I don't know where to start on my journey to not drinking. My children are becoming more aware of my problem. What do I do?

The misuse of methamphetamine—a potent and highly addictive stimulant—remains an extremely serious problem in the United States. In some areas of the country, it poses an even greater threat than opioids, and it is the drug that most contributes to violent crime.³⁶ According to data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), over 14.7 million people (5.4 percent of the population) have tried methamphetamine at least once. NSDUH also reports that almost 1.6 million people used methamphetamine in the year leading up to the survey,¹ and it remains one of the most commonly misused stimulant drugs in the world.³⁷

The consequences of methamphetamine misuse are terrible for the individual—psychologically, medically, and socially. Using the drug can cause memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, damage to the cardiovascular system, malnutrition, and severe dental problems. Methamphetamine misuse has also been shown to contribute to increased transmission of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

Beyond its devastating effects on individual health, methamphetamine misuse threatens whole communities, causing new waves of crime, unemployment, child neglect or abuse, and other social ills. A 2009 report from the RAND Corporation noted that methamphetamine misuse cost the nation approximately $23.4 billion in 2005.¹

But the good news is that methamphetamine misuse can be prevented and addiction to the drug can be treated with behavioral therapies. Research also continues toward development of new pharmacological and other treatments for methamphetamine use, including medications, vaccines, and noninvasive stimulation of the brain using magnetic fields. People can and do recover from methamphetamine addiction if they have ready access to effective treatments that address the multitude of medical and personal problems resulting from their long-term use of the drug.

Just Announced: Revisions to BJA Solicitations for Adult Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court Grants

New Application deadline: June 1, 2020

Applicant Webinar Announced
Monday,
April 13
1
p.m. EDT

The Bureau of Justice Assistance just released a revised grant solicitation for the fiscal year 2020 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program and Veterans Treatment Court Program.

All treatment court models remain eligible to apply including: adult drug courts, co-occurring courts, DWI courts, tribal healing to wellness courts, and veterans treatment courts. The new deadline to apply is June 1, 2020. 

The revised solicitation now has four categories: 

Category 1: Implementation of veterans treatment courts – $500,000 for 36 months

Funding may be used to support core capacity and provides critical treatment, case management and coordination, judicial supervision, sanction and incentive services, and other key resources, such as transitional housing, relapse prevention, and employment that can reduce recidivism for new veterans treatment courts.

Category 2: Enhancement of veterans treatment courts – $500,000 for 36 months

Funding may assist a jurisdiction to scale up the veterans treatment court program’s capacity; provide access to or enhance treatment capacity or other critical support services; enhance court operations; expand or enhance court services; or improve the quality and/or intensity of services based on needs assessments.

Category 3: Adult drug courts – $500,000 for 36 months

Funding may assist a jurisdiction to launch their implementation plans to operate a new drug court; scale up the drug court program’s capacity; provide access to or enhance treatment capacity or other critical support services; enhance court operations; expand or enhance court services; or improve the quality and/or intensity of services based on needs assessments.

NOTE: BJA removed the requirement of being operational for one year as of September 30, 2019. Applicants in this category are not required to be “ready to fully implement a drug court.”

Category 4: Statewide strategies to support adult drug courts and veterans treatment courts – $750,000 for 36 months

Statewide awards and support efforts to enhance or expand services for ADC or VTC. Funding will support the launch of new implementation plans for a court ready for drug court. Statewide enhancement activities include:

• scaling up the drug court program’s capacity;
• launching implementation plans to operate a drug court;
• expanding treatment and services;
• conducting audits of practice and technical assistance for adherence to standards;
• data collection and analysis to assess practice and track recidivism; and
• training and technical assistance (TTA). 

Learn More and Apply

Applicant Webinar Announced
Monday, April 13
1 p.m. EDT

BJA, in partnership with the National Drug Court Resource Center, is conducting an informational webinar for applicants. Greg Torain, policy advisor for BJA, will provide an overview of the revised solicitation and answer questions from attendees as time permits. 

Register for the webinar

Additional Resources for Applicants

BJA grants emphasize the integration of NADCP’s Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards into existing drug court services. In addition, all applicants must demonstrate the court for which funds are sought does not deny eligible clients access because of their use of FDA-approved medications for the treatment of a substance use disorder (medication-assisted treatment).

For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726 or 606–545–5035, at grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or at support@grants.gov. For questions regarding any other requirement of this solicitation, contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 800–851–3420; via TTY at 301–240–6310 (hearing impaired only); email grants@ncjrs.gov; or web chat at webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp.

