Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from March 2003

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from March 2003

CRC Health quietly becoming force in addiction treatment field: recent acquisition makes company largest in field.
March 3, 2003... A company that has only been around since 1995 has all of a sudden become the largest private addiction treatment provider in the country. With its announced acquisition of Comprehensive Addiction Programs Inc. (CAPS) last week, San Jose,...

Caron acquires Fla. center; expands in NYC, Philadelphia.
March 3, 2003... Caron Foundation, as part of its strategy to expand to other locations and enhance the kinds of services it offers to treat chemical dependency, announced last week that it has acquired an extended-care treatment center in Boca Raton, Florida....

Study shows extent of underage and excessive adult drinking.
March 3, 2003... Underage drinking and adult excessive drinking account for more than half of the alcohol consumed in the United States, according to a study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA). ...

Online survey of college students reveals extent of alcohol use.
March 3, 2003... More than three-quarters of college students who took surveys before taking an online alcohol prevention course said they're regularly drinking enough alcohol to be under the influence more hours per week than the number of hours they're in the...

Ensuring Solutions has Alcohol primers available. (Resources).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a new research and policy unit of the George Washington University Medical Center, has released a primer, Treating Alcoholism as a Chronic Disease. The primer lays out evidence for treating alcoholism as...

Multivitamin to address nutritional needs of alcoholics. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Recovery Pharmaceuticals has launched the first multivitamin/multimineral dietary supplement designed to address the nutritional needs of alcoholics, according to a company announcement. ThiaSure contains thiamine (vitamin B1) and high doses of...

Substance abuse may raise suicide risk for bipolar patients. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Findings in the journal Bipolar Disorders indicate that patients with bipolar disorder who abuse or are dependent on alcohol or other drugs may be more likely to attempt suicide, Health Newswire reported. Researchers found that bipolar patients...

Alcohol consumption increasing in Ireland. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Ireland's health minister, Micheal Martin, expressed concerns over increases in alcohol consumption in Ireland at the Alcohol in Irish Society forum, the Press Association reported. Alcohol-related problems, including health problems, traffic...

Australian report looks at drinking, smoking, drug use. (Briefly Noted).
March 3, 2003... A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that youth smoking continues to be a problem, AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd. reported. Although overall smoking rates have declined, one in 10 Australian youths are daily...

Higher profits may draw illicit drugs into smaller markets. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The potential for higher profits may be an incentive for drugs to spread from big cities to smaller markets, the Associated Press reported. A packet of heroin that would cost $10 in New York typically sells for $50 in central Maine, according...

Foundations partner to support smoking cessation. (Briefly Noted).
March 3, 2003... The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and the American Legacy Foundation (ALF) have committed $5 million to a new smoking cessation initiative. The foundations have formed a partnership to help raise people's awareness of the risks...

Nevada governor praises state drug court program. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn has praised the state's drug court program for saving money at a time when the state faces a $700 million budget deficit, KOLO-TV reported. The program, which began about a year-and-a-half ago, has saved nearly $750,000...

RWJF offers grants to New Jersey programs. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF's) 2003 New Jersey Health Initiatives program will award grants of $50,000 to $500,000 to programs that work to improve health and health care in New Jersey communities. Up to 10 grants will be awarded...

NIDA to coordinate Brain Awareness Week. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in partnership with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and other agencies of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will coordinate this year's NIH Brain Awareness Week...

Court: smokers not entitled to tobacco-settlement money. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that people with tobacco-related illnesses are not entitled to money from the 1998 tobacco settlement, the Associated Press reported. The court determined that federal law gives the states the...

Alcohol use may increase likelihood of domestic violence. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Men with a history of domestic violence are more likely to be violent toward their female partners on days when they consume alcohol, according to findings in the February issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. The findings...

Judge orders woman to undergo counseling for gambling addiction. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... A U.S. District judge ordered a woman who stole money to support a gambling addiction to undergo mental health counseling and attend Gambler's Anonymous meetings in addition to a two-year prison sentence, the Associated Press reported. In 1999,...

Ill., Mass. receive grants for alcohol-screening program. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Illinois and Massachusetts have been awarded federal grants to continue a program that screens pregnant women for alcohol use, Join Together Online reported. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the federal Health Resources and Services...

Addiction counselor indicted on drug charges. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... A federal grand jury has indicted an addiction counselor on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Eugene Moses, who had served time for a...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Law enforcement officials in the state of Washington have started a methamphetamine awareness program with various individuals who have reasons to visit homes as part of their jobs, the Associated Press reported last month. Real estate agents,...

SA, MH leaders collaborate on co-occurring disorder strategies.(SA: Substance abuse; MH: Mental health)
March 10, 2003... Commissioned by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), leaders from the substance abuse and mental health fields have collaborated on the production of a document that delineates the most effective strategies...

