CADCA 2014 National Leadership Forum Convenes Next Week

By Join Together Staff | January 30, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Drugs, Prevention & Youth

Next week, more than 2,500 community leaders will gather in the Washington, D.C. area for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s (CADCA) 24th annual National Leadership Forum.

The forum, which will take place February 3-6, brings together federal and state officials and community leaders from across the country to find solutions to the nation’s substance abuse problems. It is the nation’s largest training for substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals and researchers. It will feature more than 80 training courses to help participants learn effective strategies to address drug-related issues in their communities.

Topics will range from preventing prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth, to how to reduce tobacco use and underage drinking.

Speakers will include Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; Pamela Hyde, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator; Frances Harding, Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; and leadership expert Brigadier General Barrye Price, Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army.

January 30, 2014

Join a NAADAC Committee

Share your expertise and chart the future of the nation's largest professional organization for addiction-focused professionals.

NAADAC has Standing Committees on the following topics: Bylaws, Clinical Issues, Ethics, Nominations and Elections, and Public Policy.

In addition, NAADAC has the following Ad Hoc Committees:

Awards Sub-Committee;

Adolescent Specialty Committee;

International Committee;

Membership Retention Committee;

Mentoring Committee;

National Addiction Studies and Standards Collaborative Committee;

Peer Assistance Committee; and

Student Committee.

[ More Information ] and [ Download the Committee Nomination Form]

Free NAADAC Webinar: 

What Does Science Say? Reviewing Recovery Research

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 @ 3-5pm EST 

(2 CST/1 MST/12 PST)

Produced by NAADAC Institute Webinar Series

In this free webinar, Bill White will review what is known about the resolution of severe alcohol and other drug problems from the standpoint of scientific and historical research. The review will include information on the prevalence of recovery as well as the pathways, styles, stages, degrees and durability of recovery. Don’t miss this important installment of the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Webinar Series, and learn about the latest recovery-oriented research from the addiction profession’s leading expert.

NAADAC members earn 2 free CE credits (Join Now) that are accepted by NAADAC, NBCC, OASAS, CAADE and the American Probation and Parole Association.

Never attended a webinar before? Get your questions answeredhere.

[ Register ] and [ More Information ]

New NIDA Resources for Treatment of Teens with SUDs

On January 23, 2014, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released two resources to help parents, health care providers, and substance use disorders treatment specialists treat teens struggling with drug abuse, as well as identify those who might be at risk.

A new online publication, Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research Based Guide, describes the treatment approaches.

To increase early screening of adolescent substance abuse, theSubstance Use Disorders in Adolescents: Screening and Engagement in Primary Care Settings educational module was created.

[ More Information ]

Become a Nationally Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC)

Raise your professional stature by becoming a Nationally Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC), a national credential that recognizes the clinical standard and the highest level of professional competencies for practitioners treating adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs).

The National Certification Examination for Adolescent Addiction Counselors was developed to address the emerging need to:

Distinguish a set of skills indicating proficiency in demonstrated clinical practice when treating adolescents;

Identify a thorough awareness of adolescent development; and 

Differentiate issues related to co-occurring disorders that practitioners show expertise in understanding when working with adolescents. 

[ More Information ]

Apply for SAMHSA's Project LIFT

Are you an emerging behavioral health leader who provides direct services to predominantly African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino(a)s, American Indian/Alaska Natives, or rural populations?

SAMHSA’s Project LIFT (Leadership Initiatives for Tomorrow) is presently recruiting behavioral health peers and professionals who serve any of the populations noted above. This free six-month leadership development program is designed to enhance emerging leaders’ leadership competencies and skills related to health reform.

Deadline for Applications: February 7, 2014

[ More Information ] and [ Application ]

Share Your Clients' Success Stories!

NAADAC is looking for stories from clients/patients on the positive impact of addiction-focused professionals on their recovery. These stories will be used in advocacy efforts and can be submitted anonymously (please include the state they are from). For more information or to submit your story, please contact our Communications Associate, Jessica Gleason.

