Sunday, May 5, 2013

Commentary: All Rise America! It’s National Drug Court Month

All Rise America! It’s National Drug Court Month. The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) is thrilled to announce that we are once again hitting the road this May to celebrate National Drug Court Month with an epic cross-country RV tour of Drug Courts, Veterans Treatment Courts and DWI Courts. All Rise America! will travel over 3,500 miles coast-to-coast to shine a spotlight on communities that prove addicted people belong in treatment, not prison, and that Drug Courts, DWI Courts and Veterans Treatment Courts are the solution for saving lives, reuniting families and making communities safer.
Every stop along the route of All Rise America! will feature events at local treatment courts and highlight inspiring stories of justice reform and personal recovery. Our goal is for every person in America to know about the incredible transformations that take place day in and day out in America’s Drug Courts, DWI Courts and Veterans Treatment Courts. Along the way we will pass the ceremonial All Rise Gavel, a symbol that when one person rises out of addiction and finds recovery, we All Rise. Celebrities and national policymakers are scheduled to appear at events along the route.
Drug Court Graduation- Santa Maria, CA
Drug Court Graduation in Santa Maria, California
We kicked things off a few days early with an incredible Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court graduation in Santa Maria, CA yesterday. You can see video and pictures of this and every event on the All Rise America! blog, www.AllRiseAmerica.org.
All Rise America! is not just about the 50 Drug Courts, DWI Courts and Veteran Treatment Courts we will connect with while on the road. This is a celebration of the collective impact that over 2,700 treatment courts have on millions of people who suffer with addiction, mental illness and trauma. It is a celebration for each and every person who believes that treatment, not prison, is where addicted people belong. But it is also a call to action. Every American should be aware of the miracle of Drug Courts. And when they are asked if there is a Drug Court in their town, they should demand that answer be “YES!”
There are several ways to be a part of All Rise America!
Follow every mile on the All Rise America! blog – At each event we will post videos, pictures and updates about the incredible communities we visit. Check in often.
Get social – All month long we will have tons of content on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Make sure you share them and let people know that you support Drug Court.
All Rise America! is made possible by the generous contributions of its sponsors: Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc; Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics; and Alkermes. By supporting All Rise America!, these companies demonstrate incredible support for Drug Courts and other treatment courts. They are helping to ensure that individuals suffering from substance abuse disorders receive evidence-based treatment.

10 Comic-Book Superheroes With Addictions | The Fix

10 Comic-Book Superheroes With Addictions | The Fix
    

Introducing City of Angels Recovery Radio

City of Angels NJ, Inc. is proud to introduce a new resource for the recovery community: COA Recovery Radio (COARR).

Broadcasting from the Dwier Center with Hamilton Radio, COARR plays music and recovery-oriented talk shows all day, every day. It is accessible via Internet thru computer, tablet, smart phone and other web-enabled devices.
 
To view the weekly schedule and tune in, visit www.COARadio.com.



New Radio Show: Conquering Addiction

This Sunday - tomorrow - at 8:00 pm, Christian Life Prison & Recovery Ministry (CLPRM) will debut their new weekly show, Conquering Addiction. The topic for their first show will be "What Does the Bible Say About Addiction?" with guests Darlene Van Dyke Sofronski, live music and testimonials. It will be re-played on Monday, May 6 from 10:00 - 11:00 am and Wednesday, May 8 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm. Future shows will be recorded on location at CLPRM's coffee house, Conquering Grounds, and feature interviews with recovery bands, ministry members, recoverees, and much more.

Based in Bensalem, PA, CLPRM is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping those incarcerated and to stop substance abuse in the community. It offers recovery meetings, resources, counseling and referral services. To learn more about CLPRM, click here.

In the coming weeks, more recovery-oriented shows will launch on COARR. All are original programs, not available elsewhere, featuring experts and their guests from our local community. These are folks we all know and love...as well as a few surprises! 

To keep current on new COARR shows, announcements and events - and get exclusive updates about COA's signature summer event, Rockfest, on June 22 , 2013 - please click here to "like" the COARR Facebook page. This page has photos, videos and news not posted elsewhere.

