Parents More Important Than School in Preventing Use of
Alcohol, Marijuana Use
A new
study concludes that parental involvement is more important than the school
environment in preventing or limiting children’s use of alcohol or marijuana.
Researchers evaluated data from more than 10,000 students, parents, teachers
and school administrators. They looked at “family social capital”—bonds between
parents and children—as well as “school social capital”—a school’s ability to
provide a positive environment for learning, Science Daily reports. Measures of family social capital
include trust, open communication and active engagement in a child’s life,
while school social capital includes student involvement in extracurricular
activities, teacher morale and the teachers’ ability to address student needs.
“Parents play an important role in shaping the decisions their children make
when it comes to alcohol and marijuana,” study co-author Dr. Toby Parcel of
North Carolina State University said in a news
release. “To be clear, school programs that address alcohol and marijuana
use are definitely valuable, but the bonds parents form with their children are
more important. Ideally, we can have both.” The researchers found students with
high levels of family social capital and low school social capital levels were
less likely to have used either marijuana or alcohol, or to have used them less
frequently, compared with students with high levels of school social capital
and low family social capital. The study appears in Journal of Drug Issues.
A new prescription to treat prescription
drug abuse
Prescription
drugs have arguably become more dangerous to addicts than street drugs. The
pharmaceutical industry may now have uncovered an effective treatment that
reduces dependence by restoring the functions that opioids disrupt, and it
presents the manufacturer with a major market opportunity for its therapy. A
recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that over
30,000 people were killed from prescription drug abuse in 2008, which now
exceeds the death toll from illegal drugs. Car accidents took just slightly
more lives. The cost of painkiller abuse can exceed US$70 billion annually, the
report noted. That does not include the social problems they perpetuate and
addicts’ lost or stalled potentials. Clinical trials are now underway in New
York to determine the efficacy of MediciNova’s Ibudilast for treating
dependency involving prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, and
Vicodin. The drug is a powerful anti-inflammatory that is usually indicated
for patients suffering from asthma and strokes. It is helpful in the treatment
of addiction, because it crosses the blood brain barrier and restores normal
“glial cell” activity. That has the benefit of diminishing the intense opioid
cravings that can cause prescription drug abusers to relapse.
“The drug
of abuse can cause physical neuronal damage that may take a significant
period of time to correct,” said MediciNova chief scientific officer, Dr. Kirk
Johnson. “So it is expected that MN-166 (the test code for Ibudilast) would be
a therapy subjects would take for a considerable period of time to
successfully manage initial withdrawal and the high-risk period for
relapse.” That is, after the FDA approves it for sale.
MediciNova
estimates that it could take five years for Ibudilast to come to market in the
United States. The drug been approved in Japan for the aforementioned uses for
over 15 years, and has a safety database of millions of patients, Johnson said.
It would be taken at home, and a course of treatment could last between 6-18 months,
or until the patient’s brain has recovered and necessary lifestyle changes have
been made. The prescription trial was announced last month, and is being funded
by the National Institutes for Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National
Institutes of Health. Another trial is already underway to determine whether
Ibudilast would be helpful in treating methamphetamine addiction. Alleviation
of withdrawal symptoms and a reduction in relapses has been observed in animal
models, Johnson noted. If approved, MediciNova believes that it will be able to
meet demands based on NIDA’s assumption that 20 percent of the 350,000+ meth
addicts would seek a pharmaceutical treatment every year. The number of
prescription abusers is even higher, but MediciNova says that it will be able
to manufacture required amounts. MediciNova cannot comment on a price point
yet, but cited Dr. Phil Skolnick, director of pharmacotherapies & medical
consequences of drug abuse at NIDA stating that a $1,000/month price point for
a six-month course of treatment was reasonable. The market opportunity is well
above $400M per annum for meth alone.
Reckitt
Benckiser currently sells over $1.2B of Suboxone, a drug used for treating
opioid dependence, annually, a MediciNova spokesperson said. When asked if it
was ironic that a prescription drug will be used to wean people off of other
prescription drugs, Johnson demurred, noting that some drugs are safer than
others. “It is not really ironic at all; not all prescription drugs are created
equal, and opioids especially are hazardous to long-term health (and
potentially, if abused, short-term health as well),” he said.
