Drug Addiction Treatment

The July 12 CESAR FAX (vol. 19, issue 26) of CSAT reports on a letter to editor of Am J Psych 167(4):473-475, 2010). The authors, William Compton and colleagues, observe that “High rates of DSM-IV substance use disorders among inmates combined with a large inmate population mean that many persons with alcohol and drug use disorders are missed by major US national general population surveys.” Hardly anything surprising in that observation – except the fact that this deeply flawed process for making estimates persists. Furthermore, surveys based on “household sampling” miss as well the very sizable population of Americans who are homeless – whose numbers in the US on any given night are estimated at “anywhere from 700,000 to 2 million” (attributed to National Law Center on Homelessness and poverty). When it comes to substance use/misuse, one has to wonder about the relevance [...]

In a nutshell: a man is stopped for a traffic violation, consents (!) to have his car searched. Is found to have a baggie and a scale with trace amounts of amphetamine/cocaine – and also a bottle with “three wafers of methadone” said to weight 5.14 grams (yes, grams). The “wafers” were in a bottle with a label indicating they had been prescribed for an acquaintance – the named acquaintance testified she dropped the medication in defendant’s car and forgot to take it with her when she left; this is same story defendant told. Appeal based (as far as I can tell) entirely on the admissability of the trace amts amphetamine/cocaine to indicate to jury defendant’s “character” and likelihood that the methadone “contraband” was there knowingly and with criminal intent. Conviction and resulting sentence are for the methadone possession – [...]

(Tages Anzeiger, Switzerland, 12 Aug): According to Dick Marty prohibition has been a total failure and “… has lead to high prices and big profits for the drug mafia, without lessening availability.” Marty, who is known for having exposed the secret CIA prison camps, was involved with the drug war as prosecutor for 15 years. He explained his new orientation by noting it was always the small-time dealers that were prosecuted – and that it’s never been easier to obtain illicit drugs.
Marty wants to see the money now spent on enforcement to be used for prevention instead, and have drug use controlled in future through taxation as in the case of alcohol and tobacco. However, he acknowledged skepticism regarding his own proposal, saying legalization could only be achieved on an international basis and that this probably would not be achieved during his lifetime. On the [...]

Performance enhancing drugs are not just for humans anymore, apparently. Two horses at a local fair in Connecticut tested positive for anabolic steroids this summer. These steroids, which are used to increase muscle mass and condition the body, were detected during random tests on the fair’s horses. The drug tests are being done in more and more locations throughout the country, as fair officials want to ensure horses are not mistreated, and also that the competitions are honest. In the case of the two Connecticut horses, owners and horses have been banned from future contests for one year.
Kentucky Officials Make New Policy
Other horse events are cracking down even more with drug testing and penalties. Officials of Kentucky racing have recently set up new regulations for this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs. The new rules would allow any horse that is going to compete, including those from out-of-state, [

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“Dr. Johnson graduated from Glasgow University in 1982 with a degree in medicine, and trained in psychiatry at the Royal London and Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals. Dr. Johnson also trained in research at the Institute of Psychiatry (University of London) and at Oxford University. Additionally, he received a doctoral degree for his research in psychopharmacology from the University of Glasgow.”
Candid comments on AA and “rehab” – an article in Washington Post (8 Aug) is headlined, “We’re addicted to rehab. It doesn’t even work”. The author, Dr. B. A. Johnson, is chairman of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia. Dr. Johnson concludes as follows: “When any other illness causes great suffering, our society devotes time and money and effort to studying it and to developing treatments that are empirically found to work. Alcoholism and drug addiction should be no exception. Recent advances in neuroscience [...]