any mega winners

any mega winners Celebrities who had the worst year in 2024A look at how some of Trump's picks to lead health agencies could help carry out Kennedy's overhaul

Revealed: The bill to empty the Powerhouse MuseumOne Saturday morning, Ringo and Jax sneaked out of the house in Lake Creek near Edwards and did not return. Ringo is a 2-year-old yellow lab and Jax is a yellow lab mix rescue who his owners believe to be 9 years old. The two had gone on a few adventures alone before but always came home together. “Ringo knows how to open doors with lever handles — like the one on our front door,” said Stacey Boltz, owner of Ringo and Jax. “As long as doors remain locked, even his best efforts remain thwarted. However, with a house full of teenage boys, doors do get left unlocked from time to time.” Boltz said they discovered the dogs had taken themselves for a walk a few minutes after they escaped at about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 9 and immediately dispatched a search crew on foot and by car to go find them and alerted friends and neighbors who lived in the area. After initial efforts proved unsuccessful, Boltz posted messages on Pets of Eagle County and Eagle County Classifieds social media accounts and her personal Facebook and Instagram accounts. “Shortly after I had posted messages on Pets of Eagle County, I was contacted by Kate Hawthorn and others within Eagle and Summit County who work to retrieve lost pets. Vail Mountain Rescue was also among the first to reach out,” Boltz said. Jax came home at dawn the next day, alone. But no signs of Ringo. Many pets go missing daily in Eagle County and many come home on their own, but when they don’t, it’s nice to know there is sophisticated technology that can help track the pets and entice them to come home. That technology and a person who is a professional tracker is what found Boltz’s missing dog. “One of the volunteers told me about Bill Dohse of Find 911 . He had previously helped her locate a missing animal and she felt confident Dohse could be a helpful resource,” Boltz said. Bill Dohse is a retired law enforcement officer from Cody, Wyoming, who started working with drones as a hobby. That hobby quickly turned into search and rescue efforts using drones and highly trained search dogs to give a sense of direction of the subject missing. Find 911 travels the country helping law enforcement and government agencies and families looking for humans who have gone missing. Dohse said the combination of the search dogs and drones together is far superior to today’s general search methods. And Dohse has some incredible technology to help him zero in on those missing. “I wrote a grant to Amazon looking for some funding to develop our own software to find things that the drone operator can’t see with the naked eye when he’s flying that drone,” Dohse said. “Amazon loved it, and they funded the development of the software and partnered me up with a software company out of Denver called Cloud303 .” Over the last two years, the entities have developed software that can find color, shape, thermal images, anomalies and things that are out of place in nature in residential areas. All these things can be found using Amazon’s AI servers to find things that aren’t visible to the naked eye. “For instance, if we were looking for someone that we knew that was wearing a blue coat and was maybe curled up under a tree, this software can find about a quarter-size match to that blue color sticking out or through the foliage of that tree,” Dohse said. “And then it gives us a GPS coordinate, and we can send search and rescue teams to investigate that. The same thing with thermal. When the drone operator can’t see a thermal signature with the naked eye, the software can, and it can do the same thing. So, it’s very, very effective and we’re very thankful to Amazon and Cloud303.” A photo of Ringo’s colorful collar was put into the software and used to track this minute detail. But beyond this impressive advanced technology, Dohse said they always start with their search dogs because they give a direction of travel. Bolts provided Dohse with scent articles from Ringo. “Our dogs are scent-specific trained. So, they’re trained to follow the most recent scent of whatever we’re looking for as far as humans or horses or other four-legged animals,” Dohse said. The search dogs and drones help set up what Dohse calls a circuit. “Basically, it’s a perimeter. We call it a circuit because dogs will quickly create a circuit where they know where food, water and shelter are,” Dohse said. “Once we have established that circuit, the next step is to put up game cameras and feeding stations and hopefully get them on camera.” As each day went by, Boltz and her family would hope and pray for a safe return of Ringo. Boltz has had many dogs in her life but felt especially close to Ringo. “Ringo had always been my ‘heart dog.’ We are as connected as a dog and person could ever be. Ringo was the runt of his litter and suffered an eye injury shortly after birth which left him mostly blind in one eye and his limited vision meant he has always been a little more dependent on humans,” Boltz said. “We truly weren’t sure how well he would do in the wild.” In addition to all the technical search knowledge Dohse has, he also knows a lot about a dog’s behavior once it goes missing and explained to Boltz how dogs really become a different animal. “They become feral quickly but their instincts kick in and they can search for food sources and will even eat deer or elk scat, berries or dig for mice. They also become nocturnal and enter a fight-or-flight state after they realized that, ‘Oops, what did I do? Where’s my family? Where’s my house?’ They totally change mentality,” Dohse said. “Just a pure example is 90% of the time calling out your pup’s name is going to scare them away versus come, even though that’s your best friend in the whole world.” Dohse said when he coaches family members on how to search for their dog, he’ll tell them to call out family members’ names, call your other dog’s name, but do not call your dog’s name because “for whatever reason, it scares them or they think they’re in trouble,” Dohse said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that in Ringo’s case we were close to him several times just by my search dog’s behavior. But Ringo wasn’t ready. It’s like they are in a fog and can’t think straight, and then there’s a trigger where they finally realize it is time to come home.” Dohse recommended that they take Jax out for a hike around the circuit one more time. The circuit was in rugged terrain and the days were getting shorter and colder, but Dohse said that Jax’s scent might trigger Ringo. The next day Ringo pawed at the back patio door and cheers erupted from those in the house waiting for him six days after he left for his adventure. “Maybe it was Jax’s scent that had Ringo think, ‘Hey, I miss my buddy. I’m ready to come home.’ Maybe it was their scent that brought him out. I wish I had that answer, I wish I could talk to the dogs, but sometimes it just takes whatever it is, a scent or a sound or something for that pup to know it’s time.” Boltz said they all learned a lot during this ordeal. The technology was fascinating and so were the details about dog behavior. Boltz said that they have changed the doorknobs so that the dogs won’t be able to get out on their own anytime soon. But she also added that she learned a lot about the people of the community. “While the valley is filled with dog lovers, the proactive nature of the community reached far beyond what I had ever imagined possible,” Boltz said. “There were many moments when I was warmly reminded how much I love living in the mountains, and how powerful a small community can really be.”

NoneWASHINGTON — When Elon Musk first suggested a new effort to cut the size of government, Donald Trump didn’t seem to take it seriously. His eventual name for the idea sounded like a joke, too. It would be called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a reference to an online meme featuring a surprised-looking dog from Japan. But now that Trump has won the election, Musk’s fantasy is becoming reality, with the potential to spark a constitutional clash over the balance of power in Washington. Trump put Musk, the world’s richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, in charge of the new department, which is really an outside advisory committee that will work with people inside the government to reduce spending and regulations. Last week, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would encourage Trump to make cuts by refusing to spend money allocated by Congress, a process known as impounding. The proposal goes against a 1974 law intended to prevent future presidents from following in the footsteps of Richard Nixon, who held back funding that he didn’t like. “We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. “We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action.” Trump has already suggested taking such a big step, saying last year that he would “use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings.” It would be a dramatic attempt to expand his powers, when he already will have the benefit of a sympathetic Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, and it could swiftly become one of the most closely watched legal fights of his second administration. “He might get away with it,” said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “Congress’ power of the purse will turn into an advisory opinion.” Right now, plans for the Department of Government Efficiency are still coming into focus. The nascent organization has put out a call for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.” Applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes through X, the social media company that Musk owns. In the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy provided the most detailed look yet at how they would operate and where they could cut. Some are longtime Republican targets, such as $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Other plans are more ambitious and could reshape the federal government. The two wrote that they would “identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions,” leading to “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy.” Civil service protections wouldn’t apply, they argue, because they wouldn’t be targeting specific people for political purposes. Some employees could choose “voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.” But others would be encouraged to quit by mandating that they show up at the office five days a week, ending pandemic-era flexibility about remote work. The requirement “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said such cutbacks would harm services for Americans who rely on the federal government, and he suggested that Musk and Ramaswamy were in over their heads. “I don’t think they’re even remotely qualified to perform those duties,” he said. “That’s my main concern.” Kelley said his union, which represents 750,000 employees for the federal government and the city of Washington, D.C., was ready to fight attempts to slash the workforce. “We’ve been here, we’ve heard this kind of rhetoric before,” he said. “And we are prepared.” There was no mention in the Wall Street Journal of Musk’s previously stated goal of cutting $2 trillion from the budget, which is nearly a third of total annual spending. Nor did they write about “Schedule F,” a potential plan to reclassify federal employees to make them easier to fire. Ramaswamy once described the idea as the “mass deportation of federal bureaucrats out of Washington, D.C.” However, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would reduce regulations that they describe as excessive. They wrote that their department “will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology,” to review regulations that run counter to two recent Supreme Court decisions that were intended to limit federal rulemaking authority. Musk and Ramaswamy said Trump could “immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission.” Chris Edwards, an expert on budget issues at the Cato Institute, said many Republicans have promised to reduce the size and role of government over the years, often to little effect. Sometimes it feels like every budget item and tax provision, no matter how obscure, has people dedicated to its preservation, turning attempts at cuts into political battles of attrition. “Presidents always seem to have higher priorities,” he said. “A lot of it falls to the wayside.” Although DOGE is scheduled to finish its work by July 4, 2026, Edwards said Musk and Ramaswamy should move faster to capitalize on momentum from Trump’s election victory. “Will it just collect dust on a shelf, or will it be put into effect?” Edwards said. “That all depends on Trump and where he is at that point in time.” Ramaswamy said in an online video that they’re planning regular “Dogecasts” to keep the public updated on their work, which he described as “a once-in-a-generation project” to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse.” “However bad you think it is, it’s probably worse,” he said. House Republicans are expected to put Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally from Georgia, in charge of a subcommittee to work with DOGE, according to two people with knowledge of the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Greene and Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, have already met with Ramaswamy, the two people said. Musk brought up the idea for DOGE while broadcasting a conversation with Trump on X during the campaign. “I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’” Musk said. Musk returned to the topic twice, volunteering his services by saying “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.” “I’d love it,” Trump replied, describing Musk as “the greatest cutter.” Musk has his own incentives to push this initiative forward. His companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have billions of dollars in government contracts and face oversight from government regulators. After spending an estimated $200 million to support Trump’s candidacy, he’s poised to have expansive influence over the next administration. Trump even went to Texas last week to watch SpaceX test its largest rocket. DOGE will have an ally in Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has railed against federal spending for years. He recently told Fox News that he sent “2,000 pages of waste that can be cut” to Musk and Ramaswamy. “I’m all in and will do anything I can to help them,” Paul said.

