholics Anonymous, the renowned 12-step program that directs problem drinkers to seek help from a higher power, says it's not a religion and is open to nonbelievers. But it has enough religious overtones that a parolee can't be ordered to attend its meetings as a condition of staying out of prison, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. In fact, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the constitutional dividing line between church and state in such cases is so clear that a parole officer can be sued for damages for ordering a parolee to go through...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Drug shipments from illegal online pharmacies were once so frequent in Appalachia that delivery companies had to add trucks to their routes. Police have cracked down on such deliveries but are confronted by a booming global network of so-called rogue pharmacies operating online. For people addicted to prescription medications such as the painkiller hydrocodone - sold mostly as Vicodin - the days of 'doctor shopping' are over as long as they have Internet access. With the help of unscrupulous doctors and pharmacists, hundreds of Web sites dispense prescription narcotics to customers in exchange for nothing more than...

Source: Washington University in St. Louis Date: August 26, 2007 Gambling Addiction Assessment Tool Applies Equally For Different Races Science Daily — "With African-Americans and other minority groups having both problem and pathological gambling rates that are 2-3 times higher than Caucasian gamblers, accurate diagnosis is essential to treat gambling addiction," says Renee Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D., a leading gambling addictions expert and visiting associate professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. Unfortunately, as with other mental health disorders, African-American and other minority groups receive disparate care from symptom recognition and diagnosis through treatment. In a first step to...

The majority of video games out there today are far from great – that’s why we get so excited whenever we find one that’s truly enjoyable. But sometimes a game can be so much fun that we might start ignoring other things – important things like work, school and relationships. Though we’d like to think of this as a healthy love of games, some people might say we have an addiction. If that’s the case, then these are the games we’re most addicted to.

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Internet addiction should be grouped with extreme addictive disorders such as gambling, sex addiction and kleptomania, an Israeli psychiatrist said. Dr. Pinhas Dannon of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine said 10 percent of Internet surfers are afflicted with "Internet addiction disorder," which can lead to anxiety and severe depression. Internet addiction is classified by mental health professionals as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mild to severe mental health condition that results in an urge to engage in ritualistic thoughts and behavior. "Internet addiction is not manifesting itself as an ‘urge.’ It’s...

CNNÂ’s "from the Left" commentator Paul Begala apparently doesnÂ’t want people to forget that Rush Limbaugh dealt with OxyContin addiction. During a panel discussion of Rudy Giuliani and the possible factor of his family life in his presidential bid, Begala attacked the GOP, accusing that the party "has made a practice of going after peopleÂ’s families," and then singled out Limbaugh for doing this (though Limbaugh has never officially worked for the Republicans). "Not just attacking Bill Clinton, we remember Rush Limbaugh attacking Chelsea Clinton. Maybe it was just the OxyContin talking." Nine months ago, Begala slammed Limbaugh as the...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is launching an experimental summer camp for 40 youngsters to try to wean them off their Internet addiction, state media said on Tuesday. The 10-day program would accept youngsters aged between 14 and 22 once they had undergone a psychological test and evaluation, the China Daily said. About 2.6 million -- or 13 percent -- of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts, state media have reported. The youngsters at the summer camp would be treated for depression, fear, unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation. It would appear to be...