Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from January 2008

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from January 2008

Parity, elections, realism on tap for 2008.
January 7, 2008... A year ago the treatment field was looking inward, doubting that federal initiatives would be the answer to barriers to treatment access-barriers rooted in lack of funding and insurance discrimination. The pragmatism continues this year, with a...

Prescription opioids in the news in 2007: also parity, budget, outcomes.(The Year in Review)
January 7, 2008... Prescription opioids dominated the drug policy arena last year as the field wrestled with a new stigma: opioid treatment programs wrongly blamed for overdoses from methadone. Public officials strove to explain that the overdoses were due to...

Seabrook opens three-month transitional program for men.
January 7, 2008... Reflecting a keen interest among addiction treatment centers in smoothing clients' transition from primary treatment, New Jersey-based Seabrook House last month received a license for a transitional living facility in Pennsylvania where men who...

2008: the breakout year for SBI.(FROM THE FIELD ...)(screening and brief intervention)
January 7, 2008... With new reimbursement codes, increased support from federal government agencies, and growing interest on the part of insurers and employers, 2008 will be a breakout year for substance use-related screening and brief intervention. ...

Coming up ...(conferences)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... NASPA (student affairs administrators in higher education) will hold a conference on alcohol abuse prevention and intervention in Tampa on January 17-19. For more information, go to www.naspa.org. Faces & Voices of Recovery will hold a...

New York Task Force integrates co-occurring treatment.(STATE WATCH)(New York Task Force on Co-Occurring Disorders)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... On Dec. 28 the New York Task Force on Co-Occurring Disorders released a comprehensive report which includes recommendations for integrated treatment for individuals with co-occurring disorders. Both Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo of...

Becky Vaughn acting director of SAAS.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(State Associations of Addictions Services)(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Effective Jan. 6, Howard Shapiro has resigned from the State Associations of Addictions Services (SAAS) and Becky Vaughn is acting director. "I have enjoyed the opportunity to be of service to SAAS for the last 5 years; it has been deeply...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... One man traveling through a security checkpoint at a German airport this past holiday season was adamant about not turning over a liter of vodka. Instead, he drank it then and there. MSNBC reported that although he was immediately taken to the...

Cocaine deaths and treatment admissions rising in Maine.(Report)
January 14, 2008... Cocaine-related deaths are increasing in Maine, and so are treatment admissions. Although the numbers pale against those related to methadone and other prescription opioids, cocaine deaths have been rising steadily since 2002. In 2006,...

Utah initiative for offenders links treatment, probation.
January 14, 2008... A Utah addiction treatment initiative for offenders that is in its first year of statewide implementation is seeking to demonstrate that a closer partnership between the treatment and probation systems can improve justice and treatment outcomes...

For-profit entity growing rapidly in developing faith-based homes.(Company overview)
January 14, 2008... An innovative for-profit venture in developing faith-based transitional living options for people in recovery is making such strides in its home base of Idaho that its next major development may be an expansion nationally. As the new year...

Residential treatment expansion in Montana.(Boyd Andrew Community Services)
January 14, 2008... Montana has awarded the contract to manage a new $4 million expansion of residential treatment to Helena-based Boyd Andrew Community Services, which also operates one of the programs that will be delivering services. Seven different facilities,...

Cough medicine abuse reported in new NSDUH analysis.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... More than 5 percent of people aged 12-25 used over-the-counter cough or cold medications to get high at least once in their lifetimes, according to newly analyzed data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). This represents a...

Successful prisoner reentry: full circle recovery programs at San Quentin Prison.(FROM THE FIELD ...)
January 14, 2008... Over a year ago, a small group of inmates in long term recovery at California State Prison San Quentin for men were studying to become addiction and recovery counselors. Most have since passed their credentialing exam and considerable attention...

Study says 40 percent of children under 8 have sipped alcohol.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Two out of 5 children ages 8 or 10 have sipped alcohol, researchers reported earlier this month. Based on a random phone survey with 452 children ages 8 or 10 and their families, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of...

New RADARS system for health care workers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The RADARS (Researched Abuse, Diversion, and Addiction-Related Surveillance) System has just launched a new system to help capture data on impaired health care workers. The system is the fifth RADARS signal detection system. It will survey...

Hazelden forms Center for Public Advocacy.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Last month, Hazelden established a new Center for Public Advocacy. Funded by Hazelden's development efforts, the center will set up an information bureau that will help promulgate the message that addiction is a disease. The center will also...

Study shows SBI reduces drinking in ER patients.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(screening and brief intervention )(emergency department patients )
January 14, 2008... Talking to emergency department patients about their drinking lowers rates or risky drinking in these patients, according to according to a nationwide collaborative study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism...

Cocaine vaccine under study.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... A new cocaine vaccine is under study by two Baylor College of Medicine scientists. The vaccine, which creates antibodies that bind to the drug by blending the drug itself with cholera, is the brainchild of Tom Kosten, professor of psychiatry...

Vermont state police to request $1 million for prescription drug abuse enforcement.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... In Vermont, fatal prescription drug overdoses have lead the state police to request lists of everyone getting narcotics from pharmacists. The drugs of choice--Vicodin, OxyContin, and Percocet--are readily available on the street, according to...

Kansas legislature to consider prescription drug monitoring.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... A legislator in Kansas is calling for a registry for prescription drugs. According to Sen. Vicki Schmidt, who is a pharmacist, people obtain painkillers and tranquilizers by "doctor shopping and pharmacy shopping." Only by prescription drug...

SAMHSA releases three short papers on co-occurring disorders.(RESOURCES)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released three papers on evidence-based approaches to treating individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. The three overview papers,...

