Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from February 2007

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from February 2007

California OIG blasts in-prison treatment as a waste of money: corrections, contractors faulted in report.(Late-Breaking News)(Office of Inspector General)
February 26, 2007... In a scathing report on California's in-prison treatment system, the state's Office of Inspector General (OIG) said last week that the more than $1 billion spent providing substance abuse treatment to inmates and parolees since 1989 has been...

Leadership change at Phoenix House signals new growth, national influence.
February 26, 2007... The nation's largest nonprofit addiction treatment organization in terms of budget size and number of clients in treatment is taking bold steps that could make it even larger, both with respect to its own programming and to national...

New head of ADP is Renee Zito.
February 26, 2007... Renee Zito is replacing Kathy Jett as the director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) in California, as Jett is now director of the newly reorganized Division of Addiction and Recovery Services within the California...

AATOD seeks reconvening of federal opioid treatment panel.(American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence)
February 26, 2007... The promise of the Interagency Narcotic Treatment Policy Review Board, a committee of federal agencies--to oversee and coordinate federal regulations pertaining to methadone maintenance treatment (and now buprenorphine as well)--has been...

NAATP salary survey released: resource for HR directors.(National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, human resource management)(Survey)(Statistical data)
February 26, 2007... The salary survey conducted every two years by the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP), published Feb. 15, shows the range of salaries--minimum, maximum, and average--for virtually every position in an addiction...

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.(Coming up)
February 26, 2007... NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals will hold a 20th Anniversary Advocacy Action Day on March 4-6 in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit http://naadac.org.

National Institutes of Health.(Coming up)
February 26, 2007... The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Medical Association will sponsor a joint meeting, "Pain, Opioids and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients" on March 5-6 at...

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.(Coming up)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will sponsor regional summits on random student drug testing. Dates are Feb. 27 in Newark, N.J., March 27 in Honolulu, and April 24 in Las Vegas. For more information, go to...

In case you haven't heard ...
February 26, 2007... To reduce prescription drug abuse, throw unwanted medication in the garbage, first mixing it with used kitty litter. This is one of the official recommendations from the federal government released last week. The Bush Administration, which in...

National strategy focuses on screening: ONDCP demand reduction chief urges early intervention.(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
February 19, 2007... The National Drug Control Strategy, released February 9 by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), has as its main focus two extreme ends of the population served by the addiction field: those people in the general...

Seabrook House will establish facility for transitional care by summer.
February 19, 2007... Many clients in primary addiction treatment programs experience a jarring transition when they complete intensive treatment and immediately return to an environment that lacks support and offers numerous temptations to use. The Seabrook House...

The Addiction Project combines film, host of activities.
February 19, 2007... Using a multitude of media platforms and working closely with national advocacy groups, HBO will launch a national campaign designed to educate the public that addiction is a treatable brain disease. The centerpiece of the Addiction...

NIDA releases booklet on addiction to complement HBO release.(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Last week the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a booklet for consumers called "Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction." The 30-page full-color book explains addiction and is hoped to reduce stigma, according to...

CADCA and CHPA launch cough medicine abuse campaign.(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Consumer Healthcare Products Association)
February 19, 2007... The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) has teamed up with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) to prevent cough medicine abuse by young people. The campaign was announced February 14, as CADCA gathered for its...

Parity update: insurance discrimination tracked.
February 19, 2007... There are two pieces of good news on parity. This month, insurance companies were put on notice that they are being tracked in how they discriminate against addiction by Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR). At the same time, on Capitol Hill,...

Licensing of transitional centers differs among states.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... While Seabrook House administrators say licensing considerations did not play a major role in their decision on where to locate a planned transitional living facility, the move across the New Jersey border into Pennsylvania should ease some...

Pennsylvania trains counselors in gambling addiction.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Drug and alcohol treatment centers and behavioral health counselors across Pennsylvania are gearing up for a significant increase in compulsive gambling, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on February 3, as legalized slots parlors...

PRISM Awards garner congressional support.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC), a nonprofit that encourages accurate media depictions of health and social issues, reported on February 8 that its 10th Annual PRISM Awards Capitol Hill Showcase on February 7 saw...

