Stress & Addiction: Research Identifies How Stress Triggers Drug Relapse

April 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Recent research from Brown University could pave the way for new methods of treatment for those recovering from addiction. Researchers identified an exact brain region in rats where the neural steps leading to drug relapse take place, allowing them to block a crucial step in the process that leads to stress-induced relapse.

Prior research has established that acute stress can lead to drug abuse in vulnerable individuals and increase the risk of relapse in recovering addicts. But the exact way that stress triggers the neural processes leading to relapse is still not clearly understood. The Brown study provides new insights on how stress triggers drug abuse, and could lead to more effective treatments for addiction. “

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/stress-addiction-drug-relapse_n_2837819.html

Source: HuffingtonPost.com – March 11, 2013

Filed Under: 2013-04-08, Addiction, News Updates Tagged With: , ,

Harsh Cameron Douglas Sentence Sparks Appeal, Support

June 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Not offered drug treatment, Douglas relapsed while in prison and was caught in possession of a small amount of heroin and Suboxone.

But, unusually, Douglas was also prosecuted for drug possession by a prisoner, and even more unusually, he was hammered hard at sentencing. Federal District Court Judge Richard Berman nearly doubled his original drug trafficking time, sentencing him to an additional 4 ½ years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for at most an additional two years.

“Tacking on more prison time for a person who is addicted to drugs because they relapse behind bars goes against fundamental principles of medicine, inflicts unnecessary suffering and undermines both safety and health,” said Dan Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.  “Such a response only fuels the vicious cycle we see daily across the country of drug-dependent persons being imprisoned while sick, coming out sicker, and then returning to jail even quicker — at huge expense to everyone.”

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/may/21/harsh_cameron_douglas_sentence_s

Source:  StopTheDrugWar.org  – May 21, 2012

 

Filed Under: 2012-05-31, 2012-06-06, Legal, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), News Updates, Opioid Abuse/Addiction Tagged With: , , ,

Research Study: Technique Rewrites Addicts’ Memories

April 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 Researchers in China have developed a technique that rewrites the memories of drug addicts to lessen their association with pleasure and help prevent them from relapsing.

The study’s findings may be a useful addition to existing treatments for recovering addicts, who are vulnerable to relapse even after undergoing rehabilitation programs which include “extinction procedures” to help patients control cravings

http://www.healthcare-today.co.uk/news/technique-rewrites-addicts-memories/21665/

Source:  Healthcare Today – April 17, 2012

Filed Under: 2012-04-20, Addiction, News Updates Tagged With: , , ,

Retention in Opioid Agonist Treatment after Prison Release Reduces Re-incarceration

March 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in prison and after release might influence the risk of re-incarceration. This prospective cohort study linked data on OAT and incarceration among 375 men with heroin use originally recruited in 1996–1997 for a randomized controlled trial of OAT in prison in New South Wales, Australia. Participants were followed through 2006.

  • During 9+ years of observation, 331 participants engaged in OAT 1081 times, with a median of 2 episodes per participant (mean length of engagement, 156 days); 58% started OAT in prison.
  • Ninety percent of participants were re-incarcerated after the first incarceration.
  • Engagement in OAT at the time of release had no effect on re-incarceration.
  • Post-release retention in OAT was associated with a one-fifth reduction in the number of re-incarcerations.

Comments: This study affirms that retention in OAT following release is associated with reduced re-incarceration among former prisoners with opioid dependence. Although other investigations have shown that initiating OAT prior to release maximizes post-release treatment retention, the current study suggests active linkage to ongoing treatment is an essential component. Continuing or initiating OAT during incarceration is necessary but not sufficient to optimize post-release outcomes among opioid-dependent inmates; correctional systems and treatment providers must also provide transitional assistance to ensure that former inmates reach OAT programs after release.

Published In: Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health: Current Evidence a project of the Boston Medical Center issue January/February 2012. Access checked 3/12/12. Peter D. Friedmann, MD, MPH

Original Source: Larney S, Toson B, Burns L, et al. Effect of prison-based opioid substitution treatment and post-release retention in treatment on risk of reincarceration. Addiction. 2012;107 (2):372–380.

Filed Under: 2012-03-23, Drug Courts & Criminal Justice, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), News Updates, Research/Surveys Tagged With: ,

What Vietnam Taught Us About Breaking Bad Heroin Habits

January 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

One theory about why the rates of heroin relapse were so low on return to the U.S. has to do with the fact that the soldiers, after being treated for their physical addiction in Vietnam, returned to a place radically different from the environment where their addiction took hold of them.

“I think that most people accept that the change in the environment, and the fact that the addiction occurred in this exotic environment, you know, makes it plausible that the addiction rate would be that much lower,” Nixon appointee Jerome Jaffe says.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/02/144431794/what-vietnam-taught-us-about-breaking-bad-habits

For additional coverage of this topic see the two-part blog The “Lee Robins Study” and Its Legacy available at: http://pointsadhsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/the-lee-robins-study-and-its-legacy-part-one/ and http://pointsadhsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/the-lee-robins-study-and-its-legacy-part-two/

Source: National Public Radio – January 2, 2012

Filed Under: January 2012, News Updates Tagged With: , ,

Study: Benzodiazepine Use by OTP Patients May Indicate Untreated Anxiety

August 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A recent study based on an anonymous survey of methadone patients in a Baltimore, Maryland opioid treatment program (OTP) found that more than half of benzodiazepine users attending group meetings had started using these drugs after entering methadone maintenance (MM) treatment.

The authors caution that their study results should not be used to make clinic policy, or to change operations. This article could be helpful to OTPs as they try to deal with the issue of benzodiazepine abuse.

“The study findings suggest that most methadone programs do not address co-occurring anxiety problems,” the authors concluded. Further study is needed “to develop effective treatments that will simultaneously target addiction symptoms, anxiety disorders,” and misuse of benzodiazepines.

The authors noted that benzodiazepine misuse increases the risk for relapse and overdose.

The study, Benzodiazepine Use and Misuse Among Patients in a Methadone Program, by Kevin W. Chen et al, is published in BMC Psychiatry, May 19, 2011. The article is available for free download at: http://atforum.com/addiction-resources/documents/Benzodiazepines.pdf.

Filed Under: Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), Newsletter, Other Drugs of Abuse, Research/Surveys, Summer 2011 Tagged With: , , , ,

Site last updated May 13, 2013 @ 4:22 pm