If you know someone who would enjoy COARR, send this email to them! Just click "Forward this email" at the bottom of the page.
 Tidbits 
 COA hosts support group meetings for both addiction sufferers and their families every day of the week at the Dwier Center (392 Church Street, Groveville, NJ). This includes 12-step meetings, a new Thursday night veteran's support group, Saturday night self-injury support group, Sunday night Spirituality Meeting, and the popular Sunday morning family support group, The Breakfast Club. To check out our online calendar, click here.
 
 
For directions to the Dwier Center, click here. 
 
 
The COA website now offers an Addiction News Feed with the latest studies, reports, new and other info on addiction. It's updated in real time with the top 30 articles. To read the feed, click here. 
New videos are up on the COA YouTube channel. To watch, click here.
    


Join COA's Pinterest community! To visit the boards, click here.
 
   
  
Keep current on COA activites - join the COA group on Facebook!  COA news is posted first on Facebook, and this page often has photos not available elsewhere. Click here to visit.
 

City of Angels NJ, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides many services to addicts and their families including interventions, recovery support, Family Program, counseling services and more. All of our services are provided at no charge.

  

Friday, May 3, 2013

Stop Urban Outfitters From Selling Products that Promote Prescription Drug Abuse

Urban Outfitters, the national retail store popular with teens, is currently selling pint glasses, flasks and shot glasses made to look like prescription pill bottles. These products make light of prescription drug misuse and abuse, a dangerous behavior that is responsible for more deaths in the United States each year than heroin and cocaine combined. Medicine abuse has increased 33 percent over the past five years with one in four teens having misused or abused a prescription drug in their lifetime. Combined with alcohol, the misuse and abuse of prescription medications can be especially dangerous, making the Urban Outfitter Rx pint and shot glasses and flasks even more disturbing.
As recent research from The Partnership at Drugfree.org shows, teens and parents alike do not understand the health risks associated with the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. In fact, more than a quarter of teens mistakenly believe that misusing and abusing prescription drugs is safer than using street drugs.
Tongue-in-cheek products that normalize and promote prescription drug abuse only serve to reinforce the misperception about the dangers associated with abusing medicine and put more teens at risk.
Ask Urban Outfitters to remove these products from their stores and website immediately. Feel free to use the information above to help make your point.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR Urban Outfitters:
Send an e-mail to:
Richard A. Hayne; CEO & Chairman
richard.hayne@urbanout.com
Write a letter:
Urban Outfitters, Inc.
5000 South Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19112-1495
Sign this Facebook Causes petition:
When you take action, reply to this e-mail to let us know, share a comment on the website post – and please forward this message to a friend or colleague.
Join us and make your voice heard!

NAADAC Institute Education Update


Don't miss these great opportunities to earn CEs, advance your professional life and enhance your practice through live seminars, independent study or online!
Exploring Techniques to Support Long-Term Addiction Recovery for Clients & Families

Thursday, May 23, 2013
12pm - 2pm EST (11 C/10 M/9 P)
Techniques employed during treatment and early stages of recovery are different than those used to support long-term recovery.  This webinar outlines the differences between professionally directed, long-term treatment planning and patient-directed long-term recovery planning and the role of addiction professionals in long-term recovery of their clients and families.  The presenters will also explore recovery-focused reconstruction of identity, character, relationships, and resiliency marked by spiritual self-transcendence, mutual dependence, humility, tolerance, respect and service to others (“recovery as a process of getting out of oneself”) in comparison to techniques of individual, group, and family recovery that focus on enhancing self-knowledge, self-development, self-assertion, self-control, self-confidence, and self-esteem (“treatment as a process of getting into oneself”).

Become a member of NAADAC to earn free CE credit for all NAADAC webinars & online courses (over 75 CEs): www.naadac.org/join
Upcoming Recovery-Oriented Webinars:

Collaborating with Other Professions, Professionals & Communities
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
3pm - 4pm EST (2 C/1 M/12 P)

Including Family & Community in the Recovery Process
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
3pm - 5pm EST (2 C/1 M/12 P)

Full List of NAADAC Webinars:
www.naadac.org/education/webinars
You Can Make a Difference: Join a NAADAC Committee

Would you like to play a major role in finding solutions to the many challenges facing addiction professionals? Ready to bring your knowledge and expertise to the table?

