News Stories

A Consumer Affairs article by Mark Huffman

The 51st Super Bowl will be played on February 5, with the game becoming almost a national holiday in recent years.

And as friends gather to watch the game, large amounts of beer and other alcoholic beverages are consumed. For people in recovery, or who have embraced sobriety, going to a Super Bowl party can be something of a challenge.

In a growing backlash against excessive alcohol consumption, American Addiction Centers (AAC), a chain of treatment centers, is pushing a sober movement for Super Bowl LI. It's challenging the idea that the game and alcohol have to go together.

"I think it's almost a stigma in this country that in order to have a good time, you have to be under the influence and that is just not true," said Nicole Vasquez, National Alumni Manager, American Addiction Centers. "That is why our alumni team exists because it is so important, particularly for young people who get sober, to know you don't need substances to have fun in recovery."

 

As the New Year dawned, 29 American States as well as the district of Columbia began 2017 with some sort of legislation allowing for the use of marijuana. With various decriminalization laws ranging from limited medical access to unrestricted recreational use, advocates in all 50 states are now pushing to repeal criminal penalties for using marijuana.

This new reality leaves those of us with a first hand knowledge and understanding of how marijuana really affects a person's health with an obligation to set the record straight. And while some have naively been fooled into thinking that the media's lack of transparent reporting on this issue, means there is little in the way of credible evidence to refute the calls for legalization, overwhelming evidence does exist, and underscores that the argument has only just begun and not ended as some would have you believe.

 

Calling prescription drug addiction an “urgent and growing threat” to our nation’s public health, Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced a new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulation that would allow pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other authorized collectors to serve as authorized drop-off sites for unused prescription drugs. Under the new policy, long-term care facilities will also be able to collect controlled substances turned in by residents of those facilities, and prescription drug users everywhere will have permission to directly mail in their unused medications to authorized collectors. Read Full Article Here.

July 17 (SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted FedEx Corporation, FedEx Express, Inc., and FedEx Corporate Services, Inc., today, with conspiracies to traffic in controlled substances and misbranded prescription drugs for its role in distributing controlled substances and prescription drugs for illegal Internet pharmacies, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Jay Fitzpatrick, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Director of the Office of Criminal Investigations Philip J. Walsky.
Read the complete Press Release here Download the indictment here.(PDF)
What's your opinion? Should Fedex be held responsible for what people ship using their service? What could they do to prevent their company being used to move illegal drugs? Leave a comment in the comment section below.