Announcement: Today is a BIG DAY for Overdose Prevention!

Dear Friends,

Today is such an exciting, important day for all of us who care about overdose prevention! I’m thrilled to announce two significant things:

1. The Drug Policy Alliance released a landmark report on the national overdose crisis, “Preventing Overdose, Saving Lives.” This report assesses the crisis, examines policy solutions available and how such policies have been successfully implemented across the country. The report recommends a range of solutions, including expanded access to naloxone and “Good Samaritan” immunity laws.
   
   To read or download the report, visit http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm
   
   
2. Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) introduced the groundbreaking Drug Overdose Reduction Act of 2009. This bill—the first of its kind—will allocate resources to community groups and public health agencies to implement overdose prevention and education programs, including expanded naloxone distribution.

This is an exciting time to be an overdose prevention supporter. There is fantastic progress on the horizon. I personally invite you to read this terrific report and share the information and ideas with your friends and local legislators.

Drug Policy Alliance remains committed to the fight to save lives from being lost to accidental overdose. Working together, we can all make a difference. The national dialogue about preventing overdose fatalities starts with all of us, right now, today.

-Meghan Ralston
Purple Ribbons for Overdose Prevention, creator

P.S. Thank you, each and every one of you, for so incredibly quickly growing Purple Ribbons for Overdose Prevention to over 5,000 people from around the world. Amazing. Thank you.

Smoking-cessation Research Highlights Importance Of Keeping Teens From Smoking

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2009)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090603103809.htm

Despite the efforts of college students to quit smoking, recent research conducted by Joyce M. Wolburg at Marquette University suggests that an extended trial and error period is necessary. Given that most college students begin smoking in high school, another study by faculty at HEC Montreal and University of Texas at San Antonio provides insights into how graphic cigarette warning labels impact intentions of American and Canadian teens. Both studies appear in the Summer 2009 issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs.

The Wolburg study reveals that, despite good intentions to quit smoking after college, multiple strategies (and multiple attempts) are typically necessary to be successful at smoking cessation. Despite the best efforts to prevent teens from smoking, some ignore the risks and become smokers. By the time they are college students smokers, many want to quit but need strategies that get results. Programs that incorporate the real stories and experiences of those who failed early on but didn’t give up offer hope to a group of people who may be among the best candidates for quitting. Future research will continue to refine those strategies.

The second study, conducted by Lalla Ilhame Sabbane and Jean-Charles Chebat, both at HEC Montreal, and Tina M. Lowrey at the University of Texas at San Antonio, reveals that graphic cigarette warning labels are most effective for Canadian participants, leading to negative attitudes and lower smoking intentions, but the graphic label was least effective at lowering smoking intentions for US participants.

"These results suggest that American teens were negatively impacted by the graphic label, perhaps because of its novelty," Lowrey said.

Additional research should be conducted to determine whether the positive impact for Canadian teens is, indeed, due to their level of familiarity with the graphics that have been used for the past decade in Canada. If more teens can be convinced not to begin smoking, then fewer college students will need to struggle with the cessation attempts studied by Wolburg.

Journal references:
Wolburg et al. Misguided Optimism Among College Student Smokers: Leveraging Their Quit-Smoking Strategies for Smoking Cessation Campaigns. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2009; 43 (2): 305 DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2009.01141.x
Sabbane et al. The Effectiveness of Cigarette Warning Label Threats on Nonsmoking Adolescents. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2009; 43 (2): 332 DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2009.01142.x
Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell.

Former drug addicts find new fixation on triathlons

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/05/triathlon.drug.addiction/index.html#cnnSTCText
updated 9:34 a.m. EDT, Fri June 5, 2009

By Madison Park
CNN

(CNN) -- When rehab and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings didn't work for Eddie Freas, he sought another way to kick his 20-year drug and alcohol addiction.

Eddie Freas fights drug addiction by putting all his energy into training for triathlons.

