Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from October 2007

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from October 2007

Integrated care means welcoming all clients, anywhere, anytime.
October 29, 2007... For a system--whether an individual program, a county, or a state--to treat co-occurring disorders, the entire system must welcome the client. That's the message Massachusetts-based addiction psychiatrist Kenneth Minkoff, M.D., is giving...

SAMHSA targets prescription users in campaign to curb abuse by others.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
October 29, 2007... Taking an unprecedented approach in order to spread the word about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched a 26week pilot in which consumers of highly abused...

Gateway starts new in-house intervention program.(Gateway Rehabilitation Center)
October 29, 2007... A new intervention services program will make it easier for patients to get into treatment-even those who think they don't want to go--at Gateway Rehabilitation Center. For the program, Pittsburghbased Gateway is hiring its own...

Study: abstinence prior to treatment triples success of Vivitrol.
October 29, 2007... A new analysis of research on Vivitrol, the injectable extended release naltrexone used to treat alcoholism, focuses on one subset of subjects from the initial 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA)....

Rider University responds to drinking death.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... When a freshman at Rider University died last spring of alcohol poisoning following a fraternity party, administrators at the Lawrence-ville, N.J. faced criminal charges involving hazing. The charges were later dropped, but the school is...

Award established for addiction philanthropy.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... A new award for leadership in addiction treatment has been established by Caron Treatment Centers and the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP). The award is named for the late Jasper G. Chen See, M.D., who served on...

Drug modifies gene and leads to tolerance: study.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... Tolerance to inhalants may be link to genetic changes produced by the drugs, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have found. In a study of fruit flies, the researchers found that the nervous system can become tolerant to the...

White paper from CASA on youth and tobacco.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... Nicotine can increase the risks of adolescents developing alcohol and drug use disorders and mental illness, according to a white paper issued last week by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University....

Parity bill heads toward Senate-House conference.(Conference news)
October 29, 2007... Federal legislation to put addiction on an equal footing with other medical conditions was reported to be out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives Oct. 16. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity...

Budget cuts for treatment in Alaska.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... Alaska is facing a public health crisis due to budget cuts for mental health and substance abuse treatment, according to a memo by a citizen advocate group, the advisory boards on alcoholism and drug abuse and mental health. According to the...

Kentucky sues OxyContin maker.(STATE WATCH)
October 29, 2007... Kentucky has filed suit against Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of OxyContin, for an undisclosed amount of money in order to recoup the dollars the state spent on treating overdoses and other problems related to the painkiller. The lawsuit, filed...

In case you haven't heard ...(Promises Malibu and Passages)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... An article in the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that celebrity treatment programs like Promises Malibu and Passages take the full month's fee--more than $40,000--up front and keep it, even if the patient leaves early or is...

Coming up ...(conferences and meetings by professional organizations)(Association of Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and South East Conference on Addictive Diseases)(Brief article)
October 29, 2007... The American Public Health Association (APHA) will hold its Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C. on November 3-7. For more information, visit www.apha.org/meetings. The Association of Medical Education and Research in...

E-therapy seen as having many applications on treatment continuum.
October 22, 2007... While the research evidence remains somewhat limited on how addiction services delivered online should be structured and whether they are as effective as face-to-face encounters, interest in e-therapy appears to be intensifying among...

SAMHSA, researchers step up efforts to treat co-occurring disorders.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
October 22, 2007... Co-occurring disorders, estimated to be present in 50 to 75 percent of the addiction treatment population (and 20 to 50 percent of the mental health population) are a top priority for many groups in the field. Last week, the National Center...

Manufacturers focus on tamper-resistant opioid formulations.
October 22, 2007... The increase in prescription drug abuse, and the misuse of Oxy-Contin leading to legal disaster for the manufacturer, have led pharmaceutical companies to look at new ways of preventing abuse of their prescription opioids. One method involves...