The post Just Announced: Revisions to BJA Solicitations for Adult Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court Grants appeared first on NADCP.org.

Advantages of Residential Treatment Programs for Recovery Success
Featuring Fellowship Hall Clinical Director, Kelly Scaggs

A residential treatment program is defined as a live-in health care facility that provides therapy and aid for substance use disorder. Residential treatment programs also address and manage some of the health, mental illness, and behavioral issues that are caused by the disease. 

Outpatient treatment and counseling programs are also utilized as a measure of substance use disorder treatment. This includes intensive day programs, individualized drug counseling, and group counseling. While all forms of treatment are beneficial to those suffering with substance use disorder, residential treatment has significant advantages. 

It is a well-known adage in the recovery community that you cannot get well in the same place that you got sick. This is more pertinent now than perhaps ever before. Many impacted by substance use disorder are bound to their home due to the COVID19 shelter in place ordinance. While being home and having downtime is a haven for some, it can provoke challenges for those struggling with alcoholism and/or addiction. 

Triggering home environments, idle time, isolation, financial strain, stressors, and anxiety about the rapid changes in the world, feed and drive the disease. Fellowship Hall Clinical Director  Kelly Scaggs says that residential treatment programs can help combat some of these factors: “Anytime someone can come to residential treatment, it is advantageous because they are able to step out of their own environment into a new place that is completely recovery focused. Right now, you also have the advantages of personal interaction to combat isolation. 

Fears associated with stepping away from a career, friends, and family members often serve as obstacles between the individual and residential treatment. Kelly believes that “now is the perfect time to seek help as everyone has been asked to step away from their life because of the virus. This is the perfect time to seek treatment, get help, and come out of this current situation better than before.” 

Residential treatment provides individuals with an opportunity to focus exclusively on self-improvement and building their support network for life after treatment.  “This is one of the only times where folks can focus solely on what they need to do to heal themselves while also stepping into a huge support network,” Kelly says.

According to Kelly, the ideal way to establish long-term success in recovery is to build a solid foundation during residential treatment, progress to an intensive outpatient program, then move to outpatient treatment.

At Fellowship Hall, we have nearly 50 years of experience in helping individuals discover the path to recovery and build lasting support networks to help them maintain their recovery for the long-term. For more information about our programs and services, check our Treatment section on our website.

The post FREE Webinar: TREATMENT COURTS and COVID-19 PART 2 appeared first on NADCP.org.

Many of us are currently stuck at home either because we’re self-isolating or quarantining.  Whatever the reason, it can be difficult to practice self-care. I have a tendency to stop caring about things like my appearance and relationships.... Read More

iStock/janulla

Perspective written by NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow, M.D.

In a perspective released today in The New England Journal of Medicine, NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow addresses how stigma against people who use drugs can sabotage effective treatment. In Stigma and the Toll of...

COVID-19: Courtesy of NIAID

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National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week Celebrates Its 10th Year
mfleming
Sat, 03/28/2020 - 16:15

This week, March 30 through April 5, 2020, is the 10^thNational Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® (NDAFW), a yearly observance organized by NIDA in partnership with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Restrictions on physical gatherings due to concerns over COVID-19, including schools’ transition to distance learning, have forced the cancellation of in-person NDAFW events this year. But online activities across the country will still link teens with scientific experts, to help young people make better choices about their health by arming them with scientific information about substances and substance use.

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Since we first started in 2010, NDAFW has grown in size and scope. Last year, schools, community groups, and prevention organizations held or organized nearly 2,000 events in all 50 states and in 20 countries. For instance, in 2019 more than 100,000 young people participated in the National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge—an interactive quiz they can take again this year on their mobile devices (in either English or Spanish).

Social media events this year include a Tweetstorm on Monday, March 30 from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT, when students and organizations can tweet about their NDAFW activities. On Friday, April 3, at 3 p.m. EDT, there will be a Twitter Trivia Challenge hosted by NIDA in partnership with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). For both of these events, use the hashtag #NDAFW.

The popular National Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day has unfortunately been cancelled this year, but we hope and expect to resume that live interaction between students and NIH scientists again next year. (You can also read the transcripts of past chat days.)

Teens are smart and capable of making the right choices for their health, especially when they are equipped with the facts. The annual Monitoring the Future survey has shown consistent declines in most forms of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use by teens—suggesting that increased education about the dangers of drugs can have an impact.

One worrying exception to these declines is teen vaping, including vaping of nicotine and marijuana products. Not only are those substances addictive and likely harmful to adolescent brain development, there is also evidence that vaping can harm the lungs and impair their ability to respond to infection. Given the current threat of COVID-19, anything that compromises respiratory health may potentially increase susceptibility to the virus and its sometimes life-threatening complications. Thus, it is especially important amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic that teens learn the facts about vaping.