Facing a budget shortfall of $10 billion or more, Democratic leaders in the state Legislature are already talking about potentially raising taxes to forestall cuts to government services. But Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson says he's not ready to back tax increases just yet. In an interview with The Seattle Times at a North Seattle coffee shop Thursday — his first extensive sit-down since winning the gubernatorial race — Ferguson said he's scouring state government looking for ways to cut spending before considering taxes. "We are looking at savings, efficiencies, how we can do better as a state. That's the first, second and third conversation as far as I am concerned, before even entertaining anything else," Ferguson said. Ferguson, who arrived for the hourlong interview without any entourage, also emphasized he's serious about his campaign promise to hire more police throughout the state and said he's carefully planning for how to respond to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump on issues including the promised use of the military in mass deportations. The 59-year-old Democrat who has served as attorney general since 2013 defeated Republican opponent Dave Reichert in the Nov. 5 election, winning 55.5% of the vote. Since then, he's appointed a 53-member transition team of union, tribal and business leaders, Democratic and Republican legislators and others, asking them for recommendations for an agenda focused on his first 100 days as governor. The transition team includes a subcommittee asked to look for ways to reduce state spending, co-chaired by state Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, who battled with Ferguson in the gubernatorial primary, and Rachel Smith, CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. "We do not have a subcommittee on revenues," Ferguson said. "Specifically at the transition team, I made clear that's not a part of the conversation." Ferguson's cost-cutting exercise is no declaration of a desire to deeply slash government like Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency" effort at the federal level, headed by entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Still, Ferguson said he's been doing his homework on state government, studying the dozens of state agencies he'll soon lead — and even questioning whether all of them should exist. "There is an agency — not the biggest agency in the world, but I was like, 'Why do we have this agency?' " Ferguson said he thought after looking at descriptions of one state office. He declined to identify the agency but said he called two of his top aides and asked them to contact the office and get "a better explanation of why they exist" and whether they can get by with "far, far fewer employees." A transition spokesperson also declined to identify the agency Ferguson was referring to in response to follow-up questions. Ferguson said he hasn't made any decisions on the future of that agency or others. But despite being the latest in a four-decade run of Democratic governors, he insists he's willing to rock the status quo in the Capitol, as he did in the 2000s when he sided with Republicans as a Metropolitan King County Council member and cut the size of the council from 13 to nine members. "For me, there is not some sacred cow," he said. Ferguson cautioned he's not ruling out tax increases and acknowledged Democratic lawmakers will have their own proposals he may have to grapple with. Some top state House and Senate Democrats have publicly signaled they'll pursue additional taxes, emboldened by the November election results in which voters mostly rejected a slate of antitax initiatives, while also handing Democrats every statewide elected office and slightly larger legislative majorities. One option being floated is a tax on high salaries paid by large corporations, similar to Seattle's JumpStart tax. Another is a "wealth tax" on the richest state residents. "I am looking at a lot of options that check the box of meeting community needs while also making the tax code more progressive," said state Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, vice-chair for finance on the state Ways and Means Committee, in an interview confirming those options and others will be examined by lawmakers who want to preserve programs such as expanded child care subsidies. Frame said she and state Rep. My-Linh Thai, D-Newcastle, will again introduce their wealth tax proposal targeting stocks and bonds and other financial assets of the very wealthy, which has been proposed for the past two sessions but did not advance. In the interview, Ferguson declined to say whether he would support or oppose that proposal or others suggested by other legislators. The state faces a budget shortfall between expected revenues and expenses of between $10 billion and $12 billion over the next four years, driven by tax revenues coming in below recent high-water marks and by decisions from majority Democrats to boost spending on an array of programs. Outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee recently imposed a freeze on state hiring and nonessential contracts and travel in response to the looming deficit. Inslee will offer his final budget plan Dec. 17 before leaving office in January. In the interview, Ferguson also was noncommittal on some top legislative priorities of progressive Democrats and their allies, which may wind up on his desk for a signature or veto in the next several months. That includes a bill giving striking workers access to unemployment benefits, which passed