Free Psychostimulants Training Course for Health Professionals in Northern Territory
From Turning Point:
“A series of one-day training courses on Psychostimulants have been funded by the Commonwealth. These free courses are available to a broad range of health and welfare workers . The aim of the project is to assist health professionals such as medical practitioners, nurses, mental health workers and alcohol and drug workers to manage and treat users of psychostimulants (speed, base, ice, MDMA, cocaine). A series of one-day courses are being delivered nationally. These will be coordinated by Turning Point but delivered by specialist staff from individual states and territories.
Two courses have recently been organised in the Northern Territory. A course overview is provided below. Details of course locations, delivery schedules and the registration process are available at www.turningpoint.org.au - use the link to from GO to WHOA.
Please feel free to contact Kieran Connolly on kieranc@turningpoint.org.au for further information.
Module 1 Introduction
By the end of this module participants will be able to identify:
· what psychostimulants are
· concerns about psychostimulant use
· why people take psychostimulants
· how psychostimulants affect people
· how psychostimulants are taken
- frameworks for responding to psychostimulant use
Module 2 Pharmacology
By the end of this module participants will be able to identify:
· what psychostimulants are
· influences on drug effects
· common psychostimulant effects
- common features of withdrawal
Module 3 Epidemiology and risks
By the end of this module participants will be able to identify:
· the history of psychostimulant use
· current prevalence of use
- risks associated with psychostimulant use
Module 4 Responding to psychostimulant use
By the end of this module, participants will be able to identify:
· effective ways to raise the issue of psychostimulant use
· behavioural indicators of psychostimulant use
· physical indicators of psychostimulant use
· emergency response situations
· appropriate strategies for the management of intoxication
· mental health issues
· strategies to manage agitated behaviour
· strategies to reduce harm at various harm points
- appropriate treatment strategies”
Mental Health Education and Research Team Winter Conference (Victoria)
Beechworth is a superb little place for a conference so if you’re after a work-related excuse to get near the snowfields, here’s your chance
Qwitter - will Web 2.0 bring ATOD benefits?
I noticed an interesting post on lifehacker about the use of Twitter in smoking cessation, hence the name Qwitter.
The premise of the approach is that Twitter allows an individual to type short snippets about their progress with quitting and it all sits there nicely for others to view as well as providing a history for the quitter to hopefully motivate themselves with. Your progress is actually tracked by Qwitter who add your information to an individual progress chart.
It’s an innovative approach to smoking cessation and that’s interesting on its own. What’s even more interesting is the growth of Web 2.0 technologies in the health field. In the ATOD field we usually don’t have the luxury of considering new technologies to assist us in our work but if government doesn’t start funding such research and development, we’re going to find a lot of for-profit Qwitters populating the landscape.
And for those of you out there working in the field that think things like Qwitter are ‘gimicky’ - you’re right, but only partly. Web 2.0 technologies and whatever comes after it are going to shape what we do as health and welfare professionals in significant ways. Whether it happens in two years or ten years, we need to start thinking about our approach.
New online journal with fetal alcohol focus
I received this notice over the weekend:
“NEW Online peer reviewed FASD Journal!!
On November 1, 2007, the Journal of FAS International – JFAS Int – was amalgamated with the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, a peer-review journal. The section dedicated to FASD is called Fetal Alcohol Research (FAR). Research published in CJCP/FAR is indexed in PubMed – Medline. The amalgamated CJCP/FAR will continue to be web-based and freely available. ”
Daily Dose close to death
Daily Dose is one of the world’s best ATOD sites and it’s looking like its days are numbered. The full announcement can be found here but I’ve reproduced it below to save Daily Dose the bandwidth (we get hundreds of views of each story we publish on the Drug Blog):
“Daily Dose will close at end of month - unless …
We are truly sorry that we have to make the following announcement.
Unless sufficient funding can be obtained, then we have been left with no option other than to close down Daily Dose at the end of March. We appreciate that the vast majority of you are not aware of the nature of our funding crisis.
WIRED has maintained Daily Dose for over seven years, publishing every single day. Our email service has over 6,000 subscribers worldwide, the site receives over 800,000 hits per month, and we are continually amazed by the positive comments we receive on a regular basis.
However, during this seven-year period, we have survived either on a low level of funding or no money at all. Even though last year was one of our best, we only attracted approximately £23,000 sponsorship, which did not cover our costs.
I have worked for free over the entire time, including the 18 months I spent actually uploading Daily Dose. I have subsidised the service with my own personal money, which I can ill-afford to do. As a result of the lack of funding, our Editor Jim Young works for Daily Dose at the same time as maintaining his University post. Each day before work, he searches and uploads material, returning to this task each evening. He does this every day, and every weekend, without a break. We are telling you this because we want you to know the level of our input and commitment to Daily Dose.
Daily Dose cannot though be supported solely by the commitment of our resources. If it is valuable to the field, then the field has to take on some responsibility for supporting this
initiative. And whether we like it or not we have reached that point where Daily Dose can only survive if the field itself provides the necessary level of support.