Psychiatric
Association Creates Category of “Substance Use and Addictive Disorders”
The
American Psychiatric Association has approved a new edition of its Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that combines substance
abuse and dependence into a single category of “substance use and addictive
disorders.” The DSM is the official guide to classifying psychiatric illness,
according to The Wall Street Journal. Currently, substance abuse is
defined as short-term binging, while substance dependence is considered to be
addiction, the article notes. The new spectrum of substance use and addictive
disorders includes 11 specific symptoms. These include the inability to cut
down or meet obligations at home or at work.
The
spectrum’s severity will be judged based on how many criteria a patient meets.
A person with two or three will be diagnosed with a mild disorder, while
someone who meets six or more will be diagnosed with a more severe disorder.
While supporters of the change say it will make it easier to spot problems
earlier, some opponents say it could pathologize occasional binging.
The
changes to the manual come after more than a decade of discussion and debate.
They can affect who qualifies for subsidized services, insurance reimbursements
and treatment programs. Another major change in the DSM-5 is the combination of
subcategories of autism, such as Asperger’s syndrome, into one category of
autism spectrum disorder. The manual also creates a new diagnosis of disruptive
mood dysregulation disorder, for children with frequent behavioral outbursts.
The new edition of the manual will be published next spring.
Physician,
Heal Thyself
Physicians
aren't much different than anyone else when it comes to susceptibility to
addiction and prescription drug abuse. In fact, as a group, they may be
more vulnerable. In the bible, Luke 4:23, Jesus reiterated what he knew
the crowd of disbelievers was saying and thinking: "Physician, heal
yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in
Capernaum." In short, Jesus' reply was that it doesn't work that
way. Please review the Star Ledger article attached below, "Surgeon
facing Rx drug charges" in the November 30, 2012 paper. In fact in
today's world, it doesn't work that way either. Many physicians with the
family gene of addiction plus easy access to prescription drugs are likely
candidates for prescription drug abuse and addiction. In spite of their degree,
their background, their experience and their knowledge, they are
vulnerable. Because of their status in our society it becomes much more
difficult for them to admit "I am and addict or I am an
alcoholic." In fact, such an admission will most likely jeopardize
their livelihood, their family and even their future, but without the
recognition of their own disease, it is unlikely that they will receive the
help and the treatment and the recovery support that they desperately need.
This is a major problem with many physicians and other medical staff as
you might well imagine. So here's my advice to all medical staff with the
disease of addiction: You can recover from this disease and you
will resume normal relations and recognition by your, family, your patients and
the public, once you accept the disease and once you treat the
disease and once you understand the lifetime recovery protocol essential
to maintaining a clean and sober lifestyle. Talking to physicians and medical
personnel: "How do you do this?"
- First you should understand that it is not essential to
blab to any and all people you meet about your disease. "I'm
Bob and I'm an alcoholic" is not the only way to start for all people
with this disease.
- Second however, it is essential that you
admit to yourself and your loved ones that you have this disease.
- Third, it is essential that you reach out for advice
and for help. Treatment and recovery support can come in all
different shapes and sizes. One approach does not necessarily fit
all. We have over 200 public and private treatment programs in New
Jersey alone, and all states have treatment that is available and
affordable.
- Fourth, it is essential that you understand the nature
of this disease and the nature of its' "cure." The disease is
relentless and not to be taken lightly and there is no
"cure." In other words, the disease will always be part of
you even though you're not drinking or drugging.
- Fifth, the disease can be arrested and it is a fact
that millions of people have learned to live their lives clean and sober
and always in recovery, one day at a time.
- Sixth, it is similar to other medical diseases such as
diabetes and hypertension in that it can be arrested and controlled with
the right protocol.
Is medical
marijuana safe for children?
Like some
cancer patients in states where it's allowed, Mykayla Comstock uses cannabis as
part of her treatment.
