Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from June 2009

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from June 2009

SUDs a Core Benefit in Both Health Care Reform Bills, but Hard Work Ahead
June 29, 2009... In what addiction field advocates are hailing as a key development, treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) is listed as a core benefit in both the House of Representatives and Senate versions of health care reform bills. "That's a huge...

CSAT head: data on alcohol and suicide should put all providers on notice.(Center for Substance Abuse Treatment)
June 29, 2009... New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on links between alcohol problems and suicide focus on the prevalence of these issues in minority populations, but the director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)...

Minnesota governor to cut chemical dependency treatment rates.(State Budget Watch)
June 29, 2009... Earlier this month, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota announced plans to cut chemical dependency treatment by reducing payment rates and by temporarily eliminating three programs. And this week, he will do it by fiat. In a process called...

Is health care reform possible without workforce development?(FROM THE FIELD ...)
June 29, 2009... President Obama scrupulously uses the word "comprehensive" when discussing health care reform. There is no one simple fix that will solve our nation's health care problems: reducing the number of uninsured, increasing prevention efforts,...

United Nations report calls for increase in treatment access.(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... "People who take drugs need medical help, not criminal retribution," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in releasing the United Nations World Drug Report for 2009 last week....

DOJ Appropriations Bill Includes Increases for Drug Courts, No MH Merger
June 29, 2009... On June 18, the House of Representatives cleared the appropriations bill (H.R. 2847) that includes funding for the Department of Justice (DOJ). There are significant increases for many addiction-related programs, including a $20 million...

NIAAA grant program for research on college drinking problems.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... Alcohol-related deaths and heavy drinking among college students both increased from 1998 to 2005, according to a study appearing in the July supplement to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. This issue is dedicated to presenting...

SAMHSA offers guidance for NREPP submissions.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration )
June 29, 2009... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) posted a notice to the Federal Register on June 23 providing FY2010 guidance for those interested in submitting programs and practices to its National Registry of...

Eastern Iowa confronts rise in ADHD drug abuse.(STATE NEWS)(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... Seven individuals aged 13 to 24 were recently seen at Eastern Iowa hospitals within a period of four days for abusing the stimulant drugs Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin LA or Vyvanse. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported June 22 the patients...

Study examines SBI for substance misuse in older adults.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... National data indicates that substance misuse among older adults is on the rise, according a study led by Lawrence Schonfeld, Ph.D., at the University of South Florida. With state funding, the researchers developed the 3-year Florida Brief...

Inflexxion promotes NAVIPPRO at CPDD.(BUSINESS)(National Addictions Vigilance Intervention and Prevention Program)(College on Problems of Drug Dependence )(Conference news)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... At the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Meeting last week, Inflexxion gave a presentation on the company's National Addictions Vigilance Intervention and Prevention Program (NAVIPPRO). NAVIPPRO assists pharmaceutical...

Thomas A. Kirk, Jr.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(retirement)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., Connecticut's Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, has announced his retirement, the Associated Press reported June 21. Kirk has served this role since 2000. He said he will remain at work until a...

Terence T. Gorski.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Relapse Prevention Services)(appointment)(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... Terence T. Gorski began his role as Director of Relapse Prevention Services at Challenges Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 13, 2009. Gorski will maintain his role as president, founder and trainer for CENAPS Corporation of...

Coming up ...(Brief article)(Calendar)
June 29, 2009... The Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association (FADAA) will host its 2009 Annual Conference August 12-14 at the Hilton in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. For more information, visit http://conference.fadaa.org. NAADAC, the Association for...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
June 29, 2009... Moms out to dinner with nursing babies in tow may want to think twice about ordering a glass of wine. A North Dakota mother recently pled not guilty to child neglect charges that she was nursing her 6-week-old infant while intoxicated, the...

California might lose all offender treatment, including Proposition 36.(State Budget Watch)
June 22, 2009... California's Proposition 36, in-prison programs, and post-release programs are all facing possible elimination for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Ironically, the state in which treatment instead of incarceration has proven successful is...

Treatment institute seeks to help drug courts with tracking progress.
June 22, 2009... In more than a decade of drug court research, the Philadelphia-based Treatment Research Institute (TRI) has consistently noted that programs across the country have been plagued with missing or inaccurate data about some of the most basic...

