October 22, 2019

MASAM's president, Dr. Peter Friedmann, offered testimony on his behalf and MASAM's before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of House and Senate bills H.1343 & S.937 "An Act Relative to Treatment, Not Imprisonment". A copy of Dr. Friedmann's testimony is available here.

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MASAM has been active in supporting inclusion of language in various state bills that would mandate evidence-based treatment of OUD for adults incarcerated in the Commonwealth.  We include a letter from the Association for Behavioral Healthcare that nicely summarizes the issues.  In which bill we ultimately succeed in promoting humane and effective care is not predictable currently.

Letter to HCF Chairs re MAT in CARE Act 5.15.18 (click here) 

ASAM Weekly

Below you'll find the lead stories of ASAM Weekly..

2020

February 18, 2020

Police Offering Drug Recovery Help: “We Can't Arrest Our Way Out of This Problem”

For many individuals with addiction, a call to the police — for a nonfatal overdose or a drug-related crime such as theft — may be the first time they get on the radar of any authority, which could be an opportunity to help. Some towns in Massachusetts have developed a partnership between police and public health — known as the Drug Addiction Recovery Team (DART) which uses encounters with law enforcement as the first step to offering services

NPR>>>

February 11, 2020

Mental Health and Addiction Providers for Medicaid Patients Go Unpaid in Maryland

Doctors and others who provide mental health and addiction services in Maryland under the Medicaid program have had millions of dollars in bills go unpaid this year because a new state payment system is malfunctioning, which some providers say could jeopardize care during the ongoing drug overdose crisis.

The Baltimore Sun >>>



February 4, 2020

Surgeon General Releases First Report Focused on Smoking Cessation in 30 Years

Three decades after the first Surgeon General's report on smoking cessation, the Surgeon General is releasing a new report that reviews and updates evidence on the importance of quitting smoking. The report outlines the latest research on treatments including counseling and medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and discusses emerging strategies to further promote smoking cessation.

US Department of Health & Human Services >>>

January 28, 2020

Treating Addiction as a Terminal Disease

Ms. A already had a long history of opioid use and failed attempts at treatment when she ended up in the hospital with sepsis and her first episode of endocarditis. Initially, she was not a candidate for surgery but things slowly improved - until she refused treatment. In this perspective, the author discusses the bioethical concerns of capacity, addiction, terminal illness, and the inevitable result of treating addiction as a disease in a system that is not equipped to do so successfully

New England Journal of Medicine >>>



January 21, 2020

Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults: A Growing Threat

In 2020, substance use disorders among adults over age 50 will increase to 5.7 million, up from 2.8 million in 2006. A major hurdle across the care spectrum is that substance use disorder in older adults remains a hidden problem because of lack of screening in primary care and few guidelines for assessing older adults at risk

Hopkins Medicine News >>>

January 14, 2020

Talk About the Severe Shortage of Addiction-treatment Doctors | Opinion

(Op-ed by ASAM’s Dr. Scott Teitelbaum)

Florida is a national leader when it comes to beautiful beaches, citrus production and ... drug overdose deaths. The Sunshine State, like the United States as a whole, during of a crisis. In 2018 alone, provisional data indicate there were 4,936 overdose deaths in Florida from drugs including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

TCPalm>>>

January 8, 2020

Cannabis-related psychosis, Let's addiction, ER visits: For young users, marijuana can be a dangerous game

Marijuana, legal for medical uses in well over half the states in the country and as a recreational substance in even more states, is generating increasing concern as a drug capable of serious impairment and harm, particularly among its youngest users. The potency of today’s cannabis products can range up to 90% and the impact on developing brains is of great concern for medical experts.

The Philadelphia Inquirer >>>

ASAM Weekly news 2019 (lead stories)