the state House last year. "I will carefully consider it if the Legislature passes it. I made no commitment on that to anybody," he said. Similarly, Ferguson didn't commit in the interview to supporting a bill to cap annual rent increases — another proposal that passed the state House last year but died in the Senate. However, he has directed his transition team's housing subcommittee, led by Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, to come up with a recommendation on "a balanced law that prohibits predatory rent increases." During his gubernatorial campaign, Ferguson promised to reverse a slide in police hiring in the state, which for more than a decade has ranked dead last in the country for officers per capita. He pledged a $100 million grant program to help cities and counties recruit more officers. That promise, featured in multiple TV ads, drew derision from Ferguson's political rivals, who pointed out he had not made police hiring a priority during his dozen years as attorney general. But in the interview, Ferguson said he's determined to follow through as governor. He won't be satisfied with merely proposing a plan and then walking away. "We are really going to do this," he said, saying he's told legislative leaders "it's going to need to happen." As he faces tough issues in Washington state, Ferguson will also have to contend with a second Trump administration, and another subgroup of his transition committee has been asked for ways to prepare for the "Project 2025" agenda from Trump allies, including mass deportations. Ferguson, who sued the first Trump administration nearly 100 times as attorney general, said he's asked for careful legal briefings on the extent and limits of the federal government's authority, including the potential use of the National Guard in mass deportations. Ferguson said he has "no problem" with deportations of "individuals who are criminals" under existing policies and law, and acknowledged the president has broad legal authority on immigration. But he said he's preparing for if Trump pushes past legal boundaries. "Our job is to make sure that the federal government is adhering to the law when carrying out any activity that impacts Washingtonians," he said. Ferguson is scheduled to be sworn in as governor Jan. 15, two days after the 2025 Legislature convenes. ___ (c)2024 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Jake Paul wants “to set the record straight,” when no straightening is required. If anyone would understand that we moved on from his “fight” against Mike Tyson, it should be Paul, who has made a fortune in the split-second entertainment world of social media. Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions issued a statement on Monday to dispel the rumor that his fight at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 15 against Tyson was rigged. The intention is to change the narrative of what was an embarrassing, if highly profitable, evening, and maintain the interest in Paul’s boxing career. The fight was not rigged, and no statement was needed. The fight was simply awful. The statement begins: “Following the wide circulation of incorrect and baseless claims that undermine the integrity of the Paul vs. Tyson event, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) would like to set the record straight regarding the contractual agreements and the nature of the fight.” “Integrity” and “Tyson v. Paul” have no business of being in the same sentence. “Rigging a professional boxing match is a federal crime in the United States of America. Paul vs. Tyson was a professional match sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR). Both fighters in good faith performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight,” the statement said. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations did sanction this kitten fight between a Disney kid turned YouTuber against a 58-year-old man with serious health issues. The fight had judges, and Paul was awarded a decision when none was needed. “Best of their abilities” is subjective. After landing one of his first punches, a left to Paul’s head, Tyson looked like he may have something in what was once one of the most feared boxers who ever lived. He flashed some of that old Tyson head movement, but mostly he looked like an old boxer. Because that’s what he is. The event quickly became an awkward money grab embarrassment, an indictment on the ticket-buying audience more than the promoters, who were doing their job, and leaving Netflix blushing over streaming issues. “There were absolutely no restrictions – contractual or otherwise – around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR boxing rules,” the statement said. No restrictions is a liberal use of the term. The fight was eight rounds, not 10 or 12. The rounds lasted two minutes, not three. The gloves the boxers used were 14 oz., not 10. President Jimmy Carter could take a few shots from a 14 oz. glove. The statement continues, “Trash talk and speculation are common in sports, and athletes and promoters need to tolerate nonsensical commentary, jokes and opinions. But suggesting anything other than full effort from these fighters is not only naïve but an insult to the work they put into their craft and to the sport itself.” Accusations of rigged outcomes have been hurled at sporting events in the United States since the New York Nine defeated the Knickerbockers 23-1 in four innings, the first recorded baseball game ever played in America, in 1846. The New York Nine did not release a statement to the