It seems like the U.S. is rocketing toward marijuana legalization lately. As of this writing, 24 states along with Washington D.C. and Guam have legalized recreational marijuana use. Along with marijuana’s newfound acceptance has come a plethora of marijuana-adjacent products like CBD, Delta-8 THC, and products containing hemp derivatives.  Are CBD and other marijuana-related products safe for people in recovery? Innovo Detox will answer this question along with some others in this article.  What Is CBD Anyway? Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is another active ingredient in marijuana. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive substance in marijuana that gets most of the attention, because it’s the one that’s largely responsible for the high people get when they use the drug. The [...]

Dear Drugs and Alcohol, This is not easy to write. In some ways, you were the closest companion I ever had. You were there when I was lonely, when I felt out of place, when the weight of life seemed too heavy to carry. You offered me an escape. A way to forget. A way to feel good, even if it only lasted for a few hours. At first, I thought I had found a friend in you. You gave me confidence I didn’t think I had. With you, I laughed louder, spoke freely, and pushed aside my insecurities. You helped me dance when I would have otherwise sat in the corner. You helped me sleep when my thoughts wouldn’t [...]

Most people think treatment for addiction and co-occurring disorders is a single experience. A person is in active addiction and either comes to terms with the fact that they need help or are confronted by family or loved ones and asked to get help. Then they go to treatment or rehab. However, addiction is a chronic illness, meaning that best recovery outcomes come from a long-term continuum of care. Therefore, detox and traditional 28-day treatment episodes are simply the first step in what should be a long-term continuum of care that addresses not just addiction, but all areas of a patient’s life so that they learn and apply the skillset to find success in long-term recovery and achieve a high [...]

For years in both addiction treatment and the recovery community, there was a theory that an individual needed to hit ‘rock bottom’ in addiction in order to find recovery from addiction or alcoholism. The idea of “rock bottom” in addiction is that an individual has no further down to go in their active addiction or alcoholism. “Rock Bottom” is the inflection point in active alcoholism or addiction, where someone gets so bad that they are forced to change their life and find recovery. The terms “rock bottom” often sounds bad, although when speaking to someone living life in recovery, they may often say that their “rock bottom” was the best thing that ever happened to them, because they ran out [...]

September 2021 is National Recovery Month! National Recovery Month, celebrated annually each September, is a national observance and a national celebration to educate Americans that treatment can help those suffering from addiction find recovery and live healthy and rewarding lives.   The purpose of National Recovery Month is to celebrate recovery from addiction, to bring awareness that recovery is possible, to highlight hopeful and uplifting stories of Americans living in recovery, and to break the stigma so often still associated with addiction and mental illness. National Recovery Month celebrates the millions of Americans that have found recovery from addiction, alcoholism, substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders, and reinforces the message that behavioral health issues like addiction and mental illness is [...]

Caroline Farrell, LSW, is the Community Outreach Specialist for Innovo Detox. A licensed social worker and a person in long-term recovery, Caroline Farrell is a 200-hour certified yoga instructor who has completed training for yoga in trauma and addiction. Yoga is used as a healing tool to decrease anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, and physical pain (amongst other ailments and mental health issues) and has been proven to help strengthen an individual’s physical and mental well-being, improve cognitive functioning, and reduce stress. Caroline has seen the benefits of practicing yoga on both a personal level and a professional level. Personally, she has utilized it to help her in her personal recovery journey. Professionally, she has witnessed yoga benefit numerous patients and [...]