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Lost in the various public policy arguments fueling cannabis decriminalization and legalization laws across the United States is the fact that a percentage of individuals who use cannabis will experience [...]

Public concern about the use of anabolic androgenic steroids P by athletes and others has led to enhanced testing for these drugs as well as an improved understanding of their [...]

Can new medications help in the treatment of substance use disorders? The short answer to that question is yes. Despite the historical resistance of addiction treaters to using medications in their treatment of addicted people, recent advances and more sophisticated methods for integrating medications into standard addiction treatment have led to a surge in new anti-addiction medications available to the addicted person. Medications like depot naltrexone and acamprosate have shown substantial effects in decreasing alcohol craving, while suboxone has provided relief to opiate addicts who simply would not have come to treatment in the past. Despite the apparent post-marketing emergence of side effects like agitation and nightmares, varenicline is a step in the right direction for those looking for help with their nicotine addiction. Although not yet available to the public, the pipeline of investigational medications includes several cocaine vaccines. In addition to these vaccines and the Food and Drug Administration-approved medications, other addiction remedies have been touted in the press and should be understood by the general physician; in this widely publicized but unproven category is the proprietary medication "cocktail" offered by Prometa. Clinicians can provide substantial benefit to their addicted patients by making newly developed medications part of the treatment package. This article reviews the clinical use of these new medications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers tips for clinicians in managing the family and friends of the person with an addiction who refuses treatment. Topics discussed include how Psychiatrists can teach the family and friends how to recognize an immediate danger and access the appropriate level of care, the use of the "Intervention" model and teaching non-confrontational communication.

This issue of Primary Psychiatry focuses on the ever-increasing biologic treatments for addiction, and how clinicians can integrate those modalities into broader psychosocial treatments. Although addiction is most certainly a brain disease, it is not only a brain disease. As anyone who treats addicted or dually diagnosed patients knows, the presenting problem's complexity usually necessitates some combination of biologic and psychological remedies. The wide-ranging and biologically distinct modalities in this issue will be presented as useful parts of the more complete treatment package. Readers will find new clinical tools, an understanding of where science is heading, and renewed hope for patients in their battles against addiction and mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the coverage of the podcast topics by American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) president Dr. Laurence Westreich on the diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorder at the 25th AAAP Annual Meeting. It mentions the importance of understanding the basics of addiction such as its patterns and signs and symptoms and how the peer-led support groups interact with treatment.

Focuses on heroin drug use and treatment in the United States. Increase in heroin use; Narcotics Anonymous' support-group approach based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous; Pharmacologic treatment for opioid addiction; Use of naltrexone in treating alcoholics.

On July 26, 1990, the U.S. Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was intended as a broad, national, civil rights-oriented mandate "for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities," both physical and mental. ADA protection is extended, in limited form, to those with addiction disorders. However, many addicted individuals are denied ADA protection because of exclusionary criteria in the ADA itself and because of increasingly restrictive interpretations of the ADA in recent cases. The benefit to the addicted persons, and to the larger society, is lost when unfair discriminatory practices preclude employment of otherwise qualified, though stigmatized, individuals. The ADA currently falls short, in many respects, of preventing such discrimination against those with addictions.