The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2014

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2014, a bipartisan effort to address the prescription drug epidemic, would provide a series of incentives and resources designed to encourage states and local communities to advance a continuum of proven strategies to combat addiction. Among other things, the bill would expand prevention and education efforts to prevent the abuse of opioids and heroin and promote treatment and recovery. It would also strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs to help states monitor and track prescription drug diversion.

This bill is the companion to the Senate’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, S. 2839, introduced in September 2014 and is supported by a total of 93 organizations. Click here for more information.

Why the Intractable Pain Treatment Act Should be Repealed

Did you know there is a law that gives you the right to tell your doctor you will not try his or her recommended therapy for your pain and you are only willing to be prescribed narcotic pain relievers?


The "Patient's Bill of Rights" is a part of the "Intractable Pain Treatment Act" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-6-1101) enacted in May 2001. The safety of opiate medication was cited in the legislation lobbied for by the pharmaceutical industry. Once passed, a doctor was required to refer the patient to a doctor who would prescribe the medication demanded if they were not.

Since then Tennessee has become second in the nation for the rate of narcotic pain relievers sold. The main drug abused by someone admitted to a state-funded treatment service in 2012 was prescription opioids. Tennesseans are three times more likely than the rest of the U.S. to identify these drugs as their primary substance of abuse.
There is nothing in this law that cannot be or is not covered by other policies or practices. It is time to allow doctors to take back the ability to prescribe the best treatment for patients in pain. It is time to repeal the Intractable Pain Treatment Act. For more information, go to the Prevention Alliance of Tennessee White Papers.

Hiring - Prevention Coordinator

                    

 Click here for Job Description

Please submit resume by December 2, 2014

More information about the Coalition can be found at www.scadcoalition.org

Questions can be directed to scadcoalition@gmail.com 
or
423-742-2392

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America

Red Ribbon Week Is Coming - October 23 - 31

Things your family can do. Decorate your door, mailbox, or fence with the theme. Take a picture. Have an adult upload the photo to redribbon.org before November 4th. Then get your family and friends to vote...let us know...we'll help too!

Changing Social Norms to Protect Lives

This is a well done and powerful reminder of the unintended consequences of continuing to believe that "drinking at home is safe," or "we did it when we were kids" have different consequences in an age of social media, access and stricter laws.

Understanding Depression

To recover from diseases, we need to understand them:

Most Prescription Drug Addiction Begins in Home Medicine Cabinets

Dr. Steven Loyd was selected as an Advocate for Action in 2014 for his efforts to educate other physicians about safe prescribing practices after entering recovery from a substance use disorder involving prescription drugs himself.

Please check your medicine cabinet for unused, unwanted or expired medications and take them to your local Take-Back Event on Saturday, September 27, or your nearest law enforcement Take-Back box.

Prescription for Success Event Successful

On Friday, July 18, Commissioners Varney and Dreyzehner presented the Governor's Prescription for Success plan to NE TN. Prior to the press conference, coalitions, treatment providers, judges, academic researchers and politicians met with Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse staff to discuss what prescription drug abuse/misuse looks like in our area.

The Nashville team identified the number of controlled substances that are dispensed as a key factor in the current problem. The plan is meant to provide leadership in public policy to reduce the problem. They acknowledged that incarceration is not working.

The report topics that participants showed the most interest were better regulation of practitioners and pain clinics, using the controlled monitoring database for oversight of offenders, better collaboration to reduce availability, expanding evidence-based prevention, expanding SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment), and developing tools for judges to understand reports of intoxication the same way that DUI data informs them.

Following the focus group was a well attended media event where many front line providers spoke about the issue from their experience. An excellent review of that portion of the day is provided by Nick Shepard of the Times News.

Prescription for Success Event

Improve our Signage

Reducing secondhand smoke exposure is our tobacco strategy.

How would you improve this message? Let us know.

Would you put it up at your workplace?  Let us know.

Want to help us find the places where signage is needed. You guessed it... let us know.

New Study About E-cigarettes: Gateway to Addiction?

Study Findings
April 2014
(Click on picture to see full report)

1. Many surveyed e-cigarette companies are promoting their products through sponsorship of youth-oriented events, and some companies are offering free samples of e-cigarettes.
2. Surveyed e-cigarette companies market e-cigarettes in flavors that appear to be designed to appeal to youth.
3. E-cigarettes are available for purchase in stores and online by children and teenagers.
4. Surveyed e-cigarette manufacturers have significantly increased marketing expenditures.
5. Many surveyed e-cigarette companies air television and radio advertisements, often with celebrity spokespeople, including during events and programs with youth viewership.
6. Surveyed e-cigarette companies extensively utilize social media and product websites to promote their products.
7. E-cigarette product warning labels lack uniformity and may confuse or mislead consumers.
8. Most surveyed e-cigarette companies support some form of regulation. 

National Prevention Week

May 18 - 24th, 2014

1,130 Pounds of Medication Collected Locally During Rx Drug Take Back Events

Individuals representing 332 homes donated expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs as part of the regional Take Back Event on April 26, 2014. Participating areas included Bristol, Elizabethton, Johnson City, Jonesborough and Sullivan County. In total, 1,130 pounds were donated (value includes medication and packaging).

