For many people seeking to get sober, recovery can be fragile in the first weeks and months. While Medicaid often pays for inpatient treatment for indigent people, the logistics surrounding getting to and from a facility may be muddied. The same can be true for outpatient treatment. For this reason, New York is considering new
Substance use has skyrocketed during the pandemic, especially among opioid users who often scrambled to find a fresh supply of street drugs. Opioid use, like elsewhere in the US, has been climbing steadily since the pandemic. 1,477 Coloradans died of drug overdoses in 2020, an unprecedented number and the most recorded overdose deaths in the
You can get a COVID or flu shot from your pharmacist, so why not offer more medications at the local counter? For example, in Missouri, a law that is being considered would offer dramatically more access to naltrexone hydrochloride, brand name Vivitrol. What is Naltrexone Hydrochloride? Naltrexone hydrochloride is a medication approved by the Food
A jury convicted a former medical director, Dr. Mark Agresti, M.D., 59, of Palm Beach, of fraud concerning services provided at a sober home program he was involved in. The criminal case, Justice Department’s Sober Homes Initiative, is part of a series of investigations in Palm Beach County related to fraud. Fraud in the sober
A recent article in the Guardian revealed how social media had become a place for drug dealers to peddle counterfeit pills, often targeting teens and young adults. Sold as Molly, Oxycontin, and other drugs that young people may think of as “safe,” the pills usually contain fentanyl. Some of the pills are 100% fentanyl. Either
Drug use has dried up in some areas and escalated in others in the pandemic. However, for teens in rural destinations like Vermont and Montana, drug use has managed to climb during the pandemic. For example, according to the Vermont Department of Health, nearly 14 percent of teens in Vermont used illicit drugs in the
A chemist in a crime lab in Washington, DC, discovered a new synthetic opioid distributed and used on the streets. After a spate of overdoses last week, the chemist has put out an alert to first responders to be aware of the new drugs, known as Protonitazene or Isotonitazene (or more commonly nitazene), which is
In 2020, over 10,000 California residents died of overdose with opioids in their system. Many more people ended up in the hospital emergency experiencing overdose. In the past, people with opioid use disorder ended up in the ER and were stabilized discharged without much of an action plan. Today, a new initiative in the state
Earlier this month, four comedians in Los Angeles were recreationally using cocaine at a house get-together. What they thought was going to be partying soon turned into a nightmare. The drug, laced with fentanyl, caused all of these talented people to overdose. Cocaine, like heroin and other drugs, is now a drug that is increasingly
What does it take to motivate somebody to stay sober or try to get sober in the first place? One program in California thinks that they can sway some people with substance use disorder to remain sober – by promising them money. And while they’re slowly accumulating a balance (they have to withdraw it all
