Healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.

Mental Health

Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.

Public health

Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.

Reproductive Health

For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.

Health

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

mercredi 31 janvier 2018

Getting Robbed at Gun Point Was Apparently a Walk in the Park For This Jimmy John's Employee

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Sometimes, life hands you a bad day and you need to just let it ride out. That's how one Jimmy John's employee seemingly approached a robbery at gunpoint as he stoically handed the gunman money from the register.

The robbery took place at a Jimmy John's in Kansas City, MO, on April 26 at 9:15 p.m. In a video uploaded to YouTube by the Kansas City Police Department, the suspect, wearing a blue hoodie, enters the store and orders an item. As the cashier tells him his total, the suspect pulls out a gun. The Jimmy John's employee then takes off his gloves, hands him all the money, and even tries to give him the drawer with all the change. You can watch the encounter ahead.

Related
These Clips of Donald Trump Contradicting Himself Need No Explanation

The video quickly went viral on the internet, with some people on Twitter noting that the gun looks like it was jammed and that's why the cashier was so chill. According to the Kansas City Police YouTube page, police have the suspect in custody and they wrote, "Investigation is continuing." We hope the cashier and anyone else working during the robbery are home safe and sincerely OK.

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There's a Typo on Trump's State of the Union Tickets, and I Almost Wish I Was Surprised

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Today in "well this is surprising, but also not really that surprising at all" news, there's a glaring typo on the tickets for Donald Trump's first State of the Union address. I wish I were kidding, but unfortunately, my grammar-obsessed heart is currently too broken to make up jokes like this.

Ahead of the president's highly anticipated Jan. 30 speech, a few members of Congress - including Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative Raúl Grijalva - took to social media to point out a prominent spelling error on their blue tickets: they read "State of the Uniom" instead of "Union." In the wise, eloquent words of Trump himself: this is just plain "sad!"

Related
Everything You Need to Know About the 2018 State of the Union and Democratic Response

Now, our spelling-inept, covfefe-loving president isn't actually the one to blame for the embarrassing mishap, as the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper is responsible for printing the tickets for spouses and guests of Congress members. The nonpartisan office told CNN that "affected tickets have been reprinted" and were "in the process of being redistributed" as of the morning of Trump's address.

Naturally, the internet, being the savage entity that it is, couldn't resist roasting the spelling flub. Below is just a handful of hysterical tweets about Trump's "State of the Uniom."

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Meet Denea Joseph, the Dreamer Attending the 2018 State of the Union With Sen. Kamala Harris

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On Jan. 30, President Donald Trump will stand before a joint session of Congress and deliver his first State of the Union address. As one of the biggest events in politics, the remarks will be broadcast on air and online to millions of Americans around the world - but among those set to be present in the House chamber is Denea Joseph, an activist and DACA recipient who will be attending as the guest of California Senator Kamala Harris.

The 2018 State of the Union will take place against a tremendously turbulent political backdrop; many Democratic members of Congress are expected to show their solidarity with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements by wearing black, and at least a dozen people will be boycotting the event altogether. But at a time when the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is up in the air and more than 700,000 individuals wake up each and every day knowing that they face an uncertain fate, Sen. Harris and several other Democrats have elected to extend their plus ones to the Dreamers who truly make America great.

Joseph, who immigrated to the United States from Belize at the age of 7, is part of the UndocuBlack Network - an advocacy group serving undocumented and formerly undocumented black immigrants, providing them with resources and a community throughout what can be an unbearably difficult process. "Dreamers like Denea represent the best of who we are as a nation," Senator Harris said in a statement, adding, "Her commitment to the representation and empowerment of black immigrant communities is inspiring. We must continue to fight to give her and the hundreds of thousands of other young people like her who are living in fear the security they need to live up to their full potential."

POPSUGAR caught up with Joseph by phone several hours before the State of the Union, and a transcript of that conversation - lightly edited and condensed for clarity - appears in full below.

POPSUGAR: To start, I'd love to hear a bit more about your personal background.

Denea Joseph: I was born in Belize, in Central America. I immigrated to this country at the age of 7 years old, and I actually did so without my mother, father, or siblings. As the eldest child, my parents made the decision to send me to the United States and I was raised by my maternal grandmother. That experience has definitely shaped the activism that I do now. Historically, I would say as a black immigrant, our story is one that isn't represented - especially my journey here, as I think the vast majority of people tend to immigrate along with their parents. It's been a good 16 years since I've been back home; as a result, it's been 16 years since I've seen any of them in person.

PS: What has it been like for you as a Dreamer in Trump's America this year?

"Our future as we know it, as well as our current existence, is contingent on being able to continue advocating for this cause."

DJ: Chaotic would be an understatement, the understatement of the century, maybe. It's been a time of uncertainty; though I wouldn't say a time of fear, honestly, because when you know that you're living your truth, when you know that you're living unapologetically, and you're showcasing your experiences and the realities that come with it . . . I have no fear in that sense. However, there is an overall concern for my community and the future viability of our own freedoms in this country. If a program like DACA is completely eradicated, many of us would become subject to detention, deportation, and separation from our own families - there's so much at stake. And as a result, the advocacy just cannot stop. Because our future as we know it, as well as our current existence, is contingent on being able to continue advocating for this cause.

PS: What have you been doing to get your voice and story heard, through your work with UndocuBlack and otherwise?

