Editorial: Intimate Partner Violence and Co-Occurring Substance Abuse/Addiction Richard G. Soper, MD, JD, MS, FASAM, DABAM, Editor-in-Chief Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Recent national media attention has increased discussion regarding this significant health care issue. Substance abuse has been found to co-occur in 40-60% of IPV incidents across various studies. Several lines of evidence suggest that substance use/abuse plays a facilitative role in IPV by precipitating or exacerbating violence. Some studies also suggest the benefit of interventions that focus on substance abuse/addiction in men who have histories of IPV...
Adult Drug Courts and Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence SAMHSA This guide highlights the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid dependence in drug courts. It reviews effective medications, including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, and provides strategies to increase the use of MAT in drug court programs.
Development and Regulation of Abuse-Deterrent Formulations of Opioid Medications; Public Meeting FDA On October 30 and 31, 2014, the FDA will host a public meeting at the Sheraton, Silver Spring, MD to discuss the development, assessment, and regulation of abuse-deterrent formulations of opioid medications. The meeting will focus on scientific and technical issues related to the development and in vitro assessment of these products, as well as the FDA’s approach towards assessing the benefits and risks of all opioid medications, including those with abuse-deterrent properties. The meeting is open for registration.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Stringent Weaning Protocol Best Pediatrics Use of a stringent protocol to treat neonatal narcotic abstinence syndrome (NAS) reduces the duration of opioid exposure as well as the length of hospital stay, according to a new study. The benefits of a stringent protocol are significant, regardless of the opioid used for treatment.
Continuing Care Research: What We Have Learned and Where We Are Going Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment In the field of addiction treatment, the term continuing care has been used to indicate the stage of treatment that follows an initial episode of more intensive care. This article reviews controlled studies of continuing care conducted over the prior 20 years. The results indicate that continuing care interventions were more likely to produce positive treatment effects when they had a longer planned duration, made more active efforts to deliver treatment to patients, and were studied more recently.
Research on the Diffusion of Evidence-Based Treatments within Substance Abuse Treatment: A Systematic Review Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment This article provides a comprehensive review of research studies that have examined the diffusion of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) within the field of substance abuse treatment. Sixty-five research studies were identified and were grouped into one of three major classifications: attitudes toward EBTs, adoption of EBTs, and implementation of EBTs.
Max A. Schneider, MD, FASAM, Former ASAM President has Passed Away ASAM Max A. Schneider, MD, FASAM former President of ASAM passed away Sunday, September 28. He was 92 years old. Dr. Schneider was known to many in the medical community as one of the founding fathers of training and education in the field of addiction medicine. He dedicated his life to advocating for improvements in addiction education and authored numerous publications and films on the subject of alcoholism. He had a long career as a practitioner and as an instructor. His accomplishments were recognized with awards from the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the California Medical Association.
ASAM's Lou Baxter and Michael Shore Join New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at Addiction Summit ASAM New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Pastor Joe A. Carter held a summit on the stigma of drug addiction. “The Many Faces of Addiction: Ending The Stigma” featured a series of panel discussions, including ASAM Past President Lou Baxter, MD and Mike Strong, MD, FASAM, focused on bringing many voices together in an effort to change the way we talk and think about addiction.
HIV Risk Reduction with Buprenorphine-Naloxone or Methadone: Findings from a Randomized Trial Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes This study compares HIV injecting and sex risk in patients being treated with methadone (MET) or buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP). Among MET and BUP patients who remained in treatment, HIV injecting risk was equally and markedly reduced; however, MET retained more patients. Sex risk was equally and significantly reduced among females in both treatment conditions, but it increased for males on BUP and decreased for males on MET.
Eric Holder Questions Marijuana's Legal Status as He Prepares to Leave Justice Department Vox On the eve of his reported resignation, US Attorney General Eric Holder said in an interview with Yahoo News that it's time to reconsider marijuana's legal classification in the federal government's scheduling system. A reclassification could dramatically shift how the federal government handles marijuana in the war on drugs and provide some legal legitimacy to medical marijuana at the federal level.
NIH Funds Next Phase of Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health will award funds to support the next phase of its Tissue Chip for Drug Screening program to improve ways of predicting drug safety and effectiveness. Researchers will collaborate over three years to refine existing 3-D human tissue chips and combine them into an integrated system that can mimic the complex functions of the human body...
At Providence Forum, Critics Assail Push to Legalize Marijuana Providence Journal Dr. Stuart Gitlow, President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said that drug addiction is based on three characteristics: genetic abnormality, abnormal coping skills and living in a society where the drug is accepted and promoted. He wondered why the United States seems determined to legalize marijuana and ignore the problems associated with the drug.
Richard G. Soper, MD, JD, MS, FASAM, Editor-in-Chief, ASAM Weekly
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