Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from November 2005

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from November 2005

Improve service delivery, give patients control, and integrate care, says IOM.(Institute of Medicine)
November 7, 2005... A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) focuses on making treatment "patient-centered," with messages to treatment providers, payers, and government agencies on how to improve substance abuse and mental health treatment. These...

New Mexico looks at novel approaches for methamphetamine treatment.
November 7, 2005... Treatment approaches for methamphetamine dependence in New Mexico must include alternative modalities that have cultural relevance for Native Americans and for Mexicans, as well as traditional programs such as the Matrix model, according to...

Parents conscripted in underage drinking prevention campaign.
November 7, 2005... A new public service advertising (PSA) campaign is focusing on preventing underage drinking. The campaign, which is from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Ad Council, is targeting not only risky drinking, but any...

Drug Strategies compiles and updates its report on adolescent treatment programs.
November 7, 2005... One group has spent several years identifying and updating the top adolescent treatment programs in the country. With input from a number of experts, Drug Strategies has created a list of reputable programs for adolescent substance abuse...

NIDA head calls for giving pharmaceutical makers extra incentives.(National Institute on Drug Abuse)
November 7, 2005... Even when the nation is going to war it does not expect Ford Motor Company to make tanks without making money, says Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). That's why she calls for governmental policies to help...

Gulf coast struggles to provide treatment services.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Resources for substance abuse treatment in the state of Louisiana were scarce before Hurricane Katrina arrived, and according to the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), addiction treatment providers, counselors and facilities are...

Training for treating opioid dependence.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... According to Opt-In (www. docoptin.org), the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA) allows physicians who meet certain qualifying criteria to use Schedule III, IV and V narcotics for officebased opioid pain medication dependence treatment....

Grants for LA County nonprofits.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... The December 31 deadline is approaching for the next round of Green Foundation grants, which fund nonprofits serving Los Angeles County. Those 501(c)3 organizations doing work in health, the arts, education and science-research fields are...

Coming up ...(Brief Article)(Calendar)
November 7, 2005... Father Martin's Ashley will sponsor the 2005 National Conference on Addiction, on Nov. 9-11 in Baltimore. This year's conference is titled "Meeting the Challenge: Focusing on Addiction Treatment for Young Adults, Professionals and Seniors." For...

In case you haven't heard ...
November 7, 2005... It's an anatomy and substance abuse prevention course in one. Nurses--otherwise known as "the organ ladies"--travel school-to-school in Washington State to impart lessons on the effects of substance abuse on the body. The organ ladies, working...

Treatment expansion in Washington State funded by Medicaid cost offsets.(State Spotlight)
November 14, 2005... In Washington State, an infusion of state dollars has increased substance abuse treatment capacity, reducing waiting lists drastically. The money--$39 million ($32 million for adults and almost $7 million for youth)--was appropriated this year...

Study finds no harm in religious use of peyote; Supreme Court impact possible.
November 14, 2005... Researchers who tested Native Americans who use the hallucinogen peyote regularly in religious settings have found no evidence of psychological or cognitive deficits. This finding may have an impact on a case currently under consideration by...

Thumbs up for parity recommendations, down for merging SA and MH issues.(Field reacts to IOM report)(substance abuse and mental health treatment)
November 14, 2005... When the Institute of Medicine's report on substance abuse and mental health treatment was released November 1 (ADAW 11/7), the treatment field had to spend a few days digesting the 600 pages. The reaction, when it finally came, was unilateral:...

Older problem drinkers medicating pain with alcohol.(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Problem drinkers are more likely than others to use alcohol to self-medicate pain, according to research published in the current issue of Addiction. The study, by Penny L. Brennan, Ph.D. and colleagues, showed that 38 percent of adults ages...

Offender re-entry bill gets strong support in hearings.(Second Chance Act )
November 14, 2005... Two recent hearings on Capitol Hill featured strong testimony in favor of the House version of the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1704), a bill that would provide demonstration grants for substance abuse treatment and other services for offenders...

SAMHSA presenting forums on new medication for opioid addiction.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is continuing its sessions in cities around the country to introduce health professionals and others to the use of buprenorphine, which was approved three years ago and is the first...

Fewer treated for both alcohol and drugs.(Briefly Noted)(National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on October 26 the release of its National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS): 2004, which Administrator Charles Curie calls a "snapshot of the...

Study says that substance abuse treatment pays.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... According to Susan Ettner, lead author of a recent study published online in the peer-reviewed journal Health Services Research, "Policy makers are generally more inclined to support treatment programs for substance abuse if they pay for...

House subcommittees hold joint meth hearing.(Briefly Noted)(Comprehensively Combating Methamphetamine: Impacts on Health and the Environment)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on Health, and Environment and Hazardous Materials held a joint hearing on October 20, "Comprehensively Combating Methamphetamine: Impacts on Health and the Environment." The Legal Action Center...

Florida addresses prescription drug abuse.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The director of Florida's Office of Drug Control, Jim McDonough, has said that prescription drug abuse, primarily of pain medications, is now among the state's biggest concerns. With six Floridians overdosing each day, he said, deaths from...