SAMHSA creates customized e-mails in new 'eNetwork' program.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
October 22, 2007... Borrowing a concept from Amazon.com and other commercial websites, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is reaching out to its "consumers" with a new "eNet-work" designed to tailor electronic communications...

Hazelden uses equine therapy for some extended-stay patients.(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Horses can help people get in touch with their emotions, and work through the 12 steps, without even getting on their backs. That's how Hazelden in Center City, Minn, has been using equine-assisted therapy to help patients recover from...

Drug tests for firefighters?(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... In the wake of two firefighter deaths in a blaze this summer, the Boston Fire Department is taking a new look at a drug testing. One of the firefighters had alcohol and cocaine in his system. The union has long opposed random testing, even...

Dead celebrity's doctors' offices and homes raided.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Anna Nicole Smith)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Law enforcement tracking of physician prescribing habits--which could also affect those doctors who treat opioid addiction with methadone and buprenorphine--reached a level that critics termed a "witch hunt" last week when California...

SAMHSA awards $24 million to expand capacity.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding 16 grants totaling about $24 million to expand treatment capacity in "target areas" in which grantees have identified emerging drug problems. The Targeted...

Florida program for SBI for elders.(STATE WATCH)(screening and brief intervention)(Southwest Florida Addiction Services)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Southwest Florida Addiction Services has received a $450,000 grant from the states' Department of Children and Families to screen more adults age 60 and older for alcohol and drug abuse. The program is based on the screening and brief...

CASA and New York develop disease management program.(STATE WATCH)(National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Using a $3 million grant awarded to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, CASA is creating a chronic disease management program for two counties in New York...

Changes at the Legal Action Center.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Alexa Eggleston has left the Legal Action Center to become director of policy for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. The new deputy director as of Oct. 17 for national policy and head of the Washington, D.C. office of...

Richard Pruss to retire.(STATE WATCH)(Samaritan Village)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... Richard Pruss has announced that he will retire next year from Samaritan Village, where he has been president and chief executive officer for 35 years. He made the announcement at the Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers...

'Average day' report from SAMHSA shines light on youth issues.(RESOURCES)(Substance Abuse and Mental health Services Administration)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... On an average day in 2006, nearly 1.2 million adolescents smoked cigarettes, 631,000 drank alcohol, and 586,000 used marijuana, according to a new report out last week from the Substance Abuse and Mental health Services Administration...

Coming up ...(conferences and meetings by professional associations)(Association of Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and South East Conference on Addictive Diseases)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... The American Public Health Association (APHA) will hold its Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C. on November 3-7. For more information, visit www.apha.org/meetings. The Association of Medical Education and Research in...

In case you haven't heard ...(Senlis Council)(Brief article)
October 22, 2007... With much of the world's population enduring severe pain because of a lack of cheap medicine like morphine, should we be spending millions of dollars on eradicating opium poppies in Afghanistan? According to the Senlis Council, a group based...

Process improvement goes national with announcement of campaign.
October 15, 2007... Now that scores of addiction treatment organizations have discovered how improvements in access, client engagement and level-of-care tran-sitioning can practically revolutionize their operations, those who have promoted these changes believe...

Congress moves closer to passing bill on FDA regulation of tobacco.
October 15, 2007... Despite opposition year after year from Republicans in Congress, tobacco companies, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) itself under the Bush Administration, a bill to regulate tobacco as a drug is marching...

Topiramate is latest alcoholism treatment drug: study.
October 15, 2007... The latest addition to the compendium of alcoholism treatment medications is topiramate (Topa-max), a drug which is approved for the treatment of seizures and migraines. A multisite clinical trial reported in the Oct. 10 issue of the Journal...

NQF releases 11 voluntary standards for treatment.(National Quality Forum)
October 15, 2007... Last month the National Quality Forum (NQF) released voluntary consensus standards on evidence-based practices for treating substance abuse. It is hoped that the standards will guide treatment providers to those practices that, if universally...

