Studying addiction is comparatively recent as a field of scientific enquiry.  Still, our knowledge is increasing rapidly.  Check out the National Institute of Drug Abuse to get a sense of the explosion in research http://www.drugabuse.gov/.  And they have pretty pictures of brains and nice statistics!  If you really want to learn about the cutting edge of research, check out the College on Problems of Drug Dependence http://www.cpdd.vcu.edu/.  A weird name, but CPDD is NIDA’s primary research conference. It’s usually in June, usually in a warm weather location.  This year it’s in Palm Springs.   I’ve gone several times and highly recommend it, although I confess that Lisa, my colleague at Signal, attended and didn’t care for it.  To like CPDD, I guess you have to be at least a little nerdy.  Okay, a lot nerdy, and really like data and stats.

But, and it’s a big but, one area where there has been little study is recovery.  What happens after people leave treatment? How are some people able to deal with drug and alcohol problems without treatment?  What are the characteristics of people who have been in recovery for decades?  All questions with little scrutiny so far.  So, I was very pleased to see that The Partnership at Drugfree.org and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) just released the results of a nationally representative survey that asked “Did you once have a problem with drugs or alcohol, but no longer do?”  A simple way to start to look at the national landscape of recovery.  10 percent of adults answered “Yes” to that question, which translates into 23.5 million Americans.  More details at http://www.drugfree.org/.  To quote Tom McLellan, “…this additional work provides fundamental information on how many people are in recovery. These are not only the building blocks for the ‘recovery science’ that have been called for, but they are the foundation for public understanding, acceptance and ultimately, the celebration of recovery.”  An important step, indeed.

In this holiday season, consider a donation to Faces and Voices of Recovery http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/.  FAVOR is the only national recovery advocacy organization and is celebrating their 10^th anniversary.  A worthy cause for your dollars.  And they are able to match all donations through December 31, so twice the bang for your bucks.  Plus they have opened a webstore.  Pretty limited so far, but perhaps you’ve been wanting a “Got recovery?” tee shirt.

November 17, 2011 is the Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society.  Smokers are encouraged to use this date to make a plan to quit.  By doing so, smokers will take an important step towards a healthier life.  Quitting is NOT easy but there is help!  The Colorado QuitLine is a great resource:  https://colorado.quitlogix.org/default.aspx

Here are 10 tips to help quit smoking:

Tip #1: Keep Active - go for a walk or go to the gym.

Tip #2: Drink lots of water!  Water is cooling, soothing, refreshing, healing, and detoxifying!

Tip #3: Try using nicotine replacement if that is your choice.

Tip #4: Attend a stop-smoking class or follow a self-help plan

Tip #5: Avoid situations where the urge to smoke is strong.

Tip #6: Reduce or avoid alcohol. A good idea ALL the time!

Tip #7: Think about how much money you would save if you kept up the good work!  One pack of cigarettes per day, costs almost $3K annually!

Tip #8: Think about the positive impact it will have on your body! After 24 hours of no smoking, your chance of a heart attack decreases significantly.

Tip #9: Tell a friend about your plan and ask them to help keep you busy and hold you accountable!

Tip #10: Find an oral substitute: Keep other things around to pop in your mouth when you’re craving a cigarette.

Advocates for Recovery and the Mountain West ATTC have teamed up to present the Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) Workshop on November 18th in Denver.  The workshop will introduce ROSC and help providers with implementing its principals in their agencies.  For more information on the workshop, including location, cost, and the registration form, click the attached file.

ROSC Flyer.PDF (289.71 kb)

Check out the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA) website for more information, including free resources and events in your area: http://drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov/

A client at one of Signal’s providers (ARTS/Peer I) tells his story of redemption in the Westword. It’s a great story of the client’s journey to recovery and his second chance at life. Peer I’s Director Ken Gaipa and ARTS’ Executive Director Tom Brewster were interviewed for the article. They have some encouraging things to say about Josh Beckius’s future. Read the full Westword article at: http://www.westword.com/2011-10-27/news/josh-beckius-redemption/

“Thinking outside the box” is popular.  Personally, I’m comfortable inside the box – dry, warm, and safe.  But stuff happens, we think new thoughts, and we’re forced to at least peek over the edge of the box.  Which happened the other day.  I was wandering through the Internet and came upon an article on 15-minute methadone.  A Baltimore provider has started dosing clients within 15-minutes of showing up at the front door.  My immediate reaction was “No way!”  The client has to have a physical, has to see the doctor, has to do the confidentiality form, has to do a UA, ….  Of course, if you do all of that, the client has to wait hours before getting methadone, which is the norm for Colorado providers.  Not a pleasant thing when you’re in withdrawal.  And why make all potential clients wait?  If you show up at the ER in pain, you can get pain meds quickly while the docs figure out what to do next.  I can imagine many problems with 15-minute methadone; the challenge for me is to imagine the positives.

And there are many, many changes on the horizon.  NIATx is testing ACHESS, a mobile phone-based relapse-prevention system.  Recovery community centers are popping up across the country.  NIDA is even testing buprenorphine as a treatment for cocaine dependence.  None of this was even dreamed of when I first entered the field.  Maybe I’ll have to climb out of the box soon!