press that the game was rigged. Such accusations are hallow, but every now and then there is a Chicago Black Sox. “It is further illogical and inane that MVP, in the debut of a hopeful long-term partnership with the world’s biggest streamer—an organization that made its first-ever foray into live professional sports with Paul vs. Tyson—would even so much as consider such a perverse violation of the rules of competition,” the statement said. That’s not how rigged works. You don’t tell the broadcast partner that the live event is staged. Making sure his boss knows he’s working, MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian issued his own words to this statement, saying, “This is not the first time Jake Paul has faced unfounded skepticism or outright disbelief as a professional athlete, and frankly, the claim that his bout must have been rigged is just the latest backhanded compliment to come his way.” Paul, 27, beat a 58-year-old man in a fight that looked like two-hand touch. There is no compliment. “From day one in this sport, people have doubted his abilities — unable to reconcile how someone with his background has accomplished so much in such a short time. Jake has not only proven himself repeatedly, but he has continuously set historic records that speak for themselves,” Bidarian wrote. Paul has created a niche for himself in the sport by carefully fighting opponents who are names, but are not boxers. Older guys. Ex-UFC fighters looking for one more check. He’s also spent the necessary time to train, and learn how to box. He knows how to promote himself, and an event. He created “boxing entertainment,” but his fights are not traditional boxing matches. They are also not scripted WWE. “As long as Jake continues to exceed expectations, there will always be those who try to discredit his achievements.” Bidarian said. “We embrace the doubt — it only fuels Jake to work harder and achieve greater success.” Herein lies the “need” for this press statement. Paul wants to continue to fight, but not against fighters who may knock him out. Considering the type of money his fights have generated, he would have no problem finding a line of potential traditional opponents waiting to pummel him through the canvas. He has avoided real fighters for a reason. Because he’s smart. Because he can. Because there is a market for the fights he stages. The fallout from his bout against Tyson is that Paul could have unintentionally knocked out the audience for these matches that are staged, not rigged, which is really why he wants to “set the record straight.” ©2024 Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Visit star-telegram.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Article content In 2018, Matt Christensen kicked heroin by replacing drugs with drinking. When he stopped drinking in 2022, he turned to food. He put on 95 pounds. Recommended Videos His doctor recommended he try Wegovy, part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, to help him lose weight. Eventually he switched to a different drug called Zepbound, which targets both GLP-1 and GIP agonists. The drugs worked. But a funny thing happened on his weight-loss journey: His cravings for food had diminished but so had his cravings for drugs and alcohol. Christensen, 42, started drinking at age 9 and using heroin at 17. For decades, catching a cold meant reaching for a hot toddy. Work stress meant numbing out with Xanax. Even passing through certain neighborhoods in Chicago where he used to buy drugs would lead to cravings. But after he started taking GLP-1 agonists, those triggers became, well, less triggering. “It was the weirdest thing,” he said. “It was just quiet. I just found it really easy all of a sudden.” More than that, Christensen noticed that an unease he had always felt in his body – a discomfort he perpetually tried to quell with fidgeting, food or drugs – was diminishing. “That’s a feeling that I’ve had my entire life,” he said. “Taking these drugs has toned that down. “There’s no silver bullet for addiction or mental illness, but for me, in concert with the other treatments, it has been an absolute game changer,” he said. GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy have received lots of attention for their efficacy at promoting weight loss, reducing “food noise” and treating diabetes. But a new crop of evidence – both anecdotal and research based – is pointing to these drugs as a potential option for people facing addiction issues. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The operative word here is “potential.” “We have something there that holds great promise but that is not proven yet,” said Luba Yammine, an associate professor in the department of psychology at UTHealth Houston who researches treatments for substance use disorders. Yammine conducted a study on the efficacy of a GLP-1 drug called exenatide as a tool to help quit smoking. The results were promising, so her team is currently conducting larger clinical trials using GLP-1 agonists in the context of smoking cessation. But she’s saving her celebrations until these studies are completed, which will take another two to three years. “As excited as we are, it is too early to make conclusions,” Yammine said. In November, Silvia Martinelli, a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry in the department of life sciences and public health at Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, published a systematic review of randomized trials related to GLP-1 drugs that suggested they could treat substance use disorders. Martinelli