Addiction Treatment

Obstacles to the Development and Use of Pharmacotherapies for Addiction

by dguard, November 06, 2008, 11:14am

The Law & Health Care Program at the University of Maryland School of Law invites you to attend Obstacles to the Development and Use of Pharmacotherapies for Addiction. The event is co-sponsored by Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy and the Open Society Institute-Baltimore. In recent years, there has been a growing understanding that alcohol and other drug addictions are chronic diseases that require long-term relapse prevention therapy. At the same time that our understanding of addiction as a chronic disease has developed, so has the ability to treat patients with pharmacotherapies. While there is an increasing body of evidence that the use of pharmacotherapies to treat alcohol and other addictions is both clinically and cost effective, there are still a number of obstacles that exist to their development and use in the therapeutic setting. This conference will explore the various impediments that stand in the way of a more robust acceptance of such treatment by health care providers, patients, regulators, and the courts. Panelists at the conference will discuss the obstacles that exist at each stage of medication development and uptake, including challenges for pharmaceutical companies; obstacles relating to clinical trials and the FDA approval process; patient reluctance to use and provider reluctance to screen for, and prescribe, medications to treat addiction; and gaps in insurance coverage for these medications. Because a significant number of individuals receive treatment for their addictions through the justice system, a conference panel will be devoted to discussing the experience of drug court judges and the work of scholars who have studied the use of such treatment in the courts and prisons. The intended audience for this conference includes lawyers, health care providers and health policy makers who work on issues related to alcohol and other addictions. The conference fee is $25. For additional information and to register on-line, please visit the conference website: www.law.umaryland.edu/healthlaw2008. Public parking is available in the Baltimore Grand Garage across from the School of Law. The entrance is on Paca Street. Parking fees are the responsibility of the participant. If you require special accommodations to attend or participate, please provide information about your requirements to Lu Ann Marshall, 410-706-4128 (1-800-735-2258 TTY/VOICE), [email protected], at least five business days in advance.

Data:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:30am - 4:45pm

Localização:

500 West Baltimore Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

United States

See map: Google Maps

Press Release: Bay Area Legislators Call Prop. 5 Much Needed, Just-in Time Reform

by dguard, November 03, 2008, 04:41pm

For Immediate Release: November 3, 2008 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Bay Area Legislators Call Prop. 5 Much-Needed, Just-in-Time Reform Echo State Democratic Party Endorsement SAN JOSE – Bay Area legislators today announced support for Proposition 5, echoing the endorsement of the State Democratic Party. Highlighting the cost savings of treatment not incarceration programs, Assemblymembers Beall, Lieber and Leno called on voters to approve the much-needed treatment expansion and prison reform. Assemblyman Jim Beall, of San Jose, said, “By failing to directly address the problem of addiction, California has taken a one-sided, punitive and costly approach – incarceration. Little funding goes to the most cost-effective approach that stops the cycle of addiction: prevention and early intervention for our youth. In this time of economic crisis, we need an effective approach to combat the disease of addiction rather than continuing to fund an ineffective incarceration-first policy.” Assembly Member Sally Lieber, of Silicon Valley, said, “The state’s worsening prison overcrowding and ballooning budget deficits are not separate crises. They are intimately related. Until we address our failed prison policies, we will only see our budget problems increase. That’s why Prop. 5 is the right thing for California. It will usher in more effective and affordable responses to nonviolent drug offenses – and stop pouring taxpayer money down the drain of the bloated prison system.” Assembly Member Mark Leno, of San Francisco, said, “California can’t afford to kick the can down the road any longer. If we don’t address our broken prison system, it will drain our state coffers at a time when we most need to spend cautiously. For better public safety and better use of taxpayer dollars, we need real prison and sentencing reform. Prop. 5 brings that reform to California just in time – when we really can’t wait any longer.” The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found that Prop. 5 will lower incarceration costs by $1 billion each year and save taxpayers $2.5 billion in reduced prison-construction costs. This doesn’t include savings related to reduced crime, fewer social services costs (e.g. emergency room visits, child protective services, welfare), and increased individual productivity. For more information, visit www.Prop5Yes.org. ###

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Pants on Fire

by dguard, October 30, 2008, 02:41pm

Election 2008

Dear friends,

The prison guards' union is spending millions to defeat California's Proposition 5 and to make sure the number of people behind bars just keeps growing.