Tarzana under fire for executive pay and board conflicts of interest.
June 22, 2009... It's easy for reporters to find out how much money executives in not-for-profit treatment programs make, thanks to the new IRS 990 reporting-forms. So treatment providers should pay attention to the fallout from an article in the June 11 Los...

SBI is key to keeping addiction on health care reform agenda.(screening and brief intervention)
June 22, 2009... Last week as the field weighed in on health care reform proposals in Congress, screening and brief intervention (SBI) emerged as a lynchpin in securing a place for addiction by integrating it into primary care. The federal government has been...

Poll: addiction treatment should be part of health care.(Survey)
June 22, 2009... Most Americans want addiction treatment to be included as part of national health care reform, according to a poll conducted for the Open Society Institute's Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) initiative. The poll, conducted by Lake...

Stimulus grants go to young addictions researchers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Researchers at the University of Buffalo (UB) and Brown University are among the first to receive federal research grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. UB's Jerry Richards, Ph.D., will study the relationship between...

Rep. Kennedy enters inpatient treatment.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... In a June 11 statement Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) announced that he has resumed substance abuse treatment at an undisclosed location, without offering specifics regarding the treatment.. "In consultation with my doctor, I have decided to...

Action campaign reaches enrollment goal.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(adopting changes to improve outcomes now)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... The Adopting Changes to Improve Outcomes Now (ACTION) Campaign announced in June it met its enrollment goal of 1000 substance abuse treatment providers. The ACTION Campaign is a national movement to improve access to and retention in treatment....

CADCA works to save Safe and Drug Free Schools program.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Students from Virginia and West Virginia visited members of the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittees last week to deliver petitions asking Congress to save the Safe and Drug Free Schools...

Use 'substance use disorders,' says Whole Health Campaign.
June 22, 2009... The Whole Health Campaign, in comments on the Affordable Health Choices Act in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, recommends that the bill uses the term "substance use disorders." Last week at press time ADAW...

Illinois addiction community fears the worst as budget deadline looms.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA) CEO Sara Moscato Howe told ADAW June 17 that the group is waiting to learn "the fate of our system." IADDA decried Governor Pat Quinn's service-slashing budget proposal (See ADAW, June...

Child abuse declines in Iowa, substance abuse still major factor.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Child abuse in Iowa has declined in the past two years, according to a report released June 30 by the Department of Human Services. Cases of "denial of critical care" continue to be the most common, many of which involve drug abuse by...

Coming up ...(Calendar)(Brief article)(Calendar)
June 22, 2009... The NIATx Summit and the State Association of Addiction Services (SAAS) National Conference will take place July 29-August 1 in Tucson, Ariz. Visit www.saasniatx.net for more information. The Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association (FADAA)...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... In the news: President Obama applauds the passage of legislation allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco. Also in the news: President Obama may still smoke. Some believe his past candor about his habit is admirable. But others believe his failure...

SAMHSA issues core principles for field in health care reform.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
June 15, 2009... Last week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued its recommendations for health care reform. Called "Ensuring U.S. Health Reform Includes Prevention and Treatment of Mental and Substance Use Disorders,"...

Counties mull local factors in deciding whether to privatize treatment operations.
June 15, 2009... In these times of extreme fiscal constraints, local governments might have difficulty rationalizing a decision to stay in the business of providing direct addiction treatment services rather than farming them out to a private entity. Yet in New...

NIDA reminder to treatment: counseling is part of MAT.(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(medication-assisted treatment)
June 15, 2009... Medication-assisted treatment (MAT), now restricted to a handful of medications, is on the brink of huge growth--if federally funded research produces positive results. With the help of $260 million in stimulus funds, the National Institute on...

New York State tells counties to improve access and efficiency.
June 15, 2009... Counties in New York State are getting help to treat more patients--in the form of data, not money--from Karen Carpenter-Palumbo, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). The state will give...

All eyes on alcohol tax in New Jersey.(State Budget Watch)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... The most controversial budget news in New Jersey last week was the proposed 25 percent increase on wine and spirits taxes for fiscal year 2010, which begins on July 1. This tax is expected to provide an additional $22 million out of a total of...

Senate considers FDA tobacco regulation.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... The Senate is considering legislation (S 579) that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate the sale, marketing and manufacturing of tobacco products. The House passed a similar bill (HR 307) in April. A Senate...

