Behavioral Health Barometer, 2014 SAMHSA This 30-page document is the second edition of the Behavioral Health Barometer: United States, one of a series of state and national reports that provide a snapshot of behavioral health in the United States. It provides excellent, rapidly-comprehensible graphic displays of trends and point-in-time states of drug use and behavioral disorders. This edition represents data collection efforts sponsored by SAMHSA, including the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services...
Mania After Misuse of Dextromethorphan: A Case Report and Brief Review of “Robotripping” Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) Dextromethorphan (DXM) in combination with antihistamines and/or pseudoephedrine is widely available as an over-the-counter cold remedy, for its role in suppressing cough. In supratherapeutic amounts, DXM can be extremely activating, thus inviting misuse. Acting at a number of sites, but at higher doses on the NMDA receptor array, MDX yields a ketamine-like dissociative syndrome. This single-case report by Cornel Stanciu & Penders enlarges the literature of DXM-associated effects, in this case documenting a syndrome mimicking bipolar mania.
ABAM Certifies 651 New Diplomates, and the ABAM Foundation Accredits Four More Fellowship Programs The ABAM Foundation The number of newly certified addiction medicine specialists represents the largest group of physicians to be certified in a single year, bringing the total number of ABAM diplomates (physicians certified by ABAM) to 3,363. With the addition of the four new fellowship programs, the total number of ABAM Foundation accredited addiction medicine training programs has reached 27...
President Requests Historic Levels of Funding for Public Health Responses to Illicit Drug Use Office of National Drug Control Policy On February 2nd, Michael Botticelli, Acting Director of ONDCP, announced drug-related requests in the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget. The President’s Budget, submitted to the U.S. Congress, contains over $12 billion in Federal funds for reducing drug use in the United States for fiscal year 2016 through prevention and treatment programs – an increase of more than $768 million over the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. Combined with supply reduction funding, a total of nearly $27.6 billion dollars was requested for Federal drug control programs for 2016...
National Practice Guideline for Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Public Comment Period- February 12-19 ASAM On February 12th, a draft of the National Practice Guideline for Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Addiction will be available for public comment for one week. This is an opportunity for members and the public to participate in the external review and provide comments.
CSAT Seeks New Director SAMHSA The Director, CSAT provides leadership in planning, implementing, and evaluating the Center's goals and is the prime mover in SAMHSA's effort to improve and expand treatment for substance use disorders; plans, directs, and provides overall administration for the programs of CSAT; coordinates Center consumer education functions and develops consumer education strategies and materials; and monitors the conduct of equal employment opportunity activities of CSAT. The application window is 31 January to 02 March, 2015.
Public Comment Requested on Criteria for Community Clinics Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) SAMHSA is seeking public comment on the draft criteria for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. Public comments are aggregated and analyzed, and figure significantly in policy development and implementation. Time spent completing the survey form has the potential to influence configuration and placement of these clinics, which will focus on: improving outcomes by increasing access to community-based behavioral health care, expanding the availability and array of services, and improving the quality of care delivered to people with mental and/or substance use disorders.
Cannabinoid CB2 Receptors in Brain Reward Systems National Institute on Drug Abuse In this study, Haiying Zhang and fellow researchers located CB2 receptors and their genes in dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area, a brain area that is involved in reward and drug addiction. Distinct from CB1 receptors, CB2 receptors have been long associated with immune cell function. Activation of these receptors in the VTA caused a reduction in cocaine self-administration by mice, suggesting a role for these receptors in modulating reward from cocaine.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Intranasal Ketamine in Major Depressive Disorder Biological Psychiatry Patients showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms at 24 hours after ketamine compared to placebo. This study by Kyle Lapidus & colleagues at Mt. Sinai provided the first controlled evidence for the rapid antidepressant effects of intranasal ketamine. Treatment was associated with minimal adverse effects. This was a safety/efficacy trial and the evaluation point was at 24 hours, so the efficacy over a longer period is unknown; it is worth bearing in mind that several medications in the stimulant category are capable of a similar effect. If replicated in a longer trial, these findings may lead to novel, glutamate receptor-centered approaches to the treatment of patients with major depression.
Dying to be Free HuffPost This eight-chapter examination of treatment for opioid as well as other addictions in rural Kentucky has broad national applicability, but will engender controversy in the treatment community. The case-based descriptions of failures in treatment settings underscore several themes, among them: the role of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders; the risks associated with reverse tolerance; the persisting view of addictions as simply behaviors which yield to modification at some point, rather than as chronic, relapsing, progressive disorders; and the lethality intrinsic to use of drugs of unknown potency. As with any popular press item, there is a risk of emphasis on the negative and fearful. Our readers should be prepared for reactive vilification and criticism of 12-step programs, and be able to speak to
their appropriate employment in the management of this complex array of illnesses that we term “addiction.”
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