Across America, from small towns to major cities, there is hardly a place that hasn’t felt the sting of the opioid epidemic ravaging families in every demographic. Sadly, efforts to combat prescription drug abuse have led addicts to turn to heroin – a drug that is less expensive and more powerful. Heroin can be found...Read More

The need for more discussion about addiction is crucial to eliminating the stigma which has long surrounded the insidious disease. Over the course of multiple decades, the solution in the United States was jail and prisons. However, we know that incarceration does little to combat the problem, due to the high rates of relapse and...Read More

The prescription drug epidemic and subsequent heroin scourge has crippled millions of Americans, and led to thousands of premature deaths. It may seem that when a person dies of a heroin overdose the death certificate would reflect that cause. However, figuring out how many people die of heroin overdoses is not easy, due to the...Read More

New research suggests that changes in pharmaceutical industry practices has had a remarkable effect, reducing the number of prescriptions written and the number of opioid overdoses. Researchers from both Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), found that the introduction of abuse-deterrent OxyContin (oxycodone) and the removal of the drug Darvon (propoxyphene) from...Read More

In the throes of a prescription opioid epidemic and scourge of heroin use, American officials are becoming more and more convinced of the need for greater access to the life saving drug naloxone. Naloxone, if administered in time, has the power to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. In the recent past, a number...Read More

Project Vision – Rutland, VT One city’s vision to deal with the heroin epidemic Last week we brought our readers up to date on the State of Vermont’s efforts to deal with the heroin epidemic in which they found themselves engulfed during the past few years. At that time we mentioned we would write this...Read More

A look in the rear view mirror… If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may remember it was a year ago this week that we introduced you to Governor Peter Shumlin who used his entire 2014 State of the State address to speak to Vermont citizens about the heroin epidemic. Governor Shumlin’s remarks...Read More

English: A view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) So many dreams, so many requiems… This week there was grim news being reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). For sure the headlines are exploding with news about the Ebola virus and Enterovirus D68, but on October 2, 2014,...Read More

A dream to run the San Francisco Half Marathon What does it take to run and complete a half marathon? You might be quick to answer “endurance,” “training,” “passion,” “an entry fee,” “running shoes,” “a healthy diet,” or even “a good night’s sleep.” We would like to introduce you to Ronnie Goodman. This short film...Read More

Storytelling is the essential human activity. The harder the situation, the more essential it is.  Tim O’Brien Journal writing as a tool of recovery Last summer we wrote about a new way to share one’s story concerning their struggle with addiction and how their story can change someone else’ story of addiction and recovery. Sharing...Read More