The Big News

Purdue Pharma's first bankruptcy hearing starts today. The OxyContin maker filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday and is attempting to expedite a settlement process that it hopes will resolve 2,600 lawsuits that accuse it of instigating the opioid crisis. Purdue’s proposed deal would turn the company into a public benefit trust corporation that would continue to generate OxyContin profits—only now, the profits would go to the states, cities, counties and tribes that are suing. It’s an awkward position for governments, which would rely on profits from the very drug they say has wreaked havoc on their communities. While about half the states and most of the local governments have agreed to the tentative settlement, many are holding out, ready to sue or continue suing the Sackler family owners beyond bankruptcy court. Under the settlement terms, which need to be approved by the bankruptcy judge, the Sackler family would cede ownership, avoid admitting wrongdoing, and kick in anywhere from $3 billion to $4.5 billion of their own fortune. In total, the proposed settlement is estimated to be worth $10 billion to $12 billion. A major sticking point for those holding out is the amount of the guaranteed contribution from the Sacklers, who—according to reports like this and this—have siphoned billions into a complex web of offshore tax havens and trusts. Attorneys general like Maura Healey in Massachusetts say the victims of the opioid crisis deserve more accountability and justice.

In other big news, the President is considering a ban on flavored vaping products amid the growing outbreak of severe lung disease in the U.S. that has claimed at least six lives. Michigan, New York and California are among states taking aggressive actions of their own, and the CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center to aid investigations into reported illnesses and deaths. Meanwhile, a Wisconsin bust sheds light on the amateur black market for vaping supplies, and CBD buyers are advised to be careful of what they’re buying, too. Even before the current outbreak of lung disease and deaths, vaping was causing chronic lung damage and addiction. Not everyone’s so concerned, though. Some say policymakers are over-reacting and that hysteria may lead e-cigarette users back to smoking cigarettes.

Switching gears, we’ve talked for some time about the fact that some healthcare providers believe using buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder is antithetical to a Twelve Step approach. At the same time, people taking the medication on a long-term basis to support their recovery are often stigmatized. Our new study in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment shows that giving patients the choice to use medications like buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone in Twelve Step-oriented treatment is not only feasible but effective. Says our Chief Medical Officer Marvin D. Seppala: "Medications help some people, clinical therapy helps others, and still more are helped by peer support. With COR-12, we integrated all three of those elements into a comprehensive model designed to keep people in treatment longer and give them the time and resources they need to stabilize, regain health and hope, learn vital recovery skills, and develop connections to support their long-term recovery. This study shows we are on the right track.”

It’s exciting to see Google put addiction recovery front-and-center during this National Recovery Month! Last Thursday, millions of visitors to Google’s home page were invited to learn more about the Recovery Movement. When they clicked the promoted link, they discovered Google’s new Recover Together resource page. The site, a collaboration with multiple advocacy groups, includes a collection of short recovery story videos (also on YouTube) and three Google maps—a recovery resource locator, a drug disposal site locator, and a naloxone locator.  Naloxone is the medicine that can reverse an overdose.

Finally, we celebrated Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Day in Minnesota last Thursday. We are grateful to Gov. Tim Walz for proclaiming the special day in honor of our organization’s 70^th anniversary. At an anniversary event Thursday night, we honored the Butler family (notably Emmett, Patrick, Aimee, Lawrence, Cooley, Peter and John), which has played a pivotal role in our history, with a Founders Award. We also presented awards to Carol Pine, who in the late 1990s became our first female board chair, and Damian McElrath, a longtime Hazelden leader who chronicled our history in several books. The event included a pop-up museum that featured our history and many unique items from our archives. See just a few of the pictures at the bottom of this message.

This week’s featured media is a great public radio interview with our Children’s Program leader Jerry Moe, who spoke at a “Kids in Crisis” event last week in Florida.

As a bonus, here also is an interesting video of the national address the Reagans gave 33 years ago this week to kick off a new “Just Say No” campaign. Though a well-intentioned effort to promote education and resistance skills among youth—also valuing the role of people in recovery—the campaign is wrapped in unfortunate words like crusade, war, moral, cure and tyranny, reflecting how misunderstood addiction still was in that era.

