Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from February 2006

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from February 2006

Odyssey House expands mental health programs for patients with SPMI.(severe and persistent mental illness)
February 6, 2006... When substance abuse treatment is linked with mental health treatment--a growing trend as health systems seek to provide integrated care--providers must come up with ways to respond to the challenge. One is to look to the ment have co-occurring...

Drug court in Nashville relies on fund-raising and judge's leadership.
February 6, 2006... Drug courts around the country have been watching Nashville, Tenn. closely. They are interested in what Seth Norman, founder and Presiding Judge of the Davidson County Drug Court, has accomplished there: a thriving drug court with an inpatient...

On-the-job alcohol use and impairment studied.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Most research on workplace alcohol use has focused on overall use impairment in the workforce, not in the workplace. A new study has looked at drinking and impairment on the job only, and found that 15 percent of workers in the U.S. have either...

Group counseling fees may be spared significant cut in North Dakota.
February 6, 2006... Addiction treatment provider agencies in North Dakota last week reported significant progress on insurance payments for group counseling services, following concern at the start of the year over a steep drop in reimbursement that some said...

Governor proposes level-funding in pivotal year for Prop. 36.
February 6, 2006... With statutory funding under California's landmark voter-approved Proposition 36 expiring at the end of June, addiction treatment advocates in that state and nationally are monitoring signs of policy leaders' long-term commitment to the...

Massachusetts to intensify drug monitoring.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... The Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program found that 2.6 million prescriptions of potentially addictive Schedule 2 drugs were filled last year, reported The Boston Globe on January 25. Between 1996 and 2005, prescriptions for Oxy-Contin...

Meth conference encourages collaboration.(Phoenix House conference)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... The Phoenix House, the nation's largest nonprofit provider of substance abuse treatment and prevention services, held a daylong conference on January 20 titled "Meth 2006--Not What it's Cracked Up to Be." The organization reported on January 26...

Black adolescents metabolize nicotine more slowly.(African Americans)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Although earlier research has shown that African-American adults metabolize nicotine more slowly than Caucasian adults, a recent study published in the January issue of the journal Ethnicity and Disease suggests that the same phenomenon holds...

Request for applications: alcohol medication research.(Resources)
February 6, 2006... The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is seeking research grant applications for its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants: "Medications Development for the Treatment of Alcoholism." The grants are available...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
February 6, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold the National Returning Veterans Conference on March 16-18 in Washington, D.C., intended to give federal, state and local public and private service providers...

In case you haven't heard ...(George W. Bush budget for substance abuse treatment program)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... In his 2003 State of the Union message, President Bush took the field by surprise in announcing that he was creating a new $600 million treatment program called "Access to Recovery." But last week, the only reference to addiction in the State...

No money for safe and drug-free schools again, new ATR vouchers.(President's Budget Request)
February 13, 2006... The president's proposed budget for fiscal year 2007 cuts addiction services again, but considering the overall cuts, it could have been worse. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget would be cut by $1.5 billion in...

House subcommittee considers beefing up treatment language in second chance act.(Offender Reentry)
February 13, 2006... The Second Chance Act is getting a third chance--and this time, it might be even more strongly in favor of substance abuse treatment. On Feb. 8, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on the...

FY 2006 budget, good and bad.(drug convicts financial aid)
February 13, 2006... Now that a budget for fiscal year 2006 is final (President Bush signed it February 8), the field is taking stock of what has survived from the fracas of last year's messy budget wrangling. On the good side: People with prior drug...

Private treatment program for methadone detox focuses on buprenorphine.
February 13, 2006... A treatment program dedicated to helping patients leave methadone maintenance has received a boost from buprenorphine. Jim Bevell, director of services for the program, called Poinciana at Palm Beach, neither supports nor opposes the use of...

SAMHSA survey looks at role of schools in providing services.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
February 13, 2006... For the first time, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) has surveyed mental health services provided in public schools throughout the country. The main finding: that many different people in the school system...

Military service loss up due to drug use.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Newly released Pentagon Data indicates that misconduct involving drug use is currently among the primary reasons for discharge from the military. Although the armed services met their retention goals this year, the subset of those personnel and...

Nalmefene could treat pathological gambling.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... It's believed that pathological gambling could affect up to 2% of adults in the U.S. and there are few proven treatments. The results of a study led by Jon E. Grant, J.D., M.D., MPH, suggests that a low dose of the opioid antagonist nalmefene...

SAMHSA grants for homeless programs.(Resources)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced $9.7 million in FY 2006 funding for up to 25 awards to fund the development of programs that provide drug, alcohol and mental health treatment systems for...

Coming up ...(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) will hold its National Leadership Forum, 'Coalitions: From Passion to Power' on Feb. 14-16 in Washington, D.C. Workshops will include topic areas including evaluation, building and...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Repeat DWI offenders will no longer spend a year in jail in Racine County, Wisc. Instead, they can participate in treatment and probation, after a shorter jail stay. The drug and alcohol court program just opened two weeks ago, with the first...

Support services for recovery a growing movement in states.(Blueprint for the States)
February 20, 2006... Recovery support was a hot topic at last week's Blueprint for the States meeting in Washington, sponsored by Join Together. The panelists convened their second and final public hearing on state structures, with about 55 people (including the...

African-American group prepares to issue drug policy document.
February 20, 2006... A coalition of about two dozen African-American professional organizations that was formed to push for alternatives to punitive drug policies soon will conclude public hearings designed to inform its recommendations for drug policy reform. ...

