by Sally Rosa | Sep 18, 2014 | Drug Addiction
Robin Thicke: Living The High Life
Singer Robin Thicke hasn’t been having a good couple of years.
Robin became incredibly popular during the summer of 2013, thanks to his blockbuster song “Blurred Lines.” However, it turns out “Blurred Lines” isn’t his song, he was high and drunk all the time, he’s being sued, and his wife divorced him. Tough breaks, Robin.
Isn’t that what happens to active addicts, though? Don’t our lives go to s**t? Okay, yeah, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at just what all this fuss is about.
The Summer of 2013
Depending on how you look at it, summer 2013 was either a great or horrible time for Robin Thicke. “Blurred Lines” toped the pop charts for sixteen weeks. It sold over six million copies. It made Thicke a household name. It was also heavily criticized for promoting rape culture. Oh, and he was high and drunk the entire time.
“I had a drug and alcohol problem for the year [2013] and I didn’t do a sober interview so I don’t recall many things that I said..I didn’t do a single interview last year without being high on both…Every day I woke up, I would take a Vicodin to start the day and then I would fill up a water bottle with Vodka and drink it before and during my interviews,” Thicke admitted during a court deposition.
Damn, Robin! I mean, pills and vodka is always a winning combination, but you seem to have taken it pretty far! Guess what else? Turns out Robin Thicke didn’t even write “Blurred Lines.”
According to Thicke himself, “He [Pharrell, the song’s producer] was very generous by giving me a larger percentage of publishing than I deserved.” Thicke is credited with writing 20% of the hit song. Turns out he wrote very little. His main contribution were the amazing (come on, they were!) vocals.
Thicke’s Court Battle
Okay, a lot happened for Robin Thicke in the summer of 2013. Why’d he come clean about his drug and alcohol use, though? What was he doing giving a legal deposition in the first place?
Well, the family of Marvin Gaye is suing Thicke, Pharrell, and rapper T.I. (all three have publishing credits on “Blurred Lines”). Gaye’s family claims that the three stole major parts of their song from the 1977 hit, “Got To Give It Up.”
Things keep getting worse for Robin Thicke!
So, while giving a deposition, Thicke admitted to heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Is this some sort of legal Hail Mary? Is he trying to evade responsibility by claiming drug abuse rendered him incapable of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s hit? Is he saying he didn’t write much of the song in an attempt to push blame onto Pharrell?
I think the answer is simpler.
What Happens to Addicts When We Use
I started to address this above. When addicts use drugs or alcohol, our lives fall apart. For people like us, drugs and booze bring clouds of suffering. They cause us to make crappy decisions, lie, hurt people, and generally behavior like selfish a*sholes.
Robin’s problem isn’t that he’s a bad person, or that he ripped off a song, or that his wife divorced him (oh, I forgot to mention that. In July, the couple divorced). No, Robin’s problem is that he’s an addict and alcoholic.
He got high for a long time, including during the recording of “Blurred Lines.” Did he steal the song from Marvin Gaye? Who knows. It’s possible, but people engaged in that argument are missing the point. Robin Thicke is a sick and suffering addict. He needs help.
Maybe we can all lay off him for a minute and let Thicke get the help he needs. After all, what do we say at the end of most twelve-step meetings? That’s right – let’s have a moment of silence for the still sick and suffering addict and alcoholic. Let’s all take a moment of silence and hope Robin gets help.
by Sally Rosa | Sep 3, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Drug Addiction
Written By: Fiona Stockard
Wes Welker Suspended
Wes Welker, a wide receiver on the Denver Broncos, was just suspended from the first four games of the NFL season.
Okay, first off, who cares about football? Second, who cares if a player is suspended? Oh, right, everyone cares about football! I’m a girl and I care about football!
More importantly, Welker was suspended because he tested positive for amphetamines. He’s denying everything. That’s a smart move, Wes. I played the “I don’t know” card more times than I can count!
“I’m as shocked as everyone at today’s news,” Welker stated. “I want to make one thing abundantly clear: I would NEVER knowingly take a substance to gain a competitive advantage in any way.”
Why Did He Test Positive?
There’s a rumor going around that Welker took Molly while partying at the Kentucky Derby. He strongly denies this. “That’s a joke. I don’t do marijuana, I don’t do drugs. I don’t do any drugs,” he stated.
Yeah, Wes, I didn’t do any drugs either. When the police found heroin and syringes on me? That must have been some kind of mistake!
Regardless of how Welker ended up testing positive, the fact that he did pop positive remains. So, what now?
Well, he’s suspended for four games and eligible to return to the NFL on October 6th. Until then, the Broncos will have to wait and pray.
A Disturbing Trend
Wes Welker is the second Denver Bronco suspended this preseason for violating the NFL’s substance policy. Bronco kicker Matt Prater is also going to miss the first four games for repeated alcohol violations. Hmmm. I guess Denver really is the mile high city!
That’s not the end of this story though. There’s a disturbing trend going on in the NFL right now. Wes Welker is the thirty-third player to be suspended this preseason and the thirtieth to be suspended for violating the league’s substance policy.
Let’s slow down a minute and think about this. Welker is the 30th player to be suspended during the preseason for substance abuse. 30. Suspensions. During. The. Preseason. Holy s**t.
According to SporTrac.com, this number is up 60% from 2013. That’s a dramatic increase. Why? Why are all these players being suspended for substance abuse? Are more players getting high? Is the NFL just starting to do something now? What’s going on here?
What’s The Solution?
Welker emailed the Denver Post on September 2nd. In this email he stated, “I have never been concerned with the leagues performance enhancing or drug abuse policies because under no scenario would they ever apply to me, but I now know, that [drug-policy procedures] are clearly flawed, and I will do everything in my power to ensure they are corrected, so other individuals and teams aren’t negatively affected so rashly like this.”
