Addiction

UC Irvine researchers have discovered that a drug they say could treat cancer may also keep recovering cocaine addicts from relapsing into their habit, university officials said in a news release. The drug, sodium butyrate, slows or blocks drug-seeking activity in mice who sought cocaine in earlier experiments, UCI neuroscientists found. Unlike typical drug-treatment programs that look to un-condition cues people associate with drug use, scientists took the novel approach of using sodium butyrate to address addictive behavior on a molecular level, school officials said.

Last year around this time I wrote about my addiction to ice cream. Häagen Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle to be exact. Thanks to the help of Ralphs supermarket and Promelis Market in the Westcliff area, I’ve managed to kick that habit. Simply put, they don’t carry it anymore. But once an addict, always an addict. Check out an AA meeting, you’ll see a lot of cigarettes and Diet Coke. So, those late-night hours at home, that used to be set aside for some good, old fashioned ice cream eating, are now filled with something else.

The holidays are a chance for loved ones and friends to gather and enjoy each other’s company. Alcohol can be a part of many of these gatherings. All too often, there is someone in the crowd who has a problem with alcohol abuse or addiction. Alcohol abuse is a devastating killer that claimed more than 22,000 American lives in 2008. However, these parties and gatherings can be a point of hope and clarity for loved ones caught in the grip of addiction if we know how to look for the signs and symptoms.

The Pilot’s new columnist, Judge James Gray, recently offered up a pair of lucid, straightforward pieces on our drug problems and how to best deal with them. The second part, under the headline “How to win the war on illegal drugs,” included an invitation to readers to comment on the columns. I always find such invitations hard to turn down, whether or not I have any expertise in the subject. In this instance, I thought immediately about deferring to a good friend with international credentials, Dr. Joseph Pursch, who has never failed me in coming up with quotable opinions.

I was gratified to see that the editorial board of the Daily Pilot endorsed Proposition 5, which is the Non-Violent Offender’s Rehabilitation Act, with the headline “Prison is for drug dealers, not customers.” They are right, and I commend them for their insight and sophistication. As I have said in previous columns, it makes as much sense to me to put the gifted actor Robert Downey Jr. in jail for his cocaine addiction, and he certainly seems to have one, as it would to have put Betty Ford in jail for her addiction to alcohol.

Many have the desire to help loved ones pinned down by addiction, but the ability to help is sometimes elusive. New Directions for Women will welcome Ken Seeley, an intervention specialist for A&E’s show “Intervention,” in an effort to give those willing to help the tools and knowledge to those suffering from addiction. Intervention workshops will start 10 a.m. Saturday and will be every fourth Saturday of each month at New Directions for Women in Costa Mesa.

COSTA MESA — Like most people, Shannon Stoveken wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having to make a trip to the post office last week to mail off a holiday package, especially because she would have to pay extra to ship it internationally to London. Then it hit her: She wasn't just filling an order for a product from her Sexy and Sober clothing and accessory line; her product was going to be someone's Christmas present all the way across "the Pond" in Europe. "It was incredible," Stoveken said of her first sale to a customer from the United Kingdom.

COSTA MESA — They're a long way from the Hawaiian beaches of Oahu, where, they said, their addiction to meth eventually made them homeless, forcing them to live out of a tent in a place called Barbers Point. They used to stay up all night "tweaking" with other meth addicts who'd gather there. They had tiki torches outside. Their tent was pretty big. Visitors came and went. They had lots of fellow methhead friends, but something in life was missing. Meth always seemed to have the edge.

COSTA MESA -- Host of A&E's top-rated show "Intervention," Ken Seeley, will visit the New Directions for Women campus for a series of free intervention community workshops beginningat 10 a.m.  June 24 and continuing the fourth Saturday of each month.  The free workshops will be on the New Directions for Women campus at 2607 Willo Ave. in Costa Mesa. Ken Seeley has been professionally and personally involved in the recovery community for more than 17 years. Ken applies his own life experience and personal history of addiction and recovery and natural enthusiasm to help change the lives of those suffering with personal addiction or the addiction of a loved one. Certified by the National Assn.