And they're lying to make that happen.

Here's your chance to fight back by helping us get this ad on the air. Donate now.

Every union has a mission to fight for better pay and working conditions.

But it's despicable when anyone sees their interests best served by locking up as many of their fellow citizens as possible.

The prison guards' union is lying to beat Prop. 5 -- the ballot initiative we drafted that would reduce prison overcrowding, expand treatment and rehabilitation for nonviolent drug offenders and cut billions of dollars in state spending.

Prop. 5 is in serious danger on Election Day because the prison guards' union has mounted an insidious campaign on TV that tells voters anything but the truth.

Help us make sure every voter in California sees the truth.

And please keep in mind: This is not just about California. If Prop. 5 wins, it will provide a new model for the nation.

Please give whatever you can now to ensure that millions of people see this ad before Election Day.

Thank you,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

P.S. Don't miss this last chance to be a part of the biggest prison and sentencing reform in U.S. history. Give now.

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Press Release: Prison Guards Blasted on New 'Yes on 5' TV Spot: Union Has Spent $2 Million to Fight Prop. 5

by dguard, October 30, 2008, 02:37pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 29, 2008 CONTACT: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190, Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Prison Guards Blasted in New 'Yes on 5' TV Spot CCPOA Has Spent Almost $2 million to Fight Prop. 5 Why? Overcrowded Prisons = Overtime Pay LOS ANGELES - California's prison guards union has provided most of the money lined up against Proposition 5, a drug treatment measure that would reduce prison overcrowding and forestall $2.5 billion worth of new prison construction. Today the Yes on 5 campaign struck back with a new TV spot that highlights the prison guards' contributions and their financial interest in defeating Prop. 5. Titled "Party's Over," the new Yes on 5 spot begins, "Our prisons are overcrowded. And prison guards are overjoyed!" The ad then explains that, for prison guards, overcrowding means more overtime pay. "That's why the prison guards want to stop Proposition 5, and are spending millions against it," says the ad. "Tell the prison guards the party's over. Vote Yes on 5." Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager for Yes on 5, said, "We know that California voters will be outraged to learn that the people paying for those No on 5 ads are the people who benefit the most from overcrowded prisons. Let's not forget, it is California taxpayers who shell out $10 billion a year for a broken prison system and enormous overtime pay for guards." The prison guards union, formally the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), contributed $1 million to the official No on 5 campaign on Oct. 14, then last Friday made another $825,000 "independent expenditure" contribution of TV airtime to oppose Prop. 5. This means the prison guards have provided 75% of the money behind the $2.4 million in airtime purchased so far to oppose Prop. 5 Dooley-Sammuli added, "If you want to know why our prison system is dysfunctional, look no further than the checkbook of the CCPOA. The prison guards will fight any reform that might threaten their bottom line. It's time for the voters to stand up to the 800-pound gorilla of state politics. We can do that by voting Yes on Prop. 5." ### To view the ad: http://www.prop5yes.com/partys-over Broadcast-quality copies of the new Yes on 5 ad are available on request.

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

DPA: Tell Your California Friends to Vote "Yes on 5"

by dguard, October 28, 2008, 12:58pm

Election 2008

Dear friends,

President Bush’s Drug Czar and the powerful California prison guards' union are both turning their guns on the biggest U.S. drug policy reform since alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago.

Don’t let them get away with it. Tell everyone you know in California to vote YES on Prop. 5!

Proposition 5 on the California ballot would dramatically reduce the role of prison in dealing with drug offenders.

It’s also the only measure on the ballot in California that will save taxpayers billions. (That’s not just our opinion. It’s the conclusion of the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.)

But the Drug Czar and the prison guards' union don’t give a damn about soaking taxpayers to pay for a failed drug war. And they could care less about giving people with drug problems a chance to get treatment and rehabilitation instead of a prison cell.

Now we just found out that the “lock ‘em all up” lobby is raising big bucks to defeat Prop. 5 from the casinos, beer distributors and drug war fanatics.