He swam 2.4 miles. He biked 112 miles. He ran 26.2 miles. The Pennsville, New Jersey, resident found relief in triathlons.

"I feel better when I'm working out," said Freas, 33. "It does wonders for the mind. The reason I started running -- it was a switch that went off in my head. I started feeling positive and feeling great about myself."

Freas spent his youth in pursuit of drugs. At the age of 13, he snuck bottles of Amaretto and rum from his mother's liquor cabinet. He also developed a taste for marijuana and cocaine. By his senior year of high school, Freas was kicked off the wrestling and football teams after failing a drug test.

Then in 2007, after a three-day binge, "I came home and was crying," Freas said. "I was so depressed. I turned on the TV." The set was tuned to ESPN, which was airing a story about a former drug addict who competed in triathlons.

The program's subject was Todd Crandell, who had lost a college hockey scholarship because of a drug addiction. After 13 years of using drugs, Crandell started competing in Ironman races and championed finding positive ways to fight addiction through his program called Racing for Recovery.

"Having an athletic background, I was drawn to getting back in shape," Crandell said. "It makes you turn intellectually and spiritually fit. Exercise is essential. It decreases addiction, depression and you use it as part of the recovery."

Freas was entranced by the parallels.

"His whole story seemed like mine," Freas said. "That's why it hit me so much. It was my story but it happened to somebody else. I knew I had to get back into fitness."

He took a bus to Racing for Recovery's office in Sylvania, Ohio. There, Freas said he learned to "stay clean and use other things -- fitness, instead of drugs." On his first day, Freas pushed himself to run 10 miles.

"It killed me," Freas said. "I was just motivated. I was sore for a week and I gradually got into it. As soon as I started including fitness into my everyday lifestyle, it made it so much easier. It kept me busy and because of the physical fitness, it was making me feel better about myself."
He pushed himself to run farther and raced in his first Ironman competition in 2008.

"It's different when you use drugs, you temporarily feel good and afterwards, you feel like doing more drugs," Freas said. "When you go for a long run and do physical fitness, you feel good doing it."

Research in animals and humans show that exercise can be a mild antidepressant.

"It isn't a huge surprise when you consider many positive effects exercise can have with regards to the brain chemistry: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, epinephrine -- these are all associated with mood altering effects," said Dr. Cedric Bryant, the chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. "If they're able to get this natural high, through a natural endeavor such as exercise, it allows them to replace the means to achieve that high with a more positive approach."

One study showed that women trying to quit smoking were more successful when they exercised. And the National Institute on Drug Abuse held a conference last year to explore the possible role of physical activity in substance abuse prevention.

"The thought centers around the release of mood-altering brain chemical, mainly endorphins," Bryant said. "It gives you euphoria or what you call 'runner's high.' "

Crandell said some people who battle drug addiction "want something more than sitting in support groups filled with smoke, complaining about drinking."

"I've had some of my naysayers from other programs who say you've taken one addiction and replaced it for another," Crandell said. "I've taken addiction and put into a new focus that includes exercise. Exercise for me is essential to my recovery and well-being."

The purpose of Racing for Recovery is not to turn everyone into an athlete, but to focus on positive pursuits in a person's life.

"Whatever you lost during your addiction, that should be your Ironman, not just running," Crandell said. "If your goal is to become a teacher, let that be your Ironman."

White House Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs'

MAY 14, 2009
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124225891527617397.html

Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration

By GARY FIELDS

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this country."

Mr. Kerlikowske's comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate -- and likely more controversial -- stance on the nation's drug problems. Prior administrations talked about pushing treatment and reducing demand while continuing to focus primarily on a tough criminal-justice approach.

The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment's role growing relative to incarceration, Mr. Kerlikowske said.

Already, the administration has called for an end to the disparity in how crimes involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine are dealt with. Critics of the law say it unfairly targeted African-American communities, where crack is more prevalent.

The administration also said federal authorities would no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries in the 13 states where voters have made medical marijuana legal. Agents had previously done so under federal law, which doesn't provide for any exceptions to its marijuana prohibition.

During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama also talked about ending the federal ban on funding for needle-exchange programs, which are used to stem the spread of HIV among intravenous-drug users.

The drug czar doesn't have the power to enforce any of these changes himself, but Mr. Kerlikowske plans to work with Congress and other agencies to alter current policies. He said he hasn't yet focused on U.S. policy toward fighting drug-related crime in other countries.

Mr. Kerlikowske was most recently the police chief in Seattle, a city known for experimenting with drug programs. In 2003, voters there passed an initiative making the enforcement of simple marijuana violations a low priority. The city has long had a needle-exchange program and hosts Hempfest, which draws tens of thousands of hemp and marijuana advocates.

Seattle currently is considering setting up a project that would divert drug defendants to treatment programs.

Mr. Kerlikowske said he opposed the city's 2003 initiative on police priorities. His officers, however, say drug enforcement -- especially for pot crimes -- took a back seat, according to Sgt. Richard O'Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. One result was an open-air drug market in the downtown business district, Mr. O'Neill said.

"The average rank-and-file officer is saying, 'He can't control two blocks of Seattle, how is he going to control the nation?' " Mr. O'Neill said.

Sen. Tom Coburn, the lone senator to vote against Mr. Kerlikowske, was concerned about the permissive attitude toward marijuana enforcement, a spokesman for the conservative Oklahoma Republican said.

Others said they are pleased by the way Seattle police balanced the available options. "I think he believes there is a place for using the criminal sanctions to address the drug-abuse problem, but he's more open to giving a hard look to solutions that look at the demand side of the equation," said Alison Holcomb, drug-policy director with the Washington state American Civil Liberties Union.

Mr. Kerlikowske said the issue was one of limited police resources, adding that he doesn't support efforts to legalize drugs. He also said he supports needle-exchange programs, calling them "part of a complete public-health model for dealing with addiction."

Mr. Kerlikowske's career began in St. Petersburg, Fla. He recalled one incident as a Florida undercover officer during the 1970s that spurred his thinking that arrests alone wouldn't fix matters.

"While we were sitting there, the guy we're buying from is smoking pot and his toddler comes over and he blows smoke in the toddler's face," Mr. Kerlikowske said. "You go home at night, and you think of your own kids and your own family and you realize" the depth of the problem.
Since then, he has run four police departments, as well as the Justice Department's Office of Community Policing during the Clinton administration.

Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical marijuana, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about Mr. Kerlikowske. "The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner," he said. "What's important is the damn thing is beginning to turn."

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest law-enforcement labor organization, said that while he holds Mr. Kerlikowske in high regard, police officers are wary.

"While I don't necessarily disagree with Gil's focus on treatment and demand reduction, I don't want to see it at the expense of law enforcement. People need to understand that when they violate the law there are consequences."

Write to Gary Fields at gary.fields@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A3

"New Drug-Treatment Care" - New York Times Letter to the Editor from Howard Josepher

New York Times
Letters to the Editor

May 15, 2009

"New Drug-Treatment Care"

To the Editor:

“Shrinking the Prison Population” (editorial, May 11) rightly points out that parole and probation systems are sending too many drug-addicted and mentally ill offenders back to jail but doesn’t mention that the primary mechanism triggering these sanctions is failed drug tests.

Some recidivism would be addressed by expanding community-based drug treatment and mental health services, but unless we change our understanding of addiction, and its treatment, we will continue to unjustly punish people for their disease or their mental condition.

Many of us who work in this field have come to understand addiction as a relapsing, recurring disease or condition requiring us to address lapses in a way that does not trigger a punitive response. This emerging chronic care approach to drug treatment distinguishes itself from more punitive approaches where anything less than total sobriety is considered a failure.

Howard Josepher
New York, May 11, 2009

The writer is president and chief executive of Exponents, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by drug addiction.

Click here to read article at the New York Times

Drinkers zone out — but may not know it

Even a little alcohol can make minds more prone to wander

Reuters
updated 4:23 p.m. ET, Tues., May 12, 2009

NEW YORK - Even a modest amount of alcohol can make the mind prone to wandering, but drinkers may be slow to notice it, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that when they had a group of men read "War and Peace" after either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, those who'd imbibed were markedly more prone to zoning out while reading. They were also less likely than their sober counterparts to realize their minds had wandered far from Tolstoy.

While most people may not reach for "War and Peace" after a cocktail, the findings could have implications for behaviors more likely to go hand-in-hand with social drinking, according to the researchers.

Other tasks that require "sustained attention," such as driving a car, could be affected, explained lead researcher Dr. Michael A. Sayette, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

In addition, he told Reuters Health, the alcohol zone-out might hinder a person's ability to resist "impulses and temptations" — a task that often requires a great deal of mental effort. For instance, Sayette noted, studies suggest that when smokers are trying to quit, drinking alcohol makes them more vulnerable to relapse.

For their study, published in the journal Psychological Science, Sayette and his colleagues recruited 55 men who were social drinkers and had them slowly drink either a cocktail or a non-alcoholic beverage. The men then took on the task of reading "War and Peace" from a computer screen for 30 minutes.

The men were told to press a particular key any time they found themselves zoning out as they read. They were also prompted every few minutes with the message, "Were you zoning out?" This allowed the researchers to gauge how often the men's minds had wandered without their realizing it.

Overall, the study found, men in the alcohol group let their minds wander more than twice as often as their completely sober counterparts — spending about 25 percent of their reading time zoned out.

Yet despite having many more chances to catch themselves wandering, men in the alcohol group were actually less likely to do so.

Alcohol also seemed to affect the content of the men's mental distractions, the study found. Those in the alcohol group were more likely than their counterparts to say their zone-outs included thoughts of eating, drinking or smoking -- which, the researchers note, is consistent with studies showing that alcohol may boost cigarette cravings.

Copyright 2009 Reuters.

A message from Kaytee Riek and the Health GAP (Global Access Project).

Friends-

All over the world, drug users have been tortured or otherwise discriminated against by governments, all in the name of "drug treatment". These abuses, which have been documented in a recent report, include caging, caning, chaining, forced labor and other forms of punishment. Not only is this a violation of the human rights of drug users, but it further marginalizes people who are already at high risk of contracting HIV.

This week is the Int'l Harm Reduction Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Hundreds of drug users and advocates from all over the world are demonstrating and calling for the United Nations to take action to fight the torture of drug users. We will be presenting a petition to UN Office of Drugs and Crime officials to call on all UN agencies and bilateral donors working on drug issues to go further to denounce and address the deadly conflict between public health and law enforcement approaches to drug use.

Please join allies from around the world by signing this petition by the end of the day Wednesday, April 22nd, when the petition will be presented to UNODC officials.

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YCFuqkKIjja3iOdnrjZRVsStnAhhgPCq

And, if you're interested, check out this article in The Nation, Bangkok's largest English language paper, about the rally yesterday. You can see photos of the rally here, too. Thank you for taking action!-

Kaytee Riek

New study demonstrates that Men in Sweden have the lowest level of smoking in the Western world

Bangkok, Wednesday April 22, 2009-- Men in Sweden have the lowest level of smoking in the Western world, thanks to the substitution of low-risk smokeless tobacco, researchers have told the Harm Reduction 2009 conference.

"The anti-harm-reduction activists who dominate the discourse about tobacco have tried numerous tactics to deny that tobacco harm reduction has been effective in Sweden,” said Lisa Cockburn of the University of Lapland and a co-author of the study. “Our research makes specific statistical comparisons that clearly show the benefits Swedish men have experienced by switching from smoking to smokeless tobacco.”

Evidence from epidemiology clearly shows that switching to Western smokeless tobacco (ST) offers a huge health benefit to smokers. Studies of the nicotine delivery and other aspects of consumer appeal suggests that many smokers might be willing to make the switch. Swedish men have extremely low rates of the deadly diseases that are caused by smoking, and show no increase in any disease that might have been caused by smokeless tobacco use.

"It is difficult to imagine a more impressive harm reduction success for any substance use behaviour. No such evidence exists to suggest that any other method will work at the population level,” concluded Cockburn.

Highlights of Harm Reduction 2009 Day 3:

Parliamentary Panel Discussion: The Decriminalisation of Drug Use

Organised by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) and supported by UNAIDS

Panel:

Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya
Senator, Thailand (Member of Health and SportCommittee and Secretary General of AFPPD)

Dr. Laode Ida
MP, Deputy Speaker of the Upper House, Indonesia

Dr. Tien Nguyen
Vice-Chair, Committee on Social Affairs of NationalAssembly of Vietnam

Hon. Dr. Ouk Damry
MP, Cambodia

Dr. Donya Aziz
Chair of HIV/AIDS Parliamentary Committee, Pakistan

About the International Harm Reduction Association:

The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) is the leading organisation promoting a harm reduction approach to all psychoactive substances on a global basis. IHRA exists to prevent the negative social, health, economic and criminal impacts of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco for individuals, communities and society.

About the conference:

Harm Reduction 2009 www.ihra.net/Thailand/MediaCentre is expected to attract some 1000 delegates from around 80 countries. The event has become the focal point for knowledge sharing, networking and promoting evidence-based best practice in the field20of harm reduction. The delegates include front line workers, researchers, policy makers, politicians, people from international organisations, people who use drugs and people working in criminal justice. These events have helped to put harm reduction on the map and to coordinate advances, innovations, evidence and advocacy in this field for the last two decades.

Where: Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, 199 Sukhumvit Soi 22, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

When: Monday April 20 - Thursday April 23, 2009

Further information:

In Bangkok:
Michael Kessler, Harm Reduction 2009 Media Relations
Mobile +66 (0) 845 311 327
Email: press@ihraconferences.org
Skype: mickgpi

Media Release, Drug users have human rights too, says Global Fund head, Bangkok

MEDIA RELEASE

Drug users have human rights too, saysGlobal Fund head

Bangkok
Monday April 20, 2009

Recognising the human rights of drugusers is essential to preventing HIV and mitigatingthe public health impact of drug use, Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fundto Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said today at the opening ofthe International Harm Reduction Conference in Bangkok.

"Human rights are drug users’ rights, as well. Because in too many countries, still,in too many police cells, in too many health services, and in too many prisons,drug users are treated as less than human," said Kazatchkine.

Thailand is the recent recipient ofa US$100 million grant from the Global Fund with the goal of reducing new HIV infections by providing universalaccess to HIV prevention services in selected provinces for most at risk populations:female sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), injecting drug users (IDU)and migrant workers.

Kazatchkine said it was encouraging to see that some countries who had traditionally employed a lawenforcement approach to drug control were now moving cautiously towards apublic health approach, including many countries in Asia.

“Let us say, to China,to Malaysia, to Vietnam and to Thailand: keep up the good work. Byembracing harm reduction, you are on the right side of history,” he added.

The lack of comprehensive harm reduction services for injecting drug users in Thailand leavesHIV prevalence among that group at high levels of 30-50 % during the past 15years.

“Thailand needs to learn from the success of its HIV/AIDS campaign in the 1990’s whenHIV/AIDS was accepted as a problem and addressed openly and successfully,” saidPratin Dharmarak, Country Representative of PSI. “Yet, today there is verylimited understanding about drug use in Thai society. While injecting drugusers are at the highest risk of HIV,they are among the most stigmatized and hardest to reach populations,” sheadded.

Injecting drug use accounts for 10 per cent of HIVcases globally and 30 per cent outside sub-Saharan Africa,yet resources for prevention of HIV transmission among injecting drugs users isnot commensurate with need.

“Only 2-3 percent (US$200m to US300 million per year),of all the available resources for AIDS is spent on harm reduction. It isclearly not enough. If we are serious about reducing HIV infection amongstinjecting drug users then we are going to need between US$2 and US$3 billionthis year and next to get anywhere near the kind of coverage that is going tomake an impact,” said Professor Gerry Stimson, Executive Director of theInternational Harm Reduction Association.

About the International Harm Reduction Association:

TheInternational Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) is the leading organisationpromoting a harm reduction approach to all psychoactive substances on a global basis. IHRA existsto prevent the negative social, health, economic and criminal impacts ofillicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco for individuals, communities and society.

About the conference:

HarmReduction 2009 www.ihra.net/Thailand/MediaCentre isexpected to attract some 1000 delegates from around 80 countries. The event hasbecome the focal point for knowledge sharing, networking and promotingevidence-based best practice in the field of harm reduction. The delegatesinclude front line workers, researchers, policy makers, politicians, peoplefrom international organisations, people who use drugs and people working incriminal justice. These events have helped to put harm reduction on the map andto coordinate advances, innovations, evidence and advocacy in this field forthe last two decades.

Where:

Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, 199 Sukhumvit Soi 22, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

When:

Monday April 20 - Thursday April 23, 2009

Further information: In Bangkok: Michael Kessler, Harm Reduction 2009 Media Relations
Mobile+66 (0) 845 311 327
Email:press@ihraconferences.org
Skype:mickgpi

McLellan Announced as Deputy Drug Czar

April 13, 2009
Join Together.org


A. Thomas McLellan, a noted addiction researcher, has been nominated as deputy director of the Obama administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Chicago Tribune reported April 10.

If confirmed, McLellan will serve as the chief deputy to presumptive drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, who also must be confirmed by the Senate.

McLellan, 59, has been involved in some of the most important addiction research in recent decades, including the development of the Addiction Severity Index and studies comparing addiction with other chronic health conditions. Most recently, he headed the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

"I think [McLellan's] long and rigorous examination of how drug-abuse treatment is delivered is pretty unique," said David Friedman, director of addiction studies at Wake Forest University's medical school. Friedman added that recent comments by Obama administration officials about the role that demand reduction needs to play in fighting Mexican drug cartels indicates that McLellan's job could become very high-profile.

Obama Administration Names A. Thomas McLellan Deputy ONDCP Director

Appointment of Treatment Research Institute Co-Founder and Noted Drug/Alcohol Expert Signals National Shift in Addiction Policy

Philadelphia, PA - April 10, 2009: The Obama/Biden Administration has named A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D. to the post of Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. McLellan is one of the nation's leading drug and alcohol experts.

McLellan got his start in the 1980s as a scientist with the Veterans Administration and University of Pennsylvania where he led development of the Addiction Severity Index and Treatment Services Review, two measurement instruments premised on the then-novel view that addiction was a multi-dimensional condition, with impairments in other life functions that had to be concurrently addressed for treatment to be effective. Eventually, the premise came to be embraced, with the instruments becoming widely used to measure and improve the effectiveness of many forms of treatment.

In 2000, McLellan and three other experts authored a report in JAMA pointing out the similarities between addiction and commonly recognized, chronically relapsing medical diseases like hypertension, type II diabetes and asthma, arguing that like these other illnesses, serious addictive disorders cannot be cured but can be effectively managed. The implications proved to be significant. Today, most experts refer to addiction as a chronic illness and call for longer-term care strategies patterned after medical models.

