Skip to main content

Addiction Treatment

Drug Wars and Drug Laws: Addiction Treatment Through the Lens of Politics, Race and Culture

Featured speakers:

Cheryl Grills, PhD, Loyola Marymount University, President of the Association of Black Psychologists

Ethan Nadelmann, JD, MA, PhD, Executive Director and Founder of Drug Policy Alliance

Race, class and culture are integral aspects of any clinical treatment; they particularly impact the treatment of addictive disorders.  Just recently we have seen the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the implementation of Mental Health Parity and National Health Reform.  The country is in economic crisis, and we are in the midst of political sea change.

We will examine how these issues impact drug users and problematic drug use, and how they enter into the clinical situation, especially as expressed in transference and counter-transference experience. The conference is designed to help clinicians better address issues of race, culture and politics in their work with substance users.

For more information, and to register, please visit http://www.nyspa.org/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=257&extmode=view&extid=184.

UN Drug Czar: "Drug Use Is a Health Problem, Not a Crime"

On his first visit to Afghanistan since assuming duties as UNODC Executive Director in September, Mr. Yury Fedotov visited Jangalak Treatment Center, in Kabul, Afghanistan, last week. The center offers treatment and follow up care for recovering drug users. "Drug use is a health problem, not a crime", said Mr. Fedotov. "Drug users are affected by a disease - addiction - and instead of punishment, what they need is treatment, care and social integration. They should not be stigmatized, repressed or further marginalized. Like all people, they deserve to be treated humanely. I believe in placing a strong emphasis on safeguarding health, human rights and justice", he added.

Iowa Drugs Appeal Case Headed to Supreme Court

Two attorneys say they'll take an Iowa case before the nation's highest court next week that could alter how federal judges sentence convicts after appeals. The issue is if judges can weigh a convict's efforts at rehabilitation while an appeal is pending.

Drug Prohibition Related Cases Clogging Philippine Courts

Drug prohibition related cases are clogging the dockets of the country’s courts and, as a result, jails are filled with drug suspects. Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna and present head of the Philippine Judicial Academy, said, "If you want to restore the drug offenders, you should be improving the places where you help drug addicts recover from their addiction."

FDA Appoves Drug to Treat Heroin, Morphine Addiction

The Food and Drug Administration has approved an injectable drug designed to treat people addicted to opiates who have undergone detoxification treatment. Vivitrol, made by Massachusetts drug maker Alkermes, is a so-called extended-release formulation of the drug naltrexone that is injected once a month into the muscle, according to an FDA statement. The drug works to block opioid receptors in the brain.

Revolutionary New Device Could Help Drug Addicts

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles say they’ve come up with an implanted device that administers the medication buprenorphine, which helps end dependence on heroin and opioids that are found in many prescription painkillers.
Subscribe to Addiction Treatment