High-strength painkiller sparks addiction concerns: A new prescription painkiller currently in development has stoked fears among addiction experts, due to its high concentration of a substance already known to be hyper-addictive. Zohydro, a new medication for which pharmaceutical company Zogenix plans to apply for FDA approval to sell sometime early next year, contains ten times the amount of hydrocodone as Vicodin does — one of the most abused drugs in the United States. Said April Rovero, of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse: “I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin. We just don’t need this on the market.” (photo by The Javorac on Flickr) source
Never a bad time: The new, concerning report on cell phone use isn’t the only place you’ll hear the word “carcinogenic” being used today; May 31st is World No Tobacco Day, a cause that could probably benefit from a slightly less clunky title. The World Health Organization estimates that some 6 million people die each year from tobacco-related illness. Anti-smoking measures within the U.S. have blossomed over the last decade, with smoking bans in public places, restaurants, and bars becoming more and more prevalent across the states — check here for a list of smoking bans applicable in your area. source
Williams is an interesting figure who represents something far more than his own situation. And as more details come out about Williams, that becomes clear. He’s a product of that specific brand of fading industrialization that cities like Columbus have perfected over the last thirty years. A few years back, when Morgan Spurlock hosted the memorable reality show “30 Days,” he lived in Columbus, Ohio on minimum wage for a month. Spurlock gets beef for his Michael Moore-lite methods, but the truth is, the minimum wage episode was pretty on-point. We imagine Williams being in the background of that episode, thrown away by the society that let him down. And there’s the problem. There are lots of guys like Williams who were also in that scene, who don’t have his miraculous luck. Or the voice. We call them deadbeats. We criticize them for being dregs on society (looking at you, Fox News). Well, what are we doing to fix this? Enforcing drug laws? Citing them for trespassing? Ignoring them? For every Williams with a broken home life and no way to improve his situation, there are thousands of others. And we, as a society, should be asking why. (Now’s a good time to suggest donating to Street Sense. Help the homeless help themselves.) source
Ted Williams’ ex-wife: He wasn’t around after drugs took over: Williams’ ex-wife, Patricia Kirtley, had four kids with Williams that she raised by herself for over two decades. She even raised a kid he had WITH ANOTHER WOMAN. source
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