DJ: Today in particular, we had a press conference. We were there with members of Congress - Rep. Judy Chu, Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Yvette Clark - we had a good amount of representatives present who were there to show their support for members of the DACA community and immigrants as a whole. We've also been amplifying our voices in on-air and over-the-phone interviews, documenting what this day truly means to the collective group, and showcasing our individual experiences as they pertain to the overall immigrant movement that's being led right now.

PS: So what advice would you give to other Dreamers out there looking for guidance?

DJ: Remain true to yourself. Remain true to your own personal experiences, and if you can, if you're comfortable enough, showcase your stories as much as possible. There is no one who can tell our stories in the way that we can. For myself in particular, as a member of the UndocuBlack community, showcasing it [is crucial] - it's an experience, a story, that isn't being represented in our mainstream immigrant narrative. I'm helping, I believe, to uplift the diversity of the immigrant community and showcase the fact that our liberation is truly bounded to one another. If I'm not free then you're not free, and we have to continue to do the work to ensure the collective within our community gets the rights that they truly do deserve, that they've earned and continue to work for.

PS: Let's switch gears a bit; how does it feel to be going to the State of the Union tonight?

"I really hope that tonight, through the representation of myself and the other DACA recipients who are going to be in the room, that we can uplift members of our community"

DJ: As somewhat of a political buff – I studied at UCLA as poli-sci, so I definitely watched the State of the Union every year that I have been in this country, and have been able to understand what's being said on that national level - it's incredible to be in this space. I'm extremely honored and feel extremely privileged that Sen. Kamala Harris has selected me to accompany her, and I'm still in shock, awe, and disbelief about the whole situation. It's a wonderful platform, and it's an opportunity to showcase the diversity within our community, and I really hope that tonight, through the representation of myself and the other DACA recipients who are going to be in the room, that we can uplift members of our community, members whose faith has maybe faded over the past few weeks on whether we will get a long-term solution to DACA - that they'll be reinvigorated, ready to hit the ground running come morning.

PS: There's been a lot in the news about Dreamers and the fight for DACA, but is there a side of the story that you wish more people were talking about?

DJ: I wish that people would start seeing us as we are, as human beings. I wish that the conversation would center around people, as opposed to economics. Often times we like to say, "immigrants pay taxes, thus the reason that they should remain in this country" - which is a fact, immigrants do contribute taxes and fees and payments to the Department of Homeland Security - but we are people first. We are people who contribute to our society, whether that be locally, state-wide or nationally; beyond that, we have family, we have people that we are responsible for through the actions and the work that we continue to do. So I wish that we would start to have a conversation beyond the numbers, and start looking at the people whose real lives and families are going to be impacted by this decision either way that it goes.

PS: One last question: if you could give one message to Donald Trump, what would it be?

DJ: I would ask the president to advocate for the collective of the immigrant community, and not utilize the 800,000 DACA recipients as pawns against the remainder of the immigrant community, those who risk the chance of being subject to criminalization with any policies that have been proposed by Trump and his administration.

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After Hearing What 1 Fitness App Did, You'll Want to Change Your Location Settings ASAP

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For users of the fitness app Strava, part of the appeal of the platform comes in the form of how easy exercise is when it's athletic training folded into a social network. Unfortunately, the marriage of our online and offline worlds has resulted in one unexpected (yet massive) pitfall: on Jan. 29, it was revealed that Strava has exposed highly sensitive military location info to the entire world.

According to The Washington Post, the app's Global Heatmap - a visualization of Strava's "1+ billion activities" submitted by users - has logged worldwide location information of the app's 27 million users, even those who are in remote and often secret government locations, and made them publicly visible to all. This discovery was made by Australian international security student Nathan Ruser, who intended to find "where rich white people are" using the Global Heatmap. Unfortunately, he discovered that the app maps where international soldiers may be hiding out. "If soldiers use the app like normal people do, by turning it on tracking when they go to do exercise, it could be especially dangerous," Ruser tweeted. "I shouldn't be able to establish any pattern of life info from this far away."

In response to the commotion, Strava is seemingly looking away, pointing to its guidelines, and shrugging the problem off as a high-profile user error. "Our Global Heatmap represents an aggregated and anonymised view of over a billion activities uploaded to our platform," Strava said in a statement. "It excludes activities that have been marked as private and user-defined privacy zones." The app noted it would work with military and government personnel to ensure locations and private information remained as it should be: off-limits.

Though it's the most public outing of a company we've seen thus far, Strava isn't the only platform grappling with the privacy issues that arise from location tracking. From Grindr to Foursquare to Facebook to Google, the problem boils down to companies having highly specific and often private and personal information regarding your whereabouts, data that can be hacked into or accidentally exposed to the world outside your phone.

Unless you have opted out of location tracking for an app like Google Maps, your activities, your whereabouts, and all other aspects of daily live have been logged and could, potentially, be tossed out into the open, revealing everything from your morning commutes to your exercise routes. As Strava said in its response to this fiasco, give your location preferences a peek to secure your privacy and, while you're at it, take the time to secure your data online in general. A situation like this may seem like a major problem for the military, but if all your friends found out where you really were when you flaked on them, you too would be living a nightmare in the style of Black Mirror.

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Does Donald Trump Have a Dog? No - and That’s Not Even the Craziest Part

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Presidents tend to have a lot in common. They are married to spouses who work to carry on American values, with whom they live in the same house and with whom they assumedly sleep in the same bed. They raise largely successful children who don't work for them and who they've never mentioned wanting to sleep with. They are hardworking and smart, available at all hours to fight for America. They rarely take time off for leisure save for brief reprieves with literature. And they have a dog - or two.

