(Article by Charlie Spiering from breitbart.com)

“Opioid abuse has become a crippling problem throughout the United States,” Trump said. “This is a total epidemic. And I think it’s almost untalked-about compared to the severity that we’re witnessing.”

The president was joined at the White House meeting by Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Chris Christie, who is leading the commission. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly also attended.

Trump referred to the border, vowing to do more to stop opioid drugs from entering the country.

“Drug cartels have spread their deadly industry across our nation, and the availability of cheap narcotics, some of it comes in cheaper than candy and has devastated our communities,” Trump said.

One recovering addict, Vanessa Vitolo, explained how she became injured and got hooked on painkillers like Percocet and oxycodone. It was not long before she moved on to heroin because it was cheaper.

Vitolo said she lost everything, was homeless, and in and out of jail before she went to a treatment facility.

“You have no feelings, and you’re a shell, and it takes over your whole life,” she explained.

Read more at: breitbart.com

Psychoactive substances can treat cancer, anxiety, depression, addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder and psychological trauma. If these were legal for therapeutic purposes the antidepressant industry would be in ruins.

Depression affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide. Suicide claims over 800,000 of them annually. About 1 in every 5 patients are unresponsive to the most widely used class of antidepressants which are labeled selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. They have the power to cause acute anxiety, weight gain and sexual dysfunction. Those who do recover remain addicted to SSRIs and have a poor quality of life including attempted suicide, functional impairment and relapse.

In the 1950s and 1960s, psychedelics were used in research and successfully as treatments. After being outlawed, research efforts showing the effects on the brain and potential therapeutic use were severely affected. The antidepressant industry labeled psychedelics as dangerous.

In 2013, Professor David Nutt from the Imperial College London published a paper in Nature Reviews Neuroscience insisting the ban on psychedelics was more harmful then helpful. “The decision to outlaw these drugs was based on their perceived dangers, but in many cases the harms have been overstated and are actually less than many legal drugs such as alcohol. The laws have never been updated despite scientific advances and growing evidence that many of these drugs are relatively safe. This hindering of research and therapy is motivated by politics, not science. It’s one of the most scandalous examples of scientific censorship in modern times.” Nutt said.

Recent studies show psychedelics have profound antidepressant effects. Psilocybin has shown promising results to treat cancer anxiety in it’s first clinical study in over 40 years. Dr. Charles Grob says “They reported improved mood and anxiety regulation, improved quality of life, improved relationships with their partners and close family and friends, it was actually quite dramatic. When we crunched the data, we found that indeed the psilocybin treatment model appeared to be quite effective in reducing anxiety in a sustained manner going for months after the treatment session.”

There are many more possible benefits to psychedelics. They can lead to structural changes in the brain supporting attentional processes. Self-referential thought and internal mental activity are among the benefits that industry and regulatory corruption is keeping in the dark.

Sources:

NaturalBlaze.com

Bustle.com

ATLANTIC CITY — On a cold morning last Monday, social workers and police officers walked around Brown’s Park, looking for anyone in need of housing or other help.

Article by Michelle Brunetti

The American Society of Addiction Medicine’s statistics reveal that 1.9 million people suffered with opioid addiction in 2014, and that nearly half of all lethal drug overdoses involved prescription painkillers.

Opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin have a street value of up to $30 per pill. Heroin, on the other hand, can be purchased for just $5 a bag. The molecular structure of the drugs is similar, so the transition from expensive prescription pills to shooting up is actually quite easy. It’s not an uncommon phenomenon, and the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that around 80 percent of all heroin users started out abusing opioids.

This suggests that many of the deaths attributed to heroin each year involve people who were previously using opioids – and the death toll for opioids is really much higher than reported.

What is truly ironic is that these drugs are still legal, while cannabis remains a Schedule I illegal drug. Numerous studies have found cannabis to be substantially safer than other recreational drugs, including alcohol. A study using Medicare Part D drug sales records revealed that in states where medical marijuana was legal, opioid use actually dropped substantially. The report found that over 1,800 fewer opioid prescriptions were doled out in medical marijuana-friendly states, and that those states actually had dramatically lower healthcare costs to boot. States that were medical cannabis-friendly reportedly saved $165.2 million annually in medical-related fees. Marijuana is also safer and more effective at treating chronic pain than opioids are to begin with.

Health Impact News writes, “Cannabis is the pain solution for both not entering the gates leading to opiate ‘hard drugs’ but also for rescuing those who have been addicted to them before it’s too late.”

A researcher from UC Irvine School of Medicine and professor of neurobiology and anatomy, Dr. Daniele Piomelli, has spent the last 25 years studying marijuana’s pain-relieving properties. After conducting decades of extensive research, Dr. Piomelli has also concluded that cannabis could be used to safely and effectively treat pain and opioid addiction.

