Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from January 2005

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from January 2005

Funding tops issues of concern for SA, MH leaders.
January 31, 2005... Workforce issues, stigma, Medicare, medications, returning military personnel, Medicaid, criminal justice programs are all areas presenting challenges to leaders in the addiction and mental health fields, but the consensus underlying issue...

Can SA, MH fields effectively show costs of untreated illness?
January 31, 2005... One of the more cogent debates that emanated from last week's conference call of addiction and mental health leaders was whether showing the costs of untreated addiction or mental illness was an advocacy tool that yielded benefits. Ken...

Landmark report offers recommendations on improving prisoner re-entry systems: officials say report can bolster re-entry legislation.
January 31, 2005... A council of community, state, local and federal leaders and representatives of health, mental health and substance abuse treatment systems this month released a landmark report describing how to overhaul prisoner re-entry nationwide. ...

The underpinnings of a successful re-entry initiative.
January 31, 2005... The Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council: Charting the Safe and Successful Return of Prisoners to the Community, lays out policy recommendations for communities and states. Among them, particularly pertaining to addiction and mental health,...

Charles G. Curie received the McGovern Award for Leadership in Drug Abuse Prevention at Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's National Leadership Forum, on Jan. 10.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Charles G. Curie received the McGovern Award for Leadership in Drug Abuse Prevention at Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's National Leadership Forum, on Jan. 10. The award recognizes people who have successfully used innovative ideas...

Videoconference to address truancy issues.(Resources)(Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools )(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) have announced a satellite videoconference "Strategies, Programs and Resources To Prevent Truancy," to air February 23 from...

Utah sees spike in prescription drug deaths.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The state of Utah has seen a considerable spike in drug-related deaths in the past ten years. Unintentional deaths from all drugs stood at 79 in 1991. By 2003, the number was 291, with the largest increase attributed to prescription drugs,...

Restrictions placed on pseudoephedrine sales.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy is restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient common to cold and allergy medications, in attempts to slow the manufacture of methamphetamine. Although licensed businesses are now required to...

WHO to address international alcohol abuse.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The most recent data suggests that 1.8 million people worldwide died alcohol-related deaths in the year 2000, making alcohol abuse "one of the most important risks to health globally," according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report....

Indiana county reports significant heroin use.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... With a population of only about 150,000, Porter County, Indiana is home to higher rates of heroin use and heroin-related deaths and crimes than many major metropolitan areas. A study by Roosevelt University in Chicago showed that Porter...

Moderate alcohol could protect cognitive function.(Briefly Noted)
January 31, 2005... According to researcher Francine Grodstein of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, "low levels of alcohol appear to have cognitive benefits." Grodstein is the senior author of a study published in a recent issue of The New England Journal...

ADHD drugs popular with college students.(Briefly Noted)(Attention deficit hypertensive disorders)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... In a study conducted among the student population at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a public university of about 10,500 students, psychology professor William Frankenberger has revealed prevalent use of prescription stimulants among...

Tobacco-control spending impacts youth smoking.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Researchers have suggested that per capita expenditures on tobacco control may have a significant impact on youth smoking prevalence, as well as the average number of cigarettes smoked. A study published in the American Journal of Public...

Senior gamblers may spend beyond their means.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The Boston Globe reports that a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry suggests that senior citizens are at risk of wagering more than they can reasonably afford when gambling. In interviews with 843 seniors (ages...

Drug offenders not entitled to drug courts.(Briefly Noted)
January 31, 2005... According to a recent Washington Supreme Court ruling, drug offenders do not have a constitutional right to be tried in a drug court in order to avoid felony conviction. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the ruling followed two...

Documentary highlights casualties of drug use.(Briefly Noted)(Arthur Robinson Williams)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Working on a fellowship from the Reach Out '56 Foundation, Arthur Robinson Williams spent five months traveling the country, interviewing and photographing individuals who have been affected by drug use and/or drug policy. The Princeton...

Active adolescents less likely to smoke.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and published in the journal Psychology and Addictive Behaviors, adolescents who are involved in sports and academic activities outside of school are less likely...

Synthetic chemical targets brain's "bliss" system.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... A step closer to new drug-addiction therapies, researchers have created a molecule, called AM1172, which regulates the manner in which the brain chemical anandamide is processed. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),...

Coming up.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 31, 2005... The Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association and its Juvenile Justice Associations sponsors the 2005 Adolescent Treatment Issues Conference, Feb. 28-March 1 in Tampa, Fla. For more information, visit www.fadaa.org. The Center for the...

In case you haven't heard ...
January 31, 2005... Vermont House Republican Richard Marron (R.-Stowe) believes that if you're old enough to vote and serve in the military, you're old enough to drink legally. He is circulating a bill that would lower the drinking age from 21, which he feels is...

