Rutherford Community Prevention Coalition

04/30/2019

Jami Scheetz knew that her 15-year-old son, Devon, needed help. His grades were slipping and he had been caught va**ng at school so many times that he was on the brink of being expelled. Last fall, at the start of his freshman year, Devon’s school even sent him to the hospital for drug testing after getting in trouble once again. In the emergency room, Devon finally admitted it: He was addicted. “He said to me, ‘Mom, I can’t quit on my own. I need help,'” Scheetz says.

"It’s an epidemic because there’s no help."

04/26/2019

Recent scientific projections indicate the opioid overdose crisis will worsen between now and 2025, and dramatically so. According to the mathematical modeling published last month in JAMA Network Open, the annual death toll will exceed 80,000 and could, using the most pessimistic scenario, reach 198,000.

Recent scientific projections indicate the opioid overdose crisis will worsen between now and 2025. I hope we take action now to defy these odds, but I worry we are stuck because rampant misunderstandings promote confusion. So many who could affect change still understand so little about it.

04/23/2019

Two San Francisco officials introduced legislation Tuesday that would ban the sale of e-ci******es in the city until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration evaluates the effect of electronic ci******es on public health. Supporters say if the measure is approved, it would be the first such prohibition in the country. Its chances aren't clear.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Supervisor Shamann Walton also proposed a bill at a Board of Supervisors meeting that would prohibit companies that make, sell and distribute to***co products such as e-ci******es from occupying city-owned property.

Bill would bar them until FDA reviews their health effects; anti-to***co activists say e-cigarette makers such as Juul target young people

04/19/2019

States across the country are considering similar approaches amid research that shows that the drugs along with behavior therapy can help addicts reduce the withdrawal symptoms and cravings that drive many addicts to relapse.

Federal statistics suggest more than half of all inmates in state prisons nationwide have a substance- abuse problem. New York officials say that percentage could be as high as 80 percent in state and local lockups, which at any given time have about 77,000 inmates.

Get breaking national and world news, broadcast video coverage, and exclusive interviews. Find the top news online at ABC news.

04/16/2019

Hathaway was diagnosed with postpartum depression — the intense sadness, anxiety or despair that occurs within the first year after giving birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It affects about one in nine women, although the rate may be as high as one in every five women, the CDC finds.

The treatment is delivered through a one-time, 60-hour intravenous infusion that may improve symptoms within 24 hours.

04/12/2019

In 1886, clark bell, the editor of the journal of the Medico-Legal Society of New York, relayed to a physician named Pliny Earle a query bound to be of interest to his journal’s readers: Exactly what mental illnesses can be said to exist? In his 50-year career as a psychiatrist, Earle had developed curricula to teach medical students about mental disorders, co-founded the first professional organization of psychiatrists, and opened one of the first private psychiatric practices in the country. He had also run a couple of asylums, where he instituted novel treatment strategies such as providing education to the mentally ill. If any American doctor was in a position to answer Bell’s query, it was Pliny Earle.

The biology of mental illness is still a mystery, but practitioners don’t want to admit it.

04/09/2019

"In both my political career and in my personal life, I have learned that when faced with complex challenges, what matters most is putting one foot in front of the other, steadfast and walking the path to change. There are no quick-fixes to anything, regardless of how much they are needed.

As a mental health advocate, I also know the same holds true for attempting to change the deeply-imbedded cultural and structural norms around the treatment and delivery of care for those with mental health and substance use disorders. It is not a science. Far from it."

True change requires acknowledging that the status quo is not working and deciding to do something about it.

04/08/2019

Many prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as herbal remedies can be dangerous or even deadly when mixed with alcohol.

04/07/2019

Alcohol, drugs and driving simply do not go together. Driving requires a person’s attentiveness and the ability to make quick decisions on the road. When drinking alcohol, using drugs, or being distracted for any reason, driving becomes dangerous – and potentially lethal!

04/06/2019

More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking, and more than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent on or has abused alcohol.

04/05/2019

Alcoholism is the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the nation.

04/04/2019

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA are pushing ahead with an idea to automate home bartending with a K-Cup machine for cocktails, seeking to tap new areas of growth as sales of their core products slow.

Keurig Dr Pepper and Anheuser-Busch are aiming to automate home bartending with a K-Cup machine for cocktails.