Another doctor, Dr. David Sulak, runs several clinics located in Maine that treat opioid addiction. They report having great success in treating patients with medical marijuana to help wean them off the hard stuff safely. Medical marijuana reportedly helps to prevent the symptoms of withdrawal, and they have not yet seen any relapses occur.

Natural is definitely the way to go when it comes to pain relief. Sadly, our government doesn’t seem to agree.

Sources:

HealthImpactNews.com

CDC.gov

ASAM.org

GreenRushDaily.com

According to a statement made by Dr. Patrice A. Harris, the AMA’s incoming chair, the ban is needed because of “the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices.”

Ok. So they are concerned that you won’t be able to afford their pills. Hmm, maybe it’s more about the collapse of their entire death medical system, as Mike Adams succinctly documents in this four-part Health Ranger Report. In part one, you’ll learn what the Marlboro man, Coca-Cola and Ambilify have in common.

Mike Adams goes for the jugular in part two:

The drug companies “had to get all the well people on drugs. In order to do this, they had to create a bunch of fake diseases.”

Imagine a television or magazine without advertisements for prescription drugs! Mike continues his searing commentary in part three:

“They show images of happy, healthy people when the drug they give you will actually cause you to have a heart attack.”

Are physicians becoming irrelevant? In part four, listen to Mike wax eloquent about how technology may take over.

“Most doctors are glorified drug dealers… there’s nothing in that equation that can’t be done by a robot.”

For many individuals, the removal of the criminal pharmaceutical companies and their despicable television advertising won’t matter. Why?  Because we threw out those beast screens years ago. Have you?

Sources:

Theantimedia.org

Cdc.gov

A SIZE 32 Maccas addict who spent over $100,000 feeding her insatiable food habit has managed to ditch the greasy takeaway and lost 107kg.

(Article by Rebekah Scanlan)

Elle Goodall, 28, from Mount Isa, Queensland was so hooked on MacDonalds, she’d order at least three large meals in each sitting, causing her weight to balloon to 184kg.

Her addiction was so bad, Elle would get in angry rages if she didn’t get her fix and sometimes “lost it” at her husband Aaron Wilkins, 28, if he got her order wrong.

Her former diet of Maccas and more Maccas cost her $100k. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency / Elle Goodall used to weigh 184kg. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

It was only when her GP diagnosed her with type-2 diabetes at just 26, that Elle decided to have vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) surgery in a last-ditch attempt to regain control.

After going under the knife nine months ago, she’s since switched fried foods for a raw diet and competed in three triathlons to lose more than 100kg.

“My addiction to Macca’s was completely out of hand. If I wasn’t eating the fried food, I was thinking about eating it,” she says.

“I’d easily eat three large Big Mac meals plus an extra portion of fries. I couldn’t get enough of the oily texture.

“I knew I was a bigger woman, but I’d convinced myself I wasn’t that bad and completely avoided scales. It was only when I caught the flu and had to see my GP, that he convinced me to have a health check. I couldn’t believe it when the scales read 184kg and my blood results revealed I had type-2 diabetes. I knew then something had to change.”

Kate used to survive on a diet of greasy takeaway. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

Even now, Elle can’t quite believe how big she became because she’d always led an extremely active life and loved sports.

“In school I was a big swimmer. I trained for several hours a day, morning and night. When I left at 18, I stopped swimming and that’s when I started to put weight on,” she says.

“I got a job working on a boat and though it was pretty physical, I was still eating as before and I went up to a size 18. It didn’t bother me though, I had an amazing job travelling around the Whitsundays. My body was the last thing on my mind.”

It was after meeting her husband Aaron in 2007 that Elle started to indulge in takeaways, causing an addiction that would spiral out of control.
“We moved in together and I gave up my work on the boat for an office job. Suddenly I wasn’t moving as much anymore and weight started to creep on.
“I’d be tired after work and couldn’t be bothered to cook, so I’d grab us a takeaway on the way home. It was usually always Macca’s. Soon, one takeout a week became three, then it was every day. Our kitchen was barely ever used.”

Elle has started competing in triathlons and has totally changed her diet. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

By the time the couple got married two years later, Elle walked down the aisle in a size 24 wedding gown.

“I remember feeling like a princess on my wedding day. But when I got the photos back, I was horrified.

“I looked so round and I knew then I was a ‘bigger girl’ but instead of taking action, I turned to food. I got in my car and headed straight for the nearest McDonalds for a feel-good binge.

“After that, I stopped looking at my scales and just lived in denial. I told myself things couldn’t possibly be that bad.”

Over the next six years, Elle’s appetite for fried food grew bigger and at the height of her addiction, the 163cm admin officer would often eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the infamous burger chain.

She said: “I never really had a sweet tooth. It was always savoury foods.

“When I wasn’t eating I was always thinking about when and where I getting my next fix.

