Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from March 2008

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from March 2008

Baltimore's promotion of buprenorphine leads to negative newspaper coverage: 'expose' of buprenorphine focused on abuse and diversion.(Report)
March 3, 2008... Baltimore, a city with an international reputation for a high prevalence of heroin addiction and a devastatingly high rate of HIV and AIDS, also has a history of supporting treatment on demand. Most recently, the city embarked on an expanded...

Pa.agencies: confidentiality changes would increase managed care denials.
March 3, 2008... Addiction treatment agencies, recovery advocates and administrators of county-level treatment authorities in Pennsylvania are puzzled and dismayed over proposed state regulatory changes that they say would fray important confidentiality...

CSAT to methadone programs: think twice about take-homes.(Center for Substance Abuse Treatment )(Report)
March 3, 2008... The federal government has put opioid treatment programs (OTPs) on notice that they must either be open seven days a week or make sure they have provisions for getting patients methadone who are not ready for take-home doses. But how this will...

Introducing the Coalition on Appalachian Substance Abuse Policy.(FROM THE FIELD ...)(Report)
March 3, 2008... Recent headlines confirm alarming trends in prescription overdoses in southwestern Virginia, methadone deaths in West Virginia, overuse of synthetic opiates in eastern Kentucky and accidental poisonings from prescription drugs in Tennessee. The...

CDC issues report on methadone-related deaths.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... A report posted Feb. 20 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focuses on methadone for pain, and notes that "not all physicians are aware of its varying equivalence to other opioid medications." However, the cost is much less...

RCSP grantees exceeded SAMHSA goals, says Faces & Voices.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Recovery Community Services Program)(Report)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... According to the GPRA (Government Performance Results Act) data on the Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) grantees, programs far exceeded goals set by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services for effective outcomes, according to...

Virginia bill would require drug screens for Medicaid recipients.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... If a controversial bill is passed by the Virginia General Assembly, the roughly 9,000 people who apply each year to receive federal benefits under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) would undergo a mandatory drug screening, reported...

Ellen Breyer.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Report)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Ellen Breyer, President and CEO of Hazeldon Foundation since 2002 will step down from her position by April 4. She'll remain in a consulting role through June 1. Norb Conzemius, chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees noted several major...

In case you haven't heard ...
March 3, 2008... Readers interested in considering an addict's journey from two perspectives can check out two newly released memoirs by a father and his addict son: Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction (by David Sheff) and Tweak (by...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
March 3, 2008... NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, together with the National Association for Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP), will host the 2008 Advocacy in Action Conference on March 9-11 in Arlington, Virginia. Visit...

Delaware uses penalties and rewards to increase utilization and retention.
March 10, 2008... Delaware's performance-based contracting system, in which providers get penalties for not meeting targets and bonuses for exceeding them, is a win-win for everyone--patients, providers, and the state--according to an analysis of the program to...

ONDCP strategy document addresses Rx monitoring, ATR, screening.(Office of National Drug Control Policy )
March 10, 2008... The Bush administration's final National Drug Control Strategy report reads less like a blueprint for the future than it does a recounting of past drug-fighting accomplishments. While it outlines a goal of a further 10 percent reduction in...

Sex-drug fusion complicates methamphetamine recovery.(Clinical report)
March 10, 2008... The link between methamphetamine and sex is so strong for some patients that addiction treatment must address the association or patients will be more likely to relapse, according to treatment experts. "Initially, I made the huge mistake of...

No medication-substance abuse link found in ADHD study.(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders)
March 10, 2008... In an article which should put an end to lingering suspicions that children who get medications to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) have an increased likelihood of substance abuse, researchers have found no link at all to...

CDC report highlights dangers of choking game.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study calls attention to the prevalence and danger of a disturbing game played by children and adolescents: the "choking game" involves intentionally trying to choke oneself or another in an...

College survey tracks non-medical prescription drug use.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Survey)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... A recently published study finds that among college students, non-medical users of prescription drugs are at increased risk of drug abuse. Sean Esteban McCabe, Ph.D. administered a web-survey to 3,639 students at a large, Midwestern university...

Maine advocates propose 10-cent-per-drink tax increase.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... In light of significant budget cuts that appear to threaten a number of treatment programs across the state of Maine, advocates gathered at the State House on February 12 to recommend a 10-cent per drink hike in the state tax on alcoholic...

Rhode Island likely to eliminate town substance abuse task forces.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri's proposed budget for next fiscal year would eliminate the substance abuse task forces that operate in towns throughout the state, replacing them with four "regional coalitions" that perform the same...

Caron and Gonzalez recovery residences announce alliance.(BUSINESS)(Caron Treatment Centers)(Gonzalez Recovery Residences)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Caron Treatment Centers, a leading nonprofit provider of addiction treatment, has announced a new strategic alliance with Gonzalez Recovery Residences, three six-bed facilities in Vero Beach, Florida that offer varying levels of support and...