Prison-based treatment program reduces recidivism: study first to examine state-wide recidivism.
January 24, 2005... Inmates released from Connecticut prisons who have received substance abuse treatment are significantly less likely to be re-arrested, according to a study researchers consider among the first to report that prison-based treatment programs...

NIAAA survey finds that many recover from alcoholism: researchers identify factors associated with recovery.(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
January 24, 2005... More than one-third (35.9 percent) of U.S. adults with alcohol dependence (alcoholism) that began more than one year ago are now in full recovery, according to a study published in Addiction. The fully recovered individuals show symptoms...

Alcohol counseling in ER could save hospitals $2 billion annually.(emergency rooms)
January 24, 2005... Offering brief substance-abuse counseling in emergency rooms and trauma centers to injured patients who are under the influence of alcohol could save U.S. hospitals almost $2 billion a year, according to a surgeon at the University of Texas...

Report finds increase in methamphetamine-related admissions.
January 24, 2005... Patients addicted to methamphetamine now account for an unprecedented 9.5 percent of admissions to addiction treatment programs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. metropolitan area, compared with 7.5 percent in 2003, and only 2.9 percent in...

A 'StoryCorps' interview with NCADD president Stacia Murphy.(From the Field)(National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence)(Interview)
January 24, 2005... What is StoryCorps and why did National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) President Stacia Murphy and I zero in on it as a medium for transmitting the history and the new developments in the recovery movement? First...

Tennessee creates methamphetamine website.(Resources)
January 24, 2005... The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that Tennessee accounts for 75 percent of the methamphetamine lab seizures in the Southeast. According to Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a new website, www.methfreetn.org, is intended to...

CRC Health Group, Inc.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Thomas J. Brady, M.D., M.B.A., has been hired as Chief Medical Officer of CRC Health Group, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., the nation's largest substance abuse treatment provider. With over twenty years of medical leadership in the healthcare...

Medicare screens for alcohol use.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that an estimated three million seniors have drinking problems, calling it a "hidden epidemic" among the elderly, the Los Angeles Times reports. The introductory physicals now included in federal...

Narcolepsy drug shows promise for cocaine addiction.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... The results of a study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggests there may be new hope for treating cocaine addiction in a drug used to treat narcolepsy....

On-site health services benefit those in drug treatment.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Although past research has shown that providing health services to patients in drug treatment programs can improve retention and treatment outcomes, a new study suggests the importance of offering such health services on-site. In particular,...

Percentage of 12th grade student.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Percentage of 12th Grade Student Reporting Past Month Use of Top Ten Drugs, 2004 Alcohol 48.0% Cigarettes 25.0% Marijuana 19.9% Smokeless Tobacco 6.7% Amphetamines 4.6% Percentage of...

High court upholds HMO lawsuit.(Briefly Noted)(health maintenance organizations)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Regarding a nationwide lawsuit in which over 600,000 doctors are accusing six health maintenance organizations (HMOs) of fraud, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals certification. According to the Seattle...

Nicotine-dependent smoke most cigarettes.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Adults with nicotine dependence and/or psychiatric disorders consume 70 percent of all cigarettes smoked in the United States, according to the results of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study. The study is based on the National...

Ford's daughter to head up treatment center.(Briefly Noted)(Susan Ford Bales)
January 24, 2005... Former first lady Betty Ford has turned over direction of the Betty Ford Center to her daughter Susan Ford Bales, although she will remain involved in the renowned substance abuse treatment center. According to the Desert Sun, Bales is a...

Tennessee taxes drug offenders.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Over 20 U.S. states currently tax illegal drugs, and Tennessee recently joined the list. Under a new tax law effective Jan. 1, drug dealers are required to pay excise taxes on illegal substances, such as marijuana, cocaine and unlawfully...

ASAM's patient placement criteria deemed effective.(Briefly Noted)(American Society of Medicine)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... According to a series of reports published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases in 2004, the American Society of Medicine's (ASAM) Patient Placement Criteria are associated with less morbidity, better post-treatment outcomes and less overall...

Lawsuits against health insurers dismissed.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... The Connecticut State Medical Society has lost an opportunity to pursue lawsuits against Oxford Health Plans and ConnectiCare. The society accused the health insurers of denying and delaying claim payments to doctors. According to the...

Coming up.(Calendar)
January 24, 2005... The Hanley Center sponsors the "National Aging and Addiction Conference, Renewing your Spirit," Jan. 28-29 in West Palm Beach, Fla. For more information visit www.hhnaac.org. The Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse and its Juvenile Justice...

In case you haven't heard ...
January 24, 2005... British police have found a new use for the lubricant WD-40: spraying it on bar and nightclub toilets to prevent cocaine users from snorting off of toilet lids. A drastic measure, perhaps, but according to constable Graham Pease, a liquor...

