This Marion doctor wants to change the conversation around addiction
|
“If you were depressed, you’d get on some sort of medication and you do counseling for that. We don’t look at that as a bad thing, right?” said Doctor Anthony Smith.
That’s how Smith, a doctor at MATR Ohio in Marion who specializes in addiction counseling, wants the conversation to change regarding addiction. For him, people struggling with addiction aren’t the drug addicts we see on television or in movies, they are people fighting mental health issues and found unfortunate ways to self-medicate.
He wants to address this issue at the root. And at his addiction clinic, they are doing just that through Suboxone and Zubsolv therapy for people battling opioid addictions.
Smith got his start in medicine after graduating from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005 followed by an internship with Duke University in 2006 and completing his residency in 2009 with St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center Emergency Medicine. While doing this, Smith spent much of his time inside emergency rooms and at the time, a majority of the patients were in there due to accidental overdoses.
The high volume of accidental overdoses caught his eye and he knew he wanted to be a part of the change in the coming years. And as someone who started his career in medicine in the early 2000s, he said he was a first-hand witness to ever changing stages of this crisis.
He said what really kicked off the opioid crisis in America was when patients would fill out satisfaction surveys regarding the service they received from a doctor. It quickly became a slippery slope as negative reviews against doctors could cost them money and a job resulting in doctors taking extra steps to mitigate pain through medication. Soon, addicts were gaming the system; if they claimed they were experiencing pain, doctors would prescribe them pain killers that were typically opioids.
This continued to snowball into other problems. For about six years, those looking to stockpile prescription pills would visit multiple doctors to receive medication. Eventually, many of these people began selling these pills on the streets as a way to make money. As Smith said, one Percocet pill could be sold on the streets for $15. If you had 100 pills, that could quickly become $1,500 which could be used to cover bills, or buy different drugs.
And then suddenly, the government cracked down on the over-prescribing of pills. This created a vacuum effect with those relying on illegal drug dealers to get drugs now struggling to do so as well as those same drug dealers losing a reliable, yet illegal, source of income. This is when Smith believes heroin and fentanyl became the popular drug of choice as they were cheaper, easier to find and didn’t require a prescription from a doctor.
Since then, Smith and his team of physicians at MATR in Marion as well as Reynoldsburg have been on the front lines of the addiction crisis. While the Reynoldsburg location frequently sees people seeking to recover, he said the volume at the Marion location is exceptionally higher.
Last year, Marion saw more fatal and non-fatal overdoses than years past, a trend that has stayed consistent most years. There were many factors that Smith believes led to this; isolation due to shelter-in-place, a lack in traffic stops due to COVID-19 restrictions on law enforcement and the relative ease of finding these drugs.
Of these drugs, fentanyl, has grown as the biggest contributor to his new patients, he said, and most of the time these users don’t even realize they had taken the drug. His lab is able to pinpoint the exact drug a user has taken through various testing. Though some users thought they were just doing heroin or smoking marijuana, often these two drugs were laced with the deadly fentanyl.
That’s where Suboxone and Zubsolv come into play for his addiction clinic. Similar to a diabetic taking insulin for their condition, Smith likens these prescriptions to that.
“They’re addiction is two things: one is an opportunity that happened to them,” he explained. “And two, they had the actual biochemistry – the chemical makeup in their brain – that latched on to this. It was a chemistry thing for them.”
In another comparison, he said this was just like nicotine. While some people are able to socially smoke cigarettes and cigars without becoming addicted, others quickly become a pack-a-day smokers.
In short, Soboxone and Zubsolv are a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine which impact receptors in the brain and provides relief from symptoms of withdrawals and cravings for opioid users. Though these two drugs are partially an opioid, they are known as “agonist” as they do not get the user high and they counteract the negative effects of opioid use.
Since opening the addiction clinic, Smith said roughly 75% of his patients who entered for recovery have become sober thanks to the Soboxone therapy as well as one-on-one and group counseling. These are his favorite stories, with most people being able to secure jobs, maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep a roof over their heads.