Buprenorphine combined with counseling found effective in reducing relapse.
March 10, 2003... The combination of buprenorphine and intensive psychosocial treatment is safe and highly effective, and should be added to treatment options available for individuals addicted to heroin, according to a study published in the Feb.22 issue of The...

Heroin, cocaine, alcohol most cited in drug deaths.
March 10, 2003... Heroin, cocaine and alcohol, when combined with other drugs, were the three most cited drugs in reported cases of drug deaths, according to mortality data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), released last month by the Substance Abuse...

GAO delineates state use of tobacco funds.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has surveyed the 46 states that have been receiving payments from tobacco companies under the tobacco settlement agreement. How the money is being spent has been a source of concern in the addiction...

Washington state survey finds reduction in teen alcohol, marijuana use.
March 10, 2003... A survey of Washington state adolescents at four different grade levels found reductions in drug, alcohol and tobacco use, reports the Washington State Department of Health. The Healthy Youth Survey, a collaborative effort of the state's...

Study: Older Americans' need for treatment will triple by 2020.
March 10, 2003... The need for substance abuse treatment among older Americans is expected to nearly triple in 2020 as the baby-boom population carries its alcohol and drug abuse into older ages, according to a study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental...

University of Arkansas to work on medication. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS, Little Rock) has selected Large Scale Biology Corporation (LSBC) to produce a potentially useful intervention therapy for people who abuse phencyclidine (PCP), Business Wire reported. ...

Eagleville Foundation receives technical assistance grant. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Eagleville Foundation, headquartered in Montgomery County, Pa., has announced that it will use an $82,000 grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to implement an automated record-keeping system at its outpatient affiliate, Riverside Care, Inc. The...

Impel contracts with California lawyer program. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Impel Strategic Solutions, Inc. has contracted with the State Bar of California Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) to develop and implement a system to manage delivery of treatment services, according to an Impel press release. Impel's...

Gene variant may influence anxiety in women. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Alcohol researchers have identified a genetic factor that may influence anxiety in women, according to findings in Psychiatric Genetics. Researchers found that women with the same gene variant scored high on tests that measured anxiety and...

Violence exposure associated with teen substance use. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... An association between exposure to violence and substance use in adolescents may be a worldwide urban phenomenon, according to findings in the March issue of Pediatrics. A survey of adolescents in three countries revealed that smoking, alcohol...

People addicted to gambling may also have alcohol problems. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... People who are addicted to gambling tend to drink more alcohol when they're winning, according to findings in the February issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Researchers found that people who were addicted to gambling also...

Cocaine may reduce immune system response. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Cocaine use may reduce the immune system's ability to fight infections, according to findings reported in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. found that...

High-use schools may influence drinking, smoking among peers. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Findings in the January-February issue of Child Development suggest that school environment may influence teens' likelihood of smoking or drinking with peers, Health Behavior News Service reported. Researchers found that teens were three times...

Irwin Siegel Agency to sponsor ACATA award. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... The Irwin Siegel Agency, Inc. (ISA) has announced that it will sponsor the American College of Addiction Treatment Administrators (ACATA) administrator of the year award. The award, presented by the National Association of Addiction Treatment...

White House rejects cigarette tax increase. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... The Bush administration has rejected a recommendation to raise the federal cigarette tax from 39 cents a pack to $2.39 a pack to generate more funding for anti-smoking and smoking-cessation programs, the Washington Post reported. "This...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... In his soon-to-be-released autobiography, New York Yankees pitcher David Wells says that 25-40 percent of all major league baseball players use steroids, according to the Associated Press. In his book, Perfect I'm Not! Boomer on Beer, Brawls,...

Clarification on Teen Help, WWASPS.(World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools)
March 10, 2003... In the Feb. 3, 2003 issue of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, a "Briefly Noted" run concerning a campaign associated Help and the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS). By running the "Briefly Noted" item, Alcoholism...

Calif. districts grapple with costs of school prevention.
March 17, 2003... A sweeping federal education law that addresses everything from test scores to school safety also carries requirements for substance abuse prevention curricula in public schools. California is one state where the No Child Left Behind Act of...

Ore. makes dramatic cuts in methadone, outpatient services.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Due to an extreme state budget situation, Oregon this month announced the end of Medicaid coverage for methadone treatment and outpatient addiction services. Both services are optional under Medicaid, but Oregon had been a leader in expanding...

CASA report: Alternative-to-prison program reduces crime.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Drug-addicted, nonviolent felony offenders with multiple arrests and an incarceration history achieved significantly lower recidivism and higher employment through a drug treatment program than did comparable offenders who were sent to prison,...

