News, Views and Advocacy Issues in Addiction Recovery

Miscellaneous Musings from Nov. 12 Monthly Advocacy Update

This is an excerpt from the monthly Advocacy Update. If you’d like to receive Hazelden Betty Ford Advocacy Update emails, subscribe today.

The family of former Boston Bruins winger Jimmy Hayes hopes sharing his story will help others.

· The challenge: For those left behind by a loved one’s overdose death, it’s not easy to talk publicly — or even privately with family — about the cause. Will doing so overshadow the life that was lived? Will it unleash public stigma and shame? There is no right or wrong; every family and situation is different.

· But: when the decision is made to talk about it, we unlock the powerful potential of inspiring change.

Who is in the Stigma Hall of Shame?

Historian and recovery advocate William White names names, calling out dozens of government agencies and research publications that continue to use the word “abuse” in their monikers, explaining how it represents the stigmatizing misapplication of moral language to a medical condition.

· The challenge: In some cases, making a simple name change — say to the National Institute on Drug Abuse — literally takes an act of Congress.

· But: There’s a bill! The Stopping Titles that Overtly Perpetuate (STOP) Stigma Act (H.R. 4244) would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide recommendations for name changes for eight agencies and one grant whose names contain stigmatizing language. Hazelden Betty Ford is among those supporting the bill. This week, we endorsed a letter the bill sponsors sent to colleagues on Capitol Hill, seeking co-sponsors. Look soon for a digital call-to-action from us on this.

This mom says she experienced the downside of commercializing cannabis.

· My Take: I am astounded whenever I hear anything like, “there’s a debate about whether marijuana is addictive.” Surprisingly, I hear it a lot. Such distorted beliefs are the result of one of the most effective and dubious grassroots marketing campaigns in American history — one that has created a Gold-Rush-like fervor for commercial pot profits by conflating decriminalization (a good idea) with commercial legalization (a whole different thing), wildly exaggerating its potential health benefits, and dismissing its risks by raising questions about something humans have known for generations — that marijuana, like other mood- and mind-altering substances, is addictive to a significant minority of us. And today’s high-potency pot appears to be even more addictive.

· Why it matters: With the early days of the opioid epidemic now in plain view, it’s hard to watch such profit-driven distortions still taking root. Even as awareness of addiction and recovery seemingly grows, understanding lags far behind. How else, for example, to explain policymakers in many pockets of the country racing to loosen both marijuana and alcohol regulations amid the most severe addiction crisis in our history …

· The bottom line: Leaving aside all other aspects of the marijuana legalization debate, we must at least acknowledge that marijuana — like alcohol, tobacco and all the illegal drugs — can lead to addiction and devastate lives and families, too.

· Let us know: A reader sent the article above with this note: “It looks like some folks in Colorado are taking a second, serious look.” We’ve certainly seen some of that. But what are you seeing in your neck of the woods?

📺 WATCH: Recovery activist Donald McDonald launched his new video podcast No Thanks But Yes by interviewing an old pal, musician Eric Jennings.

📕 REFERENCE: Check out SAMHSA’s evidence-based resource guide for preventing marijuana use among youth.

🔊 LISTEN: Our own Manuel Garcia talks about Hazelden Betty Ford’s DEI efforts in a recent episode of NAATP’s All Ears on Addiction podcast.

📺 WATCH: Four-time Grammy Award-winning musician Jason Isbell talks with folks at Vanderbilt School of Medicine about COVID-19, addiction, recovery and music in Songs for Sobriety.

🔊 LISTEN: In this podcast, music and mental health meet every episode.

📰 READ: For families of people in addiction, telling their stories can be a part of the healing process.

📰 READ: Tucked away in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress is legislation requiring that new cars monitor drivers for impairment as early as 2026. That is a potential game changer in terms of preventing drunk driving.

📰 READ: Marvel’s Iron Man has a long history with battling alcoholism, and while his addiction largely disappeared from the comics in the 70s and 80s, it has resurfaced in a new one.

📰 READ: Talk about multiple paths to recovery … some are apparently turning to witchcraft to help them stay sober.

📰 READ: The need for liver transplants because of heavy drinking soared during the pandemic.

📰 READ: Sam Quinones writes: “I don’t even know if I’d call it meth anymore.”

📰 READ: Haven’t watched Dopesick on Hulu yet? Here’s the scoop on the powerful series, from Brian Mann at NPR.

📰 READ: This pharmacy owner says the DEA has gotten too aggressive in its efforts to prevent buprenorphine diversion.

📰 READ: A music festival tragedy in Houston was initially blamed on a mystery assailant wielding a syringe loaded with drugs injecting people and causing some to unwittingly overdose. Only problem — it wasn’t true.

📰 READ: The Lift the Label campaign in Colorado is widening its net to help eradicate the sting of addiction stigma for everyone.

📰 READ: Discrimination of any kind can lead to much higher risk of mental and behavioral issues for young people, study finds.

📰 READ: Death, addiction, grace: a year as chaplain in New York’s toughest hospital.

📰 READ: Emergency call centers don’t have what they need to handle mental health and substance use crises, according to a survey by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

🔊 LISTEN: Our friend Neil Scott interviewed singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) on a recent episode of his national podcast Recovery Coast to Coast. Congrats to Neil on 16 years of the show!

📰 READ: More from William White: a tribute to recovery ancestors and advocacy pioneers who passed away in the past year, including several with close connections to Hazelden Betty Ford like Gordy Grimm, Damian McElrath, Congressman Jim Ramstad, Dr. Joseph Pursch and Glenn Jorgenson, among others. ALSO: White shared an interesting paper by Eric Dentler on mindful photography as a recovery support activity.

Jeremiah Gardner is the director of communications and public affairs at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Please share questions, thoughts and ideas. Plus, follow us on Twitter for daily updates.