Author Archives: James

US Navy and Marines to Require Breath Tests


The Navy and Marines said Monday they plan to introduce random breath tests of personnel on duty as part of a broader health-and-safety push, a move officials concede will be a tough sell with weary troops after a decade of war.The U.S. military already randomly tests members of all branches for illegal drug use. But resorting to breath tests—which detect blood alcohol levels from a breath sample—represents a first for military personnel.
Via online.wsj.com

“In the 21st century tobacco will kill 1 billion people worldwide” | Your Commonwealth


A bill waiting to be passed in the Jamaican Parliament would introduce a ban on smoking in public places and prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors. Alexis Goffe, 26, offers his take on the justification for the strict legislation.On February 16, I attended the Jamaica Cancer Society’s Anti-Tobacco Forum, which was attended by over two hundred high school students. While much information was presented, three main facts stood out for me:1) Tobacco is a serial killer – In the 20th century, tobacco killed 100 million people worldwide. If the current trend continues, by the end of the 21st century, tobacco will kill 1 billion people worldwide.
Via www.yourcommonwealth.org

NIDA Low Literacy AOD site

NIDA CREATES EASY-TO-READ WEBSITE ON DRUG ABUSE New site for adults with limited literacy skills, with audio versions of each page

Clip A new, easy-to-read website on drug abuse designed for adults with a low reading literacy level (eighth grade or below) was launched today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse <http://www.drugabuse.gov/> (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.  The site, which provides plain language information on neuroscience, drug abuse prevention and treatment, is also a resource for adult literacy educators.  It has a simple design with a large default text size, motion graphic videos and other features that make it easy to read and use.

 

NIDA’s new easy-to-read site can be found at: <www.easyread.drugabuse.gov>.
Before creating the site, NIDA interviewed adults who were seeking to improve their literacy skills to learn their challenges and preferences in using websites. NIDA also worked with groups that provide services to adult learners through nonprofit organizations, libraries, and in healthcare clinics. In addition, NIDA conducted website usability testing at nonprofit organizations that serve adults seeking to improve their reading and/or earn a GED.

See NIH’s Health Literacy Initiative (http://www.nih.gov/clearcommunication/plainlanguage.htm) for more information and additional resources on health literacy

ASSIST-Y screening resource

The latest online resources for Australian health care professionals, who want to do ASSIST screening and intervention with young people are now available on the Drug and Alcohol Services SA (DASSA) website as the ASSIST-Y.

 

The World Health Organization’s Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) is a clinically and scientifically validated questionnaire that screens for all levels of problem or risky substance use in adults.  The current version of the ASSIST questionnaire is not valid for young people, particularly given the lowered risk thresholds in young people.

 

DASSA has developed draft versions of the ASSIST-Y for 10-14 year olds and 15-17 year olds, using clinical consensus and expert opinion, along with revised materials for delivering the brief intervention and for providing the approporiate intervention (Clinical Instructions).

 

The ASSIST-Y resources are available from the DASSA website at http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=477 under Administering the ASSIST to young people (ASSIST-Y).

 

Please be aware if you intend to use these that they are draft versions only and have not had extensive psychometric or other testing.  Any feedback you wish to give on these drafts should be emailed to dassa@health.sa.gov.au

 

Forum on Australian Alcohol Guidelines

FARE and Drug and Alcohol Review are pleased to invite you to a forum:

Out of sight, out of mind: Australia alcohol guidelines

The journal Drug and Alcohol Review is focusing its March edition on the National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol (the Guidelines). To coincide with the release, FARE, the Drug and Alcohol Review, and the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) will host a special forum to explore the role of the Guidelines in reducing risky drinking in Australia. The forum will explore:

  • the role of the Guidelines in promoting messages around alcohol consumption
  • the work being done to promote the Guidelines at a national and local level
  • the role of the Guidelines in increasing awareness of the harms associated with risky drinking among the general public

The Forum will present new research on the awareness of the Guidelines by Australians, and the ability of the Guidelines to influence perceptions. The forum will involve representatives from the Department of Health and Ageing, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency, and a range of public health organisations including:

  • Professor Robin Room, Editor-in-Chief of Drug and Alcohol Review and Director of CAPR
  • Dr Lisa Studdert, Australian National Preventive Health Agency
  • Mr Michael Livingston, CAPR
  • Winthrop Research Professor Carol Bower, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
  • Mr Scott Wilson, Director, Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council, South Australia

The morning will finish with a panel discussion to critically examine the value of the Guidelines in communicating information about alcohol to the general public, and what these messages should be.

Event details:

Date: Tuesday 6 March 2012
Time: 9am for 9.30am -12pm
Venue: Alan Gilbert Executive Lounge, Alan Gilbert Building
Building 104, Grattan St, University of Melbourne, Carlton 3053
RSVP: please RSVP to glenis.thomas@fare.org.au by 29 February 2012
Morning tea will be provided, please contact us with any dietary requirements.

Twitter:

FARE staff will be regularly checking and updating Twitter throughout the day. By using the hashtag #AlcGuidelines, you can make comments, give feedback, or ask questions of the speakers.

All coverage will be sent out via the @FAREAustralia account, and will include the #AlcGuidelines hashtag.