Much of the same cannot be said of our current president, Donald Trump. In fact, Trump is the first president in more than 100 years to be dogless. This gaping hole in Americanness shouldn't be that shocking given Mr. Trump's contrarian, "Drain the swamp!" style.

Several presidents have gone dogless, but the last president to be without a dog was William McKinley, who was commander in chief from 1897-1901. However, according to the Presidential Pet Museum, McKinley did have pets: he had a parrot, two angora kittens, and roosters. Does Trump have any pets? The Presidential Pet Museum believes not.

Also of note before McKinley is Andrew Johnson. He didn't have a dog, was impeached in 1868 and apparently "left flour out at night for a family of white mice playing in his room" amidst the political drama. Pet food for thought.

One fluffy, silver lining is that Trump has reportedly attempted to get a dog in recent months, specifically a goldendoodle named Patton. As the New York Post reported in January, Trump was set to adopt the pup from friend Lois Pope, but Pope kept the dog after forming a connection with it herself. Pope claims Trump listed his constant traveling as a reason why he'd be a poor owner. Hmm.

Further proof that Trump seems to be anticanine? He loves insulting people by saying they failed or choked "like a dog" on Twitter.

We're anxious to know what will become of Trump's presidential pet ownership, but we do know one thing: getting a dog might help solve his failing disapproval ratings. As the Washington Post observes, a presidential dog offers good publicity and bipartisan relatability. They also provide personal benefits like stress reduction and loyalty.

Might not want to let that sleeping dog lie, President Trump.

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Bono's Dig at Trump Was Censored During the Grammys - Here's What He Said

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There was no lack of political statements at Sunday night's Grammys. While some carried white roses to honor the Time's Up movement, others like Kendrick Lamar and Logic used their performances to voice their disgust with President Donald Trump's antics - specifically, his alleged reference to African and Haitian countries being "sh*thole countries."

After U2's highly political performance of "XXX" with Kendrick Lamar, the group later performed "Get Out of Your Own Way" in front of the Statue of Liberty, where Bono used the stage to give a shout-out to the "sh*thole countries" Trump so horribly referred to earlier this month. While Pitchfork reports Bono's comment was censored on live TV, the video above captured the dig at Trump in its entirety.

Around the 3:30 mark, Bono took a patriotic megaphone and preached, "Blessed are the sh*thole countries, for they gave us the American dream . . . Blessed are the bullies, for one day they will have to stand up to themselves." These statements were inspired by the studio version of the song, where Kendrick's lyrics on the outro also refer to the "blessed."

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What You Need to Know About Snapchat's New Bitmoji Deluxe

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Snapchat first launched a Bitmoji integration back in the summer of 2016, allowing users to insert their very own cartoon avatars into their snaps and chats with a few simple taps on their mobile phones. A year and a half later, Bitmoji is an integral part of the platform; from 3D World Lenses to Snap Map Actionmojis, they're one of the most fun ways to put yourself in the center of the action, and share your experiences with friends and family. But on Jan. 30, Snapchat announced a very, very exciting new update - and it goes by the name of Bitmoji Deluxe.

The update - which is based, in part, on feedback collected from Snapchat's many users - offers a far broader selection of skin tones, physical attributes, and style choices in an effort to make Bitmoji more inclusive. What's more, each avatar no longer needs to be heteronormative; instead, a Bitmoji can draw from masculine and feminine attributes in order to best represent the user.

Bitmoji Deluxe also comes with the ability to build your avatar side-by-side with a selfie of your choosing, allowing for the easiest avatar creation imaginable - and, naturally, the chance to take into account each and every one of the hundreds of new choices you now have when deciding what your Bitmoji looks like. And if you aren't interested in updating your Bitmoji, you have the option to keep your avatar as is - when you go to the settings menu in Snapchat and then select "change avatar style," you can choose to remain with Bitmoji "Classic," go back to Bitstrips, or upgrade to Bitmoji Deluxe.

Ahead, check out the new Bitmoji Deluxe in action - and get ready to make your best Snapchat Bitmoji avatar yet.

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Traveling With an Emotional Support Peacock? You Probably Want to Avoid United Airlines

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Delta Air Lines announced a tougher policy on traveling with service and support animals earlier this month, but if one recent incident at Newark Liberty International Airport is any indication, it's likely that we'll see more of an industry-wide crackdown in the coming weeks.

As The Jet Set first reported on Jan. 29, a passenger and her emotional support animal attempted to board a United flight this past weekend, and despite having purchased two seats to avoid any and all issues with their travel plans, the animal was denied boarding. Because as it happens, the woman's traveling companion just happened to be a peacock.

This isn't a new problem, as Live and Let's Fly pointed out, and birds have been flying with their owners for years - much to the dismay of their fellow passengers. But it's worth noting that in its Jan. 19 policy change announcement, even Delta admitted there had been an uptick in unfortunate incidents as a result of increased numbers of in-flight animals. "Delta has seen an 84 percent increase in reported animal incidents since 2016," Delta said, adding that reported incidents included "urination/defecation, biting and even a widely reported attack by a 70-pound dog."

Naturally, the internet was split down the middle when it came to whether or not the woman and her peacock should have been allowed to board the flight. But from where we stand, it's now on the airlines to take a firm stance on the limits of support animals - and to ensure that the internet never has to ponder the pros and cons of fancy friends again.

