Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from January 2003

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from January 2003

SAMHSA unveils proposed changes to block grant program.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Comments sought on 'performance partnership' The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) late last month released and published for comment its plan to create a Performance Partnership grant program with the...

Organization unveils plan to expand SA role of health professionals.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... The education and training of millions of health care professionals will be a key to ensuring that substance abuse disorders are identified, prevented and appropriately treated, states a report recently released by the Association for Medical...

Readers' challenges for 2003 include funding, outreach.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... We asked our readers to cite their most pressing challenges in the coming year. Here are the responses. We thank you for your participation. Shelli Fein, Information Center Director, National Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Addictions...

The National Center for Responsible Gaming. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) has honored Nancy Petty and the late Robert Custer with Awards for Scientific Achievement in Gambling Studies. Petty, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School...

CVS/Pharmacy selects HBS to provide EAP services. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... The national drugstore chain CVS/Pharmacy has selected managed behavioral health care company Horizon Behavioral Services (FIBS) to provide employee assistance program (EAP) services to its employees. The two-year contract, effective on Oct. 1,...

NCQA releases draft standards for privacy certification. (Resources).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has released for public comment the draft standards for its new Privacy Certification for Business Associates (PCBA) program. The program is the nation's first effort designed to certify that...

Psychiatric problems may precede Ecstasy use. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... In many cases, psychiatric problems are present prior to Ecstasy use, rather than as a result of the drug, according to findings in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Researchers found that 88 percent of Ecstasy users who had mental disorders said...

Uninsured child rate dropped in 2001. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Expanded public health insurance eligibility and outreach efforts to enroll eligible children helped reduce the proportion of low-income, uninsured children in the United States from 20.1 percent in 1997 to 16.1 percent in 2001, according to...

CARF to begin accrediting drug court treatment programs. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... This month, CARF The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission will begin offering site surveys of drug court treatment programs that may lead to the programs' accreditation, according to a CARE news release. CARF had been accrediting drug court...

Random testing may reduce drug use among student athletes. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Random drug testing may reduce drug use among student athletes, according to the results of a pilot study conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Sciences University, the Providence Journal reported. Researchers found that 5.3 percent of...

Ohio youth combining cough syrup, inhalants. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... The latest drug trend among Ohio youth involves a dangerous combination of cough suppressant and inhalants that produces mood-altering effects similar to those produced by crack or LSD, according to a recent Ohio Early Warning Network (OEWN)...

Parents' involvement may help children avoid smoking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Children who have parents who monitor their behavior are less likely to start smoking, according to findings in the December issue of Prevention Science. Researchers found that middle school students with friends who engaged in problem behavior...

Access to cigarettes triggers smoking initiation. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Teenagers who have greater access to cigarettes from peers or adults may be more likely to try smoking, according to findings in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior. Researchers found that students who reported...

Internet filters may block access to health information. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Internet filters, software designed to prevent youth from accessing inappropriate information, may also prevent them from obtaining information on addiction and tobacco prevention, according to findings in the Dec. 11 issue of the Journal of...

Father's drinking may predict teenagers' behavior. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Some behavior problems in teenagers may be linked to their fathers' drinking history, according to findings published in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Researchers for the Minnesota Twin Family Study found...

Boston mayor supports over-the-counter needle sales. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... At World AIDS Day observances earlier this month, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that he would file a bill with the state legislature that would allow hypodermic needles to be sold over-the-counter in the city's pharmacies, the Boston...

Coming up.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Paths to Recovery: Changing the Process of Care for Substance Abuse Programs, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative, will host a free Access and Early Engagement Improvement Workshop Jan. 24 in Chicago and Jan 31 in Portland, Ore. For...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... A judge who admitted to smoking marijuana began hearing cases again in district court in Traverse City, Mich., the New York Times reported. Judge Thomas S. Gilbert, 45, removed himself from the bench last November after he was seen smoking...

Officials: fiscal woes could devastate Ore. treatment system.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Methadone programs in immediate danger Starting March 1, substance abuse, mental health and dental benefits for up to some 110,000 poor people participating in the publicly funded Oregon Health Plan will be eliminated. The move by...

Treatment center moves fully to 26-day mindset; shuns managed care.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... A nationally prominent drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, seeking to survive financially while providing treatment according to its view of best practices, has taken the plunge away from reliance on managed care contracts. Seabrook...

Advocates elsewhere also seek to protect methadone services.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Washington state and Massachusetts also have been having discussions around methadone treatment funding. In Washington, some drug treatment advocates are calling on officials to spend more money toward ending 18-month waiting lists for...

Pair of studies refute notion that stimulants for ADHD lead to SA.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Two studies appearing in this month's issue of Pediatrics appear to debunk any notion that the use of stimulant medications to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) leads to substance abuse further down the line. While...

National Alcohol Screening Day to be held in April.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Registration for the fifth annual National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) on April 10 is underway. Health professionals are invited to host an NASD screening program in their local communities by registering online at...

IOM report highlights priorities for health care improvement. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... According to a report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) this month, the United States health system has repeatedly failed to translate research findings into improved clinical practice, Health Behavior News Service reported. The...

