Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from October 2008

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from October 2008

Methadone clinic move facing NIMBY and 'redevelopment' barriers in Camden, NJ.(not in my backyard)(New Jersey)
October 6, 2008... For Parkside Recovery, a methadone treatment program in the depressed city of Camden New Jersey, NIMBY (not in my backyard) issues have intensified as plans to re-site the facility are meeting with opposition. In this case, Parkside has to...

Maricopa analysis highlights widespread substance use problems in jail population.
October 6, 2008... A Maricopa County, Ariz. substance use reporting system modeled after the federal government's former Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program is illustrating the complexities of substance use and related problems that contribute to...

First drink under age 15 raises risk of adult AUD.(alcohol use disorder)
October 6, 2008... Initiating alcohol use at under age 15 raises the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD) by 38 percent, according to research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) published online last week by...

Poll looks at American attitudes toward recovery.(Survey)
October 6, 2008... Almost half of Americans know someone who is in recovery, according to a poll conducted for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) last month and released Oct. 1. The survey showed that most people support...

Parity's fate hinged to House vote on bailout package.
October 6, 2008... By Oct. 2, the parity bill had passed the Senate as part of the bailout package and was headed for the House of Representatives, where a vote was expected on Oct. 3. At press time, addiction treatment lobbyists were scrambling for votes. ...

Painkiller initiation rates keep rising.(Survey)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... The below chart depicts graphically the importance of prescription painkillers as abusable drugs. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for 2007 shows that new initiates for painkiller abuse continue to outnumber new initiates for...

Heroin addict in Canada case argues for right to inject morphine.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... A former homeless heroin addict arrested in a Victoria (Canada) parking lot in 2006 for possession has argued that had a safe injection site like Insite (Vancouver) been available to him, he would not have been poised to shoot up in a parking...

SAMHSA funds residential treatment for pregnant/postpartum women.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration )(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on September 30 the award of 16 grants totaling $22.9 million to boost comprehensive residential treatment for pregnant and postpartum women, their children and...

Mine Safety proposes changes to policies around alcohol, drug use.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... The Mine Safety and Health Administration has proposed amendments to its drug-testing policies which cover mine operators. Under the amendments, all mines would establish an "alcohol- and drug-free mine program," including testing of employees....

Texas county pilots high school alcohol "diversion" program.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... Next year Tarrant County, Texas plans to pilot the High School Alcohol Diversion Program, which would treat teens with alcohol violations in their own high school, rather than moving them to an alternative school. The Star Telegram reported on...

Kentucky works to boost treatment programs in jails.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... Kentucky must increase treatment programs for the estimated 80 percent of inmates who have substance abuse problems, said Kevin Pangburn, director of the state Department of Correction's Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. There are...

Tenn. public universities required to notify parents of underage drinking.(STATE WATCH)(Tennessea)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... Public colleges and universities are now required under law to notify parents when underage students violate laws regarding underage drinking of illegal drug use on campus, reported the East Tennessean on September 29. While the regulation has...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
October 6, 2008... The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) will hold its 2008 Conference of Affiliates,"Managing in Times of Change," on October 22-25 in Kansas City, Missouri.For more information, visit www.ncadd.org. The National...

In case you haven't heard ...
October 6, 2008... California's Proposition 6 is "like a confused beast escaped from some other decade," reads an LA Times editorial, which urged a "no" vote on the "Safe Neighborhoods Act". The September 26 column called Prop. 6 a "budget buster" and a...

Parity as a reality: a civil rights victory, but business impact unclear.(Parity Special Report: Behind the Headlines)
October 13, 2008... Now that federal parity law has been signed after 12 years of hard work and a last-minute roller coaster ride through Congress, treatment programs are considering what the implications are for business. In general, people in the field view the...

Search for greater efficiencies leads Florida provider to merge with MH agency.(Parity Special Report: Behind the Headlines)(mental health agency)(Stewart-Marchman Center and Act Corp., merge to be known as Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral )
October 13, 2008... Financial considerations, the push for more integrated behavioral health care and even concerns about leadership succession all played a role in a milestone development for the treatment community in the Daytona Beach, Fla. area: the merger of...

Cardinal Health to pay $34 million in settlement over hydrocodone.(Parity Special Report: Behind the Headlines)
October 13, 2008... Cardinal Health has agreed to pay $34 million to settle claims that it didn't report suspicious orders of hydrocodone to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) announced earlier this month. The money...