New Extended Deadline: February 24, 2014

[ Contact Jessica ]

Is Your Practice Recovery-Oriented?

Do you use recovery-oriented principles and practices? What is your definition of recovery? SAMHSA describes the four major dimensions that support a life in recovery as:

Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way;

Home: a stable and safe place to live;

Purpose: meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking or creative endeavors and the independence, income and resources to participate in society; and

Community: relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love and hope,

[ Learn Other Recovery Definitions ]

Brush up on your recovery-oriented counseling skills and practices by participating in NAADAC's Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative. Watch free webinars, read free magazine articles, attend live events, and complete a recovery-oriented certificate program.

[ Download RTP Flyer ] or [ Learn More ]

Early Bird Registration Ends Tomorrow!

Early Bird Registration for NAADAC's 2014 Advocacy in Action Conference ends tomorrow, January 31st! Join addiction professionals from around the country from March 2–4 in Washington, D.C. to learn about public policy issues affecting your clients and your profession, and bring your day-to-day experiences and stories to decision-makers at all levels of government.

Don't forget to make your hotel reservations at the Holiday Inn & Suites Alexandria-Historic District by February 24, 2014 to receive a preferred rate of $129/night. Please mention NAADAC when making your reservation over the phone at 877-504-0047.

[ More Information ], [ Conference Brochure ], and [ Registration ]

Live IL Training with NAADAC ED

Presented by NAADAC and the Illinois Association of Addiction Professionals (IAAP)

Explore the long-term impact of behavioral learning on emotional development and maturity. Join Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, Executive Director of NAADAC, on March 17, 2014 at the Illinois Certification Board Spring Conference for her training, Romancing the Brain in Recovery: Conflict Resolution in Recovery & Relapse Prevention. 

This training will provide an effective, cost-efficient, feasible model for improving clients' conflict resolution knowledge, attitudes and skills and help reduce relapse and sustain recovery of adult and adolescent substance use, abuse and dependent clients.

[ Register ] and [ Event Flyer ]

Membership Benefit #1: Free Online Continuing Education

NAADAC Continuing Education (CE) credits are completely free for NAADAC members. Members have access to over 70 hours of free on-demand webinars, offered online to watch at your convenience. Simply watch the webinar/online course of your choice, complete the online CE quiz, and receive a free CE certificate to use towards your license or credential.

All continuing education provided by NAADAC has the following approval and acceptance:

National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC)

American Probation and Parole Association (APPA)

New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS)

California Association for Alcohol/Drug Educators (CAADE)

[ Join Now ] and [ NAADAC Webinar Series ]

Archived Webinar: Defining Addiction Recovery

A component of the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative

This free webinar highlights the emergence of recovery as an organizing paradigm for addiction treatment, outline the challenges in defining recovery and related concepts, review samples of work to date to define recovery, and discuss areas of emerging consensus and continued contention in defining recovery. Earn 1.5 CE credits!

[ Archived Recording ] and [ More Information ]

Update Your NAADAC Profile

Start the year off on the right foot! Log into NAADAC to verify your contact information and preferences to make sure you are taking advantage of everything NAADAC has to offer.

[ Update Profile ]

NAADAC Career Center

The NAADAC Career Center provides a variety of employment listings at no charge for addiction-focused professionals. If you are looking to find a new career, the NAADAC Career Center can help! Check out our latest listing:

Health Care Professional (HCP) Director at the Hazelden Foundation in Newberg, OR

[ Browse Full Listings ] 

January 30 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

" Every word of God is flawless ;

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him .

