U.S. House Representatives Pass the Drug Overdose Reduction Act
U.S. House Representative Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) has introduced legislation (H.R. 2855) that would direct federal agencies responsible for public health and reducing drug-related harms to take action to reduce overdose deaths. The Drug Overdose Reduction Act will:
- Support new and existing overdose prevention programs in communities across the country through the creation of a grants program, making federal dollars available for overdose recognition and response trainings, the distribution of naloxone and other overdose prevention activities.
- Improve the government’s ability to monitor and report trends in overdose deaths, enabling public health officials and professionals to warn the public about emerging overdose threats.
- Direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a national strategy for reducing overdose deaths and direct the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct research on new and existing overdose prevention.
SAMHSA study finds rise in older Americans admitted for substance abuse treatment
(6/17/2010)
Press Release
Rockville, MD — A new study reveals that between 1992 and 2008 the proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans (aged 50 and older) nearly doubled from 6.6 percent of all admissions in 1992 to 12.2 percent in 2008. The study, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also shows a sharp rise during this period in the proportion of older Americans admissions related to illicit drug abuse, even though alcohol abuse is still the leading cause for admissions involving this age group. Among its more notable findings the SAMHSA study reveals that from 1992 to 2008 the proportion of admissions among this age group due primarily to:
– Heroin abuse more than doubled from 7.2 percent to 16.0 percent. Cocaine abuse quadrupled from 2.9 percent to 11.4 percent. Prescription drug abuse rose from 0.7 percent to 3.5 percent.
- Marijuana abuse increased from 0.6 percent to 2.9 percent.
At the same time admissions primarily related to alcohol abuse decreased from 84.6 percent in 1992 to 59.9 percent in 2008.
The proportion of older American treatment admissions involving multiple substance disorders has nearly tripled from 13.7 percent in 1992 to 39.7 percent in 2008. For example, the proportion of admissions involving any alcohol abuse in combination with any cocaine abuse more than tripled from 5.3 percent in 1992 to 16.2 percent in 2008.
While the study showed that over three quarters of all older American treatment admissions initiated use of their primary substance by the age of 25, an increasing proportion of admissions involved substances that had only been initiated within five years prior to admission. In 2008, cocaine abuse was the leading primary cause of admissions involving substances initiated in the past five years (26.2 percent) among older Americans, with prescription drug misuse a close second (25.8 percent).
“These findings show the changing scope of substance abuse problems in America.” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, JD. “The graying of drug users in America is an issue for any programs and communities providing health or social services for seniors.” “The Administration on Aging supports healthy aging,” said Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging. “A critical aspect of senior health is the ability to be free of alcohol and drug addiction. It is troubling, therefore, to see an increasing number of older Americans struggling with substance abuse. This is a trend we must address for the benefit of each individual now as well as a generation of baby boomers on the doorstep of old age.” SAMHSA sponsored the study as part of the agency’s strategic initiative on data, outcomes and quality–an effort to create integrated data systems that help inform policy makers and providers on behavioral health issues.
Changing Substance Abuse Patterns among Older Admissions: 1992 and 2008 is based on data from SAMHSA’s Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)–a reporting system involving treatment facilities from across the country. The full report is available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k10/229/229OlderAdms2k10.cfm. For related publications and information, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/
Researcher whose work defines addiction as lifespan illness earns accolades
University center director has worked on longitudinal analysis since the 1980s
by Gary A. Enos, Editor
The signature research project of Robert Zucker, PhD, has been going on since the 1980s, when many of its now young-adult subjects were small children. And Zucker says of his research that there’s “no end in sight,” not with so many questions about the risk and protective factors associated with addiction still unanswered. The substance use disorder longitudinal study that Zucker spearheads at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center represents one of several accomplishments for which he is being honored by the Research Society on Alcoholism. The organization later this month will present Zucker, director of the university center, with its 31st annual Distinguished Researcher Award, two days after he delivers a keynote address at the society’s national meeting. Zucker discusses the impact of the award not in personal terms, but with respect to how it might call greater attention to research that he still says has gone largely unnoticed in much of the treatment and prevention community.
