Free Republic

'You take rehab.com—our website traffic is up 382 percent in the past 30 days with people looking for treatment for either substance abuse or mental health.' This is a “pandemic within a pandemic,” according to addiction expert Tim Ryan, who’s watched the coronavirus outbreak exacerbate the preexistent opioid and mental health crises with devastating effect. Ryan, the star of A&E’s 2017 “Dope Man” special, is the founder of “A Man In Recovery Foundation,” which partners with Rehab.com. A former heroin addict, his mission is to assist others struggling with substance abuse.In a Friday interview, Ryan explained how the stresses of...

It is vitally important, literally life and death, that the proper costs and benefits are weighed with the decision on how much and how long to shut down economic activity through the pandemic. As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, leaders and policymakers have scrambled to respond to the growing health crisis. In the United States, multiple state governors have issued statements urging their citizens to follow social distancing guidelines.Other governors have taken more extreme measures, issuing orders to effectively lock down entire state economies. The current goal of these responses has been to slow the spread of the...

When General Motors and Ford sell more cars, they are involved in more accidents. They undoubtedly advertise more in those places where they sell more cars. Does that mean that the car companies are responsible for additional accidents in those places? That they are purposefully plotting to create more accidents? Let’s hope not, but if Monday’s $570 million verdict by an Oklahoma judge against Johnson & Johnson for making opioids is any indication, those types of cases aren’t going to be far off. Oklahoma had refused to settle out of court believing that they could receive a very large verdict....

There is a strange dichotomy taking place in society today. On the one hand, laws against marijuana are being eliminated. People who abuse pot are now able to feed their addiction with an overly generous supply of the drug. For example, in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal, users can purchase up to 2.5 ounces every two weeks. This is enough to be stoned every day. Once you have a prescription, you can refill it for an entire year without going back to renew the prescription. It’s easy to get a prescription in most states that have legalized medical marijuana,...

Attorney General Mike DeWine targeted five pharmaceutical companies in a sweeping lawsuit filed today, alleging misrepresentation and misinformation on their part in the growing American opiate addiction crisis. The companies are Janssen Pharmaceutical, Allergan, Purdue Pharma, Endo and Cephalon. "They are the most prominent," DeWine said of the defendants. "They constitute a majority of the drugs." He insisted that the companies played an active role in flooding the market with prescription painkillers, which led explicitly to addiction for untold numbers of Ohioans. A woman who lost her daughter to opiate addiction appeared with DeWine today, explaining to reporters how powerless...

#Buprenorphine drugs, like #Suboxone and #Subutex, have been heavily marketed as the wonder drug for #opiate & #heroin #AddictionTreatment. While buprenorphine is one of 3 drug classes used in the SAMHSA evidence-based best practice, Medication Assisted Treatment, buprenorphine plateaus in effectiveness at an intermediate level of dependency, failing to manage withdrawals and cravings for intermediate to heavy dependencies. Additionally, the vast majority of buprenorphine treatment has been "in the privacy of a doctor's office without the need for daily visits," as it was heavily marketed. This often means a doctor writes a 30 day prescription warning the patient: 1) Don't...

Many critical issues tied to fundamental bureaucratic reform and redirection of federal policies await the Trump/Pence cabinet. But one cabinet pick, often forgotten and vital to redirecting national policy at a time of crisis, is the so-called “Drug Czar.” Formally, this post is known as the White House Director of the Office of National Drug Control (ONDCP). This position has never been more important, nor has any president been better positioned to shape the future with such an appointment. Opiate addiction has skyrocketed, leading to a breathtaking loss of 47,055 lives last year. Deaths by synthetic drugs quintupled in some...