Pain medication OD not connected to abuse.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... Entertainer Danny Gans died last month from acute hydromorphone toxicity, but the use of the drug was not abuse, Clark County, Nevada coroner Mike Murphy announced last week. "I want to be very clear that this is not an issue of drug abuse,"...

NSDUH suggests high rates of post-partum substance use.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Survey on Drug Use and Health)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... While many women abstain from substance use during pregnancy, particularly during the third trimester, a significant number resume using alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana in the early months after giving birth, according to a report from the...

Study finds substance abuse services a low priority.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... Early data from the online Spectrum Health Value Study finds that Americans "overwhelmingly identified access to physician services, medical services at a hospital and emergency care services, in that order, as their highest priorities."...

Two population-specific treatment centers in California.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... David Smith, past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, will run a new federally-funded regional center to treat American Indian and Alaskan Native adolescents with substance use disorders in Oroville, California. According to...

CHAT behavioral health assessment tool for teens.(RESOURCES)(comprehensive health assessment for teens)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... The Comprehensive Health Assessment for Teens (CHAT) behavioral health assessment tool for adolescents is now available from Inflexion, Inc., the company announced June 9. Developed with National Institute on Drug Abuse-(NIDA) funding, CHAT...

MedMark acquires two opiate treatment centers from SAACS.(BUSINESS)(MedMark Services, Inc.)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... MedMark Services, Inc. announced May 14 it has acquired two opiate treatment centers from Successful Alternatives for Addiction Counseling Services, Inc. (SAACS). The clinics, based in Hayward and Vallejo, California, offer methadone maintenance...

Karen Carpenter-Palumbo.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... Karen Carpenter-Palumbo, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) was awarded the Ramstad-Kennedy Award for Outstanding Leadership by the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
June 15, 2009... The College on Problems of Drug Dependence will hold its 71st Annual Meeting on June 20-25 in Reno/Sparks, Nev. Visit www.cpdd.vcu.edu for more information. The NIATx Summit and the State Association of Addiction Services (SAAS) National...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
June 15, 2009... "Telling college students not to drink is like telling sheep not to go 'Baa,'" according to University of Virginia student Avery Oldfield. Over 140 college teams competed in the National Student Advertising Competition, which this year asked...

Business community supported parity law, but favors a different kind of regulation.(Parity Update)(Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008)
June 8, 2009... Now that the public comments on implementation of the Paul Well-stone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) are in, it appears that the business community is no longer siding with the treatment field in...

NASADAD conference: new ONDCP director urges stronger partnerships with police.(National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors)(White House Office of National Drug Control Policy)(Conference news)
June 8, 2009... New partnerships involving treatment organizations and law enforcement were a hot topic during the first day of last week's annual meeting of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) in Syracuse, N.Y. ...

Field wins in final legal battle against utilization review in Pa.
June 8, 2009... "I'm floating on the ceiling," said Deb Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania (DASPOP), after the state's highest court sided with addiction treatment and the state on May 27. In a legal...

Across-the-board budget cuts of 50 percent possible in Illinois.(State Budget Watch)
June 8, 2009... As Illinois was facing a budget cut of 50 percent for the fiscal year beginning in three weeks, the best hope for the addiction treatment field to avoid catastrophic damage was an increase in income taxes and alcohol taxes, state officials and...

Field moving slowly toward electronic health record.
June 8, 2009... The addiction treatment field better be prepared to contribute to and participate in an electronic health record (EHR)--a "virtual" place where all of a patient's medical data will be stored--according to Ronald J. Hunsicker, president and CEO...

Interventionists boost admissions at addiction treatment program.
June 8, 2009... Using professional interventions--often with patients who are geographically far away--bolstered admissions for Mountainside Drug Rehab by 38 percent in the past year, the program announced last week. "This is what's going on in the field...

Study examines retention factors for women in alcohol treatment.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Women attend more treatment sessions if they are assigned to individual treatment, are older, had fewer symptoms or alcohol dependence, had spouses who drank, had more satisfying marital relationships, or had matched preference for a treatment...

ACMHA changes name to include substance abuse.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(American College of Mental Health Administration)(The College for Behavioral Health Leadership)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... The American College of Mental Health Administration announced June 1 that it has changed its name to ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership. The name change, which followed two years of consultation with the group's membership,...

