Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from November 2007

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from November 2007

Methadone overdoses: take-homes, benzodiazepines, induction phase debated.
November 19, 2007... Opioid treatment programs (OTPs) and their patients have been blamed for the rising swell of methadone-related overdoses, creating public relations problems that have lead to siting and other problems. A vocal grassroots group, HARMD (Helping...

Providers weigh merits of medications as part of care for depressed youths.
November 19, 2007... A newly published study indicating the possible benefits of combined psychotherapy and psychotropic medication for adolescents with both substance use and depression issues has been released at a time when more addiction treatment programs...

Second Chance Act passes in the House.
November 19, 2007... The field was exuberant last week when the House passed the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593), a bill that has been before Congress every year since 2004. The legislation would pay for addiction treatment for inmates and people leaving prison,...

DEA museum features prescription drug abuse exhibit.(Drug Enforcement Administration)
November 19, 2007... The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Museum opened its prescription drug exhibit to the public last week. The choice of the topic is significant for the museum, which changes exhibits only every three years or so, according to...

U.K. concerned about contingency management for opioid users.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... After a survey by the National Treatment Agency (NTA) of England reported that many clinics rewarded opioid addicts with methadone or antidepressants in return for urine samples that were negative for cocaine, public health minister Dawn...

Hundreds of genes in fruit flies altered along with alcohol modifications.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... Fruit flies genetically modified to be either sensitive or resistant to alcohol experience modifications of other genes as well, researchers at the University of North Carolina have found. The research, published in the November issue of...

President vetoes health bill; override vote likely.
November 19, 2007... Last week, President Bush vetoed the $606 billion spending bill for health, labor, and education (see ADAW Nov. 12). Only a small part of this is addiction treatment and prevention related--but the loss to the field if the block grant doesn't...

Missouri county takes over residential treatment building.(STATE WATCH)(Bridgeway Behavioral Health)
November 19, 2007... Bridgeway Behavioral Health, a nonprofit based in St. Louis, Mo., is taking over a residential drug treatment center that had come under fire for not filling beds. All that is left of the former center is the building. The Guilford Center,...

GAO report finds DOT drug tests not reliable.(RESOURCES)("Drug Testing: Undercover Tests Reveal Significant Vulnerabilities in DOT's Drug Testing Program" by the General Accountability Office)(Department of Transportation)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... A recent General Accountability Office (GAO) report has found that transportation employees could defeat drug tests in a variety of ways. The report, based on undercover investigations, found that 75 percent of the 24 collection sites where...

CSAP looking for a director.(EMPLOYMENT)(Center for Substance Abuse Prevention)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) has posted that it is looking for a director. The job has a salary range of $11,676-$168,000 per year. For more information, contact Kisha Hightower, 202-690-8772, Kisha.Hightower@hhs.gov....

Coming up ...(Calendar)(substance abuse treatment conferences and meetings)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... The South East Conference on Addictive Diseases will hold SECAD/2007 in Atlanta on November 27-30. For more information, visit www.naatp.org/secad, or call 866-293-5510. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry will hold its annual...

CMS announces dollar values for new SBI codes, and new codes for Medicare.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(screening and brief intervention)
November 12, 2007... Physicians now have four different codes that can be used in 2008 for screening and brief intervention (SBI). These codes are a victory for the addiction field, and especially for the sponsors, with Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a...

States focus on equipping workforce to treat gambling problems.(New York Council on Problem Gambling)
November 12, 2007... A record turnout at last week's ninth annual conference of the New York Council on Problem Gambling serves as just one manifestation of increased attention to improving services for people with gambling problems, both in New York and...

CRAFFT screen finds 14.8% positive results.
November 12, 2007... A study of 2,133 adolescents seen in primary care found that 14.8 percent of them tested positive on the CRAFFT screen. CRAFFT, a validated screening tool for substance problems in adolescents, is an acronym for the first letters in the...