MH bill includes analysis of SA parity cost.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Legislation to enact more comprehensive mental health parity, officially introduced in the 108th Congress last month, includes again this year a call to study the costs of extending the provisions to treatment for substance abuse and chemical...

Baltimore to train addicts on administering overdose medication.
March 17, 2003... Baltimore officials this month announced the planned launch of a pilot program that would train heroin addicts to administer the medication naloxone (Narcan) to others who are overdosing on heroin. The pilot program, which will train 50...

Updated CD-ROM program teaches students about alcohol. (Resources).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... The Century Council, a Washington-based organization funded by distillers, has released Alcohol 101 Plus, a CD-ROM program designed to help students make responsible decisions about alcohol, the Associated Press reported. The program allows...

Medical marijuana bill fails in New Mexico. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Earlier this month, the New Mexico House of Representatives voted 46-20 against a medical marijuana bill, Drug Policy News reported. The Lynn Pierson Compassionate Use Act would have allowed seriously ill patients who had a doctor's...

Scholarships offered to treatment graduates. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... The American Motorcycle Institute, an international training center for motorcycle and marine mechanics located in Daytona Beach, Fla., has established a scholarship program for people who have completed treatment at the Stewart-Marchman Center...

Self-control may need to be replenished. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... A person may need to replenish their self-control after using it to resist temptations, Health Behavior News Service reported. Researchers, reporting in the February issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that people had...

Federal judge denies request for medical marijuana use. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... A federal judge has ruled against two California women who sued Attorney General John Ashcroft for a court order that would allow them to use marijuana for pain relief without fear of federal prosecution, the Associated Press reported. U.S....

China faces rising number of drug addicts. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... The number of registered drug addicts in China rose 11 percent between 2001 and 2002, reaching one million people by the end of 2002, the Agence France Presse reported. Heroin remains the most common drug among addicts in China, but the latest...

Thailand to open rehabilitation clinics. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Thailand plans to open 39 drug rehabilitation clinics as part of a nationwide anti-drug campaign that began Feb. 1, the Associated Press reported. The clinics will open in 36 provinces, but officials eventually plan to extend the program to...

France warns of costs of excessive drinking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in France has warned that the country's high levels of alcohol consumption may have serious consequences, World Markets Analysis reported. The high levels of drinking have been...

Laws may discourage drug testing in the ER. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... State laws that allow insurers to deny medical reimbursement to patients who are hurt while under the influence may be discouraging emergency rooms and trauma centers from screening patients for alcohol and other drugs, the Wall Street Journal...

In case you haven't heard.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... According to the Arkansas Morning News, a retiree in Rogers, Ark., offers free rides to intoxicated individuals. Doyle Beatty advertises his Designated Driver Community Service through word of mouth and distributing flyers to clubs. Using their...

District tests voucher approach that could go national.
March 24, 2003... A handful of urban communities with seemingly intractable drug use problems have become the nation's testing grounds for innovation in publicly financed addiction treatment. Add to the San Franciscos, Baltimores and Detroits a committed group...

Collaborative program for offenders named finalist for Innovations Award.
March 24, 2003... A Knoxville, Tenn.-based anticrime effort to help high-risk offenders overcome substance abuse, poverty and other problems and successfully transition from prison to the community was selected this month as a finalist for an Innovations in...

Possible broad cuts in care for needy concern Pa. advocates.
March 24, 2003... While unsure of the full extent of the potential damage, advocates for addiction treatment providers in Pennsylvania spent last week trying to process details of a complex state budget process that appears to treat their services more harshly...

CADCA announces mentor program to develop Community Coalitions.
March 24, 2003... Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America' s(CADCA' s) National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute is seeking coalition mentors to help grow existing anti-drug coalitions and develop new ones. The Coalition Leader/Mentor Project is...

SAMHSA issues first Treatment Advisory for Inhalant abuse.
March 24, 2003... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in conjunction with the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, this month issued an Inhalant Treatment Advisory to guide medical and substance abuse treatment...

Guide offers states Health Insurance Solutions. (Resources).
March 24, 2003... The Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have released the 2003 State Legislators' Guide to Health Insurance Solutions. The guide looks at how states can keep health insurance...

Researchers to study Alcohol treatment methods. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has awarded researchers at the University at Buffalo a $2.3 million grant to study how and why different treatments work for different people with alcohol problems, according to a...

Ads with health claims must include warnings. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... The U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau recently announced new rules that will allow alcohol companies to advertise health benefits associated with drinking--as long as they also highlight the risks, the...

S.C. voters support treatment over prison. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... A majority of voters in South Carolina support treatment over prison for drug users, according to a survey conducted by the Global Strategy Group, Inc. The survey of 600 registered South Carolina voters also revealed that voters were three...