Comstock
is 7-years old. Her mother, a long time advocate for medical use of the illegal
drug, has been giving her a gram of oral cannabis oil every day. Despite the
fact that medical marijuana is legal in Oregon, where Comstock lives, the idea
of giving it to a child still gives pause to many adults who associate the drug
with recreational use that breaks the law. As reported by ABC News, Mykayla was
diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July. Against her doctor's
wishes, her mother, Erin Purchase, began giving her lime-flavored capsules
filled with cannabis oil after she had a poor response to her initial
chemotherapy treatment. Her doctors suggested a bone marrow transplant, but
while she was taking the medical marijuana, she went into remission in August.
She continues to rely on cannabis to ease pain and nausea and her mother plans
to continue giving her the drug during the additional two to three years of
chemotherapy she still faces. Purchase believes that certain components in
marijuana, which show anti-cancer activity in many early studies, helped spark
the remission. Mykayla's current doctor knows she takes the capsules, but
doesn't discuss the marijuana as part of her medical therapy.
Experts like Igor Grant of the University
of California's Center for Medical Cannabis Research warn that the effects of
the drug on child development are unknown. But the same is true for other
medications used to fight pain and nausea that are currently given to children
with cancer, as well as for powerful antipsychotic drugs that are used in long
term treatment of childhood mental illnesses. Opioid drugs like morphine and
Oxycontin, which are sometimes used to treat the severe pain that accompanies
life-threatening cancer and other diseases, for example, can cause overdoses.
Although marijuana can be addictive, addiction rates are often lower than those
to opioid drugs, and discontinuing opioids is associated with severe physical
withdrawal symptoms not seen with marijuana. While opioids can cause nausea and
vomiting, marijuana reduces the risk of these symptoms that frequently plague
cancer patients as side effects of radiation or chemotherapy. Advocates like
Purchase argue that if opioids are acceptable to treat youngsters' cancer pain,
then marijuana should be as well.
The
American Academy of Pediatrics, however, disagrees, and opposes the use of
marijuana to treat young children, citing its addictive potential and the many
unknowns about how it may affect developing bodies. The Institute of Medicine
(IOM), a scientific group of experts consulted by Congress, analyzed the
available data and since 1999 has acknowledged that certain legitimate medical
uses of marijuana are worth additional study. While the panel noted that many
effective treatments already exist to relieve nausea and cancer pain, it
recognized that for some patients who may not respond to these therapies, the
components in marijuana may be helpful. The group's main objection to the drug
was its use in smoked preparations, which is not an issue in this case. The
IOM's report highlights the need for much more research into understanding
medicinal uses of marijuana -- including for which symptoms or conditions it
might be most effective, and for which patients. Those concerns are magnified
when it comes to treating children like Comstock, who often are not included in
clinical trials because of their young age, and who may have many more years to
contend with any possible side effects of the drug.
Some
experts point out that not all of marijuana's components, and their effects on
the body, have been studied, not to mention well understood. Without more
research, both doctors and parents will continue to face the difficult decision
of giving youngsters a compound and hoping it will do more good than harm.
Drug Combination May Help Treat Cocaine Addiction, Study
Suggests
A new
study suggests combining the anti-seizure drug topiramate with amphetamines may
help treat cocaine addiction. The Los Angeles Times reports topiramate has
shown promise in treating nicotine and alcohol dependence, while amphetamines
are used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Both classes of
drugs have been tested independently as a treatment for cocaine addiction.
Topiramate is slow to take effect, while amphetamines have not shown promise by
themselves as a treatment for cocaine dependence. No single drug has been
proven effective in treating cocaine addiction, the article notes. In the new
study, 39 people with cocaine dependence were given the drug combination for
120 days, while 42 received a placebo. Those who received the drug combination
were about twice as likely to be abstinent from cocaine use for three
consecutive weeks (33 percent vs. 16.7 percent). Participants in both groups
received psychotherapy designed to keep them on their medication, while
avoiding street drugs. The combination treatment appeared to work within a few
weeks. Previous studies of topiramate alone indicated the drug took eight weeks
to show an effect. The new treatment seemed most effective in those who used
cocaine most frequently. The combination appears to correct several chemical
imbalances in the brain caused by frequent use of cocaine, the researchers note
in the journal Biological Psychiatry. “The combination of mixed amphetamine
salts and topiramate appears promising as a treatment for cocaine dependence,”
the researchers from Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric
Institute noted in a news release. “The positive results observed in this study
need to be replicated in a larger, multicenter clinical trial. The findings
also provide encouragement for the strategy of testing medication combinations,
rather than single agents, for cocaine dependence.”
