Seabrook House

Please keep The Seabrook House Foundation in mind on #GivingTuesday (12/1). We hope to raise $5,000 to help provide much needed AA and NA books to patients in 2016. Read more about how your donation would be used here: http://bit.ly/1YpxVzi

Blog post by: Alumni Relations Specialist

In 2009, President Barack Obama initiated a law which would regulate nicotine. The law would require that all cigarettes sold in the United States be low-nicotine.  But as of this point, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not acted on the law.

A new study is now reporting that these low-nicotine cigarettes could reduce smoking, and even cause some smokers to kick the habit all together. Researchers on the study followed 800 smokers across the country to analyze their smoking habits and to test whether substituting their regular cigarettes with low-nicotine cigarettes would affect their addiction.

Over the course of six weeks, half the smokers continued to smoke their regular brands of cigarettes while the other half were unknowingly given low-nicotine cigarettes. Those smoking the regular cigarettes smoked up to 22 cigarettes a day while those with the low-nicotine cigarettes only smoked up to 16 a day. The low-nicotine cigarettes smokers did not feel any normal nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and some were even able to quit completely.

In addiction recovery, music can be a form of therapy, a way to unwind and quiet your mind. But can certain types of music or specific songs lead you back to your drug of choice? Researchers in Australia attempted to find out in their new study.

The researchers led a group of 38 participants, 19 of which were in residential treatment for substance use disorders. The remaining 19 were used as control subjects. The study included two phases.

During the first phase, the researchers had the subjects listen to two songs, one of which may trigger their addiction, the other which was meant to make them calm. They found that those in treatment found they had more cravings after the trigger song and felt calmer after the other.

In the next phase, the participants were played three different classical songs that were meant to make them happy, sad or peaceful. They found that the control group had a much stronger response to the happy song, while the residential group had a strong response to the sad song.

CVS Pharmacy is continuing to support the fight against addiction. The nationwide convenience store and pharmacy has expanded their naloxone program to 12 additional states. The company already provides naloxone, a life saving overdose reversing drug, without a prescription to residents in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Any loved one or friend of can go into a CVS in these states and receive the drug to keep on hand in the case of an overdose. The states added to this program include Arkansas, California, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.

The naloxone program is not the only thing CVS is doing to combat drug addiction. They also allow their pharmacy customers to send back their unused medication so it can be disposed of safely. They identify physicians who are overprescribing and are advocates for drug prevention laws and policy changes.

Every year, September is recognized as National Recovery Month. It is a month dedicated to educating the public and raising awareness on the issues of substance abuse and mental illness, which are both far too common yet stigmatized in the United States.

Each year, over 20 million people will use an illicit drug. Some of these people will become addicted and may spiral out of control, hurting themselves, their friends and their families throughout the process. This is happening to millions of people but is not being talked about and often these people are not getting help. National Recovery Month is working to change that.

This year’s theme is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Visible, Vocal, Valuable!” This theme highlights peer support in recovery and encourages others to be a voice in the recovery community by sharing their stories. It also recognizes the courage of those staying on their path to recovery.