Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from June 2002

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from June 2002

State fiscal crisis threatens funding for North Carolina's drug courts: state's woes reflect national trend.
June 3, 2002... Faced with major budgetary constraints, state funding for many of North Carolina's drug court programs may be eliminated, leaving some advocates hopeful funding will be restored while others are concerned about where to turn for alternative...

Rapid-detox firm shifts focus to new treatments.(CITA Biomedical Inc.)
June 3, 2002... CITA Biomedical Inc. of Beverly Hills, Calif. is best known as the company that brought Ultra Rapid Opiate Detoxification (UROD) to the treatment milieu. UROD allows individuals addicted to opiates to undergo detoxification in a matter of...

NYC residents report increase in substance abuse after Sept. 11.
June 3, 2002... Survey results indicate that smoking and alcohol and marijuana use increased among residents of Manhattan during the five to eight weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11. Almost one-third of the nearly...

SAMHSA announces $30 million for club drug and HIV prevention.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
June 3, 2002... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced last month the availability of funding to support integrated substance abuse and HIV prevention services for youth and at-risk populations in minority communities,...

$1,500 reward offered for information about illegal copying.(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Manisses Communications Group, Inc. offers a reward of up to $1,500 to persons providing evidence of illegal photocopying, sending by fax, transmitting electronically or reproducing by any other means of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. This...

Extension of TennCare Partners contract buys time for rebid: consultant's report gives program a positive assessment.
June 3, 2002... Amid state fiscal concerns and an impending change in administration, Tennessee officials have settled on an 18-month extension of the contract for the TennCare Partners behavioral health carve-out -- a move they say will give the state...

CSAT efforts will make medication treatments available.(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
June 3, 2002... Regarding the recent University of Georgia finding that many addiction treatment centers do not offer a full complement of services for which there is an evidence base (see ADA W, May 27), this article is exactly the sort of feedback provider...

Magellan Behavioral Health expands BlueCross contract. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Magellan Behavioral Health has expanded its contract with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to manage mental health and substance abuse services for two million CareFirst members in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia,...

OxyContin maker working with Giuliani consulting group. (Business Notes).(Purdue Pharma L.P.)(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Conn.-based manufacturer of OxyContin, has announced that it has been working with Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm led by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and several of his former top executives, on...

The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) presented Philip W. Eaton, chief executive of Rosecrance Health Network and immediate past chair of the NAATP board of directors, with the American College of Addiction Treatment...

National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Columbia University president Lee C. Bollinger has been elected to the board of directors of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, according to an announcement by CASA president Joseph A. Califano...

Congressional testimony emphasizes science to practice. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Federal health research should place more emphasis on translating science into practice to help Americans alter their behavior and improve their health, according to Jessie C. Gruman, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for the Advancement...

Nonprofit organizations participate in public policy. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... Nonprofit organization leaders recognize the importance of public policy participation, according to the preliminary findings of the Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy Project (SNAP). In a survey of over 1,700 nonprofit organizations, 86 percent...

House, Senate fail to agree on patients' rights legislation. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... It's unlikely that Congress will approve a compromise on patients' rights legislation by Election Day, reported the NDC Health Reform Update. Discussions aimed at reaching a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill that...

Calif. bill would allow sale of sterile syringes. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 3, 2002... A bill that would allow the sale of syringes without a prescription passed the California Senate 21 to 12, according to a Drug Policy Alliance press release. Senate Bill 1785, authored by John Vasconcellos of San Jose, would allow individuals...

In case you haven't heard.
June 3, 2002... A man accused of importing marijuana into Guam, a U.S. . territory about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, invoked religion as a defense, saying that marijuana use is fundamental to the practice of Rastafarianism. The...

D.C. agencies join forces to develop strategic treatment plan.
June 10, 2002... Washington, D.C., is trying to join cities such as Baltimore, San Francisco and Detroit in developing a strategic plan to meet the overwhelming treatment needs of its denizens. While the other aforementioned cities have focused their efforts on...

Advocates credit human services coalition for passage of limited SA parity law in N.H.(substance abuse)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... With the passage last month of a new health insurance parity bill requiring insurers to pay for addiction treatment services and additional mental health disorders, as they would physical illnesses, New Hampshire advocates and state officials...