NIDA: "The Science of Addiction".(The National Institute on Drug Abuse releases "Drugs, Brain, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction" )(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced on February 13 the release of a publication that aims to explain the science of addiction to the general public. NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow explained that with "Drugs, Brain, and...

Richard Rawson, Ph.D.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)
February 19, 2007... Richard Rawson, Ph.D., an expert on methamphetamine dependence, has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, the company announced on February 14. Rawson has long worked in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry...

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.(Coming up)
February 19, 2007... NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals will hold a 20th Anniversary Advocacy Action Day on March 4-6 in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit http://naadac.org.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).(Coming up)
February 19, 2007... The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Medical Association will sponsor a joint meeting, "Pain, Opioids and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients" on March 5-6 at...

Seabrook House.(Coming up)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Seabrook House and Princeton House Behavioral Health will present a conference on Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and the High-Functioning Adult on March 30 at the Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge, N.J. For more information, contact...

The American Society on Addiction Medicine.(Coming up)
February 19, 2007... The American Society on Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will hold its 38th Annual Medical Scientific Conference in Miami on April 26-29. For more information, visit www.asam.org.

The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.(Coming up)
February 19, 2007... The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) will hold its 2007 Addiction Treatment Leadership Conference on May 19-22 in San Diego. For more information, visit www.naatp.org/index.php.

In case you haven't heard ...
February 19, 2007... More marijuana is needed for research, so someone needs to grow it... that's the view of the Administrative Law Judge for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The official recommendation made February 13 by ALI Mary Ellen Bittner would...

Ninety percent of crisis calls to CRC referred out: for-profit provider touts benefit to treatment community at large.(CRC Health Group)
February 12, 2007... CRC Health Group, the biggest addiction treatment provider in the country, has been getting an increasing number of "desperate" calls for help, and can only treat 10 percent of the people calling. The other 90 percent get referred to other...

President's proposed budget would tie NOMs reporting to block grant funds.(Unpleasant Surprise from White House)(National Outcome Measures)
February 12, 2007... To many in the field--including within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) itself--the biggest surprise in the President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2008 was a plan to take block grant funding away...

Mass. slips on tobacco enforcement; national picture improving.(Massachusetts)
February 12, 2007... Illegal tobacco sales to minors have become a worsening problem in so many Massachusetts communities that some advocates have expressed concern that the state could lose federal substance abuse block grant money as a result. The growing...

Vancouver crafting drug substitution plan for stimulant addicts.(Canada)
February 12, 2007... As part of a plan to reduce dramatically the incidence of homelessness, aggressive panhandling and open drug sales in the Canadian city of Vancouver, officials are preparing a plan to develop a substitution treatment research project in which...

Why words like 'habit' and 'problem drinker' hurt addictions.(FROM THE FIELD)
February 12, 2007... Some of the greatest damage done to the addictions field is caused by the wrong choice of words. This damage is often self-inflicted when professionals and researchers use the wrong words to address substance use disorders. But we do get a...

Analysis shows decline in meth use, 2002-2005.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(methamphetamine)(Report)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported on January 26 that past-year use of methamphetamine among persons aged 12 or older declined between 2002 and 2005. SAMHSA published its findings in a report based...

Sweetened meth targets younger users.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Following a recent drug seizure, law enforcement officials in Carson City, Nevada are urging parents and school officials to be aware of a new strawberry-flavored version of methamphetamine, which is colored pink during the cooking process...

The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT).(Coming up)
February 12, 2007... The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) will hold its 13th annual meeting on February 21-24 in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.srnt.org/meeting/2007/index.html.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH).(Coming up)
February 12, 2007... The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Medical Association will sponsor a joint meeting, "Pain, Opioids and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients" on March 5-6 at...

The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx).(Coming up)
February 12, 2007... The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) will hold its first annual summit, "Improving Access and Engagement in Addiction and Behavioral Health Treatment," on April 23-25 in San Antonio, Texas, in partnership with the...

Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program.(CALL FOR APPLICATIONS)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... The Bureau of Justice Assistance has posted a grant opportunity for states, counties, Native American tribal governments and state and local courts to establish or enhance adult drug courts and systems for nonviolent substance-abusing...