Gradual buprenorphine withdrawal to be studied at Yale.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Yale University)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Opioid treatment researcher David A. Fiellin, M.D., of Yale University received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to support his evaluation of whether gradual withdrawal from buprenorphine, prescribed to treat...

Oklahoma legislature can't use tobacco funds, says AG.(STATE WATCH)(Attorney General Drew Edmondson)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... The practice of states using tobacco settlement money for closing budget gaps isn't going to stop anytime soon. But state legislatures, at least in Oklahoma, can't use money out of the trust fund, according to an opinion released last month...

Coming up ...(meetings and conferences of substance abuse treatment organizations)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) will sponsor a conference,"Double Jeopardy: Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders in Young People," on October 18 in New York City. Keynote...

In case you haven't heard ...(food addiction)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Foodies may actually be addicted. The focus on food in affluent societies leads to something called "hedonic hunger"-eating for pleasure and not because of physical need, researchers at Drexel University have found. Just as with alcohol and...

Local communities bristle over high concentrations of centers.
October 8, 2007... The website for the county government of Palm Beach County, Fla., proudly proclaims that the region offers "The Best of Everything." But to members of the County Commission, the large number of substance abuse service facilities that have...

Block grant up for $35 depending on increase, depending on Senate and White House: possible veto looms amid new culture of fiscal responsibility in Congress.
October 8, 2007... Once again, Congress is behind schedule on spending bills. This year there is the added threat of a veto if any bill goes over the President's request. Congress cleared stop-gap spending bills September 27 and 28 so the government can...

Schools need help with prevention education, says report.
October 8, 2007... A survey of educators from kindergarten through high school has shown that while schools can help prevent substance use, they cannot take on the burden alone. According to the report, released last month by Join Together, teachers don't have...

Federal auditors to scrutinize ATR in 2008.(Access to Recovery)
October 8, 2007... The Access to Recovery (ATR) grant program is on the work plan for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for next year. The work plan, released Oct. 1, lists all of the programs under the...

FDA bans unapproved hydrocodone products.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... On Sept. 28 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will take enforcement action against companies marketing unapproved prescription drugs containing hydrocodone. The action was taken due to reports of medication errors caused by...

ONDCP targets Hispanic teens for anti-drug use initiative.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Office of National Drug Control Policy)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Hispanic teen use of four drugs--marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine--is outpacing that of white and African-American teens, according to a report released last month by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy...

More evidence of ADHD-substance abuse link.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Children with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or conduct disorder are more likely to have substance use problems as adolescents, but children with only inattention problems of ADHD do not, according to a study published in...

Hepatitis C funding at CDC up for $1 million increase.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Advocates are urging a funding increase to help support measures to identify and treat injecting drug users with hepatitis C, a disease which can be fatal, which complicates treatment of co-existing HIV, and which is often symptomless. The...

Maine SSA is now director of NIATx ACTION Campaign.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Kim Johnson of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse)(Adopting Changes to Improve Outcomes Now)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Kim Johnson, until Sept. 28 the director of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse, is the director of the new treatment improvement campaign run by NIATx. Called The Adopting Changes to Improve Outcomes Now (ACTION) Campaign, the program will...

OASAS honors three New York counselors.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... New York's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) honored three addictions professionals in a Sept. 30 celebration of Addictions Professionals Day, proclaimed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Bernard J. Ziolkowski, the Outpatient...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Drugs in bugs is not the name of a new children's book-- it is the latest technique for getting contraband past customs. Maybe if it had been just a couple bugs instead of more than 100, customs officers would have shrugged off the package....

ATR II: grantees face new delays in new awards, old questions about FBOs, GPRAs.(Access to Recovery)(faith-based organizations and the Government Performance Results Act of 1993)
October 1, 2007... Last week, 18 states and six other entities were mulling over their new grants, awarded under the second round of Access to Recovery (known as ATR II) given out by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)....

