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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Three More States to Consider Requiring Welfare Recipients to Undergo Drug Tests
By Join Together Staff | December 10, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs & Legislation
Lawmakers in Ohio, Virginia and Kansas say they will introduce legislation that would require welfare recipients to undergo drug tests before receiving benefits, according to MSNBC.
In Ohio, the proposed law would establish drug-testing programs in three counties. If applicants disclosed they had used illegal drugs, they would have to submit to a drug test. The bill would allocate an additional $100,000 for drug treatment programs.
In Virginia, a drug-testing law that previously was rejected has been revived. The earlier version failed after the state concluded it would cost $1.5 million to implement, but would save only $229,000.
Kansas State Senate Vice President Jeff King, who introduced a drug-testing bill in his state, said it is not intended to punish welfare recipients. “If folks test positive, we need to help them get help and help them get the job skills they need to kick the habit to get a job and keep a job,” he said.
Last month, Texas Governor Rick Perry called for drug tests for residents seeking welfare or unemployment benefits. Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst want to expand a bill that will come before the state legislature next year that would mandate drug testing for “high-risk” welfare applicants, and would ban them from using public funds to purchase alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets. Perry and Dewhurst want the rules to also include those applying for unemployment benefits.
A Florida law that required welfare applicants to undergo drug testing was halted last year after the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the state to stop it. About 2.5 percent of the 4,000 adults tested before the program was stopped tested positive for drugs. Almost 2,500 people refused to take the drug test.
Monday, December 10, 2012
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Men and Women Are Helped Differently by Alcoholics Anonymous
Men and women benefit in different ways from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a new study suggests.
Men benefit more from avoiding companions who encourage drinking and
social situations in which drinking is common, according to Health24.
Women benefit from the program by having increased confidence in their
ability to avoid alcohol when they feel sad, anxious or depressed.
“Men and women benefit equally from participation in AA, but some of
the ways in which they benefit differ in nature and in magnitude,” lead
researcher John F. Kelly, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital
Center for Addiction Medicine said in a news release.
“These differences may reflect differing recovery challenges related to
gender-based social roles and the contexts in which drinking is likely
to occur.”
One-third of AA’s members are women, the article notes.
The researchers studied more than 1,700 participants in AA, 24
percent of whom were women. They were enrolled in a study called Project
MATCH that compared three alcohol addiction treatment approaches. The
study tracked participants’ success in maintaining sobriety and whether
they attended AA meetings. It also evaluated specific measures, such as
participants’ confidence in their ability to stay sober in certain
situations.
In both men and women, AA participation increased confidence in the
ability to deal with high-risk drinking situations, and increased the
number of social contacts who supported their recovery efforts. For men,
the effect of both of those changes on the ability to stay sober was
twice as strong, compared with women in the study. Women were much more
likely than men to benefit from improved confidence in their ability to
stay away from alcohol when they were sad or depressed.
The study appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
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- Co-occurring disorders
- Established, proven programs are in place for patients with co-occurring disorders that may include mental health issues such as depression and compulsive behaviors, including gambling.
- We also have specific programs for Teen Alcohol Treatment and Teen Drug Treatment and a leader in providing effective treatment for eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia.
- Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient
- Providing top quality outpatient and aftercare services, we are consistently breaking new ground by crafting innovative and new successful addiction treatment programs to assist people who suffer from compulsive and addictive behaviors.
- Partial Hospitalization and Medically Monitored Inpatient
- Rimrock Foundation pioneered the use of the integrated treatment model and we continue to lead the field of addiction treatment providers. We set the standard for alcohol and drug addiction inpatient treatment.
- Inpatient Treatment is the keystone component in the treatment of, and successful recovery from, addictions and co-occurring disorders.
We do so much more than treat the addiction. At Rimrock Foundation,
we help individuals find balance and regain consistent life choices to
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Opioid Overdose Treatment and Prevention: Often Overlooked at Community Level
While many programs aimed at prescription drug abuse focus
on how to stop diversion of medications, an often overlooked but
critical issue is preventing and treating opioid overdoses, according to
a Brown University researcher.