With players calling for drug-policy modification, maybe the NFL’s substance policy will change. Who knows? Maybe their substance policy doesn’t need to be changed. Maybe players need to stop getting high. Who knows? I certainly don’t have the answers.
What I do have are the questions I just asked. Those are the questions we need to be asking. That’s the conversation we need to be starting. If change happens, it’s going to be from ordinary people sitting down and talking. It’s going to be from us!
by Sally Rosa | Jul 10, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Drug Addiction
By: Tim Myers
Dear Josh Gordon,
I get it. I understand. I’ve got your back. There’s not a lot of that being said to you right now, in any of the media. There’s not a lot of anything except projection, advice, and doomsday scenario banter. Oh, and all the should of, could of, would of’s. “He should of done this,” “I wish the NFL would of done that,” and “The Browns could of done this.”
I get it, Josh Gordon. I understand and I’ve got your back. You’ve got a problem, Josh. I don’t mean to judge, but based on the staggering facts alone, I’m pretty confident I’m right. Multiple substance abuse violations in college, drug arrests and citations involving marijuana, codeine cough syrup, and alcohol in just the last eighteen months. You’re the premier NFL wide receiver. Yet your substance abuse stats fill the back of your trading card more thoroughly than your career numbers. You have a life and a career anyone would die for, yet you’re dying to give it all away.
I get it, because I did the same thing. So did my best friend, and my uncle, and my grandpa, and my aunt, and millions of people all over the world. We gave up everything so we could have one thing – drugs. Then, one day we decide to give up one thing to have – everything.
Josh, I have the greatest family in the history of the world. I have a college degree, a car, and a great job, but three and a half years ago I decided that snorting cocaine, smoking pot, drinking ‘till I blacked out, driving drunk, and having guns pointed at my head were the most important things in my life.
They were. People like you and I, Josh, have a mental illness. We have a disease. It makes us do crazy things. It makes us feel so incredibly alone and scared that we keep using because no one will ever make us feel as loved and appreciated as drugs do.
That was my life, until one day a man named Chris told me, “Tim, I don’t even know you, but I love you because you’re just like me.” He got me, understood me, and had my back. He told me that I was still alive so I could get sober and help other people stay sober. He showed me how to stay sober and unlocked the enthusiasm, excitement, potential, love, compassion, and determination that drugs and alcohol had held captive for ten years.
Josh, I live in Delray Beach, Florida, a city known to have more residents recovering from drugs and alcohol than any other city in the country. Everyday I see people as lost and hopeless as I once was. Within a few months, I see them alive, laughing, joking, happy, and free! Yet sometimes, I get the tacky, insensitive, sad and all too frequent Facebook notification saying, “RIP Jane Doe, this disease claims another Angel.”
Don’t become one of those angels, Josh. Don’t become another celebrity to shine a light on the death toll of addiction. Become a warrior of recovery! Become the man you were always meant to be.
I was in rehab when Josh Hamilton entered the home-run derby at Yankee Stadium. His long history of crack use had been exposed and talked about in the media for years. In rehab that night, they let us watch the home-run derby. Ball after ball after ball went soaring over the fence as Josh set the single round record for home runs in a home-run derby, at the most historic ballpark ever built! I cried. A lot of the men in my unit cried. It gave us hope. It gave us someone to look up to. Not for what he was doing on the field, but for what he’d off the field.
You can be that guy, Josh. Hell, you already have the same first name so you’re halfway there! You can change other peoples’ lives, Josh, but first you have to change your own. I want to see you in the playoffs. I want to see you catch a touchdown in the Super Bowl. I want to wear your jersey and get your autograph, but not because of what you accomplish on the field. I want to be your biggest fan, for what you achieve off of it. I love you Josh Gordon, because you’re just like me.
I get it. I understand. I’ve got your back.
Love,
All of Us
by Fiona Stockard | May 7, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Drug Addiction
2 Chainz Arrested For Drug Possession!
Rapper 2 Chainz was sentenced to three years probation and over a year in drug and alcohol treatment. Wait, there’s more! 2 Chainz will be required to wear a sobriety bracelet. Unfortunately, the court was all out of sobriety chains.
The sentence came after the thirty-six year old rapper, whose real name is Tauheed Epps, was arrested in June of 2013 at the Los Angeles International Airport.
So, What Happened?
Narcotics were uncovered in 2 Chainz’ checked baggage. Authorities immediately evacuated him from the plane and placed him in custody. “At more or less 1 p.m., Airport Police Officers found narcotics in the baggage check area of Terminal 5,” read a report from airport security.
“Transportation Security Administration prompted Airport Police officers they discovered marijuana and a flask of promethazine with codeine (also known by the street name of “purple drink or syrup) in the checked bag of Tauheed Epps (2 Chainz), an occupant of Riverdale, Georgia,” claimed authorities.
“Airport Police Officers examination uncovered Mr. Epps was ready for outbound flight, he was uprooted from the flight and arrested due to California Penal Code Section 11350a H & S – Possession of a controlled substance. Mr. Epps was transported to the Airport Police station for preparatory transforming and transported to and booked at the LAPD Pacific Division Jail without further occurrence,” claimed authorities.
The narcotics uncovered turned out to be Promethazine. Promethazine, along with codeine, makes up the drug known as “sizzurp” and “purple drank.” Less than an ounce of marijuana was also found in the rapper’s belonging.
Now, 2 Chainz would normally be sentenced to jail, not probation and treatment. His decreased sentence came from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz. The honorably Mr. Schwartz is known for implementing treatment resources, rather than strict jail sentences.