Prominent owner of recovery home would consider regulation a plus.(Bret Mathis of Unity House (South Elgin, Illinois))
October 1, 2007... An Illinois recovery home operator whose zoning dispute with local officials led to a federal fair housing lawsuit believes that while the service he provides cannot be considered treatment, perhaps it is time to regulate an industry that...

Indiana considers restrictions on out-of-state methadone clients.
October 1, 2007... In a battle that has been brewing for a year, the 14 methadone maintenance treatment facilities in Indiana are now facing new restrictions under consideration by the legislature The flashpoint is the large number of out-of-state clients...

Teen attitudes toward meth a sign of trouble, study finds.(methamphetamine)(Survey)
October 1, 2007... The Meth Project, in a survey released earlier this month, found that teen attitudes toward methamphetamine place a large number of youth at risk. One in three teens perceives little to no danger in trying the drug, and one in four says there...

Problem gambling fund administered by Washington State.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... With the annual resurgence of football season and the wagering that goes along with it, Washington State is hoping people will seek out help that is paid for by a tax on all gambling establishments licensed by the Gambling Commission,...

Prosecutors face new challenges with prescription drug cases.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The increase in prescription drug abuse has created new problems for prosecutors, who are more familiar with illegal drug cases. Now, they are testing old state laws, such as one in Nevada that bans possession or use of prescription drugs...

Two jail diversion awards from SAMHSA.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Monroe County, N.Y. and DeKalb County, Georgia each received jail diversion grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) this month. The first year of the Monroe County grant, for $1.1 million over a...

Loan forgiveness bill passed.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The "College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007" (H.R. 2669) recently approved by Congress would create a loan forgiveness program for public service employees, according to the Legal Action Center, which has been following the law. Under...

Survey may lead to new treatment center.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Survey)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Substance abuse was the top health concern listed by Summit County in Colorado. This study, done every five years for the public health department, concluded that the current top need is access to and capacity of mental health and substance...

Dilaudid is main opioid of abuse in Canada city.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Canada is having its problems with prescriptions opioids too-- notably, Dilaudid, according to methadone caseworkers in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. According to a report by the Saskatchewan News Network, almost three quarters of the...

Primary care physicians to get tobacco screening codes, too.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... In addition to the new codes for alcohol and drug abuse screening and brief intervention (see ADAW Sept. 24), primary care physicians will have new codes for smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling as of Jan. 1, 2008. The new codes are...

Motorcyclists ride for recovery.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... A "recovery awareness ride" to benefit substance abuse prevention in Lake County, Florida was set for this past weekend, with drivers paying $10 each to enter, and an additional $5 for each rider. The ride is to "honor people who have...

$1.7 million in methamphetamine grants from SAMHSA.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) last week announced two methamphetamine grants totaling over $1.7 million over three years. The awards will help communities intervene with evidence-based prevention...

New IOP for wellness and addiction in New Jersey.(IN THE STATES)(intensive outpatient program)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... A new wraparound treatment program in New Jersey is offering integrated services with an intensive outpatient program as its centerpiece. The program, operated by NewBridge Services based in Wayne, N.J., opened September 24. "NewBridge...

NACoA announces new course for clergy.(RESOURCES)(National Association for Children of Alcoholics)(Addiction and the Family: An Online Course for Faith Leaders)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) announced last week a new online course, Addiction and the Family: An Online Course for Faith Leaders, a distance-learning opportunity to help faith leaders understand addiction and...

Coming up ...(addiction and substance abuse conferences)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) will sponsor a conference, "Double Jeopardy: Substance Abuse and Co-Occuring Mental Health Disorders in Young People," on October 18 in New York City. Keynote...

In case you haven't heard ...(National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse's Family Day)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... You probably did hear about the annual CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse) "Family Day--a Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children," a trademarked celebration held the fourth Monday of every September. This is a national...