Addiction

The band Shinedown has been around for more than a decade, selling more than 10 million albums worldwide. In 2012 they launched their fourth album, "Amaryllis," which made its debut at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. But the last year has been more than just about launching a new album for Brent Smith, the band's lead singer. After battling drug and alcohol addiction, becoming obese and being insulted on national television for his weight, a loving woman and the inspiration of his son and fans straightened him out, he said.

Re "Felons allowed to help addicts, a report finds," May 14 The fact that addiction counselors in California who are sex offenders and other types of felons are allowed to provide addiction treatment is just the tip of the iceberg in a fundamentally flawed system of addiction care throughout the United States. Addiction is a complex disease for which there are effective, evidence-based treatments. But unlike other diseases, the majority of the 40 million people in need of treatment do not receive anything that approximates evidence-based care.

A call for change is afoot in the difficult and often heartbreaking world of addiction treatment. For decades, 12-step programs and a medication-free approach have dominated the recovery industry. But now doctors and scientists and the leader of the National Institute on Drug Abuse are pushing for broad recognition of addiction as a disease and more medical approaches to therapy. In the last couple of years, a top addiction society officially declared addiction a "brain disorder.

Josh Hamilton said he was assured by doctors this week that the allergies that lead to occasional sinus and throat discomfort and dizziness were not caused or exacerbated by his heavy cocaine use from 2002-2005. "You have a hallway up the middle of your nose and sinus cavities on each side," said Hamilton, whose addiction to drugs and alcohol led to a ban from baseball from 2003-2005. "When you breathe air, it goes up and down the hallway. "Same thing when you do drugs, it goes up the hallway, not into the sinus cavities.

As California contemplates legalizing the sale of marijuana, the real war over intoxicants in this country is, as always, over alcohol. Since Prohibition ended in 1933 with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution — which repealed the 18th Amendment authorizing the ban on alcohol — states, counties and municipalities have see-sawed back and forth over alcohol sales. States are still passing laws on the sale of alcohol on Sundays, and municipalities and counties are still voting on whether to permit local alcohol purchases.

Dr. Stanley Korenman's commentary (Op-Ed Page, Sept. 7) on drug addiction naively asserts that animal experiments hold the key to this difficult problem. The idea is that if we learn the biochemical basis for addiction and then develop medicines that block the craving for recreational drugs, addicts will forget the high they get from drugs. As a doctor who treats scores of addicts, I find that scenario all too simplistic. All the animal experiments Korenman's colleagues can devise will not change the fundamental social problem of drug abuse and addiction.

Addictions are largely problems of people who begin smoking, drinking or using other drugs before age 21, according to a report published Wednesday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The report calls adolescent substance use American's leading public health problem and points to statistics that show an "epidemic" of use among minors. For example, 75%  of all high school students have used addictive substances. One in five meets the medical criteria for addiction.

Morphine and cocaine both lead to addiction in part because of how they affect key reward areas in the brain. But a new study shows that they do this in very different ways -- knowledge that may eventually make treatments for addicts more specific and successful, but that also may complicate matters for people who take multiple drugs at once. Cocaine and morphine both have profound effects on the flow of dopamine -- a neurotransmitter scientists have consistently implicated in our sensations of reward in the brain.

Macaulay Culkin is no heroin addict, according to his rep, no matter how loud a tabloid headline screams that rumor. A report that Culkin is addicted to heroin and more "is not only categorically without merit, but it is also impossibly and ridiculously fictitious," his publicist told various outlets Wednesday, reacting to a National Enquirer cover story that loudly predicts the"Home Alone" actor's death within six months.  "We beseech the...

