Federal Guidelines for Opioid Treatment Programs Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration This document provides updated guidelines for the operation of opioid treatment programs (OTPs). It covers patient assessment, treatment planning, medication-assisted treatment (methadone, buprenorphine and extended release naltrexone), overdose and relapse prevention, and recovery care. This is an excellent downloadable 82-page handbook of current treatment recommendations.
CARF is an international, independent, nonprofit accreditor of human service providers and networks. More than 8 million persons of all ages worldwide are served annually in CARF-accredited programs.
Accreditation demonstrates a provider’s commitment to enhancing the lives of persons served.
Visit www.carf.org or call (888) 281-6531 for more information.
FROM JOURNAL OF ADDICTION MEDICINE
Methamphetamines and Pregnancy Outcomes Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) This is a retrospective cohort study of women obtaining prenatal care from a clinic treating women with substance use disorders, on whom there are prospectively obtained data on MA and other drug use, including tobacco. Methamphetamine-exposed pregnancies were compared with non-MA exposed pregnancies and non-drug-exposed pregnancies, using univariate and multivariate analysis to control for confounders. This useful paper supplements similar, prospective long-term inquiries such as the IDEAL multi-site study.
Exhaled Electronic Cigarette Emissions: What’s Your Secondhand Exposure? RTI Press This is a concise, highly instructive review. Few studies have been published that assess secondhand exposure to e-cigarette emissions or have been performed using realistic exposure conditions. E-cigarette emissions contain nicotine, with its known pharmacological effects on neurotransmitters in the central and sympathetic nervous system that lead to addiction. E-cigarette emissions also contain numerous chemicals the FDA considers “generally regarded as safe” in food products; however, their inhalation toxicity is unknown.
Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products Institute of Medicine In 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad authorities over tobacco products, though it prohibited FDA from establishing a nationwide minimum age of legal access [MLA] for tobacco products above 18 years of age. It also directed FDA to convene a panel of experts to conduct a study on the public health implications of raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products. At FDA’s request, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened a committee in 2013 for this purpose. What follows is the outcome of epidemiological modeling for setting higher MLAs. The policy inferences are immediately evident.
April 2015 Marks 29th Alcohol Awareness Month National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. With this year's theme, “For the Health of It: Early Education on Alcoholism and Addiction,” the month of April 2015 will be filled with local, state, and national events aimed at educating people about the treatment and prevention of alcoholism, particularly among our youth, and the benefits of providing early education to give kids a better understanding of the impact that alcohol can have on their lives.
Characterizing Opioid Withdrawal During Double-Blind Buprenorphine Detoxification Drug and Alcohol Dependence This is a secondary analysis of data from a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind evaluation of 1, 2, and 4-week outpatient buprenorphine tapers among primary prescription opioid (PO) abusers. Although employing a modest enrollment, this study is valuable for demonstrating convincingly the advantages of a 4-week taper over a briefer interval, for those who have completed buprenorphine induction. Participants were 28 PO-dependent adults undergoing buprenorphine detoxification and biochemically-verified to be continuously abstinent from opioids during their taper.
Psychedelics Not Linked to Mental Health Problems or Suicidal Behavior: A Population Study Journal of Psychopharmacology A recent large population study of >130,000 adults in the United States failed to find evidence for a link between psychedelic use (lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin or mescaline) and mental health problems. Using a new data set consisting of 135,095 randomly selected United States adults, including 19,299 psychedelic users, the authors examine the associations between psychedelic use and mental health. This study appears to contradict many cherished beliefs about the neuropsychological impact of psychedelic use.
Kentucky: Heroin Bill Passes with Needle Exchange The Courier-Journal (Public media) The months of anguished pleas from parents and former addicts — Kentucky families gripped in a noxious heroin epidemic — found some resolution Tuesday as a landmark bill to improve drug treatment and clamp down on dealers won passage in the legislature.
Indiana Races to Fight HIV Surge Tied to Drug Abuse The New York Times (Public media) More than 80 people in Scott County have tested positive for H.I.V. since December, mostly in the last few weeks. They range in age from 20 to 56, and health officials say almost all of them live in Austin, which sits along Interstate 65 about 80 miles south of Indianapolis, surrounded by rural space. The outbreak, the worst in Indiana’s history, stems largely from the intravenous use of the prescription painkiller Opana [oxymorphone], which everyone from the police to pastors to the owner of the city’s sole grocery recognizes as a plague on one ragged neighborhood in particular.
The Shared Neuroanatomy and Neurobiology of Comorbid Chronic Pain and PTSD: Therapeutic Implications The Clinical Journal of Pain Clinical research demonstrates that patients who are affected by chronic pain and PTSD in combination experience greater pain, affective distress, and disability than patients with either condition alone. Additional research is needed to delineate the interrelated pathophysiology of chronic pain and PTSD, with the goal of facilitating more effective therapies to treat both conditions more effectively; current treatment strategies for chronic pain associated with PTSD have limited efficacy and place a heavy burden on patients, who must visit various specialists to manage these conditions separately.
Come to the First-Ever Associate Member Roundtable ASAM On Friday, April 24, 2015, ASAM will hold the first-ever Associate Member Roundtable. The purpose of this interactive roundtable is for Associate Members to learn from one another by sharing challenges and successes. The session will include small group discussions among your peers to dive deeper into topics that matter to Associate Members. The Roundtable will be facilitated by Brian Hurley, Co-Chair of the Membership Committee. Members of the board and ASAM staff will also be in attendance.
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The views and positions of any content published in ASAM Weekly are not necessarily endorsed by ASAM nor a reflection of ASAM's beliefs and policies. The features are presented as a summary of the contemporary issues being represented and expressed in scientific, governmental, commercial, and media sources across the specialty field of addiction medicine. Contact ASAM Weekly with any comments or feedback.