I am proud that for ten years we at NIDA have facilitated interactions between teens and scientists. We learn from the questions we receive from teens and we hope that our scientists have a positive effect on young lives. The first National Drug Facts Week was held in 2010. Later, in 2016, NIAAA partnered with NIDA so that the event could cover alcohol as well as drugs.

See the NDAFW homepage for more information about this year’s virtual NDAFW events.

Request for Information: Standard Unit Dose of THC
mfleming
Mon, 03/23/2020 - 16:28

Input Invited on the Establishment and Implementation of a Standard Unit Dose of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for Cannabis Research

Today, NIDA issued a Request for Information (RFI) from the research community and any other interested parties regarding the establishment of a standard unit dose of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, in order to facilitate research on cannabis.

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©iStock/ Moussa81

As States legalize medical and adult-use marijuana and dispensaries create greater access to cannabis, there is increased urgency to study its effects—both adverse and potentially therapeutic—in a systematic fashion. This is especially needed with the widening variety of cannabis products, such as edibles and extracts, as well as the increasing potency of cannabis available on the street and in dispensaries. One hindrance to conducting such research is the lack of a standardized measure of the THC in various cannabis products, making it hard to compare the results of different studies.

In 2017, the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse established a Cannabis Policy Research Workgroup, which released a report in 2018 that included a recommendation that NIDA “explore the possibility of constructing a standardized dose similar to that for alcohol (the standard drink), tobacco (a cigarette), or opioids (morphine milligram equivalents) for researchers to employ in analyzing use and for users to understand their consumption.” As it now stands, measures of “joints” or “joint years,” sometimes used in research studies are not meaningful, given the wide variability in size and potency in cannabis plant material from different sources, and the current lack of standardization makes much of the experimental data on cannabis use and effects hard to interpret.

We recognize that the cannabis plant contains multiple cannabinoids and other components that may influence its overall effect, and that other factors, including route of administration, are also important. Still, THC is the major contributor to the psychoactive effects of cannabis and thus a good proxy for a standardized unit dose.  Some states have instituted standard serving sizes for edible cannabis products, based on the amount of THC contained in them; however, these are not consistent in all states. 

If a standard unit dose can be established, for it to be maximally useful for research and public health, the research community will need to incorporate it in their measures of use, industry will need to adopt it for labeling, and consumers will need to be educated about what the standard dose means. Indeed, establishment of such a standard would have the greatest impact if universally adopted for commercial product labeling, allowing for more direct comparison across products and a reliable metric by which consumers can understand and accurately report their use. This may influence the way consumers think about cannabis, giving them a reliable unit to track intake—the same way people monitoring their alcohol use may count the number of drinks they have consumed on a given evening.

A standard dose is in some ways arbitrary, especially for this drug, given the shifting potency of cannabis plants, the wide variability in products, and the ways individuals use them. Designating a standard unit dose simply sets an easy-to-follow standard. Designing experiments around a standard amount of THC in whatever form it is administered or consumed (as well as increments or multiples of that amount) will greatly facilitate gathering rigorous data and comparing data across studies. It would improve our ability to assess outcomes in relation to exposure—for instance, effects on brain development in longitudinal studies like the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. This could, in turn, help inform prevention strategies and policies. It would also facilitate comparing the effects of different products and different modes of ingestion in different users.

Last October in Addiction, Tom P. Freeman and Valentina Lorenzetti proposed a dose of 5 milligrams THC as optimal for research purposes. This is a dose that generally produces noticeable psychotropic effects (the high) in both naïve and experienced users, but it is low enough that it seldom produces acute adverse reactions. In a commentary last month, my NIDA colleague Susan Weiss and I concurred with those authors and their reasoning at arriving at a 5 milligram dose. But the decision about a standard unit dose should not be made unilaterally, which is why we want to hear from the research community, the public, and other stakeholders before recommending that researchers settle on any particular milligram amount for their standard, and before NIDA requires use of such a standard in NIDA-funded cannabis research.

The RFI is open through May 1^st, and all researchers, stakeholders, and members of the public are encouraged to weigh in. The specific topics to address include whether 5 milligrams is indeed the best amount of THC for a standard dose; how a standard dose can optimize comparability across studies and comparability between current research and past datasets; how to implement the standard dose across various types of cannabis research, from laboratory and clinical studies to observational and epidemiological studies; and any other topic that contributors feel is relevant.

Get more information on the RFI and how to weigh in on these important questions.