Chrystal Johnson didn't think there was anything unhealthy about her all-consuming fixation with "The Twilight Saga" — until she discovered it was sucking the life out of her marriage. "I found poems my husband had written in his journal about how I had fallen for a 'golden-eyed vampire,' " says Johnson, a 31-year-old accountant from Mesa, Ariz., who became so enthralled by the blockbuster series of young adult novels and movies that she found herself staying up all night, re-reading juicy chapters and chatting about casting news and the are-they-or-aren't-they romance between the stars of the films, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

California's lax rules governing who can work as substance abuse counselors have allowed sex offenders and other felons to treat addicts with little to no scrutiny by the state, according to a report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released Monday. California does not require a criminal background check for drug and alcohol counselors, nor does it ask applicants to report their criminal histories, according to the report, which found that at least 23 sex offenders have been permitted to work as counselors since 2005.

I've tumbled down another rabbit hole, wound up in Long Beach, which isn't a worst-case scenario, though close. The cars here all need mufflers, the young fans need more clothes. What kind of sordid little event is this? Indy car racing had always been pretty much a mystery to me, then it split off into two separate circuits, then NASCAR got huge (overwhelming it), then suddenly the big names aged out of the sport. Or worse, died. Sure, more pretty-boy drivers came along, but they seemed like robots.

A ruthlessly self-aware political wife reconsidering her choices. A sensual socialite facing down an oppressive age with informed good humor. A group of young women so busy defying social expectations they've forgotten to have any of their own. A working mother with a gift for passionate stillness. A recently recovered drama addict determined to save the world. A bipolar CIA operative, an optimistic bureaucrat, a frightened sex slave turned canny warrior. The female leads of "House of Cards," "Parade's End," "Girls," "The Good Wife," "Enlightened," "Homeland," "Parks and Recreation" and "Game of Thrones" are very different sorts of women who share one important trait: We have never seen their like before.

Having a conversation with Rob Roberge is like participating in a discourse about, well, everything: Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried,” the art of celestial writing and the invention of the Big Dipper, why the Modern Lovers' “Roadrunner” is the best two-chord song in the world. It's one of the reasons I've always liked him; we've known each other for 15 years or so, have taught and published together, and I enjoy listening to him talk. He's sharp and funny, often lacerating and deeply self-reflective, qualities that also describe his third novel, “The Cost of Living” (Other Voices: 294 pp. $16 paper)

What do you think is the leading cause of accidental death in California? If you said car accidents, you were wrong. In 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 3,200 people in the state died in automobile crashes, while 3,561 people died of drug overdoses, the bulk of them involving prescription pills. That high number of deaths is particularly tragic because we have a powerful weapon against drug overdoses, and it isn't used nearly as often as it could be. Naloxone (trade name: Narcan)

While Cory Monteith's character on "Glee" decides what he wants to be when he grows up, Monteith in real life has decided to enter rehab.  The actor "has voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility for substance addiction," his rep told the Ministry on Monday. "He graciously asks for your respect and privacy as he takes the necessary steps towards recovery. " Monteith's "Glee" costar and real-life love interest Lea Michele, 26, passed along her good wishes publicly.

Eight months after wedding England's Prince William, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (formerly Kate Middleton), has revealed she will become a patron of the British charity Action on Addiction, which supports research, prevention and treatment of addiction, support for addicts' families and the education and training of those working in the field. Action on Addiction is one of several charities to which the Duchess will lend her highly visible support: Other charities relate to Catherine's interest in the arts, including a charity that provides art therapy to children.

As a reminder of how much his life has changed, Rabbi Mark Borovitz wore a starched blue prisoner's shirt. He reveled in the symbolism, stroking his beard, dancing a jig, smiling broadly. Then, from a low stage in a well-lit sanctuary, he looked out at his congregants and turned the tale of Exodus into a parable on fighting addiction. "How," he shouted, "are you going to get out of Egypt this year? What's the inner slavery you are going to leave behind?" For many inside the temple this night, the question cut to the bone.

Day 1 My anxiety grows as I get to Larkspur, several hours into my drive to Spirit Rock. I stop for a snack, worried the food will be hippie-style brown rice casseroles. When I pull into the parking lot, I'm told I can carry my bags up the hill or put them in a pickup. I heft them, worried it's too indulgent to do otherwise. Later, walking to dinner, people talk tentatively; it's our last chance to speak to one another, and rather than motivating a full-on chat stream, that makes me pretty uninterested in small talk.