“We’ve strongly pushed the importance of looking at [substance abuse] risk developmentally,” he says. “It’s not a question of ‘you have it or you don’t have it.’ It unfolds over time.” As does the longitudinal study, one of several in the field that resemble more commonly referenced long-term studies of heart disease risk and other medical risks over the lifespan. Zucker’s research originally identified at-risk families by looking at those where the father had a drunk-driving offense involving a particularly high blood alcohol concentration. The study has generated more than 150 papers over the years and has informed a wealth of topics, from the tendency for behavioral disorders to be “nested” in certain neighborhoods to the large number of variables of health, social and family functioning that substance use disorders touch. The research also has uncovered details about the relationship between genetic and environmental factors associated with substance use, with Zucker making the case that the link plays out as a “two-way street” in which each set of factors affects the other. Zucker’s colleagues also credit him with mentoring a generation of fledgling researchers both in the United States and in Europe. He launched and still directs a training program supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that develops substance abuse research capability in Central and Eastern Europe. That program currently has a presence in Poland, Slovakia, Latvia and the Ukraine.
Fact: “Prescription drugs cause most of the more than 26,000 fatal overdoses each year”, says Leonard Paulozzi of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The biggest and fastest-growing part of America’s drug problem is prescription drug abuse,” says Robert DuPont, a former White House drug czar and former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “The statistics are unmistakable”.
CNN.com: “Hard Times in America” Dr. Rosalind Dorlen is a clinical psychologist in Summit, New Jersey, an area she calls a “Wall Street ghetto” where formerly high-flying executives are out of work. “Here, the people earn millions of dollars with bonuses that are astronomical,” said Dorlen, who is also the public education coordinator in New Jersey for the American Psychological Association. “There is a demoralizing aspect to having a huge salary and a huge bonus and then having to look for a job that is going to pay much, much less.” She added, “What I’m hearing is a terrible sense of betrayal, anxiety and people experiencing lots of stress.” That, in turn, can lead to an increase in unhealthy coping behaviors, such as an uptick in alcohol consumption, etc”.
Wikipedia: On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, signaled that the Obama administration would not use the term “War on Drugs,” as he claims it is counter-productive and is contrary to the policy favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce recreational drug use.
The Institute of medicine of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that alcoholism and alcohol abuse in the United States cost society from $40 to $60 billion annually, due to the lost production, health and medical care, motor vehicle accidents, violent crime, and social programs that respond to alcohol problems
Millions more Americans have alcohol use disorders (abuse or dependence) than have drug use disorders. Most people who have alcohol use disorders do not have drug use disorders, but more than half of people with drug use disorders also have an alcohol use disorder. Nearly 80 percent of people with cocaine or hallucinogen disorders, for example, also have an alcohol use disorder; in contrast, among those with alcohol use disorders, fewer than 4 percent have a cocaine or hallucinogen use disorder. These and many other findings from NIAAA’s National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) help to increase our understanding of how alcohol and drug use disorders occur in the population and can be used to improve prevention and intervention strategies.
ONDC Seeking Treatment a Positive New Year’s Resolution WASHINGTON–At the beginning of each new year, countless Americans make resolutions to change their behavior-losing weight, starting to exercise, spending more time with their families, or some other changes they hope will make them happier and healthier. Statistics show millions of Americans should consider another resolution: Seeking help for their abuse of substances such as alcohol, prescription medications, and illicit drugs. “More than 20 million people who need treatment for substance abuse do not receive it,” said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “This is a problem we can begin to address by making people aware of treatment options available to them and encouraging families and friends to give their support to people seeking and receiving treatment.” Data compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that in 2008 some 23.1 million people aged 12 and older needed treatment for a drug or alcohol use problem. However, only 2.3 million received treatment at a specialty facility.
“We are committed to making people aware of the treatment options available to them,” said Kerlikowske. “We also need to encourage those who feel they need treatment to summon the courage to step forward and seek help, and we must let them know that seeking treatment is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.”
Dr. Thomas McLellan, Deputy Director of ONDCP and a specialist in addiction treatment, said that people who believe they or a loved one needs treatment should consider talking to a primary care physician, seeking help from a mental health professional, contacting an addiction treatment program, or attending a meeting of a mutual help organization. “There have never been as many evidence-based counseling methods and medications to help people overcome substance abuse as there are today,” Dr. McLellan said.