Pediatricians urge public health strategies to curb HIV.
February 20, 2006... A newly revised policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urges pediatricians to spearhead a broad-based effort to combat HIV infection associated with illegal drug use. The policy calls for routine, frank discussion among...

Community coalitions find their voice in Washington.(CADCA meeting)(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)
February 20, 2006... Last week the 3,000 attendees at the CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) annual meeting convened at the Washington Convention Center to discuss how to keep their groups strong on a national level. Many CADCA participants also went...

Visits to Phoenix House enlighten medical students.
February 20, 2006... The medical director of the Phoenix House addiction treatment organization likens a program in which second-year medical students visit the New York facility to a brief intervention. But instead of the doctors-to-be intervening on addicted...

With AATOD's help, methadone and buprenorphine may debut in Russia.(American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence)
February 20, 2006... Until recently, no one has penetrated the Russian government's addiction treatment system for opioids. Methadone is still illegal there, there is no buprenorphine treatment, and naltrexone is used only minimally. But Mark Parrino, president of...

House of Refuge comes under scrutiny.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... The House of Refuge, which calls itself a supervised living center for men with substance abuse problems, located inside the Central Christian Church in Salt Lake City, has come under intense scrutiny by the Utah Department of Health and Human...

School nurses called to look for steroid use.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Westchester County executive Andy Spano believes that school nurses should play a vital role in preventing students from using steroids and other performance-enhancing substances, the Journal News reported on January 26, particularly in New...

SAMHSA stipends for town hall meetings.(Resources)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), a 12-agency coalition, is asking community coalitions to organize town meetings to address underage drinking, to be supported by Substance Abuse and Mental...

New president for NCADD.(Names in the News)(National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Effective February 4, Robert J. Lindsey is the president of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). With a background as director of community relations for the Betty Ford Center, an employee assistance professional, and...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
February 20, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold the National Returning Veterans Conference on March 16-18 in Washington, D.C., intended to give federal, state and local public and private service providers...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... If you need to keep homeless alcoholics off the street in the middle of winter in a cold climate, what better way than to offer free wine? That's what one homeless shelter is doing in Canada, in an attempt to help alcoholics cut back. Of...

More older adults need treatment, but where, and who will pay?(Medicare)(substance abuse treatment)
February 27, 2006... The federal government is paying increasing attention to the problems of substance abuse by older adults. Just this month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a report showing that four out of five...

New prevention paradigm may be needed for prescription drug abuse.
February 27, 2006... When adolescents use Ritalin to improve their study habits, or OxyContin to get rid of a painful headache, are they abusing drugs or self-medicating? That's a big question running through epidemiological circles as prescription drug abuse...

Discovery of genetic marker could alter prevention, treatment.
February 27, 2006... Could a simply administered lab test identify individuals most at risk for alcoholism and other drug addictions, thus giving society the opportunity to target this group as the primary focus for prevention and treatment efforts? The director of...

Older adults deserve recovery from alcoholism, addiction to prescription drugs.(From the Field ...)
February 27, 2006... Not surprisingly, the signs of alcoholism and drug abuse are different in older adults than in younger people. Abuse among older people is often hidden, because they no longer have coworkers who can notice their behavior, they often live alone,...

Survey: physicians ill-prepared for drug testing of youths.
February 27, 2006... At a time when federal officials are urging widespread drug testing of students to identify problem users and deter others from using, a recent survey indicates that primary care physicians are presently not qualified to conduct such testing...

Parents armed with drug test kits, education.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Under a partnership between the drug-prevention program "not-MYkid" and First Check Diagnostics LLC of Lake Forest, Calif., parents in some cities will soon be armed with a kit to test their children for drug use, reported the Arizona Republic...

Proposed alcohol tax hike for Missouri.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Missouri has the nation's second lowest tax on beer, reported the Post-Dispatch on February 5, and the state has not raised an alcohol tax since the 1970s. In an attempt to impact alcohol abuse in the state, Rep. Bill Deeken (R-Jefferson City)...

Florida 2007 budget to boost substance abuse programs.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Florida Governor Jeb Bush has announced plans to increase spending by 6 percent (to $309 million) for substance abuse prevention, treatment and law-enforcement in his FY 2007 budget, reported the Tallahassee Democrat on February 2. Roughly a...

Alcohol top problem for most coalitions.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's (CADCA's) National Coalition Registry, a web-based survey that in 2005 included responses from 981 coalitions, indicated that two-thirds of the groups cited alcohol as the substance causing the...

Grants to implement college prevention programs.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... The U.S. Department of Education has announced it is accepting applications for its Alcohol and Drug Prevention Models on College Campuses grants program, available to public, state and private institutes of higher education. The goal of the...

Grants for peer-to-peer recovery.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced the availability of $2.5 million in FY 2006 funds for up to seven grants under the Recovery Community Services Program, which focuses on keeping people in...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
February 27, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Therapeutic Communities of America will hold the National Returning Veterans Conference on March 16-18 in Washington, D.C., intended to give federal, state and local...

In case you haven't heard ...
February 27, 2006... A rose is a rose is a... crack pipe? It was a week after Valentine's day, and flowers were going out of fashion. Four store clerks figured out something to do with plastic rose holders, according to police in Daytona Beach, Fla: sell them as...