And there’s another reason his patients continue coming back to his clinic; his dog Blanche, which has become something akin to an emotional support dog for those in addiction recovery. He joked that sometimes his patients are more excited to see Blanche than they are to meet with him, but that’s OK in his mind. The important thing is they keep coming back and continue to become healthier.
In the future, Smith wants to see more changes happen around addiction and recovery; especially how law enforcement and sentencing is conducted around these crimes. Since some of his patients have been incarcerated for drug crimes, he said jail and prison sentencing doesn’t always solve the problem. Sometimes it makes it even worse as some users report getting illegal drugs inside these institutions is easier than getting them on the streets.
When they get out, their criminal record makes it more difficult to get a job. It turns into a vicious cycle. (740)-244-9935 bhooper@gannett.com
There is no mistaking a sweet potato. h You can’t eat one and wonder whether it is, perhaps, a zucchini. No one has ever sampled one and confused it with a turnip. It is impossible to take one for broccoli, or even a regular potato. h Sweet potato is a sweet potato is a sweet potato. h Its uniqueness is both its curse and its charm. Nothing else is quite like it, but that also means its utility is limited. It is not something you would ever want to use as a substitute for another ingredient. It is, as they say, what it is.
One thing it isn’t, incidentally, is a yam. Though both are root vegetables, they are unrelated (for that matter, sweet potatoes are only distantly related to our common potatoes). They don’t even look alike – yams resemble horseradish roots, and can grow to be more than 50 pounds – and yams are much less sweet, drier and starchier.
True yams are almost never sold in America, though you can sometimes find them in international markets. In general, if it is labeled either a yam or a sweet potato, it’s a sweet potato.
And that is fortunate, because I just cooked five dishes featuring sweet potatoes, and they were all delicious, down to the last orange crumb.
I started with chili, which is a good place to start in all circumstances. A friend had recommended a vegan sweet potato chili recipe that he likes, and he recommended it so strenuously that I decided to give it a try.
I don’t always see eye-to-eye with this friend, though we have been close for nearly 50 years. But I’ll give him this: He knows his vegan sweet potato chili.
Sweet and hot flavors always go well together, as long as they are not too sweet and not too hot. In this chili they are a perfect blend, with the mild natural sweetness of the sweet potato bringing out the best in the mild heat of the chili powder, and vice versa.
It makes a richly flavored, robust meal, heavy with black beans, tomatoes, diced onion and red bell pepper providing a foundation of flavor for the star attraction, the sweet potatoes. Don’t tell anyone, but I added a bit of hot sauce to my bowl.
Sweet potato fries, of course, are always popular. I thought about simply dropping them into hot oil and frying them, but then I came across a recipe for oven-baked fries – though “oven-baked fries” is an oxymoron.
I’m not actually sure if baking fries in an oven is any better for you than frying them in oil. The recipe I used requires two tablespoons of oil for two large sweet potatoes, and I am not convinced that fries that are fried would soak up more than that amount.
Still, the reason to make oven-baked sweet-potato fries is compelling: They are excellent.
Baking them in an oven allows the fries’ exterior to become crispy, or at least moderately crispy, while the interior is soft and creamy. They are just what fries should be, only sweeter than ordinary fries.
Perhaps it is counterintuitive, but these sort-of-sweet fries are even better when served not with ketchup but with honey. Add a little cinnamon for an extra treat.
The next dish I made is similar in some ways to the oven-baked fries. Parmesan Baked Sweet Potatoes are cooked the same way – tossed with a little bit of oil and then baked – so they have the same crisp and creamy textures. But the similarity ends there.
The fries are spiced with garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper; these intense flavors contrast nicely with the smooth, sweet taste of the sweet potatoes. But the Parmesan Baked Sweet Potatoes offer a little more than the Parmesan cheese melted on top under the broiler at the end of cooking.
The cheese here serves only as an accent. It is an exclamation point at the end of a sweet sweet-potato sentence.
Next up was the baked-potato version of a sweet potato. The sweet potato here is baked whole until it is completely tender. So far, there is nothing extraordinary about it.
