5 Ways to Have Sane Holidays in Recovery The 2013 holiday season starts in earnest with Thanksgiving, a time fraught with peril and emotional landmines and triggers for someone in recovery. How can you get through it? Here are some tips for holiday survival that should last you from Thanksgiving through the New Year. 5
Marijuana in the news this fall seems to focus on the sea change in public opinion on legalization. Colorado and Washington are ironing out the details of legal marijuana in their respective states. A new Gallup poll reveals that for the first time, a majority of Americans (58 percent) think marijuana should be legal. But
New Drug Tunnel Shut Down Another tunnel for drug smugglers has been discovered in California, stretching from Mexico several thousand feet under the border to a San Diego warehouse. Homeland Security officials kept the tunnel under surveillance for several weeks before making a move. The tunnel was shut down, three people arrested and marijuana and
Krokodil is the latest drug scare that comes with dire symptoms, but now drug officials are not sure whether the drug is in the United States or not. Krokodil is the opiate desomorphine, a drug homemade in rural Russia as a substitute for heroin, which is scarce there. Russian drug addicts create krokodil by combining
Several new books have explored women and drinking and how it has changed in recent years. Author Gabrielle Glaser jokes about women drinking wine at book club meetings. It makes you wonder if Glaser’s book and another new one about women and drinking will be required reading at book (and wine) clubs. Glaser’s “Why She
You don’t need too many speed bumps in life to put your coping skills into overdrive. There are tension and uncertainty from the recent government shutdown. It affected a lot of people directly, in lost wages, lost aid, missed opportunities and that great unknown dread about where we go from here. Add a few other
Nicotine Addiction Linked to Pregnancy—Your Mom’s Pregnancy For every time you think addiction isn’t complicated, read a story like this. Researchers have linked nicotine addiction in women to their prenatal exposure to stress hormones when their mothers were pregnant. The researchers used information from a study of women’s pregnancy habits, the Collaborative Perinatal Project at
Stopping Cycles of Addiction and Violence October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and one factor that really needs awareness is how much alcohol and drugs are involved in domestic violence. The numbers are overwhelming. They come down to this: If you are dealing with substance abuse, either yourself or for a loved one, there’s a
The changing seasons and sweep of the calendar may not seem like a big part of your life, but they can be some of the most dangerous times in recovery. You definitely notice the shorter days and less light of waning summer and autumn’s arrival. The sun is not as intense and is setting sooner.
Treating Pain or Enabling Addiction? Painkiller use has skyrocketed in the past decade, but has it made a difference in pain? According to a new study, the number of office visits for pain hasn’t changed.  The government is trying to address the problem with new labeling rules. Can these changes make a difference for people