Mike Lancaster, M.D., and Leza Wainwright will co-direct the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services (DMH/DD/SAS).(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Mike Lancaster, M.D., and Leza Wainwright will co-direct the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services (DMH/DD/SAS). Lancaster, who has been DMH/DD/SAS clinical policy chief since 2004,...

Jim Ramstad (R-MN).(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Jim Ramstad (R-MN) has been elected to the board of directors of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). Ramstad co-chairs the Addiction Treatment and Recovery Caucus, among other caucuses. CASA's Chairman and President...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
March 10, 2008... The American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA) is hosting its annual Santa Fe Summit,"Impacting Healthcare Reform '08: Leadership in Moving the Mental Health and Substance Use Agenda," on March 13-15 in Santa Fe, N.M. For more...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Scotland's Inverness Safer City is on a mission to protect public bathrooms from drug misuse. As a result, passengers on the Scottish railway no longer have to worry about sharing the Inverness station "loo" with drug users, reported the...

Provider organizations weigh merits of giving the media access to patients.
March 17, 2008... About once every quarter, officials at Seabrook House in New Jersey have been welcoming a rather uncommon invitee to one of the treatment organization's programs: They are allowing print and television reporters to visit in order to interview...

Second Chance Act to add $110 million a year for treatment and other services: after four years, reentry bill passes Congress; SSAs will have a role in grants.
March 17, 2008... In a surprise vote that delighted the field, the Second Chance Act, originally introduced in 2003, finally passed the Senate last week by unanimous consent. This follows on the passage in the House last fall (see ADAW, Nov. 19, 2007). The...

Alcohol problems highest in rural Western/Midwestern states.
March 17, 2008... A report released earlier this month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) analyzed substance use and mental health patterns occurring in each state. The report shows a concentration of alcohol problems in...

SAMHSA reports show 'tween' drug of choice is inhalants.
March 17, 2008... Inhalants are the drug of choice of the "tween" generation-12 and 13 year olds--according to two new brief reports released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) last week. The reports, which analyzed data...

Volkow interview includes prevention advice for parents.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... Technologies allowing us to observe brain chemistry and function are sufficient proof for anyone skeptical that addiction is an illness, not a behavioral problem, Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute Drug Abuse, said earlier...

Editorial calls for including internet addiction in DSM-V.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)(Editorial)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... In an editorial in the March issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, Jerald J. Block, M.D., makes a case for including internet addiction in the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition (DSM-V), slated...

NIAAA study reveals new therapeutic target for alcoholism.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism )(Brief article)(Clinical report)
March 17, 2008... New research could advance our understanding of the link between stress and alcohol dependence. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Clinical Director Markus Heilig, M.D., explains that alcohol-dependent individuals often...

Substance abuse strains Virginia foster care system.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... While growing populations in Virginia suburbs may partially explain burgeoning caseloads, state social workers claim that drug and alcohol abuse are responsible for up to seventy percent of the foster-care caseload in some southwest counties,...

Massachusetts facilities focus on group treatment.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... Underage substance abuse is the number one priority for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said Michael Bottecelli, director of the DPH's Bureau of Substance Abuse. While DPH figures show that over 800 children under age 16 were...

Friends of SAMHSA redesigns website.(RESOURCES)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... The Friends of SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has announced a redesign of its website--www.friendsofsamhsa.org--which includes a news section, a blog and soon a "members only" section. Founded in November...

Robert (Bob) Wayne Timmins.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... Robert (Bob) Wayne Timmins, an individual credited with helping numerous celebrities get into recovery, died at his home of respiratory failure on March 5, reported the Los Angeles Times on March 8. Timmins was known for his proficiency at...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
March 17, 2008... Faces & Voices of Recovery will hold the third in a series of one-hour teleconferences, "Recovery Community Centers, Part 2," on March 26. For more information, go to...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... With spring break around the corner, Bernard Carey writes in the New York Times that binge drinking behavior is understood differently depending on cultural, group and individual contexts. He quotes Brown University Professor of Anthropology...

CSAT letter on take-homes: methadone treatment providers cry foul.(Report)
March 24, 2008... A new federal guideline that tells methadone treatment programs to be open seven days a week or make alternate provisions for patients not eligible for take-home doses has precipitated an outcry by the field. Treatment providers say the move is...

State lawmakers, prosecutors continue to target pregnant substance users.(Report)
March 24, 2008... The group National Advocates for Pregnant Women has embarked on a 26-year review of governmental efforts to punish pregnant women who use illegal drugs or alcohol, and it is clear that the organization will have plenty of current examples to...

California tackles meth use by gay and bisexual men.(Report)
March 24, 2008... The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) unveiled a new media campaign last week to combat methamphetamine use by gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, known as the G/B/MSM communities. "Methamphetamine use is...

