Tag: alcohol
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FASD Awareness: Analyzing ‘Princess Margaret and the Curse’
I was so excited to read this new book, Princess Margaret and the Curse by Meryle Secrest, that asks us to consider whether Princess Margaret had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. It came out on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day, which is the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, in a…
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Embracing Moderation: A Path to Healthier Lifestyles
“We are a society of ‘If one piece of cake is good, two are better.’” A judge in Kenosha County (Wisconsin) made this statement to me…and she’s absolutely correct. We know that we shouldn’t actually eat two pieces of cake in one sitting, but we want to, and society says that’s better. Just like everything…
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Alcohol During Pregnancy: Understanding Risks and Misconceptions
In the past week, two different studies came out about prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). One, the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), surveyed more than 1,600 adults in the United States regarding maternal health (eurekalert). The other, published in the Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research (Hoboken), surveyed more than 1,500 women in the United Kingdom, then had them…
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Understanding Cannabis Addiction Myths
It happened again the other day…and I absolutely know better than to open my mouth…but I did anyway. I was an observer to a conversation about the vast and varied benefits of cannabis. I was trying my damnedest not to participate, but one of the two people in the conversation decided to point out that…
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The Rising Risk: Alcohol Tolerance and Health Advice Changes
What happens when you take poison? You die. There is certainly an element of truth to Westley, the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride, building up tolerance against iocaine powder in order to get Vizzini out of the way. That happens every day. What’s the number one ingested toxin in the US? You got…
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Ending Addiction: Strategies for Effective Treatment and Recovery
Would you want to go to an endocrinologist for treatment of your type 2 diabetes if ze were obese and has type 2 diabetes? Do you get your hair cut by someone with a hairstyle you don’t like? Why do we have a current emphasis on people who use drugs (PWUD) to be part of…
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Research on Addiction Needs Added Oversight
Learning is good, but accepting all research as gospel is problematic, and the alternative — dismissing facts we don’t agree with — is equally harmful. Despite my sister saying I’m basically a one-trick pony, I’m passionate about a lot of topics, so I love knowing stuff and sharing it. That’s why I enjoy attending conferences…because…
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The Importance of Language in Addiction Treatment
We hear so much about stigma and how it is at least part of the reason that less than 7% of those who need treatment actually access it (NIDA legislative). Our language has changed, though I contend that we may have taken things a bit too far when I can’t actually figure out what words…
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Understanding Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome: A Growing Concern
Prenatal Fentanyl Exposure is the latest in the list of drugs, including alcohol, of course, causing abnormalities among newborns. We first heard about Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome in 2023 (Science). In contrast, we first heard about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in 1973, but later we learned about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders that don’t have the sentient…
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Is ‘California Sober’ a Real Path to Recovery?
There’s much debate about what recovery looks like. In fact, in some fun videos on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mikeandguida/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MikeAndGuida) that I do with my friend, the renowned trainer Mike McGowan, we recently talked about “California Sober,” and sheesh, did we get pushback! For the unfamiliar, “California Sober,” according to one source, means “when a…
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