Rep. Sullivan of Oklahoma enters alcohol treatment.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... U.S. Representative John Sullivan (R-Okla.) has entered the Betty Ford Center in California to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol. On May 29, Representative Sullivan issued a statement, and said he "wanted to be open and honest about...

Vigabatrin fails in Phase II cocaine trials.(BUSINESS)
June 8, 2009... In what is being called a significant setback for Florida-based Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc., Phase II clinical results for vigabatrin (or CPP-109) found the drug was not significantly more effective than placebo in helping patients...

Edward Diehl.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Edward Diehl, President and CEO of Seabrook House, received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Addiction Treatment Administrators (ACATA), which recognizes administrators who have made "outstanding contributions in...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
June 8, 2009... The College on Problems of Drug Dependence will hold its 71st Annual Meeting on June 20-25 in Reno/Sparks, Nev. For more information, visit www.cpdd.vcu.edu. The NIATx Summit and the State Association of Addiction Services (SAAS) National...

In case you haven't heard ...(Editorial)
June 8, 2009... "... I am extremely susceptible... me and millions of others," writes Jeff Vogel on May 26. Vogel is not talking about drugs or alcohol. His editorial for the RPG Vault explores the dangerous power of "addiction-based" video game design. The...

Institute: treatment on demand more cost-effective, and more effective, than prison.(Report)
June 1, 2009... Despite overwhelming evidence that treatment is more cost-effective than punishment for addiction, policy makers and funders continue to support criminal justice initiatives and use the threat of incarceration as the main treatment tool for...

Biological, societal factors compel field to consider more gender-responsive care.(Report)
June 1, 2009... The effort nationally to make addiction treatment services more responsive to gender-specific needs doesn't have a particularly lengthy history. For example, it has been only 15 years since the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)...

Cost offset data convinces Washington to invest in treatment.(State Budget Watch)
June 1, 2009... Addiction treatment in Washington state was spared the worst of the effects of the state's $9 billion deficit for the 2009-2011 biennium, and state officials give credit to legislators who restored almost all of the cuts originally proposed by...

New Directions suits settled; California vacates part of order.
June 1, 2009... A wrongful termination lawsuit that brought public attention to allegations of client and staff mistreatment at the New Directions for Women treatment facility in Costa Mesa, Calif., has been settled. A mediation session involving former staff...

CASA report shows extent of substance abuse burden on budgets.(Report)
June 1, 2009... A new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University says substance abuse and addiction cost federal, state and local governments more than $467.7 billion in 2005. The 287-page report was released...

Correction.(Correction notice)
June 1, 2009... In the May 25 issue of ADAW, we misidentified the screening tool used by NIDAMED. It is the ASSIST. We regret the error.

High tolerance linked to greater risk of alcoholism.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Researchers have found that young men with a greater resistance to the intoxicating effects of alcohol are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life. While this link has long been investigated, "Many didn't believe it was real," said lead...

Diabetes rate elevated among those in treatment.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Patients at AdCare Hospital have a higher rate of diabetes than the general population, according to the Worcester, Mass.-based substance abuse treatment facility. Among 5,596 admissions to the detox and rehab units over 12 months, 9 percent had...

NDIC tracks non-medical use of prescription drugs.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Approximately 6.9 million individuals aged 12 or older were current (past 30 days) users of prescription psychotherapeutic drugs in 2007, according to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The recently released National...

Senate committee considers raising sales tax on alcohol.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Hiking sales taxes on beer, wine and liquor is one proposal under consideration to cover the cost of universal health insurance, and was discussed in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on May 27. Taxes would be raised by 48...

Illinois advocates denounce Governor's budget plan.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Gov. Pat Quinn's "doomsday" budget will "destroy Illinois' addiction healthcare system," according to Sara Moscato Howe, CEO of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA). The Governor's budget plan, unveiled May 18, will...

NCADD New Jersey sponsors gubernatorial debate.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... New Jersey's three Republican gubernatorial candidates, Chris Christie, Rick Merkt and Steven Lonegan, participated in a live radio debate last week on New Jersey 101.5 FM. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) New...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
June 1, 2009... The National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) will hold its annual meeting June 3-7 in Syracuse, N.Y. Visit www.nasadad.org for more information. The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) 15th...

In case you haven't heard....(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Five ways that alcohol could totally ruin prom night: You may throw up on yourself or your date. You may miss all the other fun parties. You may break stuff. You may do something really embarrassing. And you may not remember any of it. Parents...