CARF expected to draft drug court standards.(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The Board of Trustees at CARF... The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission is expected to approve new drug court treatment program standards, as well as revised standards for criminal-justice and juvenile-justice treatment programs, at its...

HHS announces funds for faith-based organizations.(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson last week announced the availability $30 million to help faith-based groups compete for federal funds. Under the Compassion Capital Fund demonstration program, nearly...

Florida Supreme Court allows ballot initiative for 2004.(the Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for Nonviolent Drug Offenses initiative)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The Florida Supreme Court last month ruled that a ballot initiative to allow Florida citizens the right to treatment instead of incarceration for first and second drug offenses could appear on the 2004 state ballot. Sponsors of the Right...

U.S. Department of Education. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The U.S. Department of Education has selected advisors to serve the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention. Joining the Center's 12-member Review Group are George Boggs, president and chief executive of the American...

Obituary.(Obituary)
June 10, 2002... Max Glatt, one of the first psychiatrists to recognize alcohol addiction as a disease, died at age 90 on May 14. Glatt served as a member of the World Healthcare Organization's (WHO's) expert advisory panel on drug dependence and played a...

AHIMA and HIMSS to offer privacy and security certification. (Resources).(American Health Information Management Association, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) have announced a collaborative agreement to offer health information security and privacy certification...

Anti-Drug campaign focuses on American Indian youth. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... John P. Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), has unveiled a series of drug prevention advertisements that target American Indian audiences as a part of the ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media...

Medicaid beneficiaries ineligible for share of tobacco settlement. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that individual Medicaid beneficiaries are not entitled to a share of the national tobacco settlement to pay for smoking related medical costs, reported the AP/Hampton Roads Daily Press....

SAMHSA announces $2 million for national community antidrug institute.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
June 10, 2002... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced this month the availability of funding to develop and implement a National Community Antidrug Coalition Institute. SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse...

Pa. anti-drug program to return money to state. (Briefly Noted).(Pennsylvania)(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The Pennsylvania Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Officers Association, which provides training for DARE officers and organizes conferences, will have to return more than $204,468 in spent money to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and...

OxyContin abuse growing in Minnesota. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The painkiller OxyContin has become one of Minnesota's most abused drugs with pills being sold for $40 to $100, reported the Associated Press. It is common for Medicare patients who get the drug for "little or nothing" to sell it for a...

CASASTART named as a model program. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... The federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) has recognized the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University's (CASA's) CASASTART as a model program, according to a CASA news release. The program was...

Study finds link between methamphetamine, HIV-dementia. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... There may be a connection between methamphetamine use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related dementia, according to preliminary findings in the Journal of Neurovirology. Researchers from Ohio State University found that methamphetamine...

Vermont sued for methadone refusal. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... A former prison inmate is suing the state of Vermont for withdrawal symptoms he suffered when the state's Department of Corrections refused to give him methadone while he was in jail, reported the Associated Press. Keith Griggs argues that the...

Drug smuggling declines in Florida and Caribbean. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... Florida and the Caribbean have seen a decline in drug smuggling compared to Mexico and the Pacific, said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Despite the relative decline, Florida...

Cessation campaigns needed for Chinese American males. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... Cessation campaigns may be needed to address the prevalence of smoking among Chinese American males, according to findings in this month's American Journal of Public Health. Researchers found that smoking prevalence among respondents to a...

Tobacco-sponsored programs may do more harm. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... Tobacco industry-sponsored youth smoking prevention programs may do more harm than good for tobacco control, according to findings in this month's American Journal of Public Health. The programs portray smoking as an adult choice and fail to...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
June 10, 2002... A California company has developed a test that allows people to estimate their blood alcohol content when they're contemplating getting behind the wheel of a car, Knight Ridder Newspapers reports. The product, called Guardian Angel, has been...

Hawaii enacts offender treatment mandate through legislative process, not ballot.(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... In some ways, Hawaii's political landscape regarding the issue of addicted offenders does not differ much from most other states'. Harsh drug policies have driven up the prison population. Moves to take a more treatment-focused approach had...

