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By Join Together Staff
Government researchers report a dramatic jump in the number of hospitalizations for overdoses caused by drugs and alcohol among 18- to 24-year olds.
The researchers, from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, found that between 1999 and 2008, hospitalizations among this age group rose by 25 percent for alcohol overdoses, 56 percent for drug overdoses and 76 percent for overdoses caused by a combination of drugs and alcohol.
One...
read moreThe effects of the worst economic recession in 80 years came through loud and clear in the 2011 Department of Social and Health Services Client Survey. The survey, the seventh in a series conducted by the Department since 2001, documents how an economy-driven increased demand for social services collided with budget-driven cuts in services, benefits and staffing.
The economic hard times have...
read moreOriginally funded by Congress in 1997 with the understanding that local problems need local solutions, the federal Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a cornerstone of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's national drug control strategy.
Twenty-eight WA State Drug Free Communities continuation grantees will receive ongoing funding for FFY 2011. Additionally Washington State has been awarded three new DFC grants and one new mentoring grant.
Congratulations...
read moreAddiction Is a Chronic Brain Disease, Not Just Bad Behaviors or Bad Choices
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has released a new definition of addiction highlighting that addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavioral problem involving too much alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. This the first time ASAM has taken an official position that addiction is not solely related to problematic substance use.
When people see compulsive...
read moreResults from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show marijuana use is on the rise, while methamphetamine use is on the decline.
USA Today reports the survey, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health...
read moreThe Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published "Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2008: Selected Findings". Click here to access the bulletin.
This bulletin summarizes data from the biannual Juvenile Residential Facility Census, which collects information about the...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
While many states are being forced to pull back on methamphetamine lab cleanups because of federal funding cuts, Indiana has been able to buck the trend. The state has increased the number of meth labs it has found and destroyed by 33 percent in the first half of this year compared with 2008.
Indiana has been able to cut the costs of finding and destroying meth labs by partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to set up temporary disposal...
read moreThe new (2009) National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) confirms what we already know - first use of heroin is increasing (it would seem massively) from an estimated 100,000 new users 2002-2008, to 180,000 in 2009.
Treatment admissions data would suggest it has gone up significantly from there.
Click here to read the 2009 NSDUH report.
A study of workplace drug-screening tests finds methamphetamine use is higher among workers in Western states. The study, by Quest Diagnostics, found Hawaii's rates of positive screens for meth was 410 percent greater than the national average.
Other states that were well above...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
A Michigan appeals court ruled Wednesday that medical marijuana cannot be sold in private shops or dispensaries.
The court ruled the Compassionate Apothecary, which allows its members to sell marijuana to each other, can be shut down immediately as a "public nuisance." According to the ruling, Michigan's 2008 medical marijuana law and the state public health code do not allow people to sell marijuana to one another, even if they have state-...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
Four states - Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia - have created the Interstate Prescription Drug Task Force to fight the region's prescription drug abuse problem.
The task force consists of about 30 experts from drug agencies and law enforcement. They will develop strategies to reduce the sale and abuse of prescription drugs, and will make recommendations to improve cooperation in sharing data, educational campaigns and police investigations...
read moreThe CDC's Division of Behavioral Surveillance in the Public Health Surveillance Program Office, Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratories, is pleased to announce the joint release of the 2010 SMART BRFSS data and the 2010 BRFSS Maps.
SMART BRFSS (Selected Metropolitan/Micropolitan Area Risk Trends from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) began with the analysis of data from the 2002 BRFSS. It now includes data from 2002 through 2010, with prevalence...
read moreThe Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is asking for input on how to define recovery for adolescents.
If interested in providing feedback, please follow the link below for a article from Reclaiming Futures - and at the bottom of the page they provide a link to SAMHSA for comments: http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/blog/...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
A growing number of young adults in California are using hookahs, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have found. In a new study, the researchers report that among 18-to-24-year-olds, 24.5 percent of men and 10 percent of women use hookahs, or waterpipes, to smoke tobacco.
"While cigarette smoking has decreased nationwide and in California, reports of ever using hookah have increased, especially among adolescent and young adults,...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
Smokers with drug, alcohol or mental disorders are five times as likely to quit smoking if they receive counseling from their primary care physician, a new study finds.
About 40 percent of smokers have a drug, alcohol or mental disorder, Medical News Today. These smokers have a more difficult time than other smokers when trying to quit. Researchers at the University...
read moreContact Us
Washington State Health Care Authority
Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery
P.O. Box 45330 Olympia, WA 98504-5330
Email: DBHRAthenaTeam@hca.wa.gov
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