Abuse

A new study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that suicides – both completed and attempted – occurred at greater rates in rural community areas with greater bar densities. The study was published in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Survey data conducted of the Northern Virginia area show that many underage youth can easily get a hold of alcohol from adults – whether it’s from strangers who agree to buy alcohol for them or from their parents. To help prevent this, teams of youth and adults from Northern Virginia joined forces on October 10 to launch the first regional Sticker Shock campaign, a youth-led initiative to educate adults who might be tempted to purchase alcohol legally and provide it to minors. The campaign is part of the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria (SAPCA)'s efforts to prevent underage drinking in their community.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) today announced the establishment of four Centers of Excellence for Physician Information, which will serve as national models to support the advancement of addiction awareness, prevention, and treatment in primary care practices. The NIDA Centers of Excellence (NIDA COEs) will target physicians-in-training, including medical students and resident physicians in primary care specialties.

All of us have stress in our lives, but stress means different things to different people and causes varying reactions. While some can handle life stresses internally, others look for something to make them feel better—such as drugs and alcohol. Scientific research has shown a strong link between stress and substance abuse and it´s also one of the most powerful triggers for relapse, even after long periods in recovery. During an hour-long broadcast hosted by CADCA, experts will discuss the brain´s response to stress and the link between stress and substance abuse. Stress-Induced Substance Abuse will be held on March 29, 2007 from 1-2 p.m. EST.

Forty-nine percent (3.8 million) of full time college students binge drink and/or abuse prescription and illegal drugs, according to Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America´s Colleges and Universities,, a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

All of us have stress in our lives, but stress means different things to different people and causes varying reactions. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, stress is one of the most powerful triggers for substance abuse relapse even after long periods of abstinence. Stress can also drive people who have never abused drugs before to look for a way to dull the pain. During an hour-long broadcast hosted by CADCA, experts will discuss the brain´s response to stress and the link between stress and substance abuse. Show host and CADCA Vice President of Communications and Membership, Mary Elizabeth Elliott, recently interviewed NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow, and her comments about stress and substance abuse are also featured in the program. Stress-Induced Substance Abuse will be held on March 29, 2007 from 1-2 p.m. EST.

Death, injury and illness caused by substance abuse are now among the top ten contributors to global disease burden, according to new research published in The Lancet, a medical journal based in the United Kingdom, and reported in Medical News Today. As a result, what was once seen by many in developing countries as the disease of industrialized nations is now a worldwide trend.

Soldiers returning home from war have been known to experience symptoms of trauma and stress—everything from hallucinations to sleeping disturbances, fear and social withdrawal. Today, these symptoms are diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A new report published in the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder´s PTSD Research Quarterly shows that alcohol and other drug abuse is common among people with PTSD.

Approximately 10.3 percent of U.S. adults appear to have problems with drug use or abuse during their lives, including 2.6 percent who become drug dependent at some point, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body´s response to stress, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The new finding could help explain why some individuals are more resilient to profound childhood trauma than others.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime´s (UNODC) 2007 World Drug Report found that illicit drug consumption and production throughout the world has slowed. However, officials cautioned that effective drug prevention and treatment is critical in order to keep global rates on a downward trend.

Phamatech, Inc. one of the leading providers of rapid 1-step diagnostic devices for the detection of fertility, drugs of abuse, and infectious diseases, received certification by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for its newest division: Forensic Toxicology Laboratory Services. Phamatech, Inc. is a long-time supporter of CADCA and of the community coalition movement.