Former SAMHSA official on need for mobile methadone

Bob Lubran was at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) when the methadone mobile units were seen as vital — long before the current opioid crisis. The former head of SAMHSA's Division of Pharmacologic Therapies (DPT), Lubran told ADAW last week that the mobile units were being approved up until the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stopped them in 2007 due to a legal issue. We were curious about what went on behind the scenes at SAMHSA after the approvals were shut down, during the same years when the opioid crisis was growing.     

SAMHSA to write new application for new SOR with stimulants included

The addition of stimulants as an allowable use for State Opioid Response (SOR) grants will require a new application, which the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is working on, ADAW has learned. The change was in the FY 2020 appropriations bill passed last month by Congress (see ADAW, Dec. 23, 2019; “FY 2020 Appropriations: Stimulants added to SOR's $1.5 billion,” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32573 ), along with funding for other SAMHSA programs, including the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant (SAPT BG). After the bill passed before Christmas, Washington went away for the holidays.     

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Addiction Medication Marketplace: Opportunities for Drug Developers New SAMHSA Administrator Says Addiction Field not Secondary to MH Prospects Seem Promising for addictiona's Inclusion in Parity Bills Co‐Dependent No More celebrates 20th Anniversary Mental Health vs. Addiction Expenditures Briefly Noted Resources Coming up     

SAMHSA pushes back against ‘political ploy’ criticism

Last week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) struck back against “members of the media and even other federal agencies who purportedly exist to protect the health of Americans,” charging that children's mental health is the agency's main reason for promoting school reopenings. The Sept. 29 statement by SAMHSA ( https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press‐announcements/202009290204 ) came the day after the New York Times article ( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/us/politics/white‐house‐cdc‐coronavirus‐schools.html ) revealing the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) concerns about reopening schools.     

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Medicaid Cutbacks in Maine Leave Some OTP Patients without Coverage Online Training Helps Providers Learn Billing and Insurance Cough Syrup Abuse: It's the Codeine More on SAMHSA Numbers from 2013 Appropriations Letter to the Editor What President Obama Really Said about Marijuana Briefly Noted In the States Coming up     

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SAMHSA Opens Recovery Month with NSDUH, Melding of Mental Health Faces & Voices on the First Year of Recovery Month without SAMHSA Money Centers' Branding Should Take a More Sophisticated Approach White House will Nominate Botticelli as ONDCP Chief TCA Wants Counseling for Buprenorphine Patients Study Links Medical Marijuana to Reduced Rx Opioid ODs Briefly Noted Coming up     

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Tarzana SAMHSA Grant Will Expand Primary Care to SUD Patients With SMI Today's Tight Fundraising Environment Requires Strategic Shift for Centers Funding Opportunity Veterans Sanctuary, Residential TC, to Open in Pennsylvania Buprenorphine Shows Promise as Treatment for Newborns SAMHSA Releases Strategic Initiatives Paper, Asks for Comment Briefly Noted Resources Coming Up     

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Gitlow as ASAM President and Orexo Medical Director: Conflict of Interest? Centers Take Baby Steps to Combat Turnover, with Solutions Elusive Conflict of Interest Rules for DSM‐5 Task Force and Work Groups A Year after Newtown, What Has Changed? NAADAC Faults SAMHSA, HRSA in Lack of Workforce Planning Researchers Find Gene Linked to Excessive Alcohol Consumption NIDA Terminates CEWG; Data to Be Collected under New System Coming up     

SAMHSA proposes significant changes to 42 CFR Part 2

In two separate proposals, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) last month proposed radical changes to the confidentiality of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment records under 42 CFR Part 2. Both were in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and were published in the Federal Register Aug. 26.     

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In the Blossoming Recovery Industry, Who are the Addiction Workers? Program Staff that Faced Tragedy Now Encouraged toward Self–Care Survey: SAMHSA Employees Feel Untrusted, Overly Supervised Letter to the Editor New County–CRC Program Focuses on Co–Occurring Disorders Faces & Voices Tells NIDA it's Time to Study Recovery Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

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N.D. AG Denounces Plans That Exclude Adults from Residential SUD Treatment Centers That are Acquiring an EHR Must Execute Careful Due Diligence SAMHSA Issues Plan for 2015–2018, Treatment Not a Priority NYT Support of Marijuana Legalization Lacks Science: Critics Briefly Noted In the States Resources Names in the News Coming up     

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SAMHSA Pushes SBI to Address Baby‐Boomer Drug Use Prosecutor Leadership, Coordination Contribute to S.D. Reentry Strides Drug Could Increase Drinking but Reduce Other Problems NIAAA's Drug Development Goes Beyond Alcohol Problems ADAW Wins Journalism Awards for Parity and State Budget Watch Stories Illinois Treatment Providers Have Backlog of Unpaid Claims Congratulations! Briefly Noted State News Call for Applications Coming up     

SAMHSA plans changes to NSDUH: DSM‐5 updates

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced last week that it will start collecting data on vaping, marijuana withdrawal symptoms, synthetic marijuana, and updates to accord with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM‐5) to focus on craving, in the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).     

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Counseling on the Internet Found Effective in Small‐Scale Study In‐Prison Treatment Changing to Reflect Demands for Effectiveness Ariz. Treatment Providers Protest Against Uncompensated Care Diversification Pays? NIDA‐NIAAA Merger Would Hurt Alcoholism Issues, Says NAATP President ‘Committed’ to Filling SAMHSA Administrator Post ADAW Publisher Sponsors National Council's Excellence in Innovation Award Briefly Noted State News Resources Coming up     

DEA allows buprenorphine inductions based on telephone only

Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said opioid treatment programs (OTPs) and Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA)–waived prescribers can treat new patients with buprenorphine based on a telephone call only. The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), enforced by the DEA, requires all new patients being treated with controlled substances to have an in‐person — or, for now, telemedicine — physical exam. Now, however, because of the coexisting COVID‐19 pandemic and opioid overdose crisis, the DEA has dropped this requirement. This follows the decision of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to allow exemptions from the OTP take‐home regulations allowing stable patients to be given 14 or 28 days of methadone doses, instead of coming in more frequently (see DEA, SAMHSA relax OTP/OBOT regulations due to COVID‐19, ADAW March 23, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32664 ).     

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Proposed Rule on Benefits Raises Questions about Parity and Enforcement SAMHSA Releases Bupe‐OTP Final Rule Imprint of Founder Continues to Influence Father Martin's Proposed Rule's Language on Parity What Plans Must Include ONDCP's Botticelli: Prevention, Block Grant, and Recovery DSM‐5 Will Include SUDs Instead of Dependence and Abuse Improving Outcomes: Connecting Payment to Performance ABAM Continues to Moves to Make Addiction a Specialty Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

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Methadone Mortality Summit Shifts Focus From OTPs to Pain Prescribing Lack of Cash Could Persuade California Counties to Tax Marijuana SAMHSA Says It Won't Change Confidentiality Regulations Congress to SAMHSA: Use Drug Court Money for Treatment Briefly Noted Business Names in the News Coming up