The extraordinary part comes from the sauce that is drizzled over the top. The sauce begins with melted butter that has been browned, so it tastes a little nuttier. That is combined with a bit of honey and a dash of vinegar, for a subdued sweet-and-sour effect, and some crushed red pepper to bring on just enough heat. If you like the sauce on sweet potatoes you can try adding it to anything from winter squash to oatmeal to ice cream.
Last came dessert. Sweet potatoes are one of the very few vegetables that can legitimately be used in dessert.
I made a sweet potato pie. Of course I did. What else would a pie-lover make?
The ingredients may sound familiar: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. It’s what goes into any pumpkin pie worth its salt (salt is also an ingredient). But what makes this sweet potato pie better than ordinary pumpkin pies are the other ingredients.
Along with the heavy cream and eggs, this pie also benefits from brown sugar and bourbon. These additions bring a rich and round depth to the pie. It is a flavor-forward dessert, where the ingredients all act in harmony to bring color and emphasis to the sweet potato at the heart of it all.
I drink Bloody Marys at night, just as Fernand Petiot (New York Bar, then Harry’s New York Bar, Paris, circa 1920) or Henry Zbikeiwicz (21 Club, NYC, sometime in the 1930s) intended. Petiot’s more modern version of the Bloody Mary popped up in 1933 at the St. Regis Hotel when it became more of a brunch drink, that “hair of the dog” and pick me up it is today. He would eventually add Tabasco at the request of Prince Serge Obolensky of Russia for a spicier way to get the day going. Or, did comedian George Jessel invent it? Was it perhaps Louis Perrin in 1917?
For the definitive history, do take some time to read Jack Mcgarry’s history of the Bloody Mary article, complete with recipes of old. It’s a long, strange trip full of twists and turns, Tabasco and tomato juice. Sometimes Clamato juice. Spoiler alert: Mcgarry thinks George Jessel’s half and half version was the original.
But it’s not the Bloody Mary that’s really on my mind. While I have been pairing my evening movie watching with a mix of tomato juice, Marie Sharp’s hot sauce, vodka and Caribbean Spice Bloody Mary mix, I’m now onto another old-school savory sipper, the soothing, restorative Bullshot.
This mix of beef broth or bouillon, vodka and spices like Tabasco and Worchestershire sauce may make a big comeback thanks to the popularity of artisanal bone broth and the PR minds that come up with portmanteau terms like “brothtail.” I first enjoyed a mix of vodka and beef broth decades ago while tromping through some hills and dales in England, but then it was served hot, steaming from a big thermos.
In Portsmouth, bar manager Kevin Walsh serves a broth toddy whenever
there’s a snowstorm. Theirs has Irish Whiskey, Amaro, honey, lemon and bone broth.
The Bullshot is served cold, over ice, as depicted in a mid-’50s Campbell’s Soup ad for “Soup on the Rocks.” An elegant hand pours Beef Broth Bouillon into a rocks glass filled with ice. M’m! M’m! Good! That version had no vodka, however.
Legend has it that the boozed-up version drink was invented in a Detroit barroom in 1952. The hoity-toity Caucus Club was owned by Lester Gruber who on one evening was chatting with a PR guy for the Campbell’s Soup account. They put their heads together to think up ways to boost sales of beef bouillon and “just add vodka” was what they landed on, but they also included some spices. It became quite popular for a while, but seemed to disappear after a bit.
In some form, it looks like the Bullshot, more than likely a fancier version with a more high-brow name, will sneak its way back onto cocktail menus. Heck, look at all the pickle juice drinks and pickle backs we’ve seen in the past five years. When we’re “over” the stunt Bloody Mary craze with their garnishes of mini cheeseburgers and pepperoni pizza, this may be the next frontier to explore.
And explore, I certainly have. Ditching the tomato juice, I’m on to beef broth, but also chicken, vegetable and mushroom broth, some store-bought, others homemade in my Instant Pot. I guess with chicken broth, it’s a “Henshot,” and with mushroom broth, it’s a “Fungshot”? Maybe those will catch on, too.