A firm believer in the transformative power of science, in 1992 McLellan co-founded the non-profit TRI as a translational center that would adapt and engineer promising scientific findings into useful products and services that could be broadly used throughout the field. Over the next seventeen years, McLellan assembled a team of researchers and entered into intertwining collaborations with universities, major treatment and prevention groups, and legal groups. TRI became known for practical models of continuing care and monitoring; criminal justice strategies as an alternative to jailing drug-involved offenders; revitalizing the nation's public system of addiction treatment; engaging doctors and other primary care providers; and helping parents learn skills to protect children from drugs and alcohol.

Beginning in 2006, McLellan recruited policy experts to TRI to help state and local governments promote quality improvement by revamping their purchasing, regulatory, and other administrative structures.

"We're sorry to lose Tom McLellan to higher office, but we're not surprised an innovation-minded Administration would recruit someone like him for national drug policy," said Constance Pechura, Ph.D., TRI's second-in-command who will assume leadership of TRI. "With his presence, the Administration has created a formidable drug control team predisposed to evidence and policies that 'work,'" she said.

"Tom McLellan has been a leader in advancing the science of addiction treatment and improving access to effective care," said Carolyn Asbury, Senior Consultant to the Dana Foundation and Chair of the TRI Board of Directors. "He has pioneered the translation of research into more effective clinical practices that have helped to achieve better outcomes for individuals and their families. No one is better equipped to help transform the nation's response to its drug problems," she said.

ONDCP was established in 1988 to advise the President and Vice President on a drug control program for the nation, coordinating the activities of multiple federal agencies toward that end. With Gil Kerlikowske, the President's pick for ONDCP Director, McLellan's appointment signals a shift to science-based treatment and prevention strategies - including what McLellan calls "a long-overdue national look at our prison policies; collaborative strategies among the prevention, treatment, criminal justice, healthcare and education fields, and continued modernization of specialty treatment and prevention centers."

************************************************************

The Treatment Research Institute is a non-profit research and development organization specializing in science-driven reform of policy and practice in substance use and abuse. For more information contact Bonnie Catone, TRI Director of Communications, at bcatone@tresearch.org or visit the TRI website at www.tresearch.org.

'Wet' Homeless Shelters Can Save Public Money, Study Says

The following study reports on a "wet" shelter for homeless heavy drinkers that finds costs to society declines as does drinking in its residents. This harm reduction approach is being instituted in several other organizations including one here in NYC called the Bowery Residents Committee. This study supports the basic tenets of harm reduction: starting where the patient is, assuming the patient has strengths that can be built on, focusing on reducing harm rather than a sole requirement for abstinence before anything else can be addressed, embracing small incremental change as success all enhance the alliance with treatment, build self esteem and self-efficacy and are best suited to facilitate positive change. Not only is this good for the individual, it is good for society at large.

Andrew Tatarsky, PhD

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'Wet' Homeless Shelters Can Save Public Money, Study Says

April 2, 2009
Research Summary
JoinTogether.org

A new study finds that homeless shelters that allow alcoholic residents to continue to drink alcohol can save taxpayers money and still facilitate declines in alcohol consumption.
Reuters reported March 31 that the study from Mary Larimer of the University of Washington and colleagues found that homeless alcoholics admitted to shelters without being forced to quit drinking or enter into treatment were more likely to stay out of jail and emergency rooms than those on shelter waiting lists.

Researchers estimated that public costs related to the 95 individuals enrolled in a Seattle program called Housing First were reduced by more than $4 million during the yearlong study period.

Before getting housing, study participants were racking up an average of $4,000 each per month in jail, detox, hospital, and other services; that figure fell to $1,492 after six months in the program and $958 after a year, the study found. Residency at Housing First costs $1,120 per person per month, including meals and housing.

"These benefits increase over time and they are possible without requiring that participants stop drinking," Larimer said. "And yet, the longer the participants stay in the housing program, the less they drink." Housing First residents' drinking decreased from a median of 15.7 drinks daily at the start of the study to 14 after six months and 10 after a year.

The research was published in the April 1, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Click here for article source