Positive By-Products of the Struggle with Chemical Dependency Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Focus groups were conducted to identify ways persons in recovery from chemical dependence think they have benefited from their struggles with addiction. Several of the positive by-products discussed by the focus group participants are commonly reported from other kinds of challenging life experiences.
Association of Race and Age with Treatment Attendance and Completion Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) African American youth who use marijuana are less likely to attend and complete treatment than white youth. This study examined differences in community-based substance abuse treatment attendance and completion between adult African American and white marijuana users in 2 independent samples from the US southeastern and mid-Atlantic regions.
Prescriptions for Opioids Stabilizing After Fivefold Increase in 10-Year Span Effectiveness of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Varies by State Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health evaluated the impact of state-wide prescription drug monitoring programs and found that after tripling until 2007, annual rates of prescriptions for opioid analgesics have stabilized although the effects of PDMPs on opioid dispensing vary markedly by state.
Call for Abstracts: Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine Meeting Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine The 25th Annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine will be in Ottawa from October 16-18th. Its theme of “Evolving Perspectives on Addiction” will look at addiction care from various points of view that have changed over time. Abstracts will be accepted until May 1.
Depressive Symptoms and Cannabis Use Among Cannabis-Dependent Veterans Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) This study examined the cross-sectional associations between depressive symptoms and cannabis use, and the mediating role of positive and negative expectancies of cannabis use. Depressive symptoms, particularly cognitive-affective symptom features, may be important to consider in better understanding positive cannabis effect expectancies...
Trends in Benzodiazepine Prescription and Co-Prescription with Opioids in the United States, 2002––2009 American Academy of Pain Medicine Escalating opioid prescriptions and prescription-related deaths have drawn increasing alarm. However, opioids are often not the sole culprit, as more than one type of drug is often specified as contributing to these deaths, with benzodiazepines as the most frequently cited medication.
ADHD in Young Children: Predictors of Diagnostic Stability Pediatrics (Article free with registration) Young children who underwent comprehensive developmental and psychological assessments before receiving an ADHD diagnosis had higher rates of diagnostic stability than in previous studies of community samples. Child and family factors that predict diagnostic stability have the potential to guide treatment planning for children diagnosed with ADHD before 7 years of age.
What Does it Take for Primary Care Practices to Truly Deliver Behavioral Healthcare? JAMA Psychiatry In what may be the largest state government behavioral health endeavor nationally, New York State is more than midway into a federally supported initiative to fully integrate behavioral health care into ambulatory, primary care resident training sites, beginning with selected academic medical centers.
Russians Rule Out Legalizing Marijuana – and Methadone for Addiction Treatment Russian Times The head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service has called marijuana a dangerous gateway drug and said the authorities did not plan to legalize it, or to allow methadone treatment for heroin addicts.
IQ and Drug Use The Fix Researchers have found that those with high childhood IQs are more prone to illegal drug use as adults. But what does this correlation really mean?
Could Behavioral Medicine Lead the Web Data Revolution? Journal of the American Medical Association Digital footprints left on search engines, social media, and social networking sites can be aggregated and analyzed as health proxies, yielding anonymous and instantaneous insights. The proportion of illness (or death) attributable to health behaviors or psychological well-being has steadily increased over the last half century, while surveillance of these outcomes has remained largely unchanged.
Leading Experts in Addiction Medicine to Headline RX Drug Abuse Summit National Rx Drug Abuse Summit The National Rx Drug Abuse Summit - the largest national meeting of professionals impacted by Rx drug abuse - will be held April 22-24, 2014, in Atlanta, GA. Directors from the CDC, NIDA, NIH and FDA and actor/producer Matthew Perry will give keynote presentations. ASAM members can get a $100 discount on registration by mentioning their membership.
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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.