“When Aaron and I moved to Mount Isa I frequented our local Macca’s so often the staff knew my name and order by heart. It’s so embarrassing to think about it now.

“I was so big I was having to buy size 32 clothes online as no stores in the small town had anything I could wear.

“It sounds crazy but even when I was buying super-size outfits, I didn’t think I had that much of a problem. But the reality was I spent most of my days eating.

“If I wasn’t eating or I didn’t get enough food, I’d get into furious rages. Some nights Aaron would go out to get our dinner and I’d go mad if he missed my third meal out or got the order wrong. I’d become a Macca’s monster, always hungry for my next fix.”

Elle has now competed in three triathlons, with her fourth planned for October. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

Eventually, a chance visit to the doctors because a bad case of flu was what made Elle realise how serious her size was.
“The doctor convinced me to have a health check, which included being weighed and having my blood tested. When the scale read 184kg, I just remember thinking ‘wow.’ The type-2 diabetes diagnosis just made me question how I’d ever let it get so bad.”
For several months, Elle tried desperately to lose weight but she always succumbed to her addition.
“I tried shakes, medication and exercise but I just couldn’t beat the demons in my head. Then one day I was in Kmart when some kids started following me and making piggy noises.
“I went straight to my car, cried and drove to Macca’s. As I ate the food, I knew then I couldn’t go on like this anymore. Not only had I spent a small fortune on the food, it was ruining my life.
“The next day I went to see my GP and was booked in for weight loss surgery. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Elle in training. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

Putting in the hard yards. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

After having a five-hour gastric sleeve operation, Elle’s life changed dramatically.

“In the first week I lost 10kg and felt so inspired for the first time in years. Aaron bought me a pink treadmill and I started exercising at home. It was the first time in years I’d exercised and I couldn’t even run for 30 seconds, but I was determined.

“A few months later, I met my now trainer Vicky through a friend. She was training for a triathlon and I said ‘I wish I could do one of those.’ She turned to me and said: ‘I could have you ready in a month.’

“I accepted the challenge and a month later, weighing 140kg, I completed my first triathlon. It was amazing.”

It’s now nine months since Elle’s surgery and she’s completely changed her lifestyle, switching Macca’s for a strict raw food diet to help with her daily training schedule.

These days Elle’s diet is a world away from Big Mac meals. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

“I weigh 76kg and am fitting into a size 12. To be honest, I can’t quite believe it but it’s true. I’ve lost more weight than my whole body weighs today and I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved.

“I’m competing in my fourth triathlon in October and I can’t wait. I don’t think I’ll ever eat another Macca’s again.”

ELLE’S DIET BEFORE

No breakfast

Lunch — KFC takeaway with 6 pieces of chicken, chips and coke

Dinner — 3 Big Mac Meals plus an extra portion of large fries and an Ice cream sundae

Snacks — McDonalds fries and nuggets. Large hot chocolates throughout the day

ELLE’S DIET NOW

Breakfast — Green smoothie

Snack — Raw corn on the cob

Lunch — 1 boiled egg and raw veggies

Snack — Seaweed

Dinner — Smoked salmon and salad

Elle tucking into some raw corn. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

Read more at: news.com.au

The study, published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that drinking a glass of cranberry juice a day decreased symptomatic UTIs by almost 40 percent among women with UTIs. This could help ease widespread dependency on antibiotics in treating recurrent UTIs.

“Currently the primary approach to reducing symptomatic events of UTI is the use of chronic antibiotics for suppression, an approach associated with side effects and development of antibiotic resistance. This study shows that consuming one 8-ounce (240 ml) glass of cranberry juice a day reduces the number of times women suffer from repeat episodes of symptomatic UTI and avoids chronic suppressive antibiotics,” Dr. Kalpana Gupta, Professor of Medicine at Boston University’s School of Medicine, said in a press release.

Healing power of cranberry juice

Some health authorities believe cranberries can significantly reduce the worldwide consumption of antibiotics and better the life of women who have recurrent UTI symptoms.

The 24 week study involved 373 women and 18 clinical sites dotted across the U.S. and France. It is the largest clinical trial to investigate the impact cranberry juice consumption has on UTIs. The trial adds to a growing body of literature on how cranberry juice can boost urinary tract health and lower symptomatic UTIs among chronic UTI patients.

The team attempted to determine if recurrent UTI sufferers could be shielded from recurring infections by consuming cranberry juice. The women in the study were 40 years of age on average and had two UTIs within the last year. Over the course of the study, participants were chosen at random to consume a daily 8-ounce glass of cranberry juice or a placebo drink without cranberries.

The rate of UTIs among cranberry juice drinkers was significantly less than non-cranberry juice drinkers. Over the course of six months, approximately 39 cranberry drinkers had a recurring UTI in comparison to 67 in the placebo group.