Drug use declines among U.S. workers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... Illicit drug use among U.S. workers is at the lowest level since 1988, the first year that Quest Diagnostics published the Drug Testing Index. In data released on March 12, Quest observed a reversal of an upward trend in methamphetamine use,...

Addiction programs recognize "Drunkorexia".(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... "Drunkorexia"--a non-medical term describing self-imposed starvation or bingeing/purging combined with alcohol abuse--is gaining traction as a unique blend of disorders that may require a new approach to treatment, reported The New York Times...

Prescription drug abuse lethal for 'Generation Rx'.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... In a March 12 hearing on "Generation Rx" and prescription drug abuse, Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, focused on the particular dangers these drugs pose for young people and...

Teen dies from fentanyl patch abuse.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... A death in North Carolina underscored the reality of prescription drug lethality. Mathew Chapman, a 17 year old, placed two fentanyl patches on his arms and died in his sleep on March 16. According to press reports, police have charged an...

Florida budget may include funds for "treatment on demand".(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... Displaying a "willingness to examine new solutions to the cycle of drugs and crime," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist included $29 million in his proposed budget for substance abuse treatment in state prisons, according to a March 7 editorial in...

West Virginia considers bills to boost addiction treatment, law enforcement.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
March 24, 2008... The West Virginia legislature is considering two bills, a House and a Senate version, that could boost addiction treatment by tapping into $44 million in settlement money from a federal Oxycontin lawsuit. The Charleston Daily Mail reported on...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
March 24, 2008... Faces & Voices of Recovery will hold the third in a series of one-hour teleconferences,"Recovery Community Centers, Part 2," on March 26.For more information, go to...

In case you haven't heard ...
March 24, 2008... Using drugs that "weaken the mind and cloud intelligence" is among the "new sins" as described by Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, who was interviewed recently by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. The...

Idaho legislators try to maintain treatment push despite governor's veto.
March 31, 2008... An Idaho governor and a state legislative majority with the same party affiliation have diverged on the issue of substance abuse treatment funding, and at press time last week it appeared that legislators were beating back claims that they are...

SBI potential expands into workplace.(Report)
March 31, 2008... The relatively new technique of screening and brief intervention (SBI), propelled into the medical office this year by billing codes, made its debut in a completely new arena last week--the workplace. And judging from a report released March 25...

Florida faces decimation of corrections-based treatment.(Report)
March 31, 2008... While other states are looking at alternatives to incarceration, Florida appears to be headed in the opposite direction. The House appropriations committee last week voted to cut substance abuse treatment funds for the Department of Corrections...

RAND researcher tells Congress drug strategy is unbalanced.(Report)
March 31, 2008... Treatment deserves a bigger role in the national drug control strategy as promulgated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)--and even the ONDCP itself--according to recent testimony before Congress, which is currently working on...

Doctors and nurses vulnerable to drug addiction.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 31, 2008... Working in a high-stress environment with easy access to medications, medical professionals may be particularly susceptible to drug addiction, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 26. Doctors can also become more seriously ill taking...

Wine and spirits linked with decreased brain volume.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 31, 2008... Alcohol dependent drinkers of wine and spirits may face a greater risk of brain volume shrinkage than drinkers of beer, according to a recent study by German researcher Julia Wilhelm of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and colleagues....

Army paper publishes photos of drunk drivers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)
March 31, 2008... Photographs of 48 soldiers arrested on charges of drunk driving this year recently decorated the pages of the Fort Drum Blizzard, the weekly newspaper of the Army's 10th Mountain Division. The New York Times reported on March 8 that the...

Nationwide town hall meetings to address underage drinking.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
March 31, 2008... On March 24 the Acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson visited Missouri to kick off a series of over 1600 town hall-style meetings to take place nationwide through April to raise awareness of the prevalence of underage drinking and...

Missouri youths charged for distributing methadone.(STATE WATCH)(Report)(Brief article)
March 31, 2008... Nine Missouri girls became ill after ingesting prescription methadone pills earlier this month, but they appear to have recovered. The Kansas City Star reported on March 21 that authorities in Buchanan County have filed criminal charges against...

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA).(CALL FOR APPLICATIONS)
March 31, 2008... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) has issued a call for applications for its FY 2008 Targeted Capacity Expansion Grants, designed to address gaps in community substance abuse treatment services throughout the...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
March 31, 2008... The National Council for Community Behavioral HealthCare (NCCBH) is hosting its annual conference, "Simply the best, better than all the rest," on May 1-3 in Boston. For more information, visit www.nccbh.org. On May 1-2 Faces and Voices of...

In case you haven't heard ...
March 31, 2008... Recent media stories about celebrities using Adderall for weight loss probably means that by now the approach is an old trick among celebrities, said dietician and nutrition consultant Jackie Newgent. Actually, amphetamine-dextroamphetamine was...