It is sad that the UK, which spends over £3 billion pounds per year tackling substance misuse, cannot find the £100K per year necessary to support Daily Dose. You know as well as I do just how much money Daily Dose saves the professional field by hunting out these articles for you, and similarly how the information collated by Daily Dose is helping improve services.
We do not want to take Daily Dose offline, we love it as much as you do - it’s a part of our lives as well - but we simply have no option. The last Daily Dose will be published on March 31st 2008 unless we receive signed commitments to a level of funding that allows us to run the service without this continuous financial insecurity. If Daily Dose does have to go offline, then we promise to restore the service as soon as sufficient financial commitment is made. But we have strained every sinew year-on-year to keep Daily Dose alive – we are financially, emotionally and physically drained. So now we are asking that you in the field, both nationally and internationally, make every effort to help save your Daily Dose.
Professor David Clark, Director of WIRED david@substancemisuse.net
(Please note that WIRED will become ‘Wired In’ from the end of this month)”
Jim Young reads the Australian Drug Blog at times, so Jim, feel free to comment on how we can help support Daily Dose. Have you thought of setting up a PayPal account for donations or considered taking advertising on your site? Readers, do you have any suggestions?
Three year PhD scholarship available
“PhD Scholarship at NCHSR
There is opportunity to undertake a PhD program at the National Centre in HIV Social Research at UNSW supported by a 3 year scholarship.
The PhD project is based in the UNSW Hepatitis C Vaccine Project. This is a multidisciplinary project covering a number of areas of interest to students with a social science background. The project is based in Sydney.
For more information, please contact A/Prof Carla Treloar, c.treloar@unsw.edu.au, phone: 02 9385 6959.”
Drug and Alcohol Findings
A UK-based resource, this magazine has made the welcome move to free PDF distribution. The full announcement and summary of contents:
” ISSUE 7 of the DRUG AND ALCOHOL FINDINGS magazine first published in 2002 is now available free of charge as downloadable PDFs (Adobe Acrobat files). Access by clicking this link:
or the BROWSE MAGAZINE link on the home page.
This final message introduces you the remaining NUGGETS. Remember to check the EXTENDED TEXTS for much more free information than we could fit on the page.
**************************************
DOING CBT AS GROUP THERAPY WORKS AND CAN SAVE MONEY
Brazilian clinic found that for both drinkers and drug users, cognitive-behavioural therapy worked as well in a group as an individual format with potential cost savings. Extended text documents similar studies.
Choose GROUP COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_7.pdf
TACKLE COMMUNITY, SCHOOL AND FAMILY SYSTEMS TO HELP TROUBLED TEENS
Children’s lives are hugely affected by parents, schools, peer groups and for those in trouble, public authorities and the law. Family therapy which orchestrated these multiple systems was more effective than typical group child or family approaches for teenage US drug users. Extended text highlights main advantage - effects persist while relapse is the norm after other therapies.
Choose HOLISTIC FAMILY THERAPY… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to: http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_8.pdf
DRUG-RELATED YOUTH WORK - IT’S NOT ONLY (OR EVEN MAINLY) ABOUT DRUGS
Analysis of nine Home Office-funded youth work projects found that the more freedom workers had to de-focus from drugs and relate to young people on their own terms, the more successful they were at working with the problem drug users among them.
Choose DRUG-RELATED YOUTH WORK… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_10.pdf
INVOLVE PARENTS AND COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOL-BASED DRUG PREVENTION
NE Choices was a major UK government community project trialed in six schools in Northumbria. Few statistically significant findings but some evidence that supplementing school and youth activities with community and parental components helped curb or reverse progression to more serious forms of
drug use.
Choose INVOLVING PARENTS… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_11.pdf
**************************************
Also in this issue:
CHRONIC TREATMENT TO MATCH CHRONIC DEPENDENCE
Leading US researchers argue that for many patients addiction treatment should be spread thinly and extensively and assessed in terms of change during not after treatment. http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=off_7_2.pdf
DO NOT DENY INJECTORS HEPATITIS C TREATMENT
Good response to and compliance with interferon-based treatment means no justification for refusing treatment for hepatitis C infection to continuing injectors.
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nugg_7_2.pdf
HIGH LEVEL HIDDEN SUPPORT FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE
You won’t find it on official web sites, but in 2000 the former US Surgeon General and senior US scientists judged there was “conclusive” evidence that needle exchanges reduced HIV risk. http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=off_7_4.pdf”
Needle and Syringe Programs and Bleach in Prisons: Reviewing the Evidence
I noticed this interesting synopsis on the Update list yesterday and though it was worth passing on - the debate over NSP has raged non-stop for over twenty years now - is there likely to ever be a ceasefire?