All that money is going for TV ads using the same old scare tactics that fueled the war on drugs in the first place. But on Election Day, we can show them how wrong they are -- if we get voters to the polls in support of Prop. 5.

No matter where you live, we bet you know at least a few Californians (or at least someone who does)! Will you help get out the vote for Prop. 5? Do it the easy way -- forward this email!

Check out our TV ads and then share the link with your friends in California so they hear the truth about Prop. 5. Coming from you, the message will carry a lot of weight. You can help us counter the millions of dollars the prison guards’ union and their friends are spending on dishonest and scare tactic ads.

You’ll be in good company. Everyone from the League of Women Voters of California to the California Nurses Association to the California Federation of Teachers to the Consumer Federation of California supports Prop. 5. So does former Secretary of State George Shultz. They all know Prop. 5 will save money and save lives.

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

P.S. Even if you don’t live in California, you can help put ads on TV! Check them out here and support the Prop. 5 ad campaign with a donation!

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Press Release: New Yes on 5 TV Ads Focus on Youth Drug Treatment

by dguard, October 24, 2008, 04:30pm

[Courtesy of DPA] For Immediate Release: October 24, 2008 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Prop. 5 Supporters Release New TV Ads, Focus on Youth Drug Treatment Under Prop. 5 LOS ANGELES – Supporters of Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, today unveiled two new TV spots intended to begin running statewide next week. Both Yes on 5 spots highlight the measure’s drug treatment programs for young people. If passed, Prop. 5 would provide $65 million per year to counties to make drug treatment available to at-risk youth under the age of 18. Virtually no publicly funded treatment is available now for young people. The first Yes on 5 spot, titled “Warden,” features Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin State Prison and former Director of the California Department of Corrections. Against a backdrop of images of San Quentin, she speaks of her 25 years working at the prison, where she began as a prison guard. “Let me tell you,” Woodford says, “too many of the men I dealt with started out as kids with drug problems. But California doesn’t have treatment for kids.” She goes on to say that the youth treatment provisions of Prop. 5 are one of its main draws for her. “I can’t tell you how good I feel,” Woodford says, “when I think of all those kids who will never wind up in prison.” The second Yes on 5 spot offers a dramatic story of a young person who has slipped into addiction and criminal activity as a result of a drug problem. In “Rewind,” we take a look back at what happened: “When he was 14,” the narrator says, “he had a drug problem. But there was no drug treatment available. Now, we have to spend forty-six thousand dollars a year to keep him in prison.” Prop. 5 is “a better way” because it offers drug treatment to young people, the narrator says. The spot then ends by showing the two possible outcomes – in one frame, the youth is shown in a mug shot, headed for jail. In the other, he is wearing a cap and gown, graduating from college. Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager for Yes on 5, said, “Prop. 5 would fill a huge gap in drug treatment services in California. It is shocking how little we do now for young people with drug problems. These ads highlight for voters one of the most important aspects of Prop. 5, something almost everyone can identify with.” These ads, and others, are in final testing stages. The youth ads can be viewed online today: http://www.prop5yes.com/campaign-ads-videos ###

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

LEAP: "We have a major fight ahead of us..."

by dguard, October 24, 2008, 04:08pm

Dear friends,

LEAP fully supports Proposition 5 on the November 4th California ballot. Please read the following message from Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, and vote for Proposition 5 if you live in California (if you are outside California, please support DPA in any manner you choose):

“I’ve never invested as much in anything as I have in Proposition 5, our ballot initiative in California. If we win on Election Day, this will be the biggest reform of prisons and sentencing in U.S. history – and the biggest reform of drug policy – since the repeal of alcohol Prohibition seventy-five years ago.

But we both know you can’t make a change this big without stirring up intense opposition from vested interests. Last week the powerful prison guards union contributed $1 million to the opposition campaign. That’s on top of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Indian tribes/casinos with close links to law enforcement as well as $100,000 from the California Beer and Beverage Distributors.

And I just found out that today the Bush administration’s drug czar is in Sacramento to announce his opposition to Proposition 5.

If we win, the new law will effectively transfer $1 billion annually from prison and parole to treatment and rehabilitation – and save taxpayers $2.5 billion because new prisons will not need to be built. The result will be fewer drug and other nonviolent offenders behind bars, and also reductions in crime and recidivism. The initiative even includes a sensible provision to reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

This initiative, unlike most, was drafted with keen attention to decades of empirical research on what works best in reducing incarceration, crime and recidivism and enabling people with drug problems to get their lives together.

