Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly最新文献

As the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) adds another year to flexibilities for prescribing of buprenorphine through telemedicine, evidence from the addiction treatment community continues to suggest the benefits of making this COVID-era change permanent.

Although the federal government has allowed opioid treatment programs (OTPs) to treat patients with methadone by mobile vans for three years (see ADAW https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.33120), pickup by the states has been slow. The innovation makes it much easier for patients in rural areas, and patients without access to transportation, to receive treatment. But unless it's put into practice, it won't work to increase treatment rates and reduce the opioid overdose crisis.

If noted political campaign advisor James Carville were to review the current state of the addiction care system, I am confident that he would identify the biggest problem facing this system as the inability to recruit and retain a workforce. I also believe that he would advise those who make drug policy to focus on workforce issues and not shift the focus to anything else before a plan is in place and working.

Michael Langer, former SSA for Substance Use and Mental Health in the State of Washington, has joined the NASADAD as a Senior Advisor and Membership Services Liaison. Langer, who served as SSA for Washington State from 1986 until he retired earlier this year, has been actively involved with NASADAD for almost 30 years. In his role as SSA, he served in leadership positions on the NASADAD Board of Directors. He further contributed to the association by serving within the Network Prevention Network (NPN) and the National Treatment Network (NTN). Langer will be a part-time staffer at NASADAD, where he will use his experience to enhance the organization's capacity to serve members. He will also be advising NASADAD senior leaders and staff on federally funded projects designed to support NASADAD membership.

The International Nurses Society on Addiction Annual Educational Conference will be held March 11-14, 2025 in Disney Springs, Florida. For more information, go to https://www.intnsa.org/conference/

In “Availability of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in U.S. Psychiatric Hospitals,” Shawn M. Cohen, M.D., and colleagues expose the inadequacy of methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone in psychiatric hospitals. The study, published as a research letter in JAMA Network Open this month, consisted of a cross-sectional analysis of facility-level responses to the 2022 National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey. The study sample included all facilities in the U.S. that self-reported their facility type as a psychiatric hospital and reported their availability of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

I assume nothing. Having grown up surrounded by pessimists, I promised myself that I would be an optimist. I am also very mindful that those who are predicting what will happen over the next four years will likely be wrong. It is with this in mind that I offer some drug policy ideas for consideration.

The International Nurses Society on Addiction Annual Educational Conference will be held March 11-14, 2025 in Disney Springs, Florida. For more information, go to https://www.intnsa.org/conference/

President-Elect Trump has announced his cabinet choices with rapid succession. In the health arena, they are Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and Mehmet Oz, M.D. to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Many people have asked us what will happen at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). We don't know! We do remember Elinore McCance Katz, M.D., who headed SAMHSA under the first Trump Administration, and then went to the Drug Enforcement Administration. She made herself available for interviews, then and in previous administrations. And she was a powerful spokeswoman for the agency in the face of Congressional budget-cutters. We would refer readers to last week's lead which discusses the importance of showing your agency's impact and value (see ADAW https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.34324). Stay tuned.

Addiction researchers continue to preach caution amid a flurry of findings suggesting that popular weight-loss medications such as semaglutide could have important applications in treating substance use disorders (SUDs). The latest report found a decreased risk of alcohol use disorder-related hospitalization in patients who use semaglutide or liraglutide and its lead investigator is echoing the call for evidence from randomized trials to confirm conclusions drawn from observational studies.