Day: 02/02/2015

This is how “epidemics” begin

file:///C:/Users/computer1/Downloads/Attachment-2848.pdf

The Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners

WHEREAS, heroin use in New Mexico and the availability of the drug has shown a steady
increase over the past five years according to the National Substance Abuse Index and at least 15 people in Albuquerque under the age of 24 died from heroin overdoses in 2008; and…

WHEREAS, in response to these and other senseless deaths, Jennifer Weiss, whose own son,
Cameron, suffered and died from heroin addiction, formed the Heroin Awareness Committee (HAC ) whose members decided to take action rather than pretend the epidemic does not exist; and…

No, let’s all pretend that the epidemic actually does exist.

Because grieving parents make great medical experts

Click to access NMDA_RegKit13_Final.pdf

New Mexico Dental Association 104th Annual Session

Speaker:  Jennifer Weiss

Event:  Opiates and the Brain

We will have a discussion on how opiates affect the brain, their addictive qualities and how prevention is a far better option than treatment. We will also offer ideas on how the dental community can help be part of the solution to an epidemic affecting so many people in NM.

http://calendar.activedatax.com/cnm/EventList.aspx?fromdate=4/17/2014&todate=4/17/2014&view=Category&display=Day&type=public

4/17/2014, Montoya Campus Guest Speaker Series – Heroin Addiction: How You Can Help Someone Struggling With Addiction. Learn how prescription opiates and heroin affect the brain and body and how you can help someone who may be struggling with addiction. New Mexico’s overdose rate is more than twice the national average, and New Mexico Young people are twice as likely to use heroin than young people in other states. Fina out why this is such a problem and what you can do to help stop it. Presented by Jennifer Weiss, Executive Director of Healing Addiction in Our Community

9/19/2013, Turning the Curve on Opioid Abuse in Bernalillo County

Click to access Opioid%20Summit%20_1%20Report%20-%20FINAL.pdf

The beginnings of this Summit go back more than two years to a meeting where Jennifer Weiss
and others from the Heroin Awareness Committee pointed out to Commissioner Hart Stebbins
the size of the drug problem…

You know, because Ms. Weiss is an “expert” on the “drug problem.”  And politicians only listen to “experts.”

Importantly, the amount of morphine equivalents dispensed has fallen since 2010 to below the 2008 level. This means that the amount per prescription has fallen…

This Summit should consider:  

Every student in middle and high school being assessed for drug dependency and offered counseling if needed…

Next comes drug testing every middle and high school student.

LUNCHEON KEYNOTE:  Sam Donaldson, news correspondent

Because?

What does it feel like to… fly?

I look back on my gymnastics career with mixed emotions, considering the long-term damage the sport did to my body.  But my gymnastics experience was full of good things, too.

For instance, even after all this time, I can still remember how it felt to… fly.  Taking off for a leap, and rising, rising, rising, until you reach the very top — and then being suspended in the air for just a fraction of a second.  Seriously, there’s nothing like it.

I’ve tried to compare this “flying” experience to others, like jumping on a trampoline or off a diving board, but it’s just not the same.  I’ve also tried to compare this feeling with the effects of different drugs, and again, it’s just not the same.

Ah, to be young again…  to be able to ignore pain… yeah, those were the days. 🙂

(Photo:  Gabrielle Douglas)