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The Mixed Messages Melania Trump's Winter-White Pantsuit Sent at the State of the Union

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Melania Trump broke with tradition by traveling separately from her husband to his first State of the Union address on Jan. 30, making her entrance even more notable. When she did show up in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, descending the stairs to a standing ovation - before the president himself - her choice of attire immediately caught my attention.

In recent weeks, a flood of stories about Trump's alleged affair with porn actor Stormy Daniels have dominated headlines, launching yet another flood of news stories reporting that his wife is livid with him. (She did abruptly cancel her plans to travel with the president on his trip to Davos, Switzerland, last week.) Even the most straight-laced political reporters and commentators I watched on CNN ahead of the State of the Union's broadcast discussed reports of strained relations between the Trumps, albeit rather awkwardly.

Even apart from that context, the Winter-white pantsuit by Dior, which Melania Trump paired with a white Dolce & Gabbana silk top, was a remarkably interesting and bold choice for her. The first lady usually favors extremely feminine looks: pencil skirts, pussy-bow blouses, and waist-nipping dresses. Of course, she didn't trade in her signature stiletto heels at the SOTU, despite the comparatively androgynous wardrobe choice.

I wondered if the neutral, pure tone was a kind of silently forceful rebuttal. After all, a number of Democratic women wore black to the State of the Union in protest of her husband, part of an effort to call attention to the numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault that have followed him for decades. Was the first lady sending them a pointed message via pantsuit? Or could there possibly be something more subversive at play? Could the suiting actually be a nod, in solidarity, to the shade of the suffragettes? Notably, suffragette white is the same shade that a number of women lawmakers wore to Trump's first congressional address, in a move of solidarity and resistance to his presidency. It's also the color that Hillary Clinton wore to Trump's inauguration. Cream isn't quite white, of course, but it's damn close.

The first lady has rarely spoken publicly during her husband's presidency, leaving many to speculate about her opinions and her life inside the walls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So while it may seem trivializing to infer much about her inner life based on how she chooses to dress, it's one of the few outward indicators we have as to how she might be thinking or feeling. After all, as the lawmakers clad in black and Time's Up pins proved at tonight's address, clothing does send a message. The first lady, after decades in the public eye, certainly understands that. But what message, exactly, the first lady may have meant to send with her pantsuit is up for interpretation; after all, we'll certainly never hear it from her.

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Behold, the Most Hated Comment in Reddit History

By  08:07   No comments

I will always be the first to admit that a lot of what I consume on the internet is a direct result of what I see being upvoted on Reddit. If you're not familiar with the phrase, upvoting is the equivalent of "liking" something on Facebook or "faving" something on Twitter - with the ultimate goal being not just the crowd's approval, but to land your post at the top of the Reddit charts and onto the so-called front page of the internet. That being said, despite making several trips to Reddit.com every hour of every day for the last several years, I rarely come across a post that gained attention not because of the number of upvotes that it garnered, but because so many people gave it a negative rating (or, more colloquially, downvoted it).

But that all changed on Nov. 12, when Electronic Arts (EA) decided to respond to some user criticism of the forthcoming Star Wars Battlefront II.

The title of Reddit user MBMMaverick's post is "Seriously? I paid 80$ to have Vader locked?" and reflects a sincere sense of dissatisfaction with the price paid for the forthcoming game. "This is a joke. I'll be contacting EA support for a refund . . . " the user writes, adding, "I can't even playing f*cking Darth Vader?!?!? Disgusting. This age of 'micro-transactions' has gone WAY too far. Leave it to EA though to stretch the boundaries." A little strong, perhaps - but certainly not anything too controversial. If I had a quarter for every time someone said a video game was overpriced . . . well, you get the idea. Anyway, the response from EA was swift and straight to the point:

Comment from discussion Seriously? I paid 80$ to have Vader locked?

Unfortunately for the gaming giant, Reddit is never the right forum for customer service jargon. As such, the post has racked up an absolutely staggering 443,000 downvotes in the span of a single day, with thousands more voting it down with each passing hour. For context, it's worth noting that the previous record holder for most downvoted comment on Reddit clocked in at a mere 24,333 downvotes - and it happened to be a comment that was explicitly asking Reddit users to click the downvote button. Literally.

Suffice it to say, EA is now unquestionably the company behind the most hated post in Reddit history, and we're willing to bet that it wasn't the record that it hoped it'd be breaking with the release of the first Star Wars game in years. The moral of this story? If you don't have anything nice to say, you probably shouldn't say anything at all - and you definitely shouldn't say it in a Reddit forum.

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If You Thought This Part of Trump's State of the Union Sounded Familiar, Here's Why

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When Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address as president on Jan. 30, one phrase in particular caught the attention of plenty of people, and for a surprising reason: it was a line most memorably used by his eternal political rival, Hillary Clinton, way back in 2010. Trump said:

"This, in fact, is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream. So, to every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where you have been or where you have come from, this is your time."

Turns out Clinton actually used the notable "new American moment" phrase - albeit in a much different context - during a foreign policy address she gave as Secretary of State. Fascinatingly, Clinton used the words to look outward and reflect on America's role as a global leader:

"Indeed, the complexities and connections of today's world have yielded a new American moment, a moment when our global leadership is essential. . . . But now this is no argument for America to go it alone - far from it. The world looks to us because America has the reach and resolve to mobilize the shared effort needed to solve problems on a global scale, in defense of our own interests but also as a force for progress. . . . For the United States, global leadership is both a responsibility and an unparalleled opportunity."