also collaborated with Niccolò Petrucciani, a medical doctor and associate professor of general surgery at Sapienza University in Rome, on a meta-study published in March that found 4.28 percent of people who received bariatric surgery developed new-onset substance use disorder. That is, a “non-negligible” number of people who got weight loss surgery ended up developing addictions to substances like opioids or alcohol. Her research might point to a neurological connection between overeating and substance abuse. “Certainly our understanding of neurohormonal mechanisms to date is still limited,” Martinelli wrote in an email to The Washington Post. “Medical physiology has only recently deepened the close connection that exists between our brain and the gastro-intestinal system.” Markku Lähteenvuo, a clinical scientist in Kuopio, Finland, recently published a study of 227,000 Swedish patients with alcohol use disorder that found GLP-1 drugs were associated with a 30 to 40 percent reduction in hospitalizations and other problems related to alcohol use. Why would these drugs help with addictions to alcohol and drugs? “I really don’t think we know yet,” Lähteenvuo said, though he noted that some primate studies have pointed to GLP-1 drugs affecting dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter linked to generating pleasure in the brain, and its effects have been connected to cocaine, alcohol and even social media use (although some researchers have warned that the effects of scrolling on dopamine are often misunderstood). Many researchers agree that if GLP-1 drugs do prove effective in treating addiction, it is probably because of dopamine, although absent further research, this is still hypothetical. “Chances are there is more than one mechanism and these mechanisms may not be mutually exclusive,” Yammine said. Lähteenvuo agrees. “But I have to say, I am quite enthusiastic,” he said. Lähteenvuo is hopeful that GLP-1 drugs could help treat both obesity and addiction, two of the most common medical conditions in the Western world. “I think it might be a nice way to get two birds with one stone, treating multiple problems with a single medication, which is always good if we can manage it,” he said. Brandi Moore, an accountant from Pittsburgh, said that for her, taking GLP-1 drugs has killed more than two proverbial birds. “Like all addicts, we have a voice and that voice wants to kill us,” Moore said. She described that internal “voice” as driving her to cocaine addiction, food addiction and negative self talk. “That voice is gone,” said Moore, 49. “It’s the first time I’ve felt peace from that. And it’s incredible.” Sitting in her work cubicle, Moore pulled out a photo from her wedding day to illustrate how much weight she had lost. “My thigh is smaller than my arm was there,” she said. In 2017, Moore underwent weight-loss surgery. She went from 287 pounds to 179 pounds, but then found herself unable to lose more weight. Moore started taking semaglutide in March after her doctor recommended a Groupon for a telehealth site. In her words, her weight “plummeted” to 135 pounds. She also experienced “terrible” constipation and had to adjust her ADHD medications, which she has taken since 1999, after a dip in their efficacy. She also found herself feeling numb and listless when she first started taking semaglutide. But after adjusting her dosages, Moore hit her stride and has no plans to stop using GLP-1 drugs or prescription ADHD medication. Now, she said, she’s never felt calmer or more centered. “That part of my personality that’s being chemically controlled, I want to control it,” she said. “So it kind of put power back in my hands” – a power she wished she had access to years ago when her cocaine addiction led to problems with the law. Taking GLP-1 agonists also inspired Moore to pursue other ways to take care of her mental health. “I’ve gotten into therapy because I’m afraid of the voice coming back,” she said. She’s also taken up meditation. Stories like these are compelling. Maybe too compelling? Yammine cautioned that no drug – from GLP-1 agonists to aspirin – works for everyone. Every individual experiences the effects and side effects of a drug differently. Regarding off-label use of GLP-1 agonists to treat addiction, Yammine thinks that it’s too early. “We should wait for the results of rigorous clinical trials to establish that these medications are efficacious, safe and acceptable to people with alcohol and substance use disorders,” she wrote via email. But Christensen doesn’t plan on stopping his GLP-1 prescription, even though the long-term effects are unknown and the drugs are pricey. “I’m a little privileged in that I can afford it, even though it’s a lot cheaper than it used to be,” he said. “I work on the South Side of Chicago and a lot of people down there are struggling with much more basic things. A $300 a month prescription is just not on the agenda.” But Christensen has done a cost-benefit analysis, and it’s worth it to keep taking the drug, maybe for the rest of his life. “It doesn’t just make me feel good,” he said. “My finances are better, my marriage is stable, my house is clean.” Doing dishes or cooking a meal used to be arduous, sometimes impossible. Now, Christensen has enough clarity and peace of mind to keep fresh flowers in his apartment. “There’s these little details of life that I would not give up for the world,” he said. “It’s not directly because of these drugs, but they play a major part in me being able to live a life that I find productive and satisfying.”