Research
reveals why some teenagers more prone to binge drinking
New
research helps explain why some teenagers are more prone to drinking alcohol
than others. The study, led by King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry
(IoP) and published in Proceedings
of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
provides the most detailed understanding yet of the brain processes involved in
teenage alcohol abuse. Alcohol and other addictive drugs activate the dopamine
system in the brain which is responsible for feelings of pleasure and reward.
Recent studies from King's IoP found that the RASGRF2 gene is a risk gene for
alcohol abuse, however, the exact mechanism involved in this process has, until
now, remained unknown. Click
here for the rest of the story.
Study of Genetics, Environment and Alcoholism Leads to
Pilot Prevention Program
Genes
explain about 60 percent of the risk for alcoholism, while the environment
accounts for the rest, according to an expert who has developed a pilot program
to prevent high-risk drinking in college freshman. Marc
A. Schuckit, MD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of
California, San Diego, based the first evaluation of a prevention program on
his 30 years of research in the field, with more than 400 families. Dr.
Schuckit recently discussed how genes and the environment relate to the risk
for alcoholism at the Association for Medical Education and Research in
Substance Abuse annual meeting. He explained the risk factors that impact
alcoholism. “Genes operate through these risk factors,” he notes.
One risk
factor is having a low sensitivity to alcohol. “Some people are a good deal
less sensitive to alcohol from the very first time they drink,” Dr. Schuckit
says. “They require higher doses of alcohol to get the effect they want.” Low
sensitivity to alcohol is seen in groups of people at high risk for alcoholism,
including children of alcoholics and Native Americans, he adds. Low sensitivity
to alcohol predicts alcoholism and alcohol-related problems, he says.
This low
sensitivity interacts with factors in the environment that magnify the risk,
such as associating with heavy-drinking peers, higher levels of life stress and
using alcohol to cope with that stress. During the course of his research, Dr.
Schuckit has identified four genes related to the low response to alcohol. His
pilot program for 64 students, which he has tested with incoming freshman at
the University of California, San Diego, used a questionnaire to identify those
with low-and high-alcohol responses. All the selected students, including equal
numbers of those with low-and high-alcohol responses, participated in one of
two prevention programs, one with an emphasis on how the low response leads to
heavy drinking, and one with general information on how to decrease drinking
but no mention of the low response. Those students who had a low response to
alcohol decreased their drinking more when in the first program compared to the
more general education sessions. “The program looks very promising,” he said.
“It helps students realize their specific risk and to modify their drinking.”
The study results, published earlier this year in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, suggest
that tailoring prevention efforts to address specific predisposing factors,
such as a low response to alcohol, may help reduce these students’ drinking. He
is planning on beginning a much larger, potentially more definitive study in
2013.
Synthetic Marijuana Sent 11,000 People to Emergency
Rooms in 2010
More than
11,000 people ended up in emergency rooms after using synthetic marijuana in
2010, according to a new government report. Most were teenagers and young
adults, USA Today reports. Synthetic marijuana, commonly known as K2 or Spice,
is a mixture of herbs, spices or shredded plant material that is typically
sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive
ingredient in marijuana. K2 is typically sold in small, silvery plastic bags of
dried leaves and marketed as incense that can be smoked. It is said to resemble
potpourri. Short term effects include loss of control, lack of pain response,
increased agitation, pale skin, seizures, vomiting, profuse sweating,
uncontrolled spastic body movements, elevated blood pressure, heart rate and
palpitations. In addition to physical signs of use, users may experience severe
paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and increased agitation.
The new
report, from the federal government’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, is the first
to analyze the impact of synthetic marijuana, the newspaper notes. The report
found 12-to-17-year-olds accounted for one-third of the emergency room visits,
while young adults ages 18 to 24 accounted for an additional 35 percent. Among
patients ages 12 to 29, the report found 59 percent of those who paid visits to
the emergency room for synthetic marijuana use had no evidence of other
substances. In 2010, marijuana sent 461,028 people to the emergency room. In
July, President Obama signed legislation that bans synthetic drugs. The law
bans harmful chemicals in synthetic drugs such as those used to make synthetic
marijuana and bath salts.