OSI announces eight recipients for treatment gap grants.(Parity Special Report: Behind the Headlines)(The Open Society Institute)
October 13, 2008... The Open Society Institute (OSI) has announced the eight grant awards to be given under its Closing the Treatment Gap initiative. Applications were solicited last winter (see ADAW, Feb. 11) for the grants, which will last three years. There...

Alcohol and drug use 'endemic' to legal profession.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Survey)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "Substance abuse is absolutely endemic" to the legal profession, according to Dr. Neil Brener of the UK's Priory Group, who said lawyers comprise a generous portion of his counseling practice. The British magazine Legal Business completed a...

Study finds obstetrical caregivers rarely inquire about substance abuse.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... Obstetrical care providers are not doing enough to identify and counsel patients who may be abusing alcohol and other drugs during pregnancy, finds a study published in the September issue of Patient Education and Counseling. According to...

October 15 is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(acquired immune deficiency syndrome )(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) on October 15 is an opportunity to increase awareness of the "devastating and disproportionate effects" of AIDS in the Latino community, encourage HIV testing, and seek support from public officials...

Minnesota neighborhood reacts to proposed sober housing.(STATE WATCH)(RS Eden )(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... The Minneapolis-based non-profit RS Eden is seeking community support from residents of the Como Park neighborhood of Minnesota. Its proposal is to develop apartment housing for people with chemical dependency issues on the site of a former...

Larimer County considers sales tax to fund treatment.(STATE WATCH)
October 13, 2008... If Larimer County Issue 1A passes in November, residents of this Colorado county would pay a 25 cents sales tax to fund the construction and operation of a facility to house alcohol and mental health treatment programs, including a residential...

SC House candidate would require drug testing with public assistance.(STATE WATCH)(South Carolina)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... At a recent Democratic Party rally, South Carolina state House candidate Weldon Davis said that if elected, he would call for legislation calling for all individuals receiving public assistance to undergo mandatory drug testing. While Davis...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
October 13, 2008... The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) will hold its 2008 Conference of Affiliates, "Managing in Times of Change," on October 22-25 in Kansas City, Missouri.For more information, visit www.ncadd.org. The Association...

In case you haven't heard ...
October 13, 2008... "Cigarette packages just got more fun in Britain," read the Blog of Hilarity, October 1. The blogger is referring to the UK's new policy of including graphic and often disturbing images on cigarette packaging. One image depicts a cancerous lung...

Proposition 36 report identifies promising practices in treatment of offenders.
October 20, 2008... Treatment alternatives to incarceration could have better outcomes with the increased use of employment assistance for offenders and process improvements for providers, according to a new report on California's Proposition 36. Released last...

Okla. agency finds creative application of incentives to spur family involvement.
October 20, 2008... An outpatient addiction services agency in the Oklahoma City area has found an uncommon way to engage family members whose previous involvement with their teen's treatment ended when they dropped off the youth at the front door. By...

Investor group wants to buy treatment programs.
October 20, 2008... Forterus, an investment company, is looking for addiction treatment programs to buy, ADAW has learned. "Over time, health care seems to still perform, even in rough markets," Forterus CEO Paul Howarth said. And he wants to take advantage of the...

Magellan seeking state contracts to manage integrated care.
October 20, 2008... A new care management program that is a collaboration between McKesson Health Solutions and Magellan Health Services is seeking state Medicaid contracts to help integrate care for patients with addiction and/or mental health problems. The...

NIDA review examines drug abuse in older adults.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Institute on Drug Abuse)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... A recent review examines current trends and projected prevalence of substance abuse in older adults, an area that has been relatively neglected, reported the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on September 29. In a report in the journal...

Study: cocaine users' brains suggests predisposition toward addiction.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... A recent study finds that abnormalities in cortical thickness in the brains of cocaine-abusing adults may be a reflection of both drug use and a preexisting inclination toward drug abuse, according to Hans C. Breiter, M.D.from Mass. General...

Drug-Free Work Week.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... October 20 through October 26 is Drug Free Work Week, and on the U.S. Department of Labor website (www.dol.gov), employers and associations can find ideas and access a Drug-Free Work Week Tool Box. The DOL cites research finding that 75 percent...

Study to examine performance-enhancing substances as gateway drugs.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... Supported by a $385,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Skidmore College professor of psychology Tonya Dodge, Ph.D. will study the Gateway Hypothesis, which proposes that using lower-risk legal drugs is a risk factor for...