Antibiotics tend to be the most common course of treatment for UTIs. Woman who have recurring UTIs are sometimes prescribed low-dose antibiotics. Unfortunately, the widespread use and misuse of antibiotics has spurred resistance across the globe. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a 50 percent resistance rate to one of the most commonly used antibiotics to treat UTIs.

A cocktail of nutrients

Fortunately, cranberries posses a distinct group of compounds, including Type-A PACs (or proanthocyanidins) that thwart bacteria from sticking and spurring infections. Furthermore, recent studies have found a new class of compounds, xyloglucan oligosaccharides, which have comparable anti-bacterial properties against E. coli as PACs. This means there are a variety of elements in cranberries that can aid health.

These compounds are present in a myriad of products, including cranberry juice cocktail, 100 percent juice, dried cranberries and cranberry extracts. Nevertheless, the bulk of the studies centered on cranberries and UTIs have used cranberry juice.

“The key to cranberry’s benefit is consuming a glass daily to help avoid the infection altogether,” explained Gupta. “Most people wait to drink cranberry juice until they have a UTI, but once the symptoms start they’ll likely need a course of antibiotics.”

According to Gupta, women with UTIs can feel hopeful that cranberries could offer a potential solution to both UTIs and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Sources:

EurekAlert.org

NewsMedical.net

NDTV.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

In the last decade millions have been prescribed OxyContin for a myriad of less intensive pain problems — while being told it was less addictive than other opiates. In 2007, Purdue Pharma paid $654 million for those lies, probably around the same time our military was guarding the poppy fields in Afghanistan. Your family may be affected by addiction, not to street drugs, but to pharmaceutical pain medication. These days, as Buzzfeed reports, opioid use is an epidemic:

“About 40 Americans a day die of opioid painkiller overdoses. More than 200 million U.S. prescriptions are written for the medications every year, with their use quadrupling since 1999. Some 1.9 million Americans are now addicted or dependent on the painkillers…”

So now the FDA puts a label that says ‘addiction’ or ‘death’ on the box?  What took so long?

According to Tech Times, “The FDA announced that it now requires immediate-release opioid painkillers, which include the likes of oxycodone and fentanyl, to carry a ‘black box’ warning, the strongest type of warning intended to educate doctors when they prescribe drugs to their patients.

“The warning also serves to inform users of the risk of addiction, abuse, overdose and death related to the use of these powerful pain-killing medications.

“The FDA said the labels would provide clear warning that immediate-release painkillers should only be given to patients suffering from severe pain when non-addictive drugs do not work well enough.

Today’s actions are one of the largest undertakings for informing prescribers of risks across opioid products,” FDA commissioner Robert Califf said in a press release,’and one of many steps the FDA intends to take this year as part of our comprehensive action plan to reverse this epidemic.'”

Let me get this straight. The FDA thinks that by putting a label on a box that is going to reverse engineer the opiate addiction running rampant and tearing families apart? This is coming from the same agency that is infamous for the approval of all those other advertised drugs that you’re supposed to ask your doctor for that already have a laundry list of serious health warnings. Just a cursory look at the warning list for Humira:

• signs of infection (fever, chills, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, flu symptoms);
• shortness of breath with swelling of your ankles or feet;
• confusion, neck stiffness, seizure
• pain or burning when you urinate;
• sudden numbness or weakness, sudden severe headache, problems with vision or balance;
• chest pain, sudden or ongoing cough, wheezing, rapid breathing, coughing up mucus or blood;
• tingly feeling, weakness or prickly feeling in your fingers or toes;
• problems with balance or eye movement, trouble speaking or swallowing;
• severe lower back pain, loss of bladder or bowel control;
• pain, swelling, warmth, or redness in one or both legs;
• red, purple, or scaly skin rash, hair loss, muscle pain, mouth sores;
• joint pain or swelling, swollen glands, muscle aches, unusual thoughts or behavior; or
• patchy skin color, red spots, or a butterfly-shaped skin rash over your cheeks and nose

Not warning of addiction means the customers keep coming back

Humira’s side effects, like all of Big Pharma’s potions, lead to more serious illnesses. But Humira is not addictive and maybe that’s the issue. Not labeling a pain medication as addictive means repeat customers. And the FDA and Big Pharma do need to keep you in the pipeline, don’t they?

It’s more important than ever to know that food is your best medicine.

Sources:

Buzzfeed.com

Techtimes.com

Rxlist.com

Science.naturalnews.com

FoodForensics.com

(Photo credit: Praneat/Shutterstock)

Prince’s former drug dealer has revealed the full extent of the late-star’s secret drug addiction – telling how the superstar was hooked on powerful opiates for over 25 years.

Here’s more on the details:

Source – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3555292/Prince-s-former-drug-dealer-reveals-extent-addiction.html