Funding available for research into adolescent treatment. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is accepting applications for the Improving Behavioral Health Services and Treatment for Adolescent Drug Abuse grants, Join Together Online reported. The funds will support research into the treatment...

Cities see increased need for emergency food and shelter. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Requests for emergency food and shelter rose over the past year, according to a 25-city survey released last month by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In the past year, requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 19 percent,...

Many smokers, binge drinkers do not receive doctors' advice. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Researchers estimate that many smokers and binge drinkers may not receive advise about quitting smoking or reducing their alcohol use during routine checkups, Health Behavior News Service reported. Researchers using data from a telephone survey...

HMOs experience higher profits in 2002. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Profits increased for many large managed care health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the third-quarter of 2002, the Health Care Reform Update reported. Third-quarter earnings for 11 major insurers increased nearly 47 percent, according to...

Young audiences exposed to high number of beer ads. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Teenagers saw more television ads for beer and ale in 2001 than they saw for many youth-oriented product categories, according to a recent report from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University. Researchers found...

Grant will support Ecstasy campaign. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... The Hearst Foundation Inc., has awarded a $100,000 grant to support the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's (PDFA's) national campaign about the dangers of Ecstasy. The campaign was launched in early 2002 in response to data that indicated...

OJJDP extends deadline for prevention initiative. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has extended the application deadline for the Promising Programs for Substance Abuse Prevention: Replication and Evaluation Initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to...

Cystic fibrosis drug may help reduce cocaine cravings. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... A drug used to treat cystic fibrosis and heart disease may also benefit people who are addicted to cocaine, the BBC reported. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found that n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) helped restore normal...

Frequency of drinking factor in heart attack risk. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... The frequency of drinking rather than the type of alcohol, amount or whether or not it is consumed with a meal may be the key factor in lowering heart disease risk, according to findings in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found...

Florida sees increase in cocaine, heroin deaths. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... A recent report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed increases in cocaine- and heroin-related deaths in the first half of 2002, the Naples News reported. Cocaine-related deaths increased 43 percent and heroin-related deaths...

Cannabis use may be rising among UK teenagers. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... Cannabis use among teenagers in the United Kingdom may be rising, BBC News reported. A survey by the Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU) revealed that the proportion of 14- and 15-year-old boys who said they had tried cannabis rose from 19...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... According to the Associated Press, lawyers for two U.S. pilots intend to argue that the use of amphetamines, which they say was encouraged by the U.S. Air Force, was to blame for a friendly fire incident that resulted in the death of four...

Future of D.C. ballot initiative resides in court decision.
January 20, 2003... As expected, a diversion-to-treatment initiative approved by Washington, D.C. voters in November has been challenged by the mayor and has landed in the courts. District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams, after 78 percent of voters...

Maryland study reveals increase in narcotic-overdose deaths.
January 20, 2003... More than 500 people died from drug and alcohol overdoses in Maryland in 2001, representing a 16 percent increase over a five-year period, according to a College Park, Md.-based research center's study of trends in overdose deaths. The...

SAMHSA, FDA to launch campaign on prescription drug abuse.
January 20, 2003... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week announced the launching of a public campaign to fight the rising trend of prescription drug abuse. According to...

Drug Strategies releases comprehensive teen treatment guide.
January 20, 2003... Drug Strategies, a nonprofit research institute, has published its first-ever comprehensive guide to drug treatment programs for teens. The guide is designed to help families and counselors navigate the treatment program terrain and find the...

Survey finds widespread gambling among U.S. adults.
January 20, 2003... A national survey conducted by the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions found that 82 percent of individuals interviewed gambled in the past year. The findings were reported in the Winter 2002 issue of the Journal of Gam...

Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA). (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA) has named Linda Hay Crawford as executive director. Crawford previously headed the Washington D.C. office of the American Cancer Society, where she served as national vice president for federal and state...

CADCA announces Institute videoconference. (Resources).
January 20, 2003... Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) will offer a videoconference, "Achieving Outcomes through the National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute," January 30 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET. The broadcast will provide an overview of...

Partnership to bring online treatment to New Zealand. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... San Jose, Calif.-based eGetgoing and New Zealand-based Hanmer Clinics Group and its affiliate Instep Limited have announced a partner ship to offer eGetgoing's Internet based alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs to New Zealanders....

Partnership for a Drug-Free America. (Names in the Names).
January 20, 2003... Stan Weil, a 25-year veteran of the broadcast/cable media industry, has joined the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) as its executive vice president and director of strategic marketing partnerships. Weil is considered one of the...

States fail on tobacco prevention. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Many states have failed to implement policies to help reduce tobacco-related diseases and death, according to the first annual American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2002 report. A survey of U.S. adults showed that a majority of...

Nicotine patch may help smokers quit on their own. (Briefly Noted).
January 20, 2003... Over-the-counter nicotine patches may help smokers quit without counseling, according to findings in the December issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Researchers observed that nearly 20 percent of smokers who used a nicotine patch were able...

