Public Policy

If you’re coming to CADCA’s National Leadership Forum – held just outside of Washington, D.C. Feb. 6-9 – but don’t currently have an appointment set up with your member of Congress, then you’re in luck because CADCA will make an appointment for you. Unlike in previous years, CADCA will set up your appointment even if your group has fewer than five people. All you have to do is fill out a request form and submit it to Lindsay Houff at lhouff@cadca.org or by fax to (703) 706-0565.

Breathable caffeine dispensed from canisters that fit in pants pockets is a ‘club drug’ that may be dangerous to youth, according to New York Senator Charles Schumer. The senator wrote Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking her to review the safety and legality of the AeroShot Pure Energy caffeine inhaler, a yellow and gray canister of caffeine powder and B vitamins resembling a tube of lipstick. The inhaler is set to hit store shelves in New York and Boston next month.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a policy brief “Substance Use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment for Pediatricians” that is in line with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s recommendation to ensure that universal screening for substance use, brief intervention, and/or referral to treatment (SBIRT) become a part of routine and comprehensive pediatric care.

If the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction fails to reach an agreement on how to trim $1.2 trillion from the federal budget, the proposed across-the-board spending cuts could have a detrimental effect on drug abuse demand reduction programs. That’s the finding of a new brief by Carnevale Associates.

On Tuesday, the new Congressional Youth Drug Prevention Caucus, led by Congressman Sandy Levin (I-Mich.) and Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) held its very first briefing on the Drug Free Communities (DFC) Program. The panel included CADCA's Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur T. Dean, Benjamin Tucker of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Hilarie Chambers of Congressman Sandy Levin's office, Greg Puckett, Executive Director of Community Connections, Inc., and Sue Thau, CADCA's Public Policy Consultant.

On Tuesday, Senator Harkin (IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee introduced a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This bill incorporates much of Senate bill 919, Successful, Safe and Healthy Students Act of 2011 but unlike S. 919, there is no specific percentage of funding emphasis on drug and/or violence prevention.

Since its inception 20 years ago, CADCA has issued (and will continue to issue) Legislative Alerts regarding funding and authorizing legislation that the field needs to weigh in on with their congressional delegations. Now, CADCA has launched a new kind of alert – an Executive Branch Alert – to notify the field when action needs to be taken around specific policy, regulatory and other issues where the action is in the Executive Branch.

The maker of a sweet alcoholic drink that appeals to teenagers will start disclosing on its labels that its super-size cans contain as much alcohol as four to five cans of beer, federal regulators announced Monday.

The Senate recently released its versions of both the FY 2012 Financial Services and General Government as well as the Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies appropriations bills. The House had already marked up both of these bills. The following are the highlights from these bills that affect our field:

Violent crime could be reduced significantly if policymakers at the local level limit the number of neighborhood liquor stores and ban the sale of single-serve containers of alcoholic beverages, according to separate studies led by University of California, Riverside researchers.

This week, California became the first state to prohibit the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines containing the active ingredient dextromethorphan (DXM) to minors. The legislation, SB 514, authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), was signed into law Wednesday.

Are you located in a state where medical marijuana is legal or where marijuana legalization is being considered? If so, then don’t miss next week’s CADCA TV program, “The Blunt Truth: Communities Dealing with Marijuana.” During this hour-long show, representatives from various states will discuss how medical marijuana laws and marijuana legalization efforts are impacting their communities, and what they’re doing to tackle this issue. The show airs Aug. 25, from 1-2 p.m. EST.