Missouri leads nation in meth raids, seizures. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Methamphetamine use and production are at "crisis levels" in Missouri, the Associated Press reported this month. In 2002, police recorded 2,725 methamphetamine raids and seizures in Missouri, the highest number in the nation and a 28 percent...

Limiting alcohol outlets may reduce college drinking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Findings published in the journal Health and Place indicate a correlation between a high density of alcohol outlets near some college campuses and the frequency of high-risk drinking among students, the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and...

Most people do not seek health information online. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... The popular belief that most Americans use the Internet to find health information is false, according to findings released by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). A survey revealed that 62 percent of adults in the United States...

Missouri considers lowering sentences for drug offenders. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Missouri legislators are considering a bill that would lower the maximum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders in an effort to reduce corrections spending, the Dunklin Democrat newspaper reported. The bill, proposed by State Sen. Harold...

Alcohol Awareness Month looks at Underage drinking. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Underage drinking will be the focus of Alcohol Awareness Month this April, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Inc. (NCADD) has announced. "Give Children a Chance--End Underage Drinking" will encourage communities to focus on...

Stimulants may have lasting brain effects. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Findings published in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry indicate that stimulants such as cocaine may have long-lasting effects on the brain, Reuters reported. Researchers found that former stimulant users who had been...

In case you haven't heard. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Activists and sociologists in Russia said last week that alcohol and drug abuse is a severe problem at that nation's nuclear-power facilities, the Associated Press reported. Greenpeace and other activist groups have urged the government to...

Calif. commission report offers blueprint for effective system.
March 31, 2003... A California state oversight agency issued a report this month calling the state's substance abuse treatment system fragmented and citing a need for state officials to go well beyond Proposition 36 efforts. While stating the obvious need for...

Vt. bill seeks human-services overhaul; effect on SA department unclear.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... Addiction treatment advocates and state officials in Vermont are generally supporting proposed state legislation that would restructure Vermont's largest government agency to reduce service duplication and adopt an integrated case management...

Bill would establish child welfare/treatment and prevention grants.
March 31, 2003... A comprehensive bill that would allocate $200 million in fiscal 2004 and $575 million by fiscal 2008 for collaborative child welfare and substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts was introduced this month by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R.Maine)....

Study links religious beliefs to decreased drug use.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... According to a study reported in the March issue of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, a publication of the American Psychological Association, when adolescents perceive religion as important in their lives, it may lower their rates of...

Alcohol policy conference makes recommendations to industry.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... The 13th conference in a series on alcohol policy that began in 1981 took place in Cambridge, Mass. this month. Researchers, professionals and advocates took part in Alcohol Policy 13, and made recommendations on how to prevent alcohol problems...

SAMHSA announces funds to enhance SA and HIV/AIDS services.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced this month the availability of up to 32 awards in fiscal 2003 for the Targeted Capacity Expansion Program for Substance Abuse Treatment and HIV/AIDS Services...

BryLin Hospitals. (Names in the News).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... Buffalo, N.Y.-based BryLin Hospitals has appointed Marlene Longdon as vice president of patient care services. Prior to joining BryLin, Longdon served as the coordinator of Telemedicine and Distance Learning at Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y....

InfoMC to provide technology for Ceridian. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... InfoMC Inc., a Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based provider of solutions for behavioral health, employee assistance/work-life and human-service organizations, this month announced a business agreement with Ceridian, a provider of managed business...

NCQA, JCAHO to discuss privacy certification program. (Business Notes).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) have signed a letter of intent to explore a possible collaboration to offer a Privacy Certification Program for...

Alcohol use may influence risk of dementia in older adults. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of dementia in older adults, according to findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers found that compared with abstention, the odds for dementia were lower...

Conference to focus on co-occurring disorders. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS) and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (NCCBH) have announced plans to hold a national conference that will focus on improving treatment for people with co-occurring mental...

N.J. board suspends M.D.s for heroin treatment. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners has suspended the licenses of two physicians who provided a rapid detoxification treatment to people addicted to heroin, The New York Times reported. Lance L. Gooberman, M.D., and David Bradway, M.D.,...

Many prisoners in EU have history of drug use. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... A report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found that about half of the prison population in the European Union (EU) had a history of drug use, the Mirror reported. Between 3 percent and 26 percent of addicts...

Pharmacies to offer marijuana in Netherlands. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... According to a law that went into effect earlier this month, pharmacies in the Netherlands may fill prescriptions for marijuana, the Associated Press reported: Recognizing that many doctors were already recommending marijuana to their patients,...

Kansas Senate considers treatment for drug offenders. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... The Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill that would allow people convicted of drug possession to live at home and receive community-based treatment instead of being sent to prison, the Kansas City Star reported. Under the bill,...