I am not instinctively a fan of the ballot initiative process. But it seems to me that the process is ideally used when the legislature and/or the governor are unable or unwilling to enact worthy legislation, which is favored by a substantial majority of the public, and which advances the interests of those people who are most disempowered in the legislative process. That is clearly the case here.

There has never been a return on investment in major reform of drug policy, prisons and sentencing like this. Raising the millions of dollars needed to draft this initiative, get it on the ballot, and hopefully win it has been no easy task – and I am still trying to raise the final million with two weeks to go until Election Day.

So we have a lot riding on this initiative – not just for DPA but also for the hundreds of thousands of people who will either sit in prison or get a second chance, depending on whether or not Prop 5 wins on Election Day.

Our opponents think they can defeat Prop 5 by resorting to the same old scare tactics that filled the prisons in the first place. But we know we’ll win if voters focus on the bottom line, which is that Prop 5 will reduce prison overcrowding, reduce crime and recidivism, directly help huge numbers of people, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Please tell everyone you know in California to vote for Prop 5. Forward this email if you like. And if you think you can help in any other way, please let me know soon. We MUST win Prop 5.

Many, many thanks.

Very truly yours,

Ethan

P.S. The campaign’s website is www.prop5yes.com.”

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Prop. 5 May Be Last Chance to Reform Prisons

by dguard, October 24, 2008, 01:11pm

[Courtesy of Yes on Proposition 5] The ills of California's prison system have been diagnosed in one expert report after another, but the prescriptions for change have been ignored. Now, with Proposition 5, voters have the opportunity to enact a range of reforms recommended by experts that would reduce overcrowding and improve rehabilitation. "The prison lobby has dictated criminal justice policies for decades. Look at the results: prisons are stuffed to twice their capacity and the recidivism rate is twice the national average," said Dan Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. "Prop. 5 takes a different approach to reduce recidivism – one recommended by criminal justice policy experts from around the country." Voters will decide on Prop. 5 just two weeks before a trial begins in a lawsuit that could result in an outright takeover of California's prison system by a panel of three federal judges. But, as with every prior effort to reform California's prison system, law enforcement groups and the prison guards' union are fighting tooth and nail to prevent reform. The prison guards recently poured $1 million into the No on 5 campaign. "After 25 years in San Quentin, I know how broken our corrections system is. Prop. 5 is the breath of fresh air this system needs," said Jeanne Woodford, former director of the California Department of Corrections under Gov. Schwarzenegger. "I am surprised to see a law enforcement organization that is responsible for public safety opposing an initiative that will not only reduce cost but will also dramatically improve public safety." "We have let law enforcement drive our response to addiction for long enough – and we are all, quite literally, paying the price," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager of Yes on 5. "Now it's finally time to listen to policy experts. By reducing addiction, we'll prevent crime and cut costs to the state." Prop. 5 is endorsed the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, California Federation of Teachers and the California Society of Addiction Medicine, the California State Conference of the NAACP and the National Council of la Raza, among many others. The nonpartisan legislative analyst calculates Prop. 5 will reduce incarceration costs by $1 billion annually and save taxpayers $2.5 billion in reduced prison-construction costs. This doesn't include savings related to reduced crime, fewer social services costs (e.g. emergency room visits, welfare), and increased individual productivity. For more information, visit www.prop5yes.com.

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Press Release: Drug Czar Backs CA Prison Guards, Opposes Unified Treatment Community