In marked contrast to Clinton, Trump used the phrase in his speech as he celebrated the domestic, "America-first" policies and values he's espoused since the beginning of his candidacy, including fighting for religious freedom, doing away with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, amping up the stock market, and reinvigorating "beautiful, clean coal."

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The borrowed phrase wasn't lost on pundits and political junkies:

In fact, you can watch Clinton take it out for a spin in the video clip below:

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The Opioid Epidemic's Biggest Culprit Isn't Heroin Anymore - It's Something Deadlier

By  08:07   No comments

Part of a series of images Jessica* created with photographer John Trew to portray the emotions associated with addiction. Photo courtesy of John Trew.

Update, Jan. 22, 2017: We are saddened to report that Andrew*'s wife confirmed to POPSUGAR that he passed away from an opioid overdose, just days before Christmas. Before his death, Andrew shared with us his goal of one day operating his own long-term treatment facility for recovering opioid addicts in the Stark County, OH, area. If you would like to help provide more access to long-term and residential treatment for those battling addiction where you live, you may do so by donating to the Salvation Army's Combat Addiction initiative.

Original post: Andrew*, an HVAC engineer, looks better than your average 37-year-old, college-educated man from Canton, OH. Clean-shaven, wearing a fitted maroon polo shirt and black dress pants. Athletic. Energetic. Flirtatious.

He sits on the patio of a local restaurant, sipping his cocktail, skimming the menu at the kind of place you take your kids to after soccer practice.

"Yesterday I had one glass of wine, today I had two. Tomorrow, I don't know," Andrew says, both hands cupped around a sweaty vodka-soda with lime. "But it's not heroin."

But it wasn't heroin two weeks earlier, either, when the husband and father of three woke up on the floor of his sober-living house to six men shaking him. They told him it took two doses of Narcan, an opioid blocker, to revive him after he overdosed on carfentanil for the sixth time this year.

It wasn't heroin, because if you ask drug users, people in recovery, medical personnel, and law enforcement, they'll tell you that drug has all but dried up in the state of Ohio, a state leading the country in fatal opioid overdoses, according to the Centers For Disease Control.

If it were heroin, it would've been made from morphine, which is derived from naturally occurring opium.

Andrew, 37, looks out from the patio at a restaurant in Canton, OH, on Aug. 18. Photo courtesy Stephanie Haney.

Carfentanil - a synthetic form of fentanyl - is generally used to sedate very large animals, like elephants, and it's 10,000 times stronger than morphine. It's the new drug of choice for those manufacturing and selling illicit drugs in the Buckeye State, which was home to a record-setting 4,149 accidental deaths due to fatal overdoses in 2016.

Fentanyl itself is another popular option. The drug is "50 to 100 times more potent" than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Oftentimes, drug users don't realize they aren't getting quite what they bargained for until it's too late.

Andrew noticed the switch about six months ago, when he started "falling out" - or losing consciousness - after doses he had previously considered normal.

"I was shooting up all day, every day," he said, as he stretched out his arms to show dark bruises where his veins had collapsed under his skin. And then finally, one day, he overdosed.

The casual observer probably would never know that Andrew was battling opioid addiction at this very moment, but the crisis that's hit America hard doesn't discriminate.

Drug overdose deaths have now become the leading cause of accidental deaths in the US with 52,404 fatalities in 2015, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine; 33,091 of those deaths, which equates to more than six out of 10, involved an opioid.

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And it's getting worse. While official numbers aren't in yet, a New York Times preliminary report has the total number of drug overdose deaths for 2016 at more than 59,000, which it described as "the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States."

Addiction started for Andrew in 2009, when he started taking his mother's oxycodone, which she had been prescribed after a medical procedure - he says because he "didn't want her taking all of that." He also had a longstanding Adderall prescription added to the mix.

His opioid and Adderall abuse went undetected by his wife until the Summer of 2016, when she noticed he was running out of the ADHD drug before the end of the month. After she made a call to his doctor, his prescription was revoked, and Andrew turned to cocaine. The way he tells it, his wife got fed up, took their kids, and left him, and one week later, he was shooting up heroin.

What Can We Do to Stop the Epidemic?

It's not that uncommon of a story, and it can happen to anybody. President Donald Trump addressed that issue in his press briefing from New Jersey on Aug. 8.

"Nobody is safe from this epidemic that threatens young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural communities," he said. "Everybody is threatened."

But what's debatable is Trump's view that amping up incarceration is the answer to the problem. In the same briefing, he pledged to increase federal drug prosecutions and implied he'd fight to lengthen sentences for convicted federal drug offenders. This is in stark contrast to the Obama administration's approach to dealing with drug users.

Two days later, Trump told reporters in New Jersey, "The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I'm saying officially, right now, it is an emergency. We're going to draw it up and we're going to make it a national emergency. It is a serious problem, the likes of which we have never had."

What methods the Trump administration will ultimately employ to combat the epidemic aren't exactly certain at this time.

What we do know is that his comments about "upping federal prosecutions" were made despite a preliminary report issued on July 31 by his Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The report almost exclusively recommended addressing shortcomings in access to treatment for addicts, along with prescription drug reform and stopping the influx of synthetic opioids (like fentanyl and carfentanil) from other countries, like China.

That approach is more in line with what people who are living in the throes of the epidemic think would be helpful.