SAMHSA announces numerous new grants.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has announced new awards, including: 20 new grants totaling $17.4 million to expand and/or enhance substance abuse treatment capabilities of "problem solving" courts; 79 new grants...

Idaho's Eye to Eye program teaches coping skills.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... The Idaho Drug Free Youth Project's Eye to Eye program will visit 30 communities around the state this year, working with youth and their families to improve relationships and boost coping skills as a means to deter drug and alcohol use. The...

Florida's Seminole Indians see increase in drug and alcohol problems.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... In the past ten years, the average age of death among Seminole Indians in Florida has decreased from close to 60 years in 1997 to 48 years in 2007, according to data obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Florida's statewide average age of...

Acura, King to submit NDA for novel abuse-deterrent pain medication.(BUSINESS)
October 20, 2008... Later this year Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACUR) and King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KG) are expected to submit a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for its Acurox tablet, a medication for moderate to severe pain designed to...

World Health Organization.(CALL FOR PARTICIPATION)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... The World Health Organization will hold a web-based public hearing during its creation of a "global strategy to combat the harmful use of alcohol". The WHO invites all interested parties (states, governmental institutions, academic and research...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
October 20, 2008... The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) will hold its 2008 Conference of Affiliates, "Managing in Times of Change," on October 22-25 in Kansas City, Missouri.For more information, visit www.ncadd.org. The American...

In case you haven't heard ...
October 20, 2008... Online gamblers believe they are more in control of their habit than casino gamblers, according to a new study by June Cotte and Kathryn Latour, "Blackjack in the Kitchen" published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Based on interviews 30...

SAMHSA report: states will bear more of substance abuse treatment cost burden.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Report)
October 27, 2008... The trend toward increased public financing of addiction treatment and reduced private sector financing will continue in future years, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published in...

Maryland counties seek efficiencies to assist in closing treatment gap.(Report)
October 27, 2008... Staring at data showing that thousands of Maryland residents cannot get needed drug treatment at the same time that counties routinely return unspent treatment funds to the state, leaders in two of the state's counties say they are looking for...

Untreated sex addiction can lead to relapse to alcohol/drug use.
October 27, 2008... Addiction treatment professionals who don't evaluate their patients for sex addiction are missing an important chance to reduce the likelihood of relapse, according to three experts interviewed by ADAW. By not treating any underlying sex...

House committee report charges ONDCP was used for political purposes.(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
October 27, 2008... A draft report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform charges that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was used to support Republican candidates whose offices were in jeopardy preceding the 2006 elections....

$1-billion National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign found ineffective.(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
October 27, 2008... The $1-billion National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, supervised by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and meant to discourage drug use by youths through advertising, was ineffective and even contributed to a slight increase...

Paper: public policy measures most effective in reducing alcohol-related harm.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Strong public policy measures would be more effective than clinical treatments or government initiatives in reducing alcohol-related harm, according to a paper by three of Britain's leading alcohol policy and treatment experts. While the...

Study examines cost effectiveness of combined behavioral/med treatment.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... The first prospective cost-effectiveness study of combinations of pharmaceutical and behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence appeared in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Gary A. Zarkin, Ph.D., and colleagues...

Narcotic painkillers over-prescribed, abused among injured troops.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Abuse of prescription painkillers is believed to be a significant and growing problem among injured U.S. troops, USA Today reported last week. Prescriptions have climbed from 30,000 to 50,000 a month since the Iraq war began. Recent court...

New Jersey's MatriArk program launches voting education course.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... A new "Voting Education for Women" program at the MatriArk Family Center in Jew Jersey means that many women who have never before voted will cast a ballot on November 4, Seabrook House reported on October 17. MatriArk is an inpatient program...

North Carolina to pilot Reclaiming Futures model.(STATE WATCH)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Six North Carolina communities have been awarded a total of $1.8 million in technical assistance and grants to adopt the Reclaiming Futures model, which recommends screening each juvenile who enters the justice system for drug and alcohol...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
October 27, 2008... The Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) will hold its 32nd National Conference on November 6-8 in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.amersa.org/conf.asp. The International Council on...

In case you haven't heard ...
October 27, 2008... When is a motivational incentive a kickback? If a doctor gave a Medicare patient a "motivational incentive" to return for another visit, that would be classified as a kickback and the doctor could have to pay monetary penalties. So an (unnamed)...