Thursday Noodles - 8/31/23

Super Blue Moon edition

Happy Thursday, friends! Hoping those of you in Hurricane Idalia’s path are doing ok. (Here in Durham, we were at the very outer edge; we’re just fine. Got some rain and a cool change.)

Today’s Noodles:

Noodle 1: DOPESICK - TV show on HULU

Here in the U.S., there’s news about the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma and Netflix has a new show about the opioid crisis called PainKillers. I haven’t watched it (yet), but the tone of the trailers seems … jazzy and wry?

Not to be Captain Bringdown, but too many friends and friends’ kids have died of overdoses for me to be jazzy and wry.

One show that gets the tone of the crisis right, so far as a TV show can, is DOPESICK on Hulu. (You could sign up for a free trial to watch it.)

We watched it a couple years back and whoooweeee, is this a show that sticks in your guts and your heart.

It portrays how Purdue engineered making pain the “fifth vital sign” and willfully misled health care providers about the addictive potential of OxyContin.

It also depicted, with compassion, how opioid addiction puts you at its mercy.

And it made me really proud of my dad.

Why proud of my dad?

Some of you may know that he led the team who brought Buprenorphine to market in the U.S.

Buprenorphine is a synthetic opioid that can be used for pain management and for opioid addiction.

Dad was so proud of this work.

I remember him telling me, “Kiddo, this drug is really gonna help people.”

He was right. Buprenorphine is one of the drugs, along with Naloxone, in Suboxone, which is used for the treatment of opioid addiction. It’s a life-saving and life-changing treatment.

DOPESICK does a good job of balancing the bittersweet hopefulness of medication-assisted treatment with the realities of living with addiction. Highly recommend.

Note: Dopesick may not be for folks whose loved ones have died from overdose. This could be painful to watch. [SPOILER ALARM: a young adult dies from overdose.]

Noodle 2: Narcan - life-saving nasal spray

Did you know that in a lot of places, you can go to your local public health clinic and get a free dose of Narcan nasal spray to carry with you?

It is also available nationwide in the U.S., without a prescription, from a pharmacist at Walgreens.

We got ours from Durham County’s Safe Syringe Program.

Narcan is a nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose:

Naloxone works by blocking the effects of opiates on the brain and by restoring breathing. Naloxone will only work if a person has opiates in their system. It will not work with other drugs. A person cannot get ‘high’ from using naloxone, and it is safe for practically anyone to use.

Ok, this may be hard for some of you to hear, but hear it anyway:

kids use and abuse drugs.

Adults use and abuse drugs.

Humans use and abuse drugs.

And some drugs are more addictive than others.

Opioids are addictive.

Addiction is not a moral failing or a comment on character or family. Period.

Thus: harm reduction.

Sure, yes, in a perfect world, we might not need harm reduction. There would not be harm to reduce. You could ride unicorns over rainbows whenever you wanted. Also public toilets would be spotlessly clean and have plenty of toilet paper.

Guess what. We don’t live in a perfect world.

And so I appreciate strategies of harm reduction.

To wit: it may be very beneficial for you or a young person you love to keep Narcan in their backpack just in case a friend ODs.

I’d much rather have that conversation with my teen than wonder if a friend’s death could have been prevented, wouldn’t you?

Noodle 3: PomPom Socks

On a lighter note!

The other day I was wearing my Cariumas and my no-show socks were creeping down my heels only to lodge themselves under the arches of my feet.

What’s an unruly Quaker to do?

Then I remembered pompom socks! From the 70s and 80s!

How cute and also how functional! The pompoms keep your socks from creeping down your heels.

Where did pompom socks go? How could they EVER have gone out of fashion?

Well guess what, y’all? I found some.

behold, the PopPom socks I found. (the Sailor Moon symbols are lost on me)

PopPom socks on my own feet, complete with a dog hair stuck to them, natch.

I found them here. It’s a pack of five pairs.

You could split the cost and share with a friend.

… and if you’re wearing them

and you’re very lucky,

maybe a teen you love

will look at you

in abject horror

and say—

WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS ON YOUR SOCKS OH MY GOD MOM YOUR GENERATION IS SO FREAKING WEIRD.

Ah.

Music to my ears.

Ok! That’s all for this week.

Thanks, as ever, for reading.

Extra big hugs and extra large pours to paid subscribers. You make the magic happen.

XOXO