Tag: Addiction
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A running diary of suboxone withdrawal
August 12, 2018 I’m in the third day of my Suboxone withdrawal and starting to feel it. I have night sweats, my appetite is diminishing and I’m only sleeping five hours at night. I’ve gone from three Suboxone a day down to one-half of a Suboxone a day. It’s a familiar feeling because I used…
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From Recovery to Revolution: Russell Brand talks addiction and recovery
Photo by Louise Haywood-Schiefer The Big Issues of the United Kingdom and Australia have gone Russell Brand daft in recent issues. In this conversation from a church in central London, the eccentric actor, writer, comedian and activist talks with a group of Big Issue vendors about what drives their addictions and how they overcame them.…
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At The Speed of Life
I was late to graduation, just like I was late for everything. Flying down the right-hand lane on South Livingston Avenue, doing close to 90 miles an hour with my 1958 Plymouth Belvedere convertible top down, when I heard a police car hit the wailers and saw the lights in my rear-view mirror. I pulled…
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Harm Reduction Exists for Heroin Addicts
According to Mike Stobbe of the Boston Globe, there is a safe place where heroin addicts can go to shoot up, and it’s been operating underground in the United States for the past three years. The underground safe place opened in 2014 somewhere in New York. The location has not been revealed because it’s not…
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The man vs. the monster: Aaron Hernandez
Photo: Wikimedia Commons When I see the pictures of Aaron Hernandez being taken out of his beautiful house in handcuffs, I’m witnessing a tragedy. I don’t condone the man’s acts, but I know that it all took place in the pursuit of drugs. Addiction lays low the mighty and doesn’t discriminate. As everyone who’s reading…
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Paying The Price
About two weeks ago, my chest started bothering me. I couldn’t really describe the feeling; it was like an itching across the inside of my chest. I didn’t know whether it was my heart or my lungs. When I was 11 years, I started smoking Camel non-filters and smoked regularly from then until my last…
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From Homeless to Hopeful: One Woman’s Battle Against Addiction
In the back room of East Boston’s Meridian House, a long rectangular table is covered with blank paper. A group of about 20 people chat idly, sitting on all sides. Some have dyed hair and tattoos. Some speak in thick Boston accents. Some curse. Soon, they are quieted by a woman with bright pink hair…
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Suboxone: A Positive Alternative to Heroin Addiction
Addiction is a mental illness that has been misconstrued and stereotyped, especially since the early 1900s when it was criminalized. Addicts are often represented as bad people rather than sick people. In 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed into law, immediately criminalizing people suffering from substance use disorder. Ironically, the Bayer company, famous for…
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Roslindale panhandler memorialized, family fundraising for funeral
A photo and kinds words left by a stranger has grown into a noticeable memorial on the gate surrounding the Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street. The memorial is in honor of George B. Dagraca, a 43-year-old panhandler and heroin addict who died from heart complications on August 4. George, who is survived by three…
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Vaccinating Against Addiction
There is no magic pill, but one day there could be an inoculation against addiction to certain substances, including heroin and other opiates. Dr. Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute, one of the country’s largest biomedical institutes, in San Diego, California, has been at work for over 20 years formulating vaccines against drugs like…