Let the Elderly Have Their Weed!
On February 18, 2014, Reason TV released a short documentary, "How Medical Pot Is Helping Seniors Get Off (Prescription) Drugs. … The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a monopoly on the legal supply of marijuana for research purposes.
Read more on Reason (blog)

Meth movie pulls no punches, airs at Wilma, on HBO
Yates, who made HBO's 2003 "Crank: Made in America," one of the first documentaries about rural meth use, fully supports the Montana Meth Project's goals, calling billionaire Thomas Siebel's anti-drug push "a fantastic educational campaign against meth.".
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Benefits Street's Fungi 'deserves everything he gets', say family
He was seen in Cardiff begging passers-by for change, and claiming he had been 'exploited' by the makers of the documentary series, who 'made their money out of me'. Fungi said that he … Fungi, an alcoholic, lived in a taxpayer-funded home on James …
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Barnstable Youth Commission takes on teen drug use
Barnstable Youth Commission members (from left) Samuel Spillane,16, Elizabeth Ells,17, and Nicole Neville,17, and Barnstable detective Reid Hall answer questions about drugs and alcohol in the school with the Community Network of Cape Cod at the …
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Question by tangerine: drug and addictions therapist?
I am considering going into a career as a drug and addictions therapist. What kind of schooling/degrees is required?

Best answer:

Answer by Bella Boo
this doesn’t answer your question but, i think the best therapists are the ones who know exactly what their clients are going through by experience, etc.

Answer by Megumi D
Having worked as a licensed clinician in the mental health field for several years (first licensed in 1992), and having specialized for a number of those years in addiction disorders, I honestly think that the best training for someone who wants to work with addictive disorders is to first get a Masters (MA or MS) in psychology, and then a doctorate–preferably a PsyD–in clinical psych. During the practicum phase of education and in your pre-licensure internship hours, one would do best to work with a variety of mental health issues but to focus on addictive disorders. Most important though is to get a solid background in clinical training and then branch out to addictive disorders. It truly helps to be able to recognize when a person with drug/addiction disorders also has “co-morbid” psychological disorders–depression, personality d/os, etc. that are complicating the picture, and one will be able to treat those as well.

The poorest training is those who only work towards a certificate as an “addictions counselor” or certificate in alcoholism and drug dependency counseling, because such people do not have the training to recognize the complicating factors of co-existing disorders and tend to only see one facet of the person’s disorders.

It does not matter, contrary to popular opinion, whether someone has been an alcoholic or addict oneself. In fact, that can make it more difficult because such counselors are often too close to their own issues to be able to deal with the problems of someone else. Or, they often tend to focus on “what worked” for them, not realizing that different approaches are necessary for treating different people. After all, you wouldn’t necessarily think that a doctor who him/herself had cancer would make the best oncologist, would you?

I designed and started a “dual diagnosis” (substance-abusing chronically mentally ill) treatment program in So Calif, and was the clinical supervisor of another program that treated pregnant and parenting women. I worked in the field with SAMHSA, NIMH, and other federal agencies as well, and have a great deal of experience supervising and providing treatment for drug and alcohol issues. The best clinicians are those who are truly empathetic, caring people who also have excellent clinical skills in a broad range of mental health treatment modalities, not just as drug and alcohol counselors.

Latonia Williams: Onetime addict builds promising future
Often, the only roof over her head was jail – San Francisco, San Jose or Vallejo – where she did time for possessing drugs, stealing, turning tricks or missing court. By 32, Williams was the shadowy figure you'd see passed out in the back seat of an …
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Former Clallam firefighter/paramedic steeped in treatment, counseling in wake …
Rynearson is one of hundreds of Clallam County residents who have gone through to Drug Court, a diversion program started in 1999 and aimed at curbing recidivism by helping non-violent offenders break the cycle of addiction. Proponents say the program …
Read more on Peninsula Daily

Gambling addiction nothing to play around with
They go through a radical withdrawal process, to help them change their behavior and abstain from gambling. Like drug addicts, they suffer mood swings, insomnia and intense cravings. An in-patient treatment lasts two months, therapy for an out patient …
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Question by My Answers Suck: What’s your definition of “abuse”?
I hang out in celebrity section and notice a lot of people commenting on Chris Brown hitting Rihanna saying he abused her. To me, “abuse” means a habitual occurrence. For this argument we won’t get into whether or not he has done so in the past. So if he hits her on this one occasion — even if going overboard — does that constitute as “physical abuse”?

I was thinking if someone who has never had alcohol gets absolutely plastered one time, they are not considered as alcohol abusers. That term usually conjures up an addicted alcoholic. Same for drugs.

What do you think?
So Beyond Mordant, would you classify this as abuse? When I hear of spousal abuse, I think of battery on more than one occasion. Habitual offense. I can see how your definition would apply, though.

Best answer:

Answer by hatrickpatrick
What happened between Chris Brown and Rihanna was a fight / assault. “Abuse” cannot be a once off incident.

Answer by fangsfashiongurlydarkwings
to take advantage of or treat badly like hitting slapping kicking stuff like that.

Hawaii Lawmakers Mull Clearer Rules for Schools With Uncontrollable Kids
Incidents like the ones exposed in recent abuse cases at Kipapa Elementary and the School of the Deaf and Blind suggest that school personnel are using inappropriate restraint methods — including tying an uncontrollable child to a chair with rope …
Read more on Honolulu Civil Beat

Assembly pares back 'living wage' ordinance
Lawmakers unanimously passed a bill to provide $ 1.5 million more each year for programs to provide treatment alternatives for criminal offenders who abuse drugs and alcohol. Phosphorous. Legislators signed off on a bill, 76-19, to delay costly …
Read more on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

BILL WATCH 8/2014 of 20th February
1. by transporting or conveying individuals involuntarily, i.e. through force, threats or the use of drugs or by deception or abuse of power;. 2. by transporting or conveying individuals voluntarily, i.e. with their consent, for an unlawful purpose;. 3 …
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Alcoholism Treatment –

Drug addicts should be treated, not quarantined
I'm a recovered alcoholic/ heroin addict who has been lucky enough to have his disease successfully treated in one of our state's few, stressed, state-funded addiction treatment centers. I've since become a clean, sober, reliable and taxpaying worker, …
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States use Good Samaritan laws, Narcan, to fight drug overdoses
… Columbia have passed “Good Samaritan” laws that grant limited immunity to drug users who seek help for someone who has overdosed, according to the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), a nonpartisan research and advocacy group based in Washington, …
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Past struggles lead to present hopes for others seeking sobriety
George and Angela Kalaras offer an addiction support group through LifeiLead on Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. and a co-dependency support group on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. Both groups meet at Riverside Community Church, 239 Columbia Ave., in Horsham. To …
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Forsyth County Drug Summit Set for Feb. 25
The overwhelming turnout for last year's Forsyth County Drug Summit prompted the founding of a local Drug Awareness Council to help steer teens away from drugs. A second Drug Summit will be held at 7 p.m. on … The Drug Awareness Council's goal is to …
Read more on Patch.com

What it's like to be a sex addict
No satisfaction. It can be difficult to talk about sex addiction because men often think it sounds like a wonderful situation. Trust me, it isn't. … Luckily I was with a group of mates, who saw him off. Friends of Joanne's … When the drugs ran out …
Read more on Telegraph.co.uk