Leadership forum reflects strength of community coalitions: leaders outline priorities for coming year.(CADCA National Leadership Forum XV)(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)
January 17, 2005... Without a doubt, the most significant development over the past 10 years in addiction prevention has been the growth of anti-drug community coalitions, spurred on by the passage of the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997. The growth of the...

CADCA conference symposium addresses reemergence of inhalant abuse.(CADCA National Leadership Forum XV)(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)
January 17, 2005... The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America used the occasion of its Leadership Forum XV to address recent trends showing a resurgence of inhalant abuse among adolescents. The need to address inhalant abuse was driven by the latest...

Training initiative addresses dual diagnosis, domestic violence.(CADCA National Leadership Forum XV)
January 17, 2005... Recognizing the need to improve the ability of local substance abuse and mental health agencies to identify and provide appropriate services and referrals to clients with dual diagnosis and domestic violence issues, the California Institute...

Obituary.(Ignatius McDermott )(Obituary)
January 17, 2005... Msgr. Ignatius McDermott passed away on Dec. 31 at the age of 95. Father McDermott ("Father Mac" or the "Skid Row Priest" to those who knew him well) began ministering to the homeless and alcoholics along Chicago's skid row in the 1930s, and...

Hamilton County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Patrick F. Fischer has joined the Hamilton County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ADAS) Board as its newest trustee. Fischer is a partner with the law firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp, with a focus in the field of commercial litigation....

Dr. Karen A. Holbrook, President of Ohio State University, received the Presidents Leadership Group Award in recognition of her efforts to address alcohol abuse at OSU sports events.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Karen A. Holbrook, President of Ohio State University, received the Presidents Leadership Group Award in recognition of her efforts to address alcohol abuse at OSU sports events. The award is presented by the Center for College Health and...

Crossroads Centre.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Tim Sinnott has been promoted from executive officer to CEO of the Crossroads Centre, Antigua. Sinnott, a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, is the former president of the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors...

Hythiam, Inc.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Hythiam, Inc. announced this week that Donald R. Wesson, M.D., a prominent clinician and investigator in the field of addiction, has been named Vice President of Scientific Affairs for this healthcare services management company. Dr. Wesson...

Washington State agency partners with Change Companies.(Business Notes)(Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse)(Change Companies)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... The Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA) is partnering with the Change Companies to revise its Alcohol and Other Drug Information School (A/DIS). An education course for individuals who have come into contact with...

SATVA posts RFPs on its website.(Resources)(Software and Technology Vendors Association)(Requests for Proposals)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... The Software and Technology Vendors' Association (SATVA) will now post information technology-related Requests for Proposals on their website's "members only" page. Visit www.satva.org for more information on how to get the word out to...

Workshops offered for DFC grant applications.(Resources)
January 17, 2005... Starting this month, the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Program will offer a series of regional workshops for community coalitions interested in learning how to apply for a DFC grant. The free, full-day workshops are open to both existing and...

Ecstasy research to treat terminally ill.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a Harvard proposal to test the benefits of the illegal drug known as Ecstasy in patients diagnosed with severe anxiety related to terminal cancer. According to SF Gate, if researchers...

Young people underestimate marijuana harm.(Briefly Noted)
January 17, 2005... A study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) suggests that people tend to underestimate the damage that marijuana can do to their overall quality of life. The study looked at survey data from over 5,000 California and Oregon...

Substance abuse program finds new home.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Florida has approved the lease for the Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center to be built on the Senator Howard. C. Forman Human Services Campus in Pembroke Pines. The program is a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services for women...

Grant encourages study of fetal alcohol effects.(Briefly Noted)
January 17, 2005... While Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the most severe effect of prenatal alcohol consumption, the fetal alcohol effects caused by Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies (AEPs) are estimated to be three to four times more prevalent than FAS. Such effects...

Alcohol compromises depth perception.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... A North Dakota State University research team has found that drinking alcohol may disrupt depth perception, adding to the risks involved in driving under the influence. For this study, 15 volunteers performed tasks that measured perception of...

Survey considers drug use among European countries.(Briefly Noted)
January 17, 2005... According to the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (www.espad.org), 83 percent of European teens had consumed alcohol in the 12 months prior to completing an anonymous questionnaire, and 53 percent had been drunk during that...

Distinct origins found for conduct disorder and alcoholism.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... In a study published in the Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (10/04), researchers suggest that while there appears to be a link between alcohol abuse and conduct disorder (CD) in teens, the prior stems from environmental causes,...

Canada supports drug treatment courts.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... In 2003, Canada made a commitment to expanding its use of drug treatment courts, as part of an effort to renew its official Drug Strategy. "By emphasizing treatment rather than incarceration, drug treatment courts can help reduce the...