Incarceration Doesn't Work For Everyone

One of those people is Tugg Massa, 42, from Akron, OH. He's a recovering addict and founder of Akron Say No to Dope, a nonprofit organization that serves Summit County, where as many as 250 people died last year from drug overdoses. Those deaths were largely attributed to the introduction of carfentanil in the area in June and July of 2016, according to Ohio.com.

Both fentanyl and carfentanil are a whole lot cheaper on the street than morphine and heroin, he explained, which is why they're being cut with anything and everything people use to get high - usually unbeknownst to the drug user.

"It's not like it was when I was growing up," Tugg said. "Not to glorify drug use of any kind, but it's a lot more dangerous now. It's not heroin. Heroin won't even get the people out there using drugs high anymore because this fentanyl and carfentanil are so strong."

He knows what he's talking about, as someone who used drugs for 27 years. Tugg's been sober since Oct. 10, 2012, the day he was arrested for illegal manufacturing of methamphetamines.

Tugg Massa, 42, checks the call log for Akron Say No to Dope's 24/7 helpline from his organization's thrift store and boutique in Akron, OH, on Aug. 14. Photo courtesy Stephanie Haney.

When Tugg got caught, he was making meth to support his own opioid habit. He spent two years in prison for that charge, where, despite his surroundings, he got clean and earned his GED.

"It was difficult," he said of his time there. "There's a lot of drugs in prison. I had a drug dealer on one side of my cell and a drug dealer in the other cell next to me."

Although he successfully overcame his addiction while incarcerated, he feels strongly that being locked up is not for everyone. Instead, Tugg is a major advocate for drug court, where people get the option of undergoing treatment in lieu of conviction. That means if they make it through a 12-month program, their convictions are dropped.

Treatment Is Crucial - When the Timing Is Right

Sheriff Steve Leahy of Clermont County, OH, generally agrees with Tugg about the need for more access to treatment, but also says it needs to be worked hand in hand with the judicial system.

"You can't throw everybody's ass in jail," he said. "But what you also can't do is hug your way out of it."

Sheriff Leahy speaks from experience as both a member of law enforcement and someone who has witnessed firsthand a loved one's battle against opioid addiction. His ex-wife's struggles gave him valuable insight into what might work in his community.

He points out that some people simply aren't responsive to treatment, possibly because they're not ready for it at that point in their addiction.

"I think there are just some people who do need to be in jail or incarcerated. Maybe because they're selling as a pusher or they are committing crimes and burglaries and other felonies," he said. "You have to protect the community at large. Also, with the same breath, sometimes the only way to protect an individual from themselves is by having them locked up until you can get them to a point of treatment."

Part of a series of images Jessica* created with photographer John Trew to portray the emotions associated with addiction. Photo courtesy of John Trew.

Whatever they're doing in Clermont County seems to be working. The death toll skyrocketed to 94 in 2015, placing Clermont at the top of the state for accidental overdose deaths, according to Leeann Watson, associate director of Clermont County's Mental Health Recovery Board. That figure was up from 68 in 2014 and 56 in 2013, said Watson, who is also cochair of the opiate task force. But in 2016, the number dropped slightly to 82 deaths.

One tool that Leahy believes in is his county's community alternative sentencing program, which people can choose to participate in while they are incarcerated.

The program is administered in a wing of the county jail dedicated exclusively to those who have volunteered for treatment. It's an opportunity for convicted drug offenders who are ready to tackle sobriety to make the best use of their time.

"You have to have the buy-in of the court system, which includes the probation department and other mental health and addiction specialists," Leahy said. "It's kind of a multipronged attack."

Court Programs Can't Help When Drugs Don't Show Up on Tests

Andrew, who was placed on probation in January after officers found a needle in his car when he got pulled over for speeding, hasn't had to face a choice like those convicted in Sheriff Leahy's jurisdiction yet.

Not after trying out replacement drug therapy with Suboxone and methadone; not after attending treatment facilities in both Mexico and Florida; not after witnessing two people die from opioid overdoses in his own home on two separate occasions. And not even after his own latest overdose.

When his sober-living housemates revived him just two weeks ago, the police were called and he was taken to the hospital.

If he had tested positive for drugs at the hospital, he would've been kicked out of the sober-living house and sent to jail for violating probation.

The crazy thing is, his drug test came back negative.

"I've been given a lot of grace," he says.

"Grace" for Andrew, this time, came in the form of a standard urine test that didn't detect the particular concoction of street opioids that shut down his system.

Yes, you read that right. The standard drug tests administered at many hospitals that treat overdose victims don't pick up carfentanil and the street versions of fentanyl that are killing people in record numbers.

Even after six near-death experiences and witnessing two fatal overdoses in his own home from opioid use in the past year, Andrew says he still can't promise he won't ever use opioids again. Photo courtesy Stephanie Haney.

"You have to know what you're looking for," said Dr. Barry Sample, senior director of Science and Technology at Quest Diagnostics.

Dr. Allison Chambliss, assistant professor of Clinical Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, elaborated, "Fentanyl and carfentanil are structurally distinct from the other major opioids, and so do not get detected up by the routine urine opioid drug screens out there that are designed to pick up morphine, codeine, and heroin."

Even if you might have an idea what you're looking for, oftentimes the proper tests simply aren't run - either because they're too expensive or the facility where the victim is being treated doesn't have the proper equipment.

Usually it's only large reference and specialty toxicology labs that have the tools required to carry out these kinds of tests, even though they could be run on urine or blood samples, just like more general opioid tests, Chambliss said.