Traci Green MSc, PhD,
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, studied
prescription opioid overdoses in three communities in Connecticut and
Rhode Island that were experiencing a rash of deaths from opioid
overdoses in 2009.
“Our goal was to understand not just why it was happening, but what
we can do now to prevent it,” said Dr. Green, who spoke about her
research at the recent annual meeting of the Association for Medical
Education and Research in Substance Abuse.
Dr. Green and her colleagues conducted a rapid assessment and
response project, convening a community advisory board of substance
abuse treatment professionals, people in the recovery community, active
opioid users, EMS providers, and state and local officials to guide
their research. They looked at data on prescription opioid overdoses,
collected interviews with 195 people, and discussed how to respond to
the growing crisis.
Dr. Traci Green
“We found that awareness around the topic of overdose and drug
poisoning was lacking,” Dr. Green said. “People didn’t know it was a
problem. They didn’t know what an overdose looks like. It made us
realize that in these communities, there is a great deal of stigma
around prescription opioid overdoses.”
The community advisory board came up with a number of suggestions,
including working with local clinicians specializing in treating
substance abuse and chronic pain, to develop safer prescribing tools
that would be locally relevant. They devised resources for clinicians
with concerns about patient addiction or drug diversion. They created
and distributed posters and other educational materials in English and
Spanish to inform the public about opioid overdoses in the small towns
and suburban New England communities experiencing the overdose
outbreaks.
The group also made recommendations on how clinicians can talk with
their patients about oversedation and symptoms of overdose. “People
taking opioids need to talk with their loved ones or people they live
with about these issues. They also need to create a household-based
intervention for securing pills, especially if they live with young
people, because they have medication for pain control in their home that
has the potential to be a fatal poison.”
While both Connecticut and Rhode Island have prescription monitoring
programs (PMPs), they, like most such programs, are designed to thwart
“doctor shopping,” and generally do not offer resources on overdosing,
according to Dr. Green. Her group worked with the agencies that run PMPs
in those two states to provide online tools for clinicians, and to
develop materials aimed at preventing and treating overdoses.
Dr. Green found the communities she worked with were interested in programs to use naloxone
(Narcan), a drug that safely reverses the potentially fatal side
effects of an overdose of oxycodone, heroin and other opioids. It has
been routinely used by emergency rooms and ambulance crews for decades.
In the past few years, naloxone has been distributed free to opioid
users and their loved ones, in a growing number of sites around the
country.
A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) found that widely distributing naloxone, and training people in
how to use it, could save many lives. It has successfully reversed more
than 10,000 drug overdoses since 1996, according to the CDC report.
Through the study, three substance abuse treatment centers and one
recovery center in the study communities hosted pilot programs of
prescribed take-home naloxone. They continue to offer the medication to
clients, as part of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and
Addiction Services’ new naloxone initiative.
As a result of increased awareness about opioid overdoses, which came
about in large part through Dr. Green’s research, both Connecticut and
Rhode Island passed Good Samaritan laws
during the course of the study. The laws give people limited immunity
on drug possession charges if they seek medical help for someone
suffering from an overdose. Rhode Island’s new law also promotes and
protects the administration of naloxone by laypersons in a witnessed
overdose.
Another important outcome of the study was educating local officials
that opioid overdoses are not just a problem in major cities, but are
also occurring in towns and suburbs, Dr. Green noted. “Treatment centers
are often located in cities but drug use is everywhere. Limited or no
treatment options – what we call ‘treatment deserts’ – in small towns
and suburbs are contributing to the overdose deaths we are seeing there.
We need to think about how to bring treatment opportunities to troubled
non-urban areas – through satellite centers, using transportation
vouchers to allow clientele to come to the larger treatment centers, or
other options.”
One issue that needs attention in communities, Dr. Green observes –
even in the small towns and suburbs like the ones she studied – is the
high risk of overdose and relapse for prisoners leaving correctional
facilities. “There is a need to work with the incarcerated population
before they leave to get overdose prevention messaging, both for heroin
and prescribed pain medication,” she says. “It needs to be part of
pre-release planning. This is a profound risk that we cannot ignore.”