by dguard, October 24, 2008, 11:48am

For Immediate Release: October 21, 2008 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Drug Czar Backs California Prison Guards, Opposes Unified Treatment Community SACRAMENTO – President George W. Bush’s drug czar today announced his opposition to Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which will expand access to drug treatment for young people and nonviolent offenders – and make rehabilitation a priority of the state corrections system once again. “The drug czar is going against the whole of California’s treatment and prevention community to line up with law enforcement. We have tried incarceration as a primary response to addictive illness for decades and failed utterly,” said Dr. Judy Martin, president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. “The treatment field enthusiastically supports Prop. 5 because it marks a historic shift away from the drug czar’s failed approach and towards a proven one - treatment.” “The drug czar’s rhetorical support for treatment is obviously just a fig leaf for the same old law enforcement approach. This hardline drug czar from a lame-duck administration is now opposing California’s entire treatment community,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager of Yes on 5. “Back in 2000, the previous drug czar opposed Prop. 36 and that didn’t matter to voters. It’s hard to imagine President Bush’s drug czar having any more influence.” Supporters of Prop. 5 include the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the Consumer Federation of California – among many others. Opponents are overwhelmingly law enforcement organizations, with $1 million in with funding from the California prison guards union. The Legislative Analyst’s Office calculates that Prop. 5 will lower incarceration costs by $1 billion each year and will cut another $2.5 billion in state costs for prison construction. This doesn’t include savings related to reduced crime, lower social costs (e.g. emergency room visits, child protective services, welfare), and increased individual productivity. ********** The campaign will make available treatment advocates in support of Prop. 5. For those contacts, please contact Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215. For more on Prop. 5, visit www.Prop5Yes.org. ###

Localização:

United States

See map: Google Maps

Addiction Treatment: Canadian NAOMI Study Finds Heroin Maintenance Safe, Cheap, Effective

by psmith, October 23, 2008, 11:00pm, (Issue #557)

Last Friday, researchers with the North American Opiate Maintenance Initiative (NAOMI) unveiled their long-awaited research results and said they provided new evidence that opiate maintenance for hard-core addicts works and that heroin was more effective than methadone. The results were released only after this month's Canadian federal elections, leading some to charge they had been intentionally suppressed to not hurt the winning Conservatives at the polls.

"Our data show remarkable retention rates and significant improvements in illicit heroin use, illegal activity and health for participants receiving injection assisted therapy, as well as those assigned to optimized methadone maintenance," said Dr. Martin Schechter, NAOMI's principal investigator. "Prior to NAOMI, all of the study participants had not benefited from repeated standard addiction treatments. Society had basically written them off as impossible to treat."

The data traces the outcomes for participants in the three-year project that treated addicts in Vancouver and Montreal. It covers 251 participants.

Some 88% of addicts in "heroin-assisted treatment," or heroin maintenance, stayed in the project after one year, while 54% receiving methadone stayed in. Of particular note, participants being given hydromorphone (Dilaudid) instead of heroin in a double-blind study could not distinguish between the two. According to the researchers, Dilaudid, an opiate licensed for use as a pain reliever, appeared to be equally as effective as heroin, but the study was not designed to test that proposition, and more study is needed.

Illicit heroin use declined by 70%, while the number of participants who reported committing illegal acts declined from 70% to 36%. Similarly, the amount of time spent on illegal activities and money spent on obtaining drugs declined by almost half. In fact, researchers noted that participants who were once spending an average $1,500 on drugs were spending only $300-$500 a month by study's end.

"We now have evidence to show that heroin-assisted therapy is a safe and effective treatment for people with chronic heroin addiction who have not benefited from previous treatments. A combination of optimal therapies -- as delivered in the NAOMI clinics -- can attract those most severely addicted to heroin, keep them in treatment and more importantly, help to improve their social and medical conditions," said Schechter.

Addiction Treatment

Obstacles to the Development and Use of Pharmacotherapies for Addiction

Press Release: Bay Area Legislators Call Prop. 5 Much Needed, Just-in Time Reform

Pants on Fire

Election 2008

Press Release: Prison Guards Blasted on New 'Yes on 5' TV Spot: Union Has Spent $2 Million to Fight Prop. 5

DPA: Tell Your California Friends to Vote "Yes on 5"

Election 2008

Press Release: New Yes on 5 TV Ads Focus on Youth Drug Treatment

LEAP: "We have a major fight ahead of us..."

Prop. 5 May Be Last Chance to Reform Prisons

Press Release: Drug Czar Backs CA Prison Guards, Opposes Unified Treatment Community

Addiction Treatment: Canadian NAOMI Study Finds Heroin Maintenance Safe, Cheap, Effective

Member of

Drug War Issues

Consequences of Prohibition

Politics & Advocacy