In Andrew's case, the standard test was apparently run, and it came back negative for opioids. He was released from the hospital and was able to go back to the sober-living facility with no probation violation recorded.

Even after that close of a call, where he narrowly escaped losing his liberty - and his life - he admits, "I still can't promise I'll never use opioids again. It's too good."

"Ready" and "Rock Bottom" Look Different For Everyone

Tugg pointed out that in his ministry of recovering addicts, "They have to come to me. I can't go chasing people down."

He shared Sheriff Leahy's sentiment that drug users have to be ready on their own, which many addicts describe as their "rock bottom" moment. For him, it was a letter from his daughter while he was in prison, asking him, "Who do you think you are?"

Part of a series of images Jessica* created with photographer John Trew to portray the emotions associated with addiction. Photo courtesy of John Trew.

Rock bottom for Jessica*, 26, from Los Angeles looked very different.

Having used drugs since the age of 13, Jessica became addicted to opioids at 16 after trading away cocaine for "tar" and not realizing that it was, in fact, heroin.

At one of her worst moments, she was homeless, on the street, doing whatever was necessary to score drugs. At another, an obsessed partner held her against her will for half a year.

Jessica says her captor forbid her from speaking to anyone else, eating, showering, or even using the bathroom outside of his presence. She finally convinced this man that her going to treatment would be better for their relationship, which is how she escaped that situation.

"When I got to treatment, I had to learn how to form sentences again. I couldn't speak. I didn't know how to raise my head and look somebody in the eye," she said. "Even just eating was a big thing. I didn't know how to do that anymore. I had to learn how to stop asking permission for things, which was really hard. That's something that I still struggle with today."

But even being held against her will wasn't what brought her to the realization that she needed to get clean.

Her epiphany came in 2012 at the age of 21, when she had "everything" in every materialistic sense of the word. She was living with a wealthy man - who supported her $400-a-day heroin habit - in a beautiful home in Southern California. She said it was hitting an emotional bottom that finally did her drug use in over a period of four months when she was trying to overdose every single day.

"It was a feeling of desperation that was something I hadn't felt before," she said. "That true desperation of, 'I have everything in the world, but I am nothing,' that's what was different this time than all the other times. I finally realized that I as a person had no self-worth."

"I would be looking in the mirror at myself, because I was an IV user, and I would shoot in my neck, so I would have to be in front of a mirror. I'd be standing in front of a mirror, looking myself in the eyes as I'm injecting my neck with heroin trying to die," she said. "Praying that you don't wake up this time, that is the scariest feeling in the whole world," she said.

Today, she's five years sober and has been working for the last two and half years at a sober treatment facility in Texas, which she credits with helping to maintain her sobriety.

The Street View of How to Fight the Opioid Crisis

Signs advertise free Narcan class outside New Beginnings, the thrift store and boutique Tugg runs in Akron, OH, in support of Akron Say No to Dope. Photo courtesy Stephanie Haney.

It's unclear exactly what will happen to the wide-scale handling of this epidemic nationwide, if and when the opioid crisis is officially declared a national emergency, but Jessica and the other people we interviewed for this story have a wish list.

Sheriff Leahy, Jessica, and Tugg all agree that more in-house treatment facilities are crucial in this fight.

"When someone is ready to get off of drugs, we need to address that right then," Tugg said. "We need more beds. No wait time."

Jessica noted that in addition to more beds, facilities need more time.

"Long-term treatment is what's working. The 30-day treatment centers are not long enough. You can't work through all the trauma that you've caused to yourself as an addict. Your first week, you're detoxing. Your second, third week, you might be going to groups and start having emotions again, and your fourth and fifth week, you're planning your discharge already. So you've really only gotten a week of actual treatment," she said.

"Starting to form new habits takes a long time. You can't learn that in 30 days, which is why I stayed in treatment for a year and a half," Jessica said. "A lot of treatment centers are only 30 days, which is why they're always full because people, they'll go in, 30 days, get out, relapse, and go back in. The long-term places are getting people and holding them and really turning them back out to be productive members of society."

From a law enforcement perspective, Leahy would also like to see funds available for "one or two more" directed patrol officers, meaning members of law enforcement who are assigned a specific task for a particular purpose. In his community, that purpose would be to have more of a presence to help stop the flow of drugs across jurisdictional lines.

"And maybe a reinstitution of D.A.R.E. or something similar to that," Leahy said. "We can do whatever we're doing now, but we've got to get to the young people."

At the federal level, Trump alluded during his press briefing to the fact that he's talking with China about "certain forms of man-made drugs that come in."

That prospect got Tugg excited.

"We need to put sanctions on China. If they're not going to regulate what they're sending over here, then there should be sanctions against them," he said. "The fentanyl and carfentanil that's going around, they can get it right through the mail from China and get it dropped off right at their house."

Andrew says he got his last batch of opioids from his housemate, who is connected with one of the major drug cartels in Mexico. He won't say how it arrived in Ohio.

We asked what advice he would give - after everything he's experienced - to someone who was considering trying opioids for the first time today.

"I would say, 'Pull out your phone and look up epitaph, because you're gonna want to know what that word means,'" he says. "And then tell everyone you love that you love them. And then flip a quarter. Because there's a 50/50 chance you're gonna die."

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of these sources.

If you or someone you know is in need of drug-related treatment or counseling, you can reach the Substance and Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on its Treatment Referral Routing Service helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

SAMHSA's National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

If you're in the Summit County, OH, area, you can call Akron Say No to Dope's 24/7 hotline at 855-246-LIVE (5483).