Hazelden closing speaks to dilemma in youth treatment.
June 17, 2002... This month's announcement that the nationally renowned Hazelden Foundation will discontinue its adolescent outpatient recovery services in and around Chicago offers further evidence of what many addiction treatment experts call the erosion of a...

Non-addictive opiate detox agent shows effectiveness in trial.(BritLofex )(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... United Kingdom pharmaceutical firm Britannia Pharmaceuticals Limited announced last week that the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has halted a Phase III clinical trial investigating the use of its drug BritLofex (lofexidine...

Government review identifies 25 exemplary prevention programs.(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... A government-sponsored scientific review of more than 200 substance abuse prevention programs across the country has led to 25 programs receiving an Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Program Award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health...

Study: more than one-third in college have alcohol disorders.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 17, 2002... In what is being called the first study to assess the extent of alcohol diagnoses among college students, findings released last week from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study show that 6 percent of college students meet...

Names in the news.(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... The Wernersville, Pa.-based Caron Foundation addiction treatment organization has named David Rotenberg program director of its Adolescent Treatment Center. Rotenberg previously served as clinical coordinator of the center and as an adolescent...

Obituary.(Caroline Knapp, 42, author of Drinking: A Love Story)(Obituary)
June 17, 2002... Caroline Knapp, 42, author of the alcoholism memoir Drinking: A Love Story, died June 3 in Massachusetts. She had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer. An author and a columnist for the Boston Phoenix newspaper, Knapp revealed the inner...

Youths see opportunities as key to prevention. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Providing viable solutions for inner-city youths through education, employment and interaction with adults may be more important than addressing risk factors in preventing youth-related problems, according to survey results published in...

Meth use growing among U.S. women. (Briefly Noted).(methamphetamine)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Methamphetamine use is growing among women in the United States, according to an Associated Press report. In 1999,47 percent of patients in substance abuse treatment centers who identified methamphetamine as their primary drug of use were...

Health workers should adopt tobacco companies' tactics. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Physicians and public-health professionals should use tobacco industry marketing strategies to design more relevant tobacco control interventions, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers...

FTC: malt beverage ads don't target minors. (Briefly Noted).(Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has rejected charges that the beer industry is targeting minors with its sweet-tasting malt beverage products, reported the trade publication Advertising Age. The FTC and the Treasury Department's Bureau of...

People in recovery may face job discrimination. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... People who are recovering from addictions to alcohol or drugs may face job discrimination because potential employers see relapse as a problem, according to an article published in the Christian Science Monitor. Experts in treatment and...

Consumers may pay more amid rising health costs. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Employers will likely raise deductibles and copayments next year to increase employees' awareness of the cost of their health care, according to a panel of Wall Street and health policy analysts at a roundtable held this month by the Center for...

Researchers learn more about voluntary alcohol use. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... The brain messenger dopamine and ethanol (beverage alcohol) may synergistically produce a common cellular response that sustains voluntary alcohol consumption, researchers reported in the journal Cell. Researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and...

Nicotine vaccine to begin Phase I trials in humans. (Briefly Noted).(NicVAX)(Nabi Biopharmaceuticals )(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Rockville, Md.-based Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has initiated Phase I testing of NicVAX, a nicotine conjugate vaccine, in humans, according to a company announcement last week. NicVAX is designed to help the body develop antibodies that bind to...

Tattoos, piercings associated with risky behavior. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Young people who have tattoos or body piercings may be more likely to engage in risky behaviors, according to findings published in Pediatrics. Researchers found that youths with tattoos or body piercings were twice as likely as their peers to...

Nicotine lozenges may help during smoking cessation. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Nicotine lozenges may be an effective option for nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation, according to findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers randomly assigned 1,818 smokers from the United Kingdom and...

Methamphetamine use growing in Thailand. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... According to a recent survey from Thailand's National Narcotics Control Board (NNCB), methamphetamine has become the drug of choice for Thais who reported using illicit drugs within the past months, reported the Xinhua News Agency. The NNCB...

Vietnam to improve detoxification programs. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Vietnam's Ministry of Labor, War, Invalids and Social Affairs (MLISA) has approved a plan to raise the efficiency of drug detoxification, reported Vietnam's official news agency. The plan aims to help all registered drug users undergo...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
June 17, 2002... Golfer Hank Kuehne made his 2002 professional debut on the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tour last month at the Kemper Open in Potomac, Md., coming back from two shoulder surgeries last year, USA Today reported recently. However, the...