Netsmart signs seven new contracts.(BUSINESS)
February 12, 2007... Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, reported on February 2 it has signed seven agreements totaling roughly $4 million with behavioral healthcare...

In case you haven't heard ...
February 12, 2007... It will come as no surprise to treatment professionals that alcoholics have an impaired ability to process complex humor, and now research from Germany confirms it. A control group of 29 healthy people was compared with 29 alcoholics, and...

Methadone overdose deaths lead to restrictive bills in West Virginia: situation mirrors national misconceptions.
February 5, 2007... Methadone maintenance treatment is under fire in West Virginia because of an increase in overdose deaths (99 in 2004, with West Virginia having more methadone overdoses than any other state). Ironically, there is no data that shows whether...

Alabama using SA treatment funds for patients discharged from mental facility.(Trends in co-occurring disorder funding)(substance abuse)
February 5, 2007... It's a festering issue for the field--who will pay for treatment for people with co-occurring mental and addictive disorders. In Alabama, where substance abuse, mental illness, and mental retardation are all under the same umbrella, a state...

Utah governor requests new facilities, drug court expansion: methamphetamine epidemic drives need.(Jon Huntsman Jr.)
February 5, 2007... Responding to a surge in treatment demand and admissions caused by methamphetamine addiction, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has filed legislation that requests $2.5 million to expand treatment services for women and $1.7 million to expand drug...

Counseling key to buprenorphine treatment.(FROM THE FIELD)
February 5, 2007... In the January 8 issue of ADAW, an article on the lifting of the physician cap from 30 to 100 patients on buprenorphine pointed out that there is no requirement that physicians provide counseling. Physicians must have the ability to refer to...

SA seen as common thread in repeat emergency patients.(substance abuse)(Clinical report)
February 5, 2007... A study of frequent visitors to a hospital emergency room in a rural community has found that while the profile of these individuals differs from the typical recurrent emergency patient in urban areas, a prevalence of substance abuse problems...

Damage to specific brain region "disrupts urge to smoke".(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
February 5, 2007... Researchers have linked addiction to a specific area of the brain. In preliminary research, lead study author Anthony Bechara of the University of Southern California found that individuals with damage to the insula were "overwhelmingly more...

Alcoholism responsible for only fraction of heavy drinking.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... A study published in the February 2007 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found that although 16.5 percent of 4,761 New Mexico adults surveyed in 2002 were considered "excessive drinkers," only 1.8 percent met the criteria...

California kicks off meth awareness campaign.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Responding to climbing treatment admissions for methamphetamine, California and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America are producing state's first broadcast campaign to educate the public and encourage users to seek treatment. Last year, the...

NIDA establishes addiction centers of excellence.(RESOURCES)(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is reaching out to help physicians better understand how to treat addiction. In collaboration with the American Medical Association's Research Consortium, NIDA has established four Centers of...

Angela Cornelius.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)
February 5, 2007... Angela Cornelius has been appointed director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, effective March 5. Since 1988, Cornelius has served as the executive director of Project Linden, Inc., a private non-profit outpatient...

NIAAA grants: impact of drinking on adolescent brain.(CALL FOR APPLICATIONS)
February 5, 2007... The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has issued a call for applications for grants of up to $350,000 to "propose and test the feasibility of research-study designs" addressing the long-and short-term effects of...

SAMHSA: CSAT grants for peer-to-peer recovery.(CALL FOR APPLICATIONS)
February 5, 2007... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has announced the availability of an estimated 8 grants for up to $350,000 to "deliver peer-to-peer recovery support services...

The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.(Coming up)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) will hold its National Leadership Forum XVII, the nation's largest training conference for community drug prevention leaders, treatment professionals and researchers, on February 12-15 in...

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.(Coming up)
February 5, 2007... NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals will hold its annual advocacy meeting on March 4-6 in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit http://naadac.org.

The National Institutes of Health.(Coming up)
February 5, 2007... The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Medical Association will sponsor a joint meeting, "Pain, Opioids and Addiction: An Urgent Problem for Doctors and Patients" on March 5-6 at...

In case you haven't heard ...
February 5, 2007... The fact that the federally funded Second Chance program used a combination of saunas (5 hours a day), confrontation, and nutritional detoxification in its substance abuse treatment program, and that it was based on the precepts of L. Ron...