“Full URL
http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/interfaces/downloadFile.php?ref=1285
Conclusions
A substantial amount of scientific evidence has shown that NSPs in the community are the most effective intervention available to prevent HIV transmission associated with injecting drug use. As well, NSPs have been associated with increases in access to care and treatment among people who use such programs, and with substantial cost-savings. The concerns raised about NSPs have been shown to be unfounded. NSPs have not led to increased levels of risk behaviour among people who use the programs or increased drug use by people who inject drugs.
An important and growing body of evidence demonstrating the success of prison-based NSPs also exists. Since the early 1990s, the number of NSPs established in prison settings has steadily grown. There are now in excess of 60 prisonbased NSPs in nine countries. While existing quantitative evaluations of NSPs have some limitations, overall the program evaluations have been highly and consistently favourable. NSPs in prison have been associated with a substantial reduction in needle and syringe sharing, and there have been no recorded cases of HIV infection among prisoners participating in an NSP.
Additional benefits observed include reductions in overdose incidents and deaths, an increase in referral to drug treatment programs, increased awareness of infections transmission and risk behaviours, and a reduction in injection-site abscesses. Significantly, none of the adverse consequences projected by some have been found. In particular, there have been no incidents in which syringes or needles from NSPs were used as weapons against guards or inmates, drug use has been stable or has decreased, and there has been no increase in injecting drug use among prisoners. In general, NSPs have been accepted by prison staff, including staff that was initially opposed to such programs. Bleach programmes should be available in prisons where authorities continue to oppose the introduction of NSPs, and to complement NSPs. However, because of bleach’s limited effectiveness, such programmes can only be regarded as a second-line strategy to NSPs and cannot replace NSPs.47
From a public health perspective, piloting and rapidly expanding NSPs is a priority for responding to the dual epidemics of injecting drug use and HIV infection among prisoners. To date a number of outbreaks of HIV among prisoners in the fSU have been documented.Given the evidence of entrenched epidemics of injecting drug use and HIV infection in prisons in many countries in Eastern Europe and the fSU, it is clear that further inaction on the part of prison officials will result in increased morbidity, including HIV infection, and mortality among people who inject drugs in prison. Moreover, the failure to implement NSPs could result in spread of HIV infection among the prison population as a whole, and could potentially lead to generalized epidemics among people in communities into which prisoners are released. Such further spread of HIV would lead not only to greater suffering for affected individuals and their families, but also would result in substantial, avoidable health care costs”.
Cannabis and Lung Cancer
I noticed a posting on ADCA’s Update list yesterday that quotes an interesting study showing a correlation between cannabis use and increased risk of lung cancer. Nothing particularly surprising about that - it’ll just be interesting how the research will be used by different ideological camps to promote their cause…
“Cannabis use and risk of lung cancer: a case–control study
S. Aldington*, M. Harwood*, B. Cox#, M. Weatherall”, L. Beckert*, A. Hansell+, A. Pritchard*, G. Robinson* and R. Beasley*,1 on behalf of the Cannabis and Respiratory Disease Research Group
ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study was to determine the risk of lung cancer associated with cannabis smoking. A case–control study of lung cancer in adults <55 yrs of age was conducted in eight district health boards in New Zealand. Cases were identified from the New Zealand Cancer Registry and hospital databases. Controls were randomly selected from the electoral roll, with frequency matching to cases in 5-yr age groups and district health boards. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to assess possible risk factors, including cannabis use. The relative risk of lung cancer associated with cannabis smoking was estimated by logistic regression. In total, 79 cases of lung cancer and 324 controls were included in the study. The risk of lung cancer increased 8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2–15) for each joint-yr of cannabis smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking, and 7% (95% CI 5–9) for each pack-yr of cigarette smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cannabis smoking. The highest tertile of cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (relative risk 5.7 (95% CI 1.5–21.6)), after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking.
In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that long-term cannabis use increases the risk of lung cancer in young adults.
KEYWORDS: Cannabis, case–control, lung cancer, tobacco
Eur Respir J 2008; 31: 280–286
DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00065707
Copyright ERS Journals Ltd 2008″.
Numbing The Pain: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Abuse
“NUMBING THE PAIN: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
PROFESSOR LISA M. NAJAVITS.
The Alcohol & Drug Foundation - Queensland, presents this unique opportunity to attend a full-day practical workshop with Professor Lisa M Najavits, author of the Seeking Safety program.
The goal of this workshop is to describe current state-of-the art knowledge about the treatment of patients with the dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, a population that is typically considered “difficult to treat”.
The workshop will cover background on PTSD and substance abuse (including rates, the “typical case”, models and stages of treatment, clinical dilemmas, and ge nder issues) and clinical Interventions for PTSD and substance abuse (including demonstration of specific treatment strategies, assessment tools, and community resources). In-depth description of the Seeking Safety psychotherapy for PTSD and substance abuse will be a major focus.
REGISTRATION FORM AND MORE INFORMATION WWW.WINTERSCHOOL.INFO
PLEASE CONTACT DINIE ON (07) 3834 0214
More information on the workshop and Lisa Najavits can be found at www.seekingsafety.org. “