Local law enforcement is to be commended for their commitment to assist residents and families to remove potentially dangerous drugs from their homes. The regional effort is also supported by the ETSU’s Gatton School of Pharmacy. Professors and student pharmacists are studying the motivations and tendencies of donors. Regional statistics related to accidental poisonings and diversion highlight the need for timely and appropriate medication disposal.

   Welcome and thank you to our newest  
   Steering Committee members:
     Jason Abernathy
     Lindsey Chandler
     Alisa Johnson
     Jason Nidiffer
     Johnnie May Swagerty

8th National DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back

It's time to get rid of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  Bring your pills for disposal to either the Municipal Parking Lot at 801 Anderson Street or in front of the Sheriff’s Office at 140 Blountville Bypass. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Collections are also taking place at the Johnson City Police Department, the Elizabethton Chamber of Commerce and the Jonesborough Fire Hall.

Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners.  When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Spring Cleaning Time - Medicine Cabinets

Think About Them If You Smoke

Our wonderful YWCA TechGyrls...great message!

Drug Courts Work

Our panelists:
Jan D. Stout, Bob Bogart, Suzanne Brown and David Ray

Every year there are over a million prison bound, drug abusing offenders who pose little threat to society. Upon leaving prison, most relapse and commit new crimes. Half are re-incarcerated for new violations.

At our last meeting the Coalition learned about the Recovery Drug Courts in Sullivan County. These courts increase the likelihood for successful rehabilitation through continuous and intense judicially supervised treatment, including frequent monitoring, consistent supervision, intensive treatment and rewards or sanctions.

Sullivan County Recovery Drug Court Goals:

1. Reduce the destruction of lives and property due to drug and alcohol addiction
2. Reduce the overall impact to society by reducing the number of of repeat offenders in the judicial system for drug or alcohol related crimes
3. Provide mandatory supervised structured treatment to drug offenders without regard to wealth
4. Educate the public about the mission and goals of the Recovery Drug Court

For more information, go to our website and watch the meeting presentation.

FDA's "The Real Cost" Campaign

The FDA has a new campaign directed at youth. The above video is engaging because it slowly reveals the "bully." Although the numbers will be harder to measure, we hope this campaign will be as successful as the "Tips From Former Smokers" campaign. That media campaign helped 1,600,000 smokers attempt to quit, with 200,000 reporting success three months later. The CDC estimates that half of those will be permanent.

Marijuana Was the Hot Topic at the CADCA National Leadership Forum

Keynote speaker, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, presents the science of marijuana addiction and other developmental issues.

Thank You CVS

Following the 50th anniversary of the Surgeon Generals first report on tobacco and recognition of the progress that has been made during that time, good tobacco prevention news continues. With its announcement last week of plans to discontinue tobacco sales on October 1, 2014, CVS has made a commitment to the health of its customers. We hope other retailers will join the effort to prevent youth from initiating tobacco use. Eighty-eight percent of current smokers started before they were 18. If we could keep youth from smoking until they were of legal age to do so, we could eliminate preventable tobacco related diseases in the next 50 years.

New Education Opportunity

50 Years After the First Report on Smoking by a Surgeon General

If you have been able to see through all the smoke of the current and ongoing marijuana discussion, perhaps you've noted that 2014 Surgeon General's Report: The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress has been issued.

Picture courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

There is good news:

• In 50 years, smoking has been decreased by more than half
• Twenty-five states and DC have comprehensive laws that prohibit smoking in indoor areas of work-sites, restaurants, and bars.
• The military has heeded the warnings of the Surgeon General 
• Nicotine's addictive effects have been known since 1988

There is still plenty of work to be done. Of the 10 major findings of the report: 

1. Research continues to identify new diseases caused by smoking
2. We know more about the harms of secondhand smoke and the adverse health effects on children and infants
3. Disease risks for women now equal those of men
4. Though smoking has declined, large disparities in tobacco use remain across race, ethnicity, educational levels, socioeconomic status and regions of the country

A Word Picture of the Headlines We Tracked in 2013

Next Coalition Meeting - Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)

This seven minute video has a lot of information about the babies who are born addicted to drugs. We will be discussing this topic at our next Coalition meeting. Anyone interested in learning more is welcome to join us at the Sullivan County Regional Health Department (154 Blountville Bypass, Blountville, TN) from 10 AM - Noon.

Connie Gardner (Hospital Liaison for DCS) and Teri Evans (RN for the Sullivan County Regional Health Department) will present more information and take your questions. This is part of our ongoing effort to understand the effects of prescription drug abuse in our community as we prepare to create our next prevention strategy.

Fifteen Minutes of Practice - A Must Try for Parents of Teens

From SAMHSA's Talk They Hear You Campaign - http://www.kognito.com/startthetalk/ 

For parents who would like to practice their skills before engaging their teens in the underage drinking conversation, this is the best site I've seen. It is an interactive coaching, practice and feedback experience where you help another parent talk to her son. It is set up so you can return multiple times to address different approaches to the conversation (in preparation for each your your conversations).