Debate over drug reform takes center stage at NADCP meeting.(National Association of Drug Court Professionals)
June 24, 2002... While the National Association of Drug Court Professionals' (NADCP's) eighth annual adult drug court training conference in Washington, D.C., this month offered a wide variety of sessions to its estimated 2,000 attendees, some of the most...

State prescription monitoring programs effective in reducing drug diversion.(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... The General Accounting Office (GAO) reported last month that prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have been effective in reducing divers ion of prescription drugs such as OxyContin, diazepam (Valium) and methylphenidate (Ritalin). ...

Recovery rates better for women in gender-specific programs: report highlights factors that underlie treatment outcomes.
June 24, 2002... Women are more likely to complete treatment and experience a better rate of recovery in women-only treatment programs than those in mixed-gender programs, according to a report released this month by the Caron Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based...

New adolescent screening tool helps physicians identify SA.(substance abuse)
June 24, 2002... A new screening test to help healthcare providers improve their diagnosis of substance abuse among their young patients has just been released by the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine (APAM) and is available as an online audio...

Publisher introduces 12-step workbook. (Resources).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Wellness Reproductions & Publishing is offering a reproducible activity book intended for professionals who work with clients in 12-step recovery programs. A New Beginning: Recovery Workbook by Mildred Duggins Williams contains exercises that...

FDA approves on-site drug test. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 501(k) clearance to Startox on-site drug test, announced Starplex Scientific Inc. and American Bio Medica Corporation (ABMC). Startox is a self-contained collection and analysis...

Hospital care drives record spending increase. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 24, 2002... Overall 2001 healthcare spending increases reached the highest level in a decade, economist Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), told Congress last week. In 2001, overall health care costs...

Race plays role in access to medical care. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Ethnic and racial disparities in access to medical care are much greater among uninsured working-age Americans than among insured people, according to a tracking study issued by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Researchers...

Scans reveal brain response to alcohol images. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Seeing an alcoholic beverage may activate part of the brain in people who are addicted to alcohol, according to findings presented to the German Association for Addiction Research in Berlin. Using CT scans, Derek Hermann and colleagues at the...

Circuit court upholds ADA protections. (Briefly Noted).(Americans with Disabilities Act)
June 24, 2002... The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that an employer can not refuse to consider the job application of a former employee who was fired due to drug use if that employee has successfully undergone rehabilitation,...

MADD calls for more efforts against drunk driving. (Briefly Noted).(Mothers Against Drunk Driving)(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has announced a new campaign to help reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents, reported the Associated Press. MADD is calling for stronger enforcement of drunk-driving laws; more severe...

Binge drinkers react to alcohol differently. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Binge drinkers may have a different response to alcohol stimulation than light drinkers, according to findings in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Researchers found that people classified as heavy drinkers demonstrated a rapid...

Adolescent cessation programs need to be relapse-sensitive. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Adolescent smoking cessation programs should be relapse-sensitive, according to findings in this month's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Researchers found that the relapse curve for adolescents resembled the curve for adults who...

Stress may affect response to alcohol. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Stress may enhance alcohol's sedative effects and reduce its stimulative properties, according to findings in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Stressed men reported being less stimulated, with "increased ratings of feeling down...

Smoking vaccine shows promise. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... Xenova Plc, a British biotech firm, has said that early tests on an antismoking vaccine showed it was safe and effective, reported Reuters. A Phase I clinical trial showed that the vaccine, code-named TA-NIC, generated antibodies that bind to...

Alcohol policy benefits need better publicity. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... The general public is unaware that alcohol-control policies are effective in reducing the risks of alcohol-related injuries and deaths, according to survey results published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The survey revealed that while...

FDA would regulate tobacco under proposed legislation. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy (DMass.) and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) have introduced legislation that would allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products. Under the bill, the FDA would have the authority to reduce or remove...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
June 24, 2002... A company that manufactures NicoWater, a nicotine-laced bottled water announced last month that its product will be sold at maj or national drugstore chains, including CVS, Walgreens, and Sav-Mor, according to the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions...