Monthly Archives: July 2008

This report presents results from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) for clients discharged from substance abuse Treatment in 2005. The report provides information on treatment completion, length of stay in treatment, and demographic and substance abuse characteristics of approximately 1,500,000 discharges from alcohol or drug treatment in facilities that report to individual State administrative data systems.

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Date Added: 07/15/08
Inventory #: SMA08-4314
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This report focuses on alcohol consumption by persons aged 12 to 20, who are under the legal drinking age. It examines trends in drinking from 2002 to 2006 among underage persons, variations in underage alcohol use and disorders among demographic and geographic subgroups, and information about the social context and location of underage drinking. The discussion is based on measures of alcohol use in the past month, past year, and lifetime included in NSDUH, as well as questions that allow for the classification of past year dependence on or abuse of alcohol.

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Date Added: 07/15/08
Inventory #: SMA08-4333
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Meth and cocaine continue to elude researchers.Despite promising trials of several compounds, methamphetamine addiction remains largely impervious to anti-craving pills and other forms of drug treatment. According to a paper in the June issue of Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, “currently, no medications are approved by the FDA for the treatment of stimulant dependence. However, recent advances in understanding… have allowed researchers to identify several promising candidates.”The paper’s author, Dr. Kyle Kampman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Treatment Research Center, notes that “the demand for treatment for cocaine dependence remained roughly level from 1992 to 2005, while the demand for treatment for amphetamine dependence increased about eight-fold.” (See chart above).As I wrote earlier (“FDA Puts Coke/Meth Treatment on Fast Track”), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January gave Fast Track designation to vigabatrin, sold as Sabril by Ovation Pharmaceuticals. Ovation is collaborating with the NIDA on Phase II studies to evaluate the safety of Sabril, with Phase III trials scheduled for the end of this year.Vigabatrin, an anti-epilepsy drug called Gamma-vinyl-GABA, or GVG for short, showed early promise for use with cocaine addicts in a 60-day study and appears to increase GABA transmission. GABA has an inhibitory effect on dopamine and serotonin release.Another entry in the vigabatrin sweepstakes, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, is also testing its version of the drug, dubbed CPP-109, for the treatment of methamphetamine addiction in Phase II double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Patrick J. McEnany, chief executive officer of Catalyst, commented, “We are excited to follow up on our cocaine trial with the initiation of our second, large-scale U.S. Phase II trial with CPP-109, this time as a potential treatment for methamphetamine addiction. As with cocaine, we believe that CPP-109 may offer the potential to provide patients suffering from methamphetamine addiction, as well as the physicians and clinicians that treat them, with a safe and effective pharmacotherapy option.”What, in essence, are such pills designed to accomplish? The primary avenue of research has centered upon medications that decrease the addict’s experience of withdrawal and craving. According to Kampan, “several studies have demonstrated that patients who experience severe cocaine withdrawal symptoms… are twice as likely to drop out of treatment and less likely to attain abstinence in outpatient programs.”However, questions remain about the safety of vigabatrin. Although available abroad, it is not approved for use in the U.S., due to an association with serious visual effects after long-term use. The use of vigabatrin for stimulant addiction, if approved, might require associated eye examinations.Buproprion, a drug that has shown some promise in the treatment of cocaine addiction, is also a candidate for meth addiction. The drug inhibits the reuptake of dopamine, thus allowing more dopamine to circulate in the brain. In addition, there are plans to test other drugs being investigated for cocaine craving, such as topiramate and modafinil.According to the 2005 SAMHSA Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 10.4 million people age 12 or older (4.3 percent of the population) have tried methamphetamine at some time in their lives. Approximately 1.3 million reported past-year methamphetamine use, and 512,000 reported current (past-month) use. Approximately 535,000 patients sought treatment for methamphetamine and other stimulant abuse in 2006.Next post: Drugs for cocaine cravingPhoto Credit: National Drug Intelligence Center (Source: Addiction Inbox) Continue reading →

SAMHSA and other mental health groups are using National Suicide Prevention Week to encourage people in crisis and those who are concerned about someone possibly at risk for suicide to use the Lifeline and the many lifesaving services it offers. Continue reading →

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), in partnership with New Century Institute and the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, is pleased to host the 3rd National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery: Inspiring Leadership, Changing Lives.

Date Added: 07/08/08
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Misuse of prescription drugs is second only to marijuana as the nation’s most prevalent drug problem. The annual average number of people using pain relievers nonmedically for the first time in the past 12 months has exceeded the number of new marijuana users since 2002. Accordingly, misuse of prescription pain relievers has been cited as a growing public health problem.

Date Added: 07/07/08
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U.K psychiatrists agree addiction is “genetically determined.”Although the verdict is very little in doubt these days, the heritability of addictions was reaffirmed by the U.K.’s Royal College of Psychiatrists in London on July 4th.In a presentation at the group’s annual meeting, held at Imperial College, Professor Wim van den Brink of the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Center pinned the blame for addiction squarely on the absence of a sufficient number of dopamine receptors in the brain. “Addicts find it difficult to receive pleasure,” he said. “They are not likely to enjoy most of the ordinary things most of us enjoy… they are looking for more stimulus.” Professor van den Brink also made clear the importance of environmental interactions for gene expression: “You might start off smoking or taking cocaine, and that first introduction is very much determined by your environment. But to stick with it and become dependent on it is genetically determined.”The self-defeating nature of addiction is graphically illustrated by the overall decrease in the number of pleasure receptors for dopamine and serotonin over time, as drug use escalates. Moreover, addicts show a striking deficiency in the ability to engage in long-term thinking. This behavioral link, the Royal College maintained, is the reason addicts fail to realistically differentiate between short-term pleasure and long-term negative effects.This inability of drug addicts to engage in effective long-term thinking is well summarized in the old Reverend Gary Davis song: “Cocaine’s for horses and it’s not for men/Doctor said it kill you, but he didn’t say when.”Photo Credit: National Institute on Drug Abuse (Source: Addiction Inbox) Continue reading →

A survey of 17 countries has found that despite its punitive drug policies the United States has the highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use. Cannabis use was highest in the US (42.4%). Drug use “does not appear to be simply related to drug policy,” say the authors, “since countries with more stringent policies towards illegal drug use did not have lower levels of such drug use than countries with more liberal policies.” In the Netherlands, for example, which has more liberal policies than the US, 19.8% reported cannabis use. Continue reading →