STEP 3 Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

There are millions that will agree with the Proverb including myself that Gods word (Bible) is just that and the book holds the instructions for everyday life. A few years back I met a man named Clark who was an addict, He spent thirty years of his life using. When he met me I invited him to church, at first he did not want to go so I kept asking . Then one day he said to me I have tried everything else in life, I might as well give God a try. Clark had hit the bottom, thirty years of using brought him to what he thought was the end but it actually turned out to be the beginning. His story was so similar to all of ours. His mom and dad died when he was very young, addiction killed them prematurely so he was raised by his older brothers who were both addicts also. When he was around ten he was kidnapped, beaten, raped and left for dead. He survived, but to cope with all the tragedies he began using to kill the pain. What Clark did not realize was he was dealing with life by what he saw growing up. No one ever taught him about God and there was a purpose for his life and that is found in Gods word. It took Clark thirty years to realize his way just wasn't working. Going to church He surrendered (Step 1), Believing and receiving Gods word was (Step 2 ) and finally on His knees sobbing uncontrollably he handed his life over to the care of God (Step 3 ) . Clark passed away a few years back but he died sober with dignity and I realized my brother and friend touched more people in his death than in his life.

Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me!

DEA Joins Investigation Into Source of Deadly Heroin That Killed 22

By Join Together Staff | January 29, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related & Drugs


The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined an investigation into the source of a batch of heroin that killed 22 people in western Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal reports. The heroin involved in some of the deaths contained the synthetic opiate fentanyl, often used during surgery.

“We do have a good idea where it’s coming from,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said of the drug mix. “We’re trying to find the source and get them off the street before there are any more deaths.”

Dr. Karl Williams, medical examiner for Allegheny County, said 15 overdose deaths in the county appeared to be linked to heroin and fentanyl. In an average week, there are five overdose deaths in the county. More nonfatal overdoses were also reported.

Officials found bags of heroin mixed with fentanyl at the scene of overdose deaths stamped with the names “Theraflu” and “Bud Ice,” the article notes. While most heroin is a tan color, these bags of powder were pure white, Williams said. “Clearly, someone has mixed up a big dose of it,” he said.

Some local law enforcement and health officials are concerned that warning drug users about the dangerous heroin mix will encourage them to seek it out for a more potent high. “A lot will chase it, and demand goes up,” Neil Capretto, Medical Director of Gateway Rehabilitation Center told the newspaper. “They will think those who died were just careless.”

Supreme Court: Heroin Dealer Can’t be Given Longer Sentence Because Client Died

By Join Together Staff | January 29, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs &Legal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled a heroin dealer cannot be held liable for a client’s death and given a longer sentence if heroin only contributed to the death, and was not necessarily the only cause.

The ruling is likely to result in a shorter sentence for Marcus Burrage, who received 20 extra years in prison because of his client’s death, according to USA Today. The decision is also likely to make it more difficult in the future for prosecutors to extend drug sentences, the article notes.

A 1986 federal drug law requires a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence when “death or serious bodily injury results from the use” of drugs from a dealer. Burrage received a 20-year sentence for the drug sale, and an additional 20 years as a result of Joshua Banka’s death. According to an expert in the case, Banka’s death would have been “very less likely” if he had not used the heroin. However, Banka also had other drugs in his system, making it unclear whether heroin caused his death.

“Is it sufficient that use of a drug made the victim’s death 50 percent more likely? Fifteen percent? Five? Who knows?” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the ruling. “Uncertainty of that kind cannot be squared with the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard applicable in criminal trials or with the need to express criminal laws in terms ordinary persons can comprehend.”

January 28 v 23 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism

far more than flattery.

STEP 10 : Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Sometimes I still respond with old behaviors without realizing it. Twenty years of running the streets become a part of me and its not like you can just shake it off. There are times when my wife will say your crazy and I will go on the defensive and say you don't understand ,and for the most part she doesn't but shes right when it comes to the way I react . I have to remember I am not on the streets and I just cant go ghetto every time something goes down. The Proverb teaches us that the ones that love us are the ones who have our best interest at heart and I have to realize she is not putting me down she is being honest and trying to help me realize I need to change my thinking and behaviors. Not everyone is out to get me and every time someone crosses me I don't have to try and get even . Most people prefer you give it to em straight especially those like myself cause most of us from the street can smell a pile of bull a mile away and we already know what your gonna say before you even say it . I call it respect and true love when you can tell a person anything . Know matter how much you think the truth will hurt say it anyway cause lying will cause a lot more damage in the long run and most still in active addiction already know the truth and some are waiting to hear the truth from you .

Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me !

it.Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.