NEWPORT BEACH - Some people call them teacher of the year, family doctor, engineer or Girl Scout leader. Nancy Clark calls them clients. For 15 years, Clark has run a shoplifting addiction treatment program on Old Newport Boulevard. Many clients attend in lieu of possible jail or prison sentences. Despite stereotypes about petty thieves snatching items out of financial desperation, many of the folks in the program are well-to-do. They see shoplifting as an addiction that gives an endorphin rush on par with drugs.

What's wrong with me? I just dumped another horticultural ambition. Four years of hard work gone in one afternoon. Is there anyone else out there with a similar diagnosis? Four years ago I became fascinated by a rather small group of succulent plants, known as aeoniums. Several of you may know a few of the common versions. One day, while pondering aeoniums, I somehow concluded that I would set out to see how many different species I could assemble. I even briefly considered a collecting trip to the Canary Islands, where several grow.

COSTA MESA — Like most people, Shannon Stoveken wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having to make a trip to the post office last week to mail off a holiday package, especially because she would have to pay extra to ship it internationally to London. Then it hit her: She wasn't just filling an order for a product from her Sexy and Sober clothing and accessory line; her product was going to be someone's Christmas present all the way across "the Pond" in Europe. "It was incredible," Stoveken said of her first sale to a customer from the United Kingdom.

Growing up in Costa Mesa, Karli Kuhns was like any other kid. She played soccer and loved hanging out with her younger brother. She attended Ensign Intermediate and Newport Harbor high schools. However, as Kuhns approached adolescence, her attention veered. She talked back to teachers and her grades weren't something she bragged about. In seventh grade, when offered alcohol and marijuana, she tried both. By her freshman year of high school, Kuhn was injecting speed. "I started having seizures from it in my P.E. class," Kuhns said.

Two men arrested over the weekend on suspicion of using heroin in an SUV parked on Lido Isle are just the latest sign of the narcotic's comeback among Orange County youths, authorities said Wednesday. Two Lido Isle residents, ages 19 and 18, were arrested on suspicion of felony heroin possession and misdemeanor possession of heroin paraphernalia, respectively, according to police records. Officers said that the pair were spotted at 3 p.m. Saturday off the Piazza Lido and Via Ithaca, using the drug in a grey GMC Yukon.

NEWPORT BEACH — As far as demonstrations here go, this qualified as mass protest: At least 70 Lido Isle residents, most of them with grey hair, crowded the City Council Chambers on Tuesday night. They were there to lay into city officials over a drug and alcohol rehabilitation operator who had opened a group home in their neighborhood, and how they thought the city was indifferent to their outrage. That same night, the city had announced a major breakthrough in lawsuits against group home operators, and a few weeks ago, the city had signed a settlement with Morningside Recovery.

COSTA MESA — They're a long way from the Hawaiian beaches of Oahu, where, they said, their addiction to meth eventually made them homeless, forcing them to live out of a tent in a place called Barbers Point. They used to stay up all night "tweaking" with other meth addicts who'd gather there. They had tiki torches outside. Their tent was pretty big. Visitors came and went. They had lots of fellow methhead friends, but something in life was missing. Meth always seemed to have the edge.

The holidays are a chance for loved ones and friends to gather and enjoy each other’s company. Alcohol can be a part of many of these gatherings. All too often, there is someone in the crowd who has a problem with alcohol abuse or addiction. Alcohol abuse is a devastating killer that claimed more than 22,000 American lives in 2008. However, these parties and gatherings can be a point of hope and clarity for loved ones caught in the grip of addiction if we know how to look for the signs and symptoms.

Twenty years ago, the mother-daughter team of Mary Lou Williams and Kimberly Funk launched the Latest Thing, a store for people recovering from addictions — and for the friends and family members who are rooting for them. Among the items in stock at 1575 Newport Blvd. in Costa Mesa are books, spiritual figurines and “recovery tokens” that mark the number of years a person has been sober. On your site, you refer to something called the Big Book. What is that?