Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from July 2008

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from July 2008

New $1 million addiction advocacy campaign to focus on funding and parity.(Exclusive News)(Legal Action Center)(State Associations of Addiction Services)
July 14, 2008... The new year will bring addiction treatment a new advocacy campaign aimed at lobbying and public relations nationally and in the states, ADAW has learned. A collaboration between the Legal Action Center and the State Associations of Addiction...

Computer-aided therapy tools seen as enhancement to traditional care.(Exclusive News)
July 14, 2008... A growing body of research evidence and practical experience is causing a shift in the traditionally feared notion that computer-based therapy tools could ultimately replace face-to-face addiction counseling. The emergence of new computer-based...

Caron launches program for young adult females.(Exclusive News)
July 14, 2008... Following upon the success of its two-year-old program for young male adults, Caron Treatment Centers last month launched a program for 20- to 25-year-old women. Like young adult males, young adult females have needs that are different from...

CASA annual report: prescriptions for sale online.(Exclusive News)(National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)
July 14, 2008... In its fifth annual report on the availability of prescription drugs on the Internet, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University last week said that while overall, there are fewer web sites selling drugs,...

Mobilizing our recovery revolution.(FROM THE FIELD ...)
July 14, 2008... A sentiment attributed to Chairman Mao claims that a revolution is possible by fully mobilizing only 5 percent of the population. Judging by a recent experience in California, we may still have a long way to go to create the army of change we...

Study finds minimum drinking age reduces driving deaths.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... According to a study funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, laws making it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to posses or purchase alcohol have reduced drinking-related fatal...

Ten states initiate substance abuse SBI codes.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) reported on July 2 that ten states (Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin) have activated substance abuse prevention and treatment...

Substance treatment during pregnancy improves outcomes.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... A study analyzing Kaiser Permanente's Early Start prenatal care program found that 2,073 women who were screened, assessed and received ongoing substance abuse intervention during pregnancy had the same statistical risk of stillborn, preterm...

WHO survey finds drug use varies across countries.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(World Health Organization)(Survey)
July 14, 2008... A World Health Organization research consortium survey, Toward a Global View of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis and Cocaine Use, found although drug use is becoming more common overall across 17 countries, different regions report distinct trends....

Pennsylvania sees surge in opiate abuse.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... The past five years has seen a surge in oxycodone abuse in the New Castle area of Pennsylvania, said Rob Kornacki with Smart Management, whose Discovery House clinics is set to open a new methadone clinic in Union Township. The Youngstown...

Minnesota reports progress combating meth labs and use.(STATE WATCH)(Report)
July 14, 2008... In its report released on July 2 (Minnesota: A report on the impact of one illicit drug), the Minnesota Department of Health wrote that between 2003 and 2007 the number of methamphetamine labs decreased by 92 percent and between 2006 and 2008...

Wisconsin tops nation for alcohol-related problems.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Gannett Wisconsin Media reported on July 6 that its analyses of data from multiple sources finds that Wisconsin is the most "alcohol-saturated state" in the nation, with the highest rate of binge and heavy drinkers; the second highest rate of...

Economics of Treatment and Prevention Services for Drug and Alcohol Abuse.(GRANTS AND FUNDING)(Report)(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the grant program Economics of Treatment and Prevention Services for Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Three independent Funding Opportunity Announcements (RO1, RO3 and R21) are identical in...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
July 14, 2008... The State Systems Development Program (SSDP VIII) Conference, "Partnering to Support Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care," will take place August 20-22 in Washington, D.C. It is presented by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the...

In case you haven't heard ...
July 14, 2008... After complaints from groups including the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, JV Games has changed the name of their much-hyped but yet-to-be-released game designed for the Nintendo Wii game system. USA Today reported that instead of...

Ethics and supervision key to preventing sexual exploitation in treatment programs: allegations involving Odyssey House ex-counselor raise questions.
July 21, 2008... On the list of treatment program administrator's worst nightmares is when a counselor is accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a patient. This happened recently in New York City when therapeutic community Odyssey House became fodder for...

Recovery schools pursue growth in face of financial challenges.(Report)
July 21, 2008... The co-founder of the Association of Recovery Schools believes that if society is going to be serious about nurturing recovery in young people who have experienced substance use problems, it must provide an effective alternative to a student's...

CDC selects NIDA-funded 'video doctor' program as an EBP.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(evidence-based practice)
July 21, 2008... A computer-based HIV/AIDS intervention that has been shown to reduce needle sharing has met the standards of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for best evidence of efficacy for HIV prevention. The intervention, which was...

DEA proposes regulations to curtail illicit Internet prescriptions.(Drug Enforcement Administration)
July 21, 2008... Last month the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed regulations that would allow physicians to prescribe controlled substances electronically, while curtailing Internet pharmacies that sell these prescriptions illicitly....

Report considers substance use and state healthcare reform.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... In June the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (National Council) and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) released a joint report presenting research on 18 state initiatives pertaining to mental health and...

NAATP to provide management services to AIS.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers)(Association of Intervention Specialists)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) reported on July 10 it will provide management services for the Association of Intervention Specialists (AIS), as well as a national office and address and a dedicated phone line...

Therapy addresses drug abuse in patients with mental illness.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported in July that Alan S. Bellack, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have designed a therapy for individuals for whom recovery from addiction is particularly...

Youth smoking impacted by perceived access to cigarettes.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... Findings from a study published in the current issue of the Annals of Family Medicine suggest that providers can identify teens at high risk of taking up smoking by asking two questions: "would it be easy for you to get a cigarette?" and "Do...

Free intervention workshops offered in California.(STATE WATCH)(New Directions for Women )(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The New Directions for Women (NDFW) campus in Costa Mesa, California will host a series of free intervention workshops that began on Saturday, July 26 and will continue on the fourth Saturday of each month. The workshops are led by Ken Seeley,...

White Earth Band purchases Minnesota treatment facility.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The White Earth Band of the Chippewa, whose reservation is located in northwestern Minnesota, has purchased a treatment center in Bemidji which was closed last year by Episcopal Community Services. Once renovated, the 40-acre facility will...

Kentucky treatment programs cost-effective: study.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... Publicly funded treatment programs in Kentucky reduce substance use, decrease criminal activity and increase employment, resulting in net savings more than $10 million per year to the state's tax-payers, according to a report issued last week...

AACAP's online CME course on substance abuse.(RESOURCES)(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has launched an online Substance Use Disorders Curriculum available at www.aacap.org, an 11-lecture series created by the AACAP Task Force on Strategic Planning for Substance Abuse...

Legal Action Center Confidentiality training series.(RESOURCES)(Brief article)
July 21, 2008... The Legal Action Center has released its training series, A Guide to the Federal Drug and Alcohol Confidentiality Regulations, on DVD. The series has three segments that explain the basic requirements of the 42 C.F.R. Part 2 and discuss the...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
July 21, 2008... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, will sponsor "Paving the Road Home: The National Behavioral Health Conference and Policy...

In case you haven't heard ...
July 21, 2008... Roughly 14 months after a group of healthy study volunteers took psilocybin, the hallucinogenic substance contained in "sacred mushrooms," several individuals reported that the "spiritual effects" have persisted, according to a report in the...

Crisis in Illinois: immediate cuts of 40 percent slated for treatment programs.
July 28, 2008... Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed $1.4 billion in state funds earlier this month, $55 million of it to the Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (DASA). This is a 43 percent cut of the DASA budget, which will translate to cuts of 40 percent to...

Denver to proceed carefully with balanced drug strategy plan.
July 28, 2008... A new drug strategy plan for the city of Denver has an ambitious five-year goal of eliminating a public-sector treatment gap that has left 1,300 treatment-seeking residents unable to access services. Yet framers of the plan say they will not...

Mixed results for Prometa in alcohol trial.
July 28, 2008... The first randomized, double blind controlled trial of the Prometa protocol has found poor results for alcoholics with low withdrawal scores at admission, but better results for alcoholics with high withdrawal scores, according to results...

Beneficial effects of coffee vs. cigarettes in study of AA members.
July 28, 2008... Most recovering alcoholics drink coffee and smoke cigarettes, according to a new study by Peter Martin, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Division of Addiction Medicine at Vanderbilt University. According to the results, 88.5 percent of AA...

NASADAD responds to 'More Kids Dying' editorial.(National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors )(Editorial)
July 28, 2008... It's not often that the block grant gets mentioned in a major newspaper's editorial pages, but that's what happened July 18 when The New York Times, in an editorial entitled "More Kids Dying," took states to task for not using block grant funds...

Two gene variants cut risk of alcohol-related cancers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... In the first study to identify genes that have a protective effect against alcohol, Paul Brennan and colleagues discovered two rare genetic variants that may significantly reduce the risk of alcohol-related head and neck cancers in individuals...

Tulsa struggles to find suitable location for recovery school.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Tulsa, Oklahoma residents and government officials including State Rep. Eric Proctor (D-Tulsa) said the building adjacent to Bell Elementary School was no place to set up a recovery program for suspended high school students. The school board...

100 vet beds added to NY system.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... New York's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) has added 100 addiction treatment beds across four residential programs for returning veterans. A total in $25.4 million was awarded to St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Center,...

Videos from IRETA symposium.(RESOURCES)(Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... The Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions (IRETA) announced that videos of presentations made at the Recovery Symposium, "Aligning Contexts, Prac tice and Concepts to Promote Long-Term Recovery: An Action Plan" can be...

Henrick J. Harwood.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Henrick J. Harwood has joined the National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) as director of research and program applications. Formerly a consultant with The Lewin Group and Research Triangle Institute, Harwood is well...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
July 28, 2008... The State Systems Development Program (SSDP VIII) Conference, "Partnering to Support Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care," will take place August 20-22 in Washington, D.C. It is presented by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the...

In case you haven't heard ...
July 28, 2008... Bar owners are aware that playing music at deafening decibels sells more alcohol. French researchers recently published a study that confirms this phenomenon. In two bars they observed the impact of music volume on forty male beer drinkers. The...