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There were plenty of head-turning looks at the Grammy Awards red carpet on Sunday, but it was Camila Cabello who brought the fire. Her red fitted Vivienne Westwood gown and Bulgari jewels are giving us major Jessica Rabbit bombshell vibes. As much as we love the star's dress, what we truly can't take our eyes off of is her sparkly disco ball purse by Judith Leiber. It's a dazzling complement to her overall look. We're inspired to rock a shiny purse during our next night out - it's an easy way to take an outfit to the next level. Make sure to check out every angle of her sexy ensemble.

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When I became pregnant with my son, my husband and I prepared for a change in our marriage. We knew it would take commitment to keep our relationship a priority, but we vowed to love one another and remain a team.

What I did not anticipate were the unthinkable circumstances that would ultimately change everything. A mere three days after giving birth to my son, I lost my husband, Justin, suddenly and tragically, to a stray bullet that improbably found its way into our living room.

Instantly, I became a widow, a single mom. Being thrust into this role has completely transformed my perspective on life and motherhood. I used to have my own strong beliefs about how a child should be raised by a stay-at-home mom. But now that I'm unable to follow my own rules, I realize just how unfair my old way of thinking was. As a widow, I've experienced firsthand the judgment and scrutiny single mothers face, and I'm still shocked by how harsh it can be.

When my son, Jax, was 4 months old, I visited my local DMV to update my address on my driver's license - and to list my mother as my new emergency contact. Nothing could have prepared me for the comment that followed: "I see you decided to trade in Justin and your house."

I cannot describe the hurt and disgust I felt as the words so thoughtlessly rolled off this stranger's tongue. How dare he assume I was "trading in" my husband? My anger only intensified when I realized he was hitting on me.

"My husband is dead, you assh*le," I thought to myself. I was about to let it go - until I thought about all of the other women who might get the same insensitive treatment and decided to speak up. "Actually, I'm a widow, sir," I explained. His face went pale as he stumbled over what to say next. He offered his condolences, but the damage was done. Hearing that just four months after my husband's death was enough to send me spiraling; I could barely get out of bed the rest of that day.

Although that man had no way of knowing I was a widow, I was bothered by the fact that a complete stranger felt the need to pass judgment on whatever situation had landed me in the DMV that day. So what if I had gotten a divorce or had a baby on my own? What business was it of his?

To help others avoid making a similar mistake, here are six comments you should avoid making to a single mom - all of which I've heard, by the way.

"Is it hard being a single mom?"

Ask any mom with a child under the age of 5 if life is hard and she'll fight the urge to throw a few animal crackers your way. Being the primary caretaker of a small child is challenging for any mom, single or not. So imagine my surprise when a fellow mother (who is not single) asks me this ridiculous question.

"Who has your child?"

I got asked this question a lot when Jax was a baby. I'd be out by myself or with a family member or friend and run into someone I knew. Since they knew I was Jax's only parent, they felt the need to ask about his whereabouts. I couldn't help but take it as judgmental. The old saying "It's not what you say, but how you say it" definitely applies here.

"My husband is out of town this week, and it's rough."

I've never had the luxury of experiencing how bad it must suck when your husband has to jet out of town for a week on business or work long hours. It's completely acceptable to be stressed about it and complain to him, your mom, or even your other mommy friends who aren't single moms. But please try to remember who you're talking to, because I'd give anything to have that problem.

"Where is his father?"

This one hurts. Since becoming a single mother, I've been asked this question many times, and my response always causes discomfort. No one expects me to say "I'm a widow." Then again, what response are they hoping for? That I'm divorced? That I had a baby using a sperm donor? That my husband is serving in the military? That I got knocked up by a one-night stand? Every response is likely to have some form of pain attached to it, so why would anyone think it's OK to ask this question? You might be curious, but frankly, it's none of your business.

"Don't you feel guilty when you have to leave him with a sitter?"

Why, why, why would you ask a single mom this question? Of course I feel guilty! I'm a professional musician, so I don't work a regular job, which actually allows me more quality time with my son. But it also takes me away most weekends, which sucks. Don't get me wrong: I love my job and I feel lucky to be able to say that. But I despise leaving my son for a night or two and having to see his face over a smartphone.

Being financially supported by my folks wasn't an option for me. I have to work. I don't have a choice in the matter. I'm sure many married working mothers feel the same way, because not all of us can afford not to work and live on one income. I commend you all!

"Are you coming alone?"

At first, this might not seem like a rude question, but to a single mom, it is. What you really want to ask is, "Are you bringing your kid?" or "Is it possible for you to get a sitter?" We can hear the panic in your voice and see the worry in your eyes that you might be subjected to spending an evening with a snotty-nosed, tantrum-throwing, conversation-stealing 2-year-old. To which I say: suck it up, buttercup. I have to work a lot, which means I won't pawn my child off on a sitter when I actually have an opportunity to spend time with him. We are a package deal, and I refuse to compromise that.

Before having a child of my own, I could never relate to the idea that being a mother is the hardest yet most rewarding job ever. But now, you can bet I identify with that sentiment. It's hard work, and I am grateful to my parents and Justin's for the continued support and love I receive on a daily basis. I hope that someday Jax will get to experience the traditional family structure I knew as a child; I hope one day to remarry and maybe even give him a sibling. But for now, raising him as a single mom is my journey - one that I'm proud to share with so many inspiring women.

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