OxyContin suit is downgraded.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Much to the relief of Purdue Pharma, maker of the narcotic painkiller OxyContin (oxycodone HCL), the Ohio Supreme Court downgraded a lawsuit accusing the drug maker of over-promoting the drug to the detriment of many who used it and became...

Chemist explores synthetic version of marijuana.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Although marijuana is approved for medicinal purposes in 11 states, it remains a Schedule One drug, subject to federal anti-narcotics laws. In efforts to take advantage of marijuana's medicinal purposes, a chemist at South Carolina's Clemson...

Coming up.(Calendar)
January 17, 2005... The Hanley Center sponsors the "National Aging and Addiction Conference, Renewing your Spirit," Jan. 28-29, West Palm Beach, Fla. For more information visit www.hhnaac.org. The Institute for Integral Development will sponsor two...

In case you haven't heard ...
January 17, 2005... Recent research reveals that our brains "light up" when we see or smell our favorite foods, increasing metabolism in the whole brain by 24 percent, as measured by positron emission topography (PET). In a study published in the journal...

Medications continue to show treatment potential.(new medications in alcoholism treatment)
January 10, 2005... While therapy is the important mainstay in the treatment of substance abuse, medication treatments continue to emerge as an increasing force, particularly in the treatment of alcohol addiction. Observers say they are encouraged by the...

Kentucky establishes 'housing centers' to provide treatment for homeless.
January 10, 2005... Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher this month announced an initiative to create housing recovery centers to help residents suffering from addiction and homelessness. The move follows the creation last year of an Office of Drug Control Policy to...

Topiramate touted as a promising new medication.
January 10, 2005... Topiramate, an FDA-approved treatment for epilepsy, has been touted as a promising new medication. Topiramate is the "drug of the year" for alcoholism, Frank Vocci, Ph.D., director of the Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences...

Report finds high rate of youth engaged in drugged or drunk driving.
January 10, 2005... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) last month released data showing that more than four million people ages 16-20 drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the past year. This represents 21 percent...

Teen drug use shows continued gradual decline: concerns remain about inhalants, painkillers.
January 10, 2005... The proportion of 8th-, 10th- and 12th-grade students who reported using any illicit drug in the prior 12 months continued a gradual decline in 2004, according to the latest national survey of 50,000 students in the Monitoring the Future...

Lyrica labeled a controlled substance.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Just as the FDA approved Lyrica (pregabalin) for sale, federal regulators have labeled the Pfizer, Inc. drug a controlled substance, subjecting it to additional administrative requirements for doctors and pharmacists. Pfizer had been hopeful...

Tobacco industry targets college students.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Analyzing data from the 2001 Harvard College Alcohol Study (a random sample of 10,904 students enrolled in 119 four-year colleges and universities), researchers found that a significant number of students were being exposed to tobacco...

New Jersey has purest street heroin.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) testing in 2002, the quality of heroin on New Jersey streets far surpasses that found in other cities, with 71.4 percent purity, compared to 66.3 percent in Philedelphia, 61.5 in New...

Coming up.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 10, 2005... The Hanley Center sponsors the "National Aging and Addiction Conference, Renewing your Spirit" Jan. 28-29 in West Palm Beach, Fla. For more information visit www.hhnaac.org. Foundations Associates will sponsor "Critical Connections in...

In case you haven't heard ...(factors influencing teen smokers)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Images of favorite movie stars smoking on screen may increase the likelihood that teenage girls will begin a smoking habit, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Study data, drawn from the California Tobacco...

From the editor ...
January 3, 2005... Longtime readers of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly and Mental Health Weekly know that the first issue of every year is our Preview Issue, where our editors and reporters forecast the most important issues, trends and challenges facing the...

Screening adolescents for mental health and substance abuse issues will expand with federal, state and local efforts.
January 3, 2005... This may be the year that routine assessment of young people for mental or emotional disorders in schools, doctors' offices, and other venues gains real traction, despite ongoing concerns about the practice from some politicians and...

SAMHSA reauthorization, Medicaid, Medicare present challenges, opportunities for advocates.
January 3, 2005... The new year is always a time for thinking in broad strokes; with this month's seating of the 109th Congress and the second inauguration of President George W. Bush, the sight range of mental health and addiction advocates extends well...

Making a life in the community for everyone a reality for America: the substance abuse and mental health services administration.
January 3, 2005... When I accepted President Bush's nomination to serve as the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), my vision for SAMHSA was guided by the knowledge that treatment for mental and substance use...

Does the mental health system need its own 'Apollo program'? necessary steps for mental health transformation.
January 3, 2005... The goals and recommendations detailed by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health are long overdue. Too long have Americans with mental illness had to cope with the stigma that surrounds mental illness, unfair treatment...