Reality of relapse requires changing to a chronic care approach.
November 12, 2007... To slightly alter a mantra of treatment: relapse should be the expectation, not the exception. However, the treatment system has been set up to treat addiction as an acute disorder, for which patients are admitted, treated, and discharged...

Veto looms for health spending bill, including the block grant.
November 12, 2007... President Bush may make good on his threat to veto health spending, including the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant. The House of Representatives Nov. 6 bundled together three spending bills: 1) the Departments of Labor,...

Sen. Biden proposes bill enhancing funds for DFC grantees.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Joseph Biden)(drug-free communities)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) has proposed anti-crime legislation that includes $36 million for drug prevention activities. The bill would add enhancement grants to coalitions funded under the Drug-Free Communities Act for specific, local drug...

CADCA starts registry.(RESOURCES)(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Join the National Coalition Registry of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of American (CADCA) and become part of a database which is used to provide a count of community-based coalitions. This count, says CADCA, can be used to fight for...

Community support up for redefinitions in North Carolina.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... Proposed new guidelines for the North Carolina community support program will focus on modifications that improve overall quality and limit services to what is clinically necessary, according to the Division of Mental Health, Developmental...

Coming up ...(substance abuse conferences and meetings)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... The South East Conference on Addictive Diseases will hold SECAD/2007 in Atlanta on November 27-30. For more information, visit www.naatp.org/secad, or call 866-293-5510. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry will hold its annual...

In case you haven't heard ...(Norman G. Hoffmann of Evince Assessments)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... "An arbitrary metric is a measure that is reliable, scientifically valid, and irrelevant to the real world," explains Norman G. Hoffmann, Ph.D., president of Evince Assessments, a consultant and developer of assessement tools. For example,...

Analysis of client deaths in California recommends tougher counselor standards.
November 5, 2007... A California nonprofit organization's finding that staff failures were present in 40 percent of the cases of client deaths it examined in residential treatment facilities has spurred an intense discussion and a call for tougher standards in a...

New study claims parents can judge teen substance use: experts question use of home drug test kits.
November 5, 2007... Countering widespread assumptions that parents vastly underestimate their children's use of alcohol and drugs, a new study looking specifically at parents who are worried about their children's substance use has found otherwise. The study,...

Reality of relapse requires changing to a chronic care approach.
November 5, 2007... To slightly alter a mantra of treatment: relapse should be the expectation, not the exception. However, the treatment system has been set up to treat addiction as an acute disorder, for which patients are admitted, treated, and discharged...

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) stands to lose more than $40 million if White House vetos spending bill.
November 5, 2007... Now that the Senate has passed its health spending bill calling for $197.1 million for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in fiscal year 2008, it's up to the conference committee to work out any differences with the House...

Study warns against cultural stereotyping.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... A new study has found that cultural stereotypes could impede Latino youth from seeking help for addiction. Researchers with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest and the...

37 drug treatment courts get $4.4 million in Texas.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... The Criminal Justice Division of Texas last week awarded $4.4 million in grants to 37 drug treatment courts throughout the state. These courts place non-violent drug offenders in substance abuse treatment, case management, and drug testing...

DEA exhibit on prescription drug abuse.(RESOURCES)(Drug Enforcement Administration)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... A show on prescription drug abuse entitled "Good Medicine, Bad Behavior; Drug Diversion in America" will open to the public starting November 13 at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Museum in Arlington, Virginia. The exhibit will look...

Proposals wanted for NAADAC annual conference.(CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS)
November 5, 2007... NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) has announced that it is accepting presentation proposals for its 2008 conference, to be held in Overland Park, Kan., August 28-31. Proposals are due by January 11 and should be for...

In case you haven't heard ...(medical marijuana)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... One medicinal use of marijuana is as a pain reliever, but new research has shown that too much might actually make the pain worse. According to two recent studies--one published in Anesthesiology, the other in the Journal of...

Coming up ...(conferences on addiction)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... The South East Conference on Addictive Diseases will hold SECAD/2007 in Atlanta on November 27-30. For more information, visit www.naatp.org/secad, or call 866-293-5510. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry will hold its annual...