University athletes lead prevention campaign.(Briefly Noted)(Western Connecticut State University )(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The Office of Substance Abuse Prevention Services at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury recently expanded its efforts, reported Voices News on October 12. An ambitious student-led campaign, "Winning Choices," intended to increase...

Kentucky steps up rehabilitation efforts.(Briefly Noted)(Recovery Kentucky)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has said that he and his administration view drug and alcohol abuse in the state as a "public health epidemic" and a leading contributor to homelessness and domestic violence, reported the Lexington...

Grants for prescription drug monitoring.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The Federal Bureau of Justice (BJA) has announced the FY 2006 Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. U.S. states interested in establishing systems for monitoring purchases of prescription drugs with potential for illicit uses can...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
November 14, 2005... The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will hold its 2006 37th Annual Meeting and Medical-Scientific Conference, May 4-7 in San Diego. Symposia, courses, workshops, lectures and poster presentations will focus on the latest...

In case you haven't heard ...(Warrior Pride substance abuse prevention program)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Warrior Pride probably won't be adopted by substance abuse prevention programs nationwide. But it is the new campaign for the U.S. Army's substance abuse program, launched last month. Soldiers should be "proud of the job they do," said George...

Waiting lists in Maryland frustrate sentencing judges who favor treatment.(Treatment instead of incarceration)
November 21, 2005... A shortage of residential treatment in Maryland has led judges to complain that there is no place to send offenders other than incarceration. The bitterness of the complaint, which came in a hearing at the legislature last month that was...

Smoking ban: treatment for nicotine dependence for AOD patients.
November 21, 2005... Making a substance abuse treatment facility tobacco-free used to be considered clinically impossible: why make patients quit everything at once? However, research doesn't indicate that it's any more difficult to quit "everything" at once--in...

Levels of smoking are dropping, but only gradually.
November 21, 2005... People are quitting smoking at a pretty impressive rate, given how long the habit has been part of U.S. culture. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the majority of Americans who ever smoked have now quit. But the...

Social networks can be part of patients getting treatment, or not.
November 21, 2005... Like other people in the United States, Native Americans don't use substance abuse and mental health services at the level at which they have those problems. So why don't they? What are the barriers? Researchers writing in the October, 2005...

Across the border: certain drugs more popular in U.S. than Canada.(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Overall, drug use rates are similar in the United States and Canada. However, according to household surveys conducted in both countries last year, U.S. residents are much more likely than Canadians to use inhalants, and a bit more likely to...

Smoking linked with PTSD.(Briefly Noted)(Post-traumatic stress disorder)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... According to lead researcher Karestan Koenen, "Nicotine stimulates some of the same neurobiological pathways--the dopaminergic pathway associated with reward and fear--implicated in stress and addiction. Smoking may sensitize these pathways, so...

RWJ supports gulf region's health.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in support of post-hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, has shifted its focus from more immediate relief efforts to near-term recovery efforts, including supporting...

Study suggests addiction to heroin less immediate.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... British researchers from the University of Plymouth, U.K. say that the results of their recent study suggest that one doesn't get hooked on heroin after just one hit, reported the Melbourne Age on November 8. Lead investigator Ross Coomber said...

RTI to study U.S. drug trends.(United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... RTI International announced on November 14 that it has been awarded a four-year contract from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) to identify emerging trends in drug use. RTI has been a long-time contributor to...

Education as a tool to curb on-campus drinking.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... U.S. colleges and universities have long struggled to curb student drinking. Roughly 120 of these schools now require freshman to participate in a three-hour course called AlcoholEdu. The Wall Street Journal reported on November 1 that the...

Massachusetts could boost treatment spending.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... The Massachusetts legislature's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee last week approved a proposal for $50 million in additional funding to boost substance abuse treatment throughout the state, reported the Eagle Tribune on November 13....

Federal anti-drug campaign targets peer pressure.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Last week, the White House's anti-drug campaign released the first of six new television spots aimed at helping adolescents resist negative peer pressure to use drugs, in particular, marijuana, reported AdWeek on November 3. The spot introduces...

Names in the News The National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) announced on November 1 the appointment of Nancy R. Trenti as the director of congressional affairs.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Names in the News The National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) announced on November 1 the appointment of Nancy R. Trenti as the director of congressional affairs. In this role, Trenti will work with Congress, the...

Grants support tobacco control.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... The American Legacy Foundation has announced grants for programs that work to reduce tobacco use in the U.S. First-year funding of up to $100,000 is slated to support innovative approaches to tobacco control. Renewal grants could total up to...

Coming up ...(National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers)(American Society of Addiction Medicine)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
November 21, 2005... The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) holds its SECAD 2005 International Conference for Alcohol and Drug Addiction Professionals, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2005 in Atlanta. Call the NAATP office at (717) 392-8480 for...

In case you haven't heard ...
November 21, 2005... What's a parent to do? Your child is not using drugs, but--oh dear--is addicted to the computer. Yes, addicted. Small-scale studies are bearing out that children have, well, a new drug. According to an addiction research group at Charite...