Study Finds Possible Link Between Gene Variation and
Teen Binge Drinking
Scientists
in London have found a genetic variation that may play a role in binge drinking
in teenagers, Reuters reports. The two-phase study included mice and teenage
boys. “People seek out situations which fulfill their sense of reward and make
them happy, so if your brain is wired to find alcohol rewarding, you will seek
it out,” lead researcher Professor Gunter Schumann of King’s College Institute
of Psychiatry in London said in a news release.
The
researchers found that a gene called RASGRF-2 is important in controlling how
alcohol stimulates the brain to release the brain chemical dopamine, which
triggers feelings of reward. Previous studies have suggested that this gene
increases the risk for alcohol abuse, but the mechanism was unclear, the
article notes. The researchers began by studying mice whose RASGRF-2 gene was
removed, to see how they would react to alcohol. The lack of the gene was found
to significantly reduce alcohol-seeking activity in the mice. When the rodents
did consume alcohol, the lack of the gene reduced the activity of
dopamine-releasing activity in the brain, and limited any sense of reward. The
scientists then analyzed brain scans of 663 teenage boys. They found when the
boys were expecting a reward in a mental test, those with genetic variations in
the RASGRF-2 gene had more activity in the brain involved in dopamine release.
This suggests people with the genetic variation release more dopamine when they
anticipate a reward, and get more pleasure out of it, the researchers said. Two
years later, the researchers retested the boys, many of whom had begun drinking
frequently. Those with the gene variation drank more often than those without
it. Their findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Substance Abuse Much More Likely in Adults with Mental
Illness: Report
Substance
dependence or abuse is much more likely to occur in adults with a mental
illness, compared with those without mental health problems, according to a new
government report. An estimated 17.5 percent of those with a mental illness,
and more than 22 percent of those with a serious mental illness, met the
criteria for substance dependence or abuse. In contrast, 5.8 percent of those
without a mental illness met the criteria, HealthDay reports.
Two
million 12-to-17-year-olds had a major depressive episode in the previous year.
These young people were more than twice as likely to use illicit drugs during
that year, compared with their peers who did not have a major depressive
episode (26 percent vs. 17 percent). The 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health found one in five adults in the United States—45.6 million people—had a
mental illness in the past year. Nearly 30 percent of young adults ages 18 to
25 had a mental illness, compared with about 14 percent for those 50 and older.
The survey found 23 percent of women had a mental illness in the previous year,
compared with 16 percent of men. “Although mental illness remains a serious
public health issue, increasingly we know that people who experience it can be
successfully treated and can live full, productive lives,” Pamela S. Hyde, head
of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said in a
news release. “Like other medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease or
diabetes, the key to recovery is identifying the problem and taking active
measures to treat it as soon as possible.”
Law Enforcement Alerted to Possible Influx of
Painkillers From Canada
The White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has alerted U.S. law
enforcement to prepare for a potential influx of painkillers from Canada, which
has given approval to six generic drug companies to manufacture oxycodone
products. The Wall Street Journal reports R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of
National Drug Control Policy, called Canada’s health minister last week to talk
about the issue. He offered assistance in fighting prescription drug abuse, a
major concern in both the United States and Canada. ONDCP sent an alert to law
enforcement agencies, warning them to look for inexpensive oxycodone products.
The drugs could hit the market as early as next month, the alert notes. “The
potential exists for diversion into the United States because the old
formulations, which are easier to abuse, are unavailable in the United States,”
the alert stated. The United States will face a similar decision about whether
to approve generic versions of powerful painkillers. A U.S. patent on the
original formulation of OxyContin will expire next April, the article notes.
Generic versions of the painkiller Opana will become more widely available on
January 1, unless the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes action.
“We’ve got
a big problem coming up here,” April Rovero, President of the National
Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, told the newspaper. “It’s horrifying
to think of what’s going to befall us when these drugs hit the market.”
U.S.
Representative Harold Rogers of Kentucky met with FDA officials last week to
urge them not to allow generic versions of OxyContin and Opana. “I am
frustrated beyond belief,” he said. “If we don’t address these issues before
January 1, we are going to face a fresh wave of deaths, which is totally
avoidable.”