Saturday, December 8, 2012
PHILADELPHIA RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTER CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
Dec. 10 dinner
marks holidays and five years of service
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. —Dec. 4,
2012 — When
the Philadelphia Recovery Community Center (PRCC) hosts its holiday dinner on
Dec. 10, the celebration will mark more than the season. The party will also
celebrate the fifth anniversary of the center, which was established in 2007 to
provide programs and services to help individuals sustain long-term recovery
from addiction to drugs or alcohol.
“The
center provides a place where people can come to build a strong foundation for
recovery and to meet other people in recovery,” said Sean Brinda, senior peer
services coordinator at PRCC.
PRCC
is a collaboration between Pennsylvania Recovery Organization-Achieving
Community Together (PRO-ACT) and the City of Philadelphia Department of
Behavioral Health and Intellectual DisAbility Services. Programs and services
include peer-to-peer recovery coaching, life skills workshops, housing and
credit information sessions, health and nutrition programs, discussion groups,
drug- and alcohol-free social activities and more. In
fiscal year 2011-2012, the center provided
1,561 individuals with more than 17,100 hours of recovery support
services.Drawing on staff and volunteer resources, PRCC offered an
average of 85 events
and activities each month.
In
its first five years, PRCC has made a positive impact. Its programs and
services contributed to a 64.3-percent increase in education or employment
among clients and a 81.1-percent increase in stable housing. The center also
helped clients avoid substance use and illegal activities, according to data
obtained from the Government Performance Results Act (GRPA) baseline and
six-month follow-up assessments.
PRCC
is located at 1701 W. Lehigh Ave., Unit 6, in North Philadelphia. To learn
more, visit http://www.councilsepa.org/
About PRO-ACT
PRO-ACT
is the regional nonprofit organization working to mobilize and rally
individuals in recovery from addiction, as well as their families, friends and
allies in a campaign to end discrimination, broaden social understanding and
achieve a just response to addiction as a public health crisis. PRO-ACT is
hosted by The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania.
About The Council of
Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.
The
Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. is a private nonprofit prevention, education,
advocacy, and intervention organization, providing a wide range of services to
families, schools, businesses, individuals, and the community. Founded in 1975,
The Council serves the Southeast region of Pennsylvania and is a member of a
nationwide network of National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
Affiliates. The Council has offices and Recovery Community Centers in
Doylestown, New Britain, Bristol, and Philadelphia. For help with alcohol,
tobacco or other substances, or for information on the disease of alcoholism
and addiction, call 800-221-6333, toll-free, 24-hours a day. For more
information, visit www.councilsepa.org.
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Friday, December 7, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Today's Scripture
"All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." - 2 Proverbs 16:2-3 NIV
Thoughts for Today
For our last look this week at inventorying our lives, let's think
about choices in the workplace. Sometimes we tend to live by a different
set of standards in our career or business, but God wants us to be
guided by his principles in every area of our lives. It is especially
important to consider our motives for doing what we do
at work. Are we motivated mostly by our desire to move up the ladder and
make more money—or is honoring Jesus still our most important
motivator?
In taking inventory, make a list of questions to ask yourself. You might want to use some like these:
- Have I been swept into a competitive mode that causes me to try to get ahead even at the expense of hurting other people?
- Do I base business decisions solely on my desire to succeed, or do I first consider the integrity of my choices?
- Has my work become so all-consuming that I am putting it above my focus on my family?
- Am I participating in workplace gossip or complaining?
- What kind of influence am I having on those around me?
Consider this …
Honestly inventorying your attitudes and actions in the workplace
is the first step toward correcting any problem areas. As you confess
your failures to God, he will forgive you and help you chart a better
path. Jesus loves you. Only as you choose to do things his way will you
find real success—the kind that lasts for an eternity.