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Treatment Industry Issues and Reforms

The Alliance for Addiction Payment Reform—whose diverse members include the American Hospital Association, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and addiction treatment startup Eleanor Health—is rolling out demonstration pilots for an alternative payment model that's supported by payers like Anthem. Learn more →

Rich Jones, executive director of Faces & Voices of Recovery-Greenville in South Carolina, contemplates the “system” responsible for doing something about addiction in America, and suggests six ways to debug the system.

Arkansas has a new toll-free phone line for people who need help finding care for a mental health and/or substance use disorder.

Cannabis

Michigan sees spike in children poisoned by marijuana edibles. Learn more →

Could a tongue spray help people stop smoking weed?

Opioids We’ve been sharing for a couple of years that many of our patients report ordering opioids online and getting them delivered in the mail.

60 Minutes looks at the issue in depth, revealing that a new law designed to stop such shipments hasn’t been fully implemented or enforced. Scott Pelley also tracks down an alleged fentanyl kingpin in China and interviews federal agents who insist that country could stop the fentanyl trade overnight. Learn more →

The Washington Post continues a three-year investigation with a new report, based on recently unsealed documents, detailing how the pharmaceutical industry fought back against the DEA while continuing to sell more and more opioids.

Emails show Johnson & Johnson knew 18 years ago that its opioids were being misused and potentially on a large scale.

Opioid companies are seeking the removal of the judge set to preside over a landmark trial in Ohio that joins together more than 2,000 lawsuits brought by towns and communities. While Purdue is pursuing its own settlement through bankruptcy court, as discussed earlier, several other opioid companies remain on the hook in this case, and they are questioning his objectivity.

Our organization’s employees are once again completing annual Narcan training this month. Narcan is a branded nasal spray form of naloxone, the medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. On the campus where I work, we have Narcan nasal spray kits available in 12 locations.

Alcohol

A new study shows how little alcohol taxes cover the societal burden of excessive drinking. Learn more →

A mother in recovery writes about why the “mommy drinking culture” has to go.

American kids with money and privilege are more likely to binge drink, according to research in a new documentary. This dovetails with our Emerging Drug Trends report entited: Does Socioeconomic Advantage Lessen the Risk of Adolescent Substance Use?

A hard seltzer craze is sweeping the United States as Generations Y and Z pursue healthier lifestyles, influenced by viral trends on Instagram and YouTube.

Advocate Spotlight

The Lumineers have taken their latest album, III, as an opportunity to shine a light on a topic that's close to many of the members' lives—addiction. Learn more →

A legislative leader from Chicago is also a recovery advocate.

Our friend Tim Rabolt, head of the Association of Recovery in Higher Education, describes how his parents and collegiate recovery helped him initiate and sustain recovery.

Nashville drug court's second graduate ever is still sober—23 years later—and advocating for others.

A mathematician in recovery has published a formula modeling craving, relapse and withdrawal.

Miscellaneous Musings In a culture that’s historically tolerated and even championed excess, some award-winning chefs such as Portland’s Gabriel Rucker (shown here) are spearheading their own movement: sobriety.

Here’s another great feature—this one in USA Today—highlighting that positive trend. In Minneapolis, chefs are also showing that great meals don’t have to include alcohol. Check out The Lynhall’s new Sunday Sober Suppers, which kick off this Sunday, Sept. 22. Learn more →

• Collegiate recovery was a kickoff topic for a new podcast entitled "Will There Be Food?"—which highlights various aspects of college student affairs nationwide.

• Almost 800,000 people die by suicide every year, according to the World Health Organization.

• How many of these 25 movies on addiction have you seen? What’s your favorite?

• Reminder: “Mental Health for US” has published survey responses from the top presidential candidates concerning the nation’s mental health and addiction crises, and the coalition is holding a series of forums on these issues starting 27 in Des Moines.

• Ohio’s first recovery high school is now open!

• In his latest blog post, William White says one lesson from the recent vaping-related deaths is that people working on the front lines of addiction are in a unique position to identify substance-related threats early in their emergence, serving as a sort of early warning network.

• Thank you for reading. What do you think? Send us a note anytime, and have a great week!