New Poll Finds 51 Percent of Americans Support
Legalization of Marijuana
A poll
released Wednesday finds 51 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana,
while 44 percent oppose it. Men and younger voters are more likely to support
legalization, Reuters reports. The Quinnipiac University poll was released a
month after voters in Colorado and Washington state approved the recreational
use of marijuana. The drug remains illegal under federal law. “With the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes legal in about 20 states, and Washington and
Colorado voting this November to legalize the drug for recreational use, American
voters seem to have a more favorable opinion about this once-dreaded drug,”
Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said in a news
release. Two-thirds of voters under age 29 support legalizing marijuana; a
majority of voters over age 65 oppose the idea. “It seems likely, however, that
given the better than two-to-one majority among younger voters, legalization is
just a matter of time,” Brown said. The poll found 59 percent of men, and 44
percent of women, want marijuana to be legalized.
What does rising
prescription drug abuse mean for the war on drugs?
The
drugs of choice for an increasing number of Americans are prescription painkillers.
Nowhere is the problem more apparent than Houston, where the renowned medical
center area has become “a national hotspot for prescription drug abuse,”
according to a recent story in the Houston Chronicle. The paper reported in
November that a Drug Enforcement Administration operation dubbed “King of the
Pill” shut down “pill mills” in raids that were the culmination of an
eight-month investigation involving 14 state and local agencies. As policymakers grapple with how to
address this growing problem — including a quiet
reassessment of U.S. policies that focus on keeping illegal drugs out of
the country — drug policy experts at the Baker Institute ask: What does rising
prescription drug abuse mean for the “war on drugs”? Nonresident drug policy
fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence in the Houston Field Division of
the Drug Enforcement Administration, leads off this three-day installment of
Baker Institute Viewpoints by laying out the scope of the problem.
Prescription
drug abuse is the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem. Some studies suggest
that it has reached epidemic proportions, with prescription drugs being the
second-most abused category of drugs after marijuana. Some people experiment
with prescription drugs because they think they will help them have more fun,
lose weight, fit in, or study better. The National Survey on Drug Use and
Health shows that in 2009, nearly one-third of teens using drugs for the first
time chose to experiment with a prescription drug. The same study shows that
more than 70 percent of people who abused prescription pain relievers got them
from family members or acquaintances, while approximately 5 percent got them
from a street dealer or via the Internet. There is also a misguided belief that
“medications” are safer than illegal drugs because they are prescribed by a
medical doctor. Doctors are reportedly prescribing more drugs for more health
problems than in the past, and Internet pharmacies often provide prescription
drugs without any form of verification. The
rest of the story is available here.
New
Iowa 'CALCohol' site tallies alcohol content in drinks
With a proliferation of extra-large flavored malt beverages
on the market, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division has created a new mobile
site that calculates alcoholic content based on listed proof and size of a
drink. The site, called CALCohol, can also give the recommended serving
suggestion for any type of alcoholic beverage, as long as a user knows the
alcohol content. “The industry is changing, and we’re seeing products that fall
into the traditional beer category that are significantly higher proof than
what beer traditionally would be,” explained Tonya Dusold, communications
director of the state-run alcohol industry regulator. “Someone sits down to
have a beer, and that one beer is multiple servings of alcohol.” A traditional beer
generally contains 5 percent alcohol by volume. One serving, according to USDA
guidelines, is 12 ounces. But some specialty drinks, including wine coolers,
ciders and flavored malt liquor, can contain 8, 12 or even 20 percent alcohol
by volume. A 24-ounce can of a Four Loko-type drink could equal more than four
regular beers. Unlike nonalcoholic beverages, the packaging is not required to
break down the can’s contents per serving — only the alcohol by volume or
proof.
“As the marketplace trends to flavored and sweeter products,
it becomes more difficult for the consumer to be aware of how much alcohol they
are consuming,” said Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Commission Chairman Jim Clayton
in a news release. “CALCohol is a tool that will quickly identify the number of
standard servings and may show, on some occasions, one drink is more than
enough.”
Iowa Interactive built the CALCohol site at no cost to the
state’s Alcoholic Beverages Division. According to Dusold, this is the first
site of its kind, and the division is hoping it will catch on in other states.