Lord, help me clearly see my motives for all I do in
the workplace. Forgive me for letting my desire to get ahead in my
career overshadow my desire to honor you in all I do. I pray above all
that my employer and co-workers will see Jesus in me and that you will
use me to encourage them and influence them toward you. In Jesus' name …
These thoughts were drawn from …
Stepping into Freedom: A Christ-Centered Twelve-Step Program by
Jimmy Ray Lee, D.Min. This twelve-step program is suggested for use in
support groups, recovery groups and home groups. It offers help for
anyone struggling with a life-controlling problem like drug addiction,
alcoholism, sexual addiction, gambling or workaholism. Note: This
curriculum was written especially for small groups and we encourage
people to use it that way. However, it can also be used effectively as a
personal study for individuals or couples.
PO Box 22127 ~ Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421 ~ 423-899-4770
© Living Free 2007. Living Free is a registered trademark. Living Free Every Day devotionals may be reproduced for personal use. When reproduced to share with others, please acknowledge the source as Living Free, Chattanooga, TN. Must have written permission to use in any format to be sold. Permission may be requested by sending e-mail to info@LivingFree.org.
© Living Free 2007. Living Free is a registered trademark. Living Free Every Day devotionals may be reproduced for personal use. When reproduced to share with others, please acknowledge the source as Living Free, Chattanooga, TN. Must have written permission to use in any format to be sold. Permission may be requested by sending e-mail to info@LivingFree.org.
Parents More Important Than School in Preventing Use of Alcohol, Marijuana Use
A new study concludes that parental involvement is more
important than the school environment in preventing or limiting
children’s use of alcohol or marijuana.
Researchers evaluated data from more than 10,000 students, parents,
teachers and school administrators. They looked at “family social
capital”—bonds between parents and children—as well as “school social
capital”—a school’s ability to provide a positive environment for
learning, Science Daily reports.
Measures of family social capital include trust, open communication
and active engagement in a child’s life, while school social capital
includes student involvement in extracurricular activities, teacher
morale and the teachers’ ability to address student needs.
“Parents play an important role in shaping the decisions their
children make when it comes to alcohol and marijuana,” study co-author
Dr. Toby Parcel of North Carolina State University said in a news release.
“To be clear, school programs that address alcohol and marijuana use
are definitely valuable, but the bonds parents form with their children
are more important. Ideally, we can have both.”
The researchers found students with high levels of family social
capital and low school social capital levels were less likely to have
used either marijuana or alcohol, or to have used them less frequently,
compared with students with high levels of school social capital and low
family social capital.
The study appears in Journal of Drug Issues.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
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Government Report: Thousands of Prisoners Wait Months for Drug Treatment
By Join Together Staff | December 5, 2012 | 4 Comments | Filed in Addiction, Alcohol, Drugs, Government, Legal & Treatment
Thousands of prisoners wait months to enter drug education or rehabilitation programs, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The delay is caused by staff shortages and limited resources, USA Today reports. Drug offenders represent the largest category of prisoners in the federal prison system, the article notes.
In 2011, more than 51,000 inmates were on waiting lists for basic drug education programs, some for up to three months. A total of 31,803 inmates were enrolled in such programs last year, the report states.
Inmates who complete the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Residential Drug Abuse Program receive a sentence reduction of one year. Waiting lists for the program were so long last year that only one-quarter of graduates entered the program with at least a year left on their prison terms.
“These are important programs, because so many people come into the system with substance abuse problems,” David Maurer, primary author of the GAO review, told the newspaper. “These programs can help in the whole re-entry process.”
According to Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Ed Ross, the number of inmates on waiting lists for the programs, and the time spent waiting for treatment, has begun to decrease.
“To the extent the budget allows, we will continue to add treatment staff to meet the needs of the increasing inmate population, and in the future, we expect to reduce the amount of time an inmate is wait-listed for treatment,” he said. “Reducing the time spent waiting to enter treatment will allow for longer sentence reductions at the back end for non-violent eligible inmates.”
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
PRIDEFUL ARROGANT ME
Hello Readers,
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