Free Republic

The lover of Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin 'hated' his family and had been kicked out of his parents' home for addiction and substance abuse, according to new claims. A relative of Lance Twiggs said that he was living with murder suspect Tyler Robinson after his relationship with family deteriorated and he became 'detached [and] radicalized'. The relative, speaking anonymously, said Twiggs had been struggling with gender identity, substance abuse problems, and was addicted to video games. '[His father] thought he wasn’t being respectful and was problematic, so they kicked him out,' Twiggs' relative revealed in an interview with Fox News....

Marketed as a natural wellness product and widely available, 7-OH seemed like a viable alternative for Hayden resident Kevin McAuliffe to use as an energy and mood booster. However, McAuliffe said it became “absolutely impossible for me to ween off 7-OH because basically I became highly addicted to it, and I was waking up in the middle of night with withdrawal symptoms.” “I was having extreme health side effects,” McAuliffe said of the product 7-Hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, which is a chemically concentrated derivative of the kratom plant. Addiction treatment professionals, UCHealth physicians, valley residents and the U.S. Food and...

Another day, another public execution. The talking heads on television and Twitter tell us not to worry too much: America is still strong. They repeat this sentiment after every waking nightmare. These horrific events are not the norm, they say. They’re just the actions of a few people on the “fringe.” But what is the American “fringe”? The “fringe” tried to incinerate the country in 2020. The “fringe” tore down statues of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The “fringe” control the universities and has spent years indoctrinating kids with discriminatory dogmas. The “fringe” created the policies that let violent, mentally...

In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, a doctor in Albuquerque has drawn national attention and condemnation for social media posts in which he appeared to celebrate the violence. Dr. John R. Vigil, identified in his public profile as board-certified in Addiction Medicine (not Virgil), a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, a Master Addiction Counselor, and associated with the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and JRV Medical Group, posted two messages on Facebook following Kirk’s death. In one, he reportedly wrote: “If you’re looking for sympathy from me...

Join us for the 23rd annual tribute to celebrate the life and on-going legacy’s of Layne Staley and Mike Starr. The tribute weekend will kick off with a fan organized event and two shows at The Neptune Theatre in Seattle’s University District. *Thursday, August 21st – A fan organized gathering at the International Fountain (starts at 6:30pm). Address to the International Fountain at the Seattle Center – 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109 *Friday, August 22nd – STG Presents: Grunge Night – A Tribute to Seattle Music *Saturday, August 23rd – STG Presents: Layne Staley Tribute 2025 STG Presents: GRUNGE...

Same drink, different year — and, hopefully, different result. That's Mark Thomas Lynn's approach to the relaunch of Afterdream, a cannabis drink, this year. His company — the premium spirits and beverage company AMASS Brands Group — originally released its THC-infused formulation in 2021, but they pulled it off the market after about nine months due to legal hurdles around where and how they could sell the drink. "Even though people were going crazy over the product, we were like, 'Oh my God, this is just too byzantine,'" he says. "The regulations, basically, hadn't caught up." After re-releasing Afterdream in...

He has an intriguing theory for why it's happening.Mental health experts are continuing to sound alarm bells about users of AI chatbots spiraling into severe mental health crises characterized by paranoia and delusions, a trend they've started to refer to as "AI psychosis." On Monday, University of California, San Francisco research psychiatrist Keith Sakata took to social media to say that he's seen a dozen people become hospitalized after "losing touch with reality because of AI." In a lengthy X-formerly-Twitter thread, Sakata clarified that psychosis is characterized by a person breaking from "shared reality," and can show up in a...

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended classifying 7-OH, a compound with opioid-like effects found in unregulated tablets, gummies and drink mixes sold in gas stations and convenience stores, as an illicit substance. Such a move by the Justice Department would restrict or prohibit access to the products, which are also currently sold online. The chemical, formally known as 7-hydroxymitragynine, is often marketed as a way to help people relax, relieve pain or improve their mood or focus. But studies suggest it’s more potent than morphine, and the FDA has warned it could damage the heart or liver and...

What is kratom? And why is it being promoted as a ‘wellness’ product to our kids? My college-age son called me recently and asked me about “kratom,” saying that it was all over campus and even some of his friends were trying it. Thankfully, I got the phone call asking about what it was rather than him just hopping on the bandwagon of trying the latest trend. “What is it?” he asked. And for once, I had to admit, that although I had heard of it, I didn’t know much else about it. This concerned me on many levels. How...

