Monday, February 17, 2003 @ 10:50 am by Dr. Joe Graas	General News
Substance Abuse Prevention Web Site Upgrade Improves Access to Useful Tools The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) recently released enhancements to its updated online Decision Support System (DSS). PreventionDSS (located at http://preventiondss.samhsa.gov) is a customizable program that provides community and State practitioners with rapid access to tools and other resources to plan, implement, and evaluate many kinds of prevention work with just a click of a mouse. Click here for full article
Monday, February 17, 2003 @ 10:37 am by Dr. Joe Graas	General News
White House Drug Czar Releases National Drug Control Strategy Balanced Strategy Builds on Success, New Drug Treatment Initiative Highlighted John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), today released the President's National Drug Control Strategy. The Strategy commits unprecedented resources to the treatment of drug abuse, including a new $600 million, three-year voucher plan that will expand access to substance abuse treatment, enhance consumer choice, and increase provider accountability. The Strategy builds on last year's balanced approach focused on preventing drug use before it starts, healing America's drug users, and disrupting the market for illegal drugs. It also reports solid progress over the past year toward meeting President Bush's goals of reducing drug use by 10 percent in two years and 25 percent in five years. Recent data from the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey show the first significant downturn in youth drug use in nearly a decade, with reduced drug use noted among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. Click here for full article
Monday, February 10, 2003 @ 11:09 am by Dr. Joe Graas	Drug Related News
Methadone Grows as Killer Drug ORTLAND, Me. — Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming rise in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 to 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. "Out of noplace came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest rising killer drug." In North Carolina, deaths caused by methadone increased eightfold, to 58 in 2001 from 7 in 1997 — an "absolutely amazing" jump, said Catherine Sanford, a state epidemiologist. In Maine, methadone was the drug found most frequently in people who died of overdoses from 1997 to 2002. It was found in almost a quarter of the deaths. In the first six months of last year, methadone killed 18 people in Maine, up from 4 in all of 1997. Dr. John H. Burton, medical director for Maine Emergency Medical Services, said hospital emergency rooms were seeing a "a tidal wave" of methadone-related cases. Click here for full article
Monday, February 3, 2003 @ 2:57 pm by Dr. Joe Graas	Drug Related News
Overdoses and Deaths From Abuse of Drug Methadone Are Up ORTLAND, Me. — Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 to 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. "Out of noplace came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest rising killer drug." Click here for full article