Jeff Bruning, an owner of El Bait Shop, said the website could be useful for
customers sampling the bar’s 250-plus beer menu. “I think anything that helps
people figure out how much they’ve been drinking is a good thing,” Bruning
said.
“We have a beer that’s 15 percent alcohol by volume,”
Bruning explained. “A Coors Light is a 4.2 ABV. If that’s what drinking beer is
to them, when they come and have something like that, that might throw them
off.”
The beer Bruning referred to, Founders Brewing’s Bolt
Cutter, is a barley wine that he serves in 10-ounce portions (that’s 2.5
drinks, according to CALCohol). But Bruning has seen other bars pour Bolt
Cutter into a pint glass. “That’s irresponsible,” he said. “If you drink two of
those pints, it’s like drinking two bottles of wine.” The calculator, he said,
could prove handy for educating customers as well as servers. “We’re definitely
down for it,” he said. http://www.iowaabd.com/files/websites/calcohol/index.html
Rule
Provides Flexibility in Dispensing Buprenorphine for Opioid Addiction Treatment
SAMHSA issued a Federal rule to allow patients being treated
through an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) to receive take-home supplies of
buprenorphine from an OTP in a more flexible manner. Buprenorphine is a
medication used in opioid addiction treatment. The regulation takes effect on
January 7, 2013. Under the rule change, OTPs will be permitted to dispense
buprenorphine to eligible patients without having to adhere to previous length
of time in treatment requirements. Currently, OTPs require a person to be in
treatment a certain amount of time before being given a multiple days' supply
of medicine to take home. The change in the rule will not affect requirements for
dispensing methadone—the other opioid agonist treatment medication used by
OTPs. SAMHSA based the change in the restrictions for dispensing buprenorphine
on several factors. These include differences in the abuse potential between
methadone and buprenorphine, as well as the actual abuse and mortality rates
(buprenorphine is lower in each instance). For more information on the rule, go
to: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-29417_PI.pdf
[PDF - 297 KB].
E-Cigarette Companies to Begin Advertising on Television
Marketers
of e-cigarettes are introducing ad campaigns that borrow ideas from older
cigarette commercials, The New York Times reports. The commercials have been
accepted by several cable channels, but no broadcast networks have yet agreed
to carry them. Local broadcast stations in major markets including New York,
Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle have also agreed to run
the ads, the article notes. E-cigarettes are not covered by restrictions on
using commercials to sell tobacco cigarettes, because they are not tobacco
products. Ads for one e-cigarette product, Njoy King, include the theme
“Cigarettes, you’ve met your match,” while the theme for Blu eCigs is “Rise
from the ashes.” Some celebrities have begun to endorse the products. The ad
budget for Njoy King is estimated at $12 to $14 million for the next six
months, according to the newspaper. The campaign includes television
commercials, ads in print, in stores and online, and events in restaurants and
clubs. Earlier this year, one industry expert predicted that e-cigarettes,
currently a small but growing part of the tobacco market, eventually could
surpass traditional cigarettes to become a leading tobacco product.
E-cigarettes are designed to deliver nicotine in the form of a vapor, which is
inhaled by the user. They usually have a rechargeable, battery-operated heating
element, a replaceable cartridge with nicotine or other chemicals and a device
called an atomizer that converts the contents of the cartridge into a vapor
when heated. E-cigarettes often are made to look like regular cigarettes.
CAUTION -
This New 'Faces Of Meth' Ad Is Utterly Harrowing
Eight
years ago, the Multnomah County Sheriff's
Office launched a campaign called "the Faces of Meth" to address
Oregon's methamphetamine problem. The images showed the jarring effects of meth
on addicts' faces through before-and-after pictures from their arrest records. Rehabs.com
recently followed suit with this infographic. Warning: these images are
disturbing. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-faces-of-meth-ads-are-utterly-harrowing-2012-12#ixzz2EIJRTnAi
Opioid Overdose Treatment and Prevention: Often Overlooked at Community
Level
While many
programs aimed at prescription drug abuse focus on how to stop diversion of
medications, an often overlooked but critical issue is preventing and treating
opioid overdoses, according to a Brown University researcher. Traci Green MSc,
PhD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, studied
prescription opioid overdoses in three communities in Connecticut and Rhode Island
that were experiencing a rash of deaths from opioid overdoses in 2009. Please
click here to read the rest of this story.