I used lemongrass, ginger and basil in the mix and experimented with adding some celery soda or cucumber juice. Both were tasty if I didn’t add too much to the broth mix. I’ve also experimented with using a dash or two of interesting bitters like celery, cucumber and olive bitters from The Bitter Truth company. Of course, these recipes are wonderful without alcohol, too. I’ve also found that whiskey instead of vodka is an interesting substitution as is a fine dry sherry.
Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner, reviewer and Seacoast resident, who now lives in Austin, Texas and Belize. She can be reached at Rachel.forrest@localmediagroupinc.com.
A sprinkle or grind of black pepper
Fill a highball (tall glass) with ice. Shake all of the ingredients in a shaker and strain into a glass. Rim with celery salt.
Broth Toddy
Adapted from Mr. Kim’s Snowstorm Broth Toddy, Portsmouth
I perused Mr. Kim’s social media and found bar manager Kevin Walsh’s Broth Toddy made with Irish Whiskey, amaro, honey, lemon and bone broth, then adapted it using the ingredients I had on hand and changed the amounts to my taste. I used beef broth, but this would also be good with chicken broth.
2 oz. bourbon 1 oz. Fernet or other amaro 4 oz. bone broth 1 tsp. honey 1 tsp. lemon
Heat the bone broth and honey in a pan. Place bourbon, amaro and lemon in a mug. Fill mug with hot broth and honey mixture. Stir.
Brothy Mary
This Bloody Mary variation is the best of both worlds for brunch or otherwise.
1⁄4 1⁄4 c. tomato juice
⁄4 c. vodka 1
2 tsp. lemon juice 3 dashes hot sauce 1⁄2
c. broth of choice tsp. celery salt
⁄2 tsp. prepared horseradish 1
Place all ingredients into a shaker of ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a tall glass over ice.
ACROSS
1 Agreement
7 When doubled, a Hawaiian fish Hoover ___ (Colorado River structure) Haitian religion involving sorcery Hugh Laurie’s boys’ school Former quarterback Manning Waiting one’s turn Rustic home University official Isn’t thorough when cleaning an ashtray? Shortly, in poetry They sometimes clash Closed-down arena? Chatty bird When required Word after “public” or “popular” TV schedule slot Takes revenge Trap, as by a winter storm Glowing alien of Jabba’s species?
48 Headliner
52 IRS experts
53 Where one might
get a dog?
57 Was aware of
61 Conspiring (with)
62 Discomfort 11 14 15 16
17 18 20 21
23 24
25
32 33 38
41 42 44
45 64
65 66
67 68 69 3 4 5
6 7
8 9 10
11 12 13 19
22 23 25
Actress Seydoux or Thompson Raise one’s voice U-haul truck, for one
Hosp. areas Poetic tributes Forgo cooking
... or, read with spaces after the second and fourth letters, a theme hint
DOWN
1 Fanatical
2 Certain ice cream holder Carbonated drink Thor’s father “Anchorman: The Legend of ___ Burgundy” “Crime ___ pay” Philanthropist Gates
On the summit of Big pigs Machu Picchu builder Eliminate glitches from Samuel of the Supreme Court After-dinner candies
Prez known for his top hat Rver’s stopover More pale Pollution portmanteau 26 27 28
29 30 31 34
35 36 37 39
40 43
46 47 48
49 50
51 54
55 56 57
58 59 60 63
Overdone publicity Army group Prepares, like leather
“This ___ test” Prefix with “verse” Deserves Scratch the surface?
“Mon ___!” Issue forth Bumper concern Large reproductive cells
“The Simpsons” character who says “hi-diddly-ho” Coins that cost more than seven cents each to make Mimic Inherent character Welcoming expression Piano technician He has the world at his fingertips GPS suggestion Hellmann’s spread, informally
Like good Scotch Regulation Superman, aka Clark ___ Defense org. since 1949 Birthright seller in Genesis
Mark from a paintball fight, say Teachers’ org.