Michigan to eliminate mandatory sentences. (Briefly Noted).
January 20, 2003... Michigan's new sentencing regulations will eliminate mandatory-minimum sentences for drug crimes, the New York Times reported. Under current laws, anyone convicted of Possessing 50 to 224 grams of narcotics or cocaine faces a minimum prison...

House subcommittee releases proposed SA spending levels.
January 20, 2003... The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education has released a budget proposal for fiscal 2003 that includes programs funding addiction services. Meanwhile, the Senate, which passed a proposed...

Menthol smokers may retain nicotine byproducts longer. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Women who smoke menthol cigarettes may retain cotinine, a chemical byproduct of nicotine, longer than those who smoke other kinds of cigarettes, according to findings in the December issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Researchers observed...

Third-graders charged with marijuana possession. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Two third-graders were arrested at a Florida elementary school on charges of marijuana possession last month, CNN reported. A cafeteria worker at Rivers Edge Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, Fla. told police that a nine-year-old boy had...

Safe-injection sites may have to persuade users. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... Experts have found that injection-drug users may need some encouragement to use safe-injection sites, the Vancouver Courier reported. Drug users may take a while to start using safe-injection sites because the facilities change the culture of...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... According to the Associated Press, students at Wooster High School in Ohio filed a lawsuit after school officials confiscated copies of the school newspaper because of an article about student drinking. The students are claiming violations of...

Researchers' study of twins bolsters 'gateway' theory.
January 27, 2003... Many studies have examined the "gateway" theory, that marijuana use at a young age leads to use of harder drugs as a person grows older. While there is a general consensus among studies that those who use marijuana are much more likely to use...

GAO literature review reiterates ineffectiveness of original D.A.R.E.
January 27, 2003... A literature review that dashes claims that the D.A.R.E. substance abuse prevention program works underscores yet again that program backers must do a better job of convincing skeptics, including some members of Congress, of D.A.R.E.'s value....

Report highlights N.J. success in funding care for disabled.
January 27, 2003... When New Jersey enacted Public Law 1995, Chapter 318 seven years ago, it not only created the first "set-aside" state funding in the country for substance abuse services for people with disabilities; the groundbreaking law signaled the...

Join Together seeks testimony on treatment quality.
January 27, 2003... A national policy panel convened by Join Together, a Boston University School of Public Health project, this month announced it is accepting testimony to develop recommendations to improve the quality of treatment for substance use disorders....

Volkow named new director of NIDA.(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... National Institutes of Health director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., last week announced the appointment of Nora D. Volkow, M.D., as the new director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Volkow is currently associate director for life...

RWJF grant program will encourage states to spend wisely.(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) this month announced the launch of a grant program designed to help states expand treatment capacity with existing resources. Resources for Recovery: State Practices That Expand Treatment...

Caron Foundation. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... The Caron Foundation has named Lois McMahon Fahey as campaign director for its New York City Capital Campaign. The campaign will generate charitable support for Caron' s newly established New York Recovery Center. Fahey currently serves as...

Researchers to investigate genetic factors of addiction. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Conn. and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand are working on a joint project to explore genetic factors that may predispose people to drug addiction, the Associated Press reported. The...

Family history, expectations may influence college drinking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... A family history of alcohol problems and/or positive expectations about alcohol's effects may be associated with an increase in alcohol-related problems during students' first semester at college, according to findings in the January issue of...

Drinking at a young age associated with risky sex. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... People who get drunk for the first time at a young age may be more likely to have risky sex during their college years, according to findings in the January issue of Pediatrics. Researchers found that college students who reported getting drunk...

Vancouver mayor supports heroin maintenance program. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell is pushing for a program that would provide heroin to hardcore addicts, the Vancouver Sun reported. The program would be modeled after a Zurich, Switzerland-based heroin-maintenance program. Under the Swiss...

Brain molecules affect alcohol consumption. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Brain molecules similar to the active compound in marijuana may help regulate alcohol consumption, according to reports in the online versions of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers...

Cell phone use may not reduce teen smoking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Findings in the January 18 issue of the British Medical Journal may refute a 2000 study that associated an increase in cell phone use among teenagers with a decrease in smoking, Health Newswire reported. Researchers in Finland found that...

Gene may increase risk for fetal alcohol syndrome. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... A gene involved in alcohol metabolism may increase a woman's risk of giving birth to a child with fetal alcohol syndrome, Reuters reported. Women with the ADH2-1/3 form of the gene may be able to consume more alcohol, therefore possibly...

Drug czar questioned about Nevada campaign. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Nevada secretary of state Dean Heller has asked the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), John Walters, to respond to questions about his campaign against a marijuana ballot initiative, the Associated Press...

North Dakota universities may revive consortium. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... Higher education officials in North Dakota may revive a statewide consortium to combat alcohol abuse, the Associated Press reported. The consortium would include representatives from all 11 campuses in the North Dakota University System and...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
January 27, 2003... According to Reuters, a study of rats indicates that consumption of alcohol leads to a surge in testosterone levels, perhaps explaining the association between alcohol and violence. Lead researcher Robert H. Purdy of the Scripps Research...