Addiction Recovery Weekly Roundup – May 2nd Week

1. 1,000-year-old psychedelic drug kit contains traces of cocaine, ayahuasca.

Archaeologists discovered a 1,000-year-old leather bundle in a cave in Bolivia containing traces of ayahuasca, the powerful hallucinogenic, and other drugs like cocaine. [ Fox News Network ]

2. Experimental brain implants studied as opioid deaths rise.

Dr. Li Dianyou uses a tablet computer to adjust the settings of a deep brain stimulation device implanted in the brain of a methamphetamine user named Yan, left, on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, at Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, China. Western attempts to push forward with human trials of DBS for drug addiction have foundered, even as China has emerged as a hub for this kind of research. But the vast suffering wrought by the U.S. opioid epidemic may be changing the risk-reward calculus. Now, the experimental surgery Yan underwent is coming to America. [ APNews ]

3. Meth Vs. Opioids: America Has Two Drug Epidemics, But Focuses On One.

Kim has been living at the Epiphany Center, a treatment facility in San Francisco for women struggling with addiction, for the past six months. She says her teddy bear is her only material possession left from her past: “Because everything I had, I’ve lost over and over again.” [ KHN ]

4. New warning of the deadly drug in Ohio.

Emergency medical service providers throughout Ohio are being warned to be on the lookout for a new drug cocktail that is very deadly. [ Fox19 ]

5. Experimental Drug For Huntington’s Disease Jams Malfunctioning Gene.

An MRI scan shows signs of atrophy in the brain of a patient with Huntington’s disease. Scientists are gearing up a major study to find out whether a drug can silence the gene that causes a devastating illness called Huntington’s disease. [ NPR ]