Join a NAADAC committee and help address healthcare reform, parity, licensure and funding for the profession. We do this by strengthening and elevating our professional status, providing training and advocacy, providing up-to-date information to our members and working collaboratively with other stakeholders.
More Information
Reason #16 I Love My NAADAC Membership:

NAADAC members receive reduced rates for malpractice and liability insurance for individuals and agencies.
Medical and dental insurance is also available.  NAADAC members also enjoy special discount rates on comprehensive professional liability insurance with no deductible and access to a legal hotline that is exclusive to NAADAC members and provides two hours of free legal assistance to prevent claims against you.  Call 800.735.1588 or e-mail insurance@vanwagnergroup.com for full details.
Events From Our Partners
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Policy Summit 

May 9, 2013 from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM in Washington, DC
NAPAFASA, in partnership with the American Psychological Association's Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs through its Ethnicity and Health in America Series, is raising awareness concerning the chronic condition of stress among America's Asian and Asian American communities.

The forum, which is hosted in partnership with the DC Mayor's Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, the Montgomery County Asian American Health Initiative, and AARP, will focus on family expectations and demands as it relates to stress.  It will begin with a film screening of CAN: What does it take to heal from mental illness, a documentary film by Pearl J. Parks. After the film screening the panelists will guide the open discussion on sources of stress, cultural/racial factors associated with those stressors as it impacts Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander families, and how to access resources to cope with the burden of stress.  Panelists include Charissa Cheah, PhD, Derek Iwamoto, PhD, Matthew Miller, PhD, and Myron Dean Quon, Esq.  RSVP by May 7, 2013 by clicking here.

Mind-Body-Spirit Workshop

Fully Alive: Exploring the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection to Health and Healing 
May 18, 2013
Dynamic 8-contact hour workshop in Sedona, AZ at Best Western Arroyo Roble Hotel designed for personal and professional development. Optional 20 contact hour session available for health care professionals.  Learn about thriving in stressful times, spiritual nutrition, meditation, humor, happiness and health, healing environments, and art therapy. To register, go to www.allegralearning.com or call 760-231-9678.

Jon Bon Jovi to appear with Christie today at 'Good Samaritan' drug overdose bill signing

Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger By Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger
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on May 02, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated May 02, 2013 at 10:39 AM





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JonBonJovi.JPGJon Bon Jovi, who appears in this photo with his wife Dorothea Hurley at the White House Correspondents' Association after-party Sunday, will accompany Gov. Chris Christie today when he signs a bill shielding from prosecution people who report a drug overdose. 
PATERSON — When Gov. Chris Christie signs the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act at a drug treatment facility in Paterson today, Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi will be at his side.
Bon Jovi has lived through the trauma of a child suffering a drug overdose. Six months ago, authorities found 19-year-old Stephanie Bongiovi unresponsive following a heroin overdose in her Hamilton College dormitory in upstate New York. Police later arrested her on drug possession charges.
The Sayreville-raised musician and philanthropist has spoken publicly about the experience, telling Katie Couric on her talk show in March he had no idea his daughter had a drug problem. "The problem is much more prevalent than I know. I cannot get over how many people I've met that said 'my son' or 'my daughter' … There is a lot of pressure on kids these days," Bon Jovi said, according to published accounts of the interview.
"She's doing great and I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers. I'm just blessed she's healthy and whole, and we'll get through it," he added.
Christie is signing a bill that allows people to call 911 to report someone has overdosed on drugs, without the fear of getting themselves arrested for drug possession.
Only six months ago he had vetoed the bill, saying it didn't focus enough on prevention and deterrence. But a group of families whose loved ones had died from drug overdoses pleaded with the governor and the legislature to find a compromise. They had testified at committee hearings that overdoses often occur in the presence of other drug users, but medical assistance is summoned only half the time because bystanders fear arrest.
On Monday, Christie and the legislature approved a new bill that provides immunity to 911 callers under most circumstances. But they combined it with another measure that makes naloxone, an FDA-approved remedy for drug overdoses, available to spouses, parents or guardians who could be taught to administer the drug in an emergency.
Christie and Bon Jovi are first expected to tour Turning Point’s facility at the Barnert Medical Arts Complex this afternoon before the bill signing, according to the governor's office.