Men and Women Are Helped Differently by Alcoholics Anonymous
Men and
women benefit in different ways from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a new study
suggests. Men benefit more from avoiding companions who encourage drinking and
social situations in which drinking is common, according to Health24. Women benefit from the program by having
increased confidence in their ability to avoid alcohol when they feel sad,
anxious or depressed. “Men and women benefit equally from participation in AA, but
some of the ways in which they benefit differ in nature and in magnitude,” lead
researcher John F. Kelly, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for
Addiction Medicine said in a news release. “These differences may reflect
differing recovery challenges related to gender-based social roles and the
contexts in which drinking is likely to occur.” One-third of AA’s members are
women, the article notes. The researchers studied more than 1,700 participants
in AA, 24 percent of whom were women. They were enrolled in a study called
Project MATCH that compared three alcohol addiction treatment approaches. The
study tracked participants’ success in maintaining sobriety and whether they
attended AA meetings. It also evaluated specific measures, such as participants’
confidence in their ability to stay sober in certain situations.
In both
men and women, AA participation increased confidence in the ability to deal
with high-risk drinking situations, and increased the number of social contacts
who supported their recovery efforts. For men, the effect of both of those
changes on the ability to stay sober was twice as strong, compared with women
in the study. Women were much more likely than men to benefit from improved
confidence in their ability to stay away from alcohol when they were sad or
depressed.
The study
appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Federal Government Considers Legal Options Against State
Marijuana Laws
Federal
officials are weighing their options for legal action against Washington and
Colorado’s new marijuana laws. Such action could undermine the laws, which
legalize the recreational use of the drug. Officials in the White House and
Justice Department have been holding meetings to discuss the government’s
response to the laws, according to The New York Times. Marijuana use is illegal
under the federal Controlled Substances Act. The federal government could sue
the states, on the grounds that efforts to regulate the drug are pre-empted by
federal law, the article notes. If the Justice Department won that case, both initiatives
could be struck down. The question of how to respond to the laws is a thorny
one for President Obama, because legalization of marijuana is popular among
liberal Democrats who voted for him, according to the newspaper. Several
federal officials said the issue raises complex legal and policy
considerations. These include the impact of international anti-drug treaties,
enforcement priorities and strategies for litigation. Federal prosecutors could
bring cases against low-level marijuana users in Washington or Colorado. They
would wait for a defendant to make a motion to dismiss the case because
marijuana is now legal in their state, and then obtain a court ruling that
federal law trumps the state measure. Another option is for the Justice
Department to file lawsuits against both states, to prevent them from setting
up systems that would regulate and tax the drug. The government also could cut
off federal grants to Colorado and Washington unless their legislatures
restored laws forbidding marijuana use.
War on drugs a
trillion-dollar failure
By
Richard Branson, Special to CNN
In 1925,
H. L. Mencken wrote an impassioned plea: "Prohibition has not only failed
in its promises but actually created additional serious and disturbing social
problems throughout society. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic but
more. There is not less crime, but more. ... The cost of government is not
smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but
diminished." This week marks the 79th anniversary of the repeal of
Prohibition in December 1933, but Mencken's plea could easily apply to today's
global policy on drugs. We could learn a thing or two by looking at what
Prohibition brought to the United States: an increase in consumption of hard
liquor, organized crime taking over legal production and distribution and
widespread anger with the federal government.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
Vet Never Opened
Medals Drawer After Army Addictions
For
a while when she was living on the streets, Nira Williams sold beer for $1 a
can to the drunks who hung out at the shelters in Phoenix. She didn’t imbibe
herself. Alcohol, she said, is one thing she didn’t get hooked on when she was
in the U.S. Army. The former private first class said she became an addict
-- to prescription painkillers, to heroin, to most any drug she could score --
while stationed in Iraq, Germany and Texas. She wasn’t tested in the combat
zone, she said, “but I was dirty for sure.” She was kicked out because of her
heroin abuse in October 2010. Then she was homeless. The
rest of the story is available here.
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