SAMHSA announces online courses.(RESOURCES)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The first online course from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) is on acamprosate, a medication to treat alcohol use disorders. The course is based on the acamprosate Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory published in...

Grant announcements.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The U.S. Department of Education has announced the availability of $12.75 million in grants for school drug-testing. The application deadline is March 21, 2008. The grant announcement can be viewed at www.grants.gov/search/search....

Coming up ...(Calendar)
January 14, 2008... NASPA (student affairs administrators in higher education) will hold a conference on alcohol abuse prevention and intervention in Tampa on January 17-19. For more information, go to www.naspa.org. Faces & Voices of Recovery will hold a...

Infusion of funds may be needed to revive Minnesota's public system.
January 21, 2008... Given how the phrase "Minnesota Model" has become a nationally recognized term of art in addiction treatment, outsiders to the state probably would guess that Minnesota ranks near the top of states in placing individuals in treatment programs....

Prometa under fire in Washington drug court program: research and treatment community still waiting for results of trials.
January 21, 2008... An unproven treatment--Prometa--is under heightened scrutiny after a county froze funding for using the protocol on drug court clients. The treatment field continues to hold steadfast to the need for randomized double-blind controlled trials...

Grassroots group of moms won't give up battle for parity in N.J.(New Jersey)
January 21, 2008... The last legislative session in New Jersey was bittersweet for the mothers of children who died from addiction after being denied access to treatment by insurance. A group called Parent to Parent represents many of these mothers. It was sweet...

Maryland pays counties for meeting retention and completion benchmarks.
January 21, 2008... Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are all well and good, but what really counts is performance, at least in Maryland, according to Peter R. Cohen, M.D., medical director of the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. And that's what the...

Increasing scrutiny of amphetamines in baseball.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform convened to review a report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in major league baseball. However,The New York Times reported on January 16 that the focus...

Coming up ...(substance abuse conferences)(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 21, 2008... Faces & Voices of Recovery will hold a series of one-hour teleconferences on advocacy on January 30, February 27, and March 26. For more information, go to www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/about/trainings_events/2008_ teleconference.php. ...

Massachusetts faces spike in methadone overdoses.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Fatal methadone overdoses in Massachusetts climbed 400 percent in the years between 2002 and 2005, according to state Department of Public Health data, from 17 overdoses in 2002 to 86 three years later. A group of North Shore police chiefs are...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... The Canadian Navy has a new pet, but she's not on base to boost morale. Roxy the chocolate Lab has been hired to sniff out drugs on the Navy's Esquimalt base, where drug charges have steadily climbed over the past two years, reported the...

Wide interest in process improvement has campaign planners thinking bigger.
January 28, 2008... When the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) last year announced a national campaign to convince addiction treatment agencies to implement operational improvements (see ADAW, Oct. 15, 2007), it expected it would take more...

High dropout rates for blacks attributed to economics in RAND study.(report by RAND Corporation)
January 28, 2008... Blacks are more likely than whites to drop out of alcoholism treatment, but according to recent research from the RAND Corporation's Drug Policy Research Center (DPRC) the reason is economics, not demographics. The RAND research found that...

Naltrexone/family treatment mix under study for opiods.
January 28, 2008... Hoping that family therapy improves naltrexone compliance for opioid addiction, researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance are studying the drug as an alternative to buprenorphine or methadone. The Somerville, Mass.-based academic public...

Addiction issues still in the background in Presidential campaign.
January 28, 2008... The recovery movement is gearing up to get Presidential candidates to commit themselves to addiction treatment support in this election year. But for now, these issues are still not mentioned; on the contrary, even those who read platform...

Ike Turner's death attributed to cocaine overdose.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... The legendary rock-n-roll singer Ike Turner died in his home on December 12 at the age of 76. The San Diego County medical examiner announced on January 16 that a cocaine overdose was responsible for his death. The Washington Post reported on...

Brighton Hospital forms National Addiction Foundation.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... Brighton Hospital, Michigan's first licensed chemical dependency treatment provider and the second-oldest such facility in the country, has announced the formation of the Brighton National Addiction Foundation (BNAF). Brighton's President...

SAMHSA's online courses.(RESOURCES)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... The first online course from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is on acamprosate, a medication to treat alcohol use disorders. The course is based on the acamprosate Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory...

NIDA networking project.(RESOURCES)(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has announced a new website geared toward drug abuse researchers, practitioners and policy makers and designed to "encourage information sharing across disciplines, networks and institutions." Visit...

NIDA draft strategic plan.(CALL FOR COMMENTS)(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has recently "undergone a strategic planning process" in an effort to "establish achievable goals and objectives for the future." The public is invited to review NIDA's draft plan outline and submit...

Amanda L. Williams-Briggs.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... Amanda L. Williams-Briggs has rejoined AdCare Outpatient Services as Director of AdCare-Quincy (Mass.). Williams-Briggs has worked in outpatient methadone treatment clinics and has served as an outpatient therapist and Coordinator of the Day...

Coming up ...(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 28, 2008... The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will hold four regional one-day Random Student Drug Testing Summits this year: Jacksonville, Fla. (January 29); Oklahoma City, Okla. (January 31); Albuquerque, N.M. (February 6);...

In case you haven't heard ...(advertising of alcoholic beverage makers in France)
January 28, 2008... Since France passed the Evin Law in 1991, French alcohol makers have found their advertising scrutinized and subject to increased restrictions. For example, a Paris judge recently ruled that in their "La nuit en rose" ad campaign four years...