President Donald Trump's proposed 50% tariff on Brazilian imports is bad news for coffee drinkers. Brazil, the largest U.S. supplier of green coffee beans, accounts for about a third of the country's total supply, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Coffee beans need to grow in a warm, tropical climate, making Hawaii and Puerto Rico the only suitable places in the United States to farm the crop. But, as the world's top consumer of coffee, the U.S. requires a massive supply to stay caffeinated. Mintel estimates that the U.S. coffee market reached $19.75 billion last year.

An Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued The New York Times, saying the newspaper’s reporting on the tribe’s first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography. The Marubo Tribe of the Javari Valley, a sovereign community of about 2,000 people in the rainforest, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles. It also names TMZ and Yahoo as defendants, alleging that their stories amplified and sensationalized the Times’ reporting and smeared the tribe in the process....

Nyweide’s family announced her passing in a since-deleted obituary, writing at the time that the actress “self medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death." They added that Nyweide repeatedly claimed that she would navigate her health issues “on her own" and "was compelled to reject the treatment that might possibly have saved her life.” In lieu of flowers, her family asked instead that individuals to make a donation to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, in her name. A Vermont native, Nyweide knew that she wanted to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — President Trump is vowing a new approach to getting homeless people off the streets by forcibly moving those living outside into large camps while mandating mental health and addiction treatment — an aggressive departure from the nation's leading homelessness policy, which for decades has prioritized housing as the most effective way to combat the crisis. "Our once-great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares," Mr. Trump said in a presidential campaign video. "For those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them to mental institutions, where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them...

President Trump’s second term in office has been off to a frenzied start, with much of his actions revoking Biden-era proposals and policies. The 46th president exceeded expectations for the depths he was willing to go with last-minute, perplexing decisions such as the one to advance a Food and Drug Administration proposal to establish nicotine limits for tobacco products. It was a final disappointment in a presidency full of them and a final parting gift to cartels and lawbreakers.However, President Biden’s blunder allows Mr. Trump to fix this mistake and chart a more productive path.The proposed regulation would mandate a...

The Seattle homeless population is the tragic result of failed policies. But it’s not just a problem — it’s a manufactured disaster, enabled and exacerbated by left-wing policies that have done nothing but invite more homelessness while refusing to address its root causes. A new study from the Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness explains how dire the situation truly is in Seattle. The study lays out in devastating detail how Seattle’s approach has not only failed but made everything worse. The city’s leaders, obsessed with progressive ideology over practical solutions, have created a system that draws homeless individuals from outside the...

Gambling addiction has soared since the legalization of sports betting in most American states, reveals a new study. Researchers found a “dramatic” increase in sports betting and gambling addiction help-seeking since the landmark Murphy v. NCAA Supreme Court decision in 2018 paved the way for states to legalize gambling on sports. Since the ruling, researchers from the University of California San Diego Qualcomm Institute and School of Medicine found a “staggering” growth in the sportsbook industry. The number of states with operational sportsbooks grew from one in 2017 to 38 last year while total sports wagers skyrocketed from US $4.9...

According to recent statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2022, approximately 991,000 people over the age of 12 in the United States misuse fentanyl. This data does not specify the exact number of people addicted to fentanyl, as misuse can include non-addictive use, but it provides a significant insight into the scale of the problem. For a more precise figure on addiction specifically, one would need to consider those with an opioid use disorder where fentanyl is the primary substance involved. However, specific statistics on just fentanyl addiction are less commonly delineated in national...

Researchers find that hornets have several copies of the gene responsible for producing the enzyme that breaks down alcohol.A new discovery from researchers at Tel Aviv University has identified a surprising champion of alcohol tolerance – the Oriental hornet. In their recently-published study, the researchers put the Oriental hornet in the spotlight, where it stands alone — and completely sober — as the only known animal capable of consuming high concentrations of alcohol continuously without experiencing any adverse effects. This finding could revolutionize scientists’ approach to alcohol-related research. “This is a remarkable animal that shows no signs of intoxication...

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Three things stand out within a few minutes of talking to Beverly Aikins: Her grandchildren are her everything, she is deeply grateful she has earned her nursing license back, and the mother of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice presidential nominee, has found redemption and peace through helping others struggling with addiction. Aikins said it is a life of purpose. “I want people who are struggling with addiction or who have family members who are struggling with addiction to know that recovery is possible, and you get back so much more from recovery than you ever...

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The man accused of pointing a rifle into the golf course where former President Donald Trump was playing last weekend, was known in his hometown as something of a bad actor. “Weird” is how one of Ryan Routh’s former neighbors in Greensboro described him. She told reporters he once had a horse in his house and that he also kept guns. A man, who like the first neighbor asked not to be identified for fear of being associated with Routh, says he didn’t know the 58 year old well but got a similar vibe. “I mean, [he]...