The Australian Rechabite Foundation: small grants program

SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

INVITATION TO APPLY

Background
The Australian Rechabite Foundation (ARF) is a prescribed purpose fund established in 2009 as part of the demutualisation process of the IOR Friendly Society. The friendly society has its origins in the Independent Order of Rechabites, a temperance society. The ARF’s small grants program supports community-based initiatives that foster change within communities and individuals to reduce adverse effects from alcohol.

Eligibility
Organisations with objects consistent with the prevention of alcohol-related harms are invited to apply for grants through the ARF’s small grants program.

Organisations must be:

• Existing Australian-based entities with Deductible Gift Recipient status (applications from individuals will not be considered)
• Able to demonstrate an understanding of the challenge of supporting changes in communities and individuals in relation to alcohol
• Able to confirm that they have no funding or support of any kind from manufacturers, importers, distributors, sellers or other parties in any way associated with the sale, distribution or promotion of alcohol
• Able to complete planned projects within the specified time period
• Able to comply with all conditions outlined in the Funding Agreement, including the ability to plan, budget and report on results and implications of the funded project at its conclusion

Organisations may be:

• Providers of community support services (including clubs and associations)
• Involved in research
• Involved in teaching, training or provision of educational services
• Sporting bodies or associated groups
• Other groups with objects aligned to the ARF’s mission to build knowledge of the harmful effects of alcohol, inform lifestyle choices and encourage/support change within communities and individuals.

Projects must:

• Be grounded in evidence of potential effectiveness, in the case of action projects.
• Address issues which hold promise for reducing alcohol problems, in the case of research projects.
• Undertake to collect and provide evidence of the project’s effects in relation to its aims.

Terms of Grants
The ARF has $25,000 to allocate in its small grants program for 2012. Grant selection will be merit based and the number of grants made will depend upon the evaluation process. The ARF will consider applications for the entire $25,000, however any such proposal must be of sufficient calibre to warrant exclusion of all other applications Applicants are therefore encouraged to provide alternate plans and funding amounts where possible Grants are one-off opportunities; your proposal may be self-contained, or may be presented as the first Phase in a planned ongoing program, or as a Pilot phase of a larger project planned for subsequent years. The ARF anticipates running its small grants program yearly and recipients of funds in 2012 are welcome to apply for further grants in subsequent years.

How to apply
If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in applying for a small grant please email arfoundation@australianrechabites.org.au to request a copy of the application form.

Important Dates
Applications close on 23 March 2012. Funds will be distributed on the signing of Funding Agreements in May 2012.

Sample Funding Agreements are available upon request to: arfoundation@austraIianrechabites.orq.au

Whitney Houston and Alcohol’s Toll


“CRACK is wack.”
Remember that phrase? I heard many people repeat it last week as they appraised the waste of Whitney Houston’s later years and flashed back to her 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer, when she uttered those immortal words. She was bristling not at rumors that she abused drugs but at insinuations that she turned to cheap ones. With album sales like hers, you didn’t have to suck on a pipe.Sawyer wanted to know what Houston was on. Everyone wanted to know what Houston was on, and news reports after her death took unconfirmed inventory of the pills in her hotel suite, wondering if they represented the extent of her indulgences.No. By many accounts, Houston also drank. More than a little. In fact one early, leading theory about the cause of her death, which won’t be known until toxicology tests are finished, was that a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol did her in.
Via www.nytimes.com

7.5 million U.S. kids live with an ‘alcoholic’


About 7.5 million U.S. children age 18 and under lived with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year, health officials said.The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said 6.1 million of those children live with two parents, with either one or both parents experiencing an alcohol use disorder in the past year. The remaining 1.4 million of the children live in a single-parent house with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year, and of this group, 1.1 million lived in a single-mother household 300,000 lived in a single-father household.
Via www.upi.com

OTC Drug Abuse strategy

ADCA press release in full:

New Prescription Drugs Monitoring Model Opens Door to Target Alcohol Harm: The Federal Government initiative to crackdown on prescription painkiller abuse is to be applauded as the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs can result in dangerous and even fatal consequences, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), Mr David Templeman, said today.

“ADCA recognises that prescription and over-the-counter medicines have made a significant and positive contribution to the health and wellbeing of Australians, but warns that nearly all medicines have the potential to cause harm,” Mr Templeman said.

“This new national electronic records system, effective from 1 July 2012, certainly provides doctors and pharmacists with a real-time tool that will deliver health and cost benefits to communities across Australia. Alcohol is our main drug of concern with severe health and economic consequences, much more than illicit and prescription drugs combined.”

Mr Templeman said that similar action should be taken in the alcohol environment as some people buy and use alcohol in the same way as those consumers who seek and use prescription addictive drugs.

“In fact, the introduction of the monitoring system could result in some people resorting to alcohol to self-medicate for pain relief,” Mr Templeman said.

“And the results from the excessive consumption of alcohol are similar with increases in violence, motor vehicle accidents and injury, and police recording an estimated 40 per cent of all people detained as being affected by alcohol,” Mr Templeman said.

“On average, some 1500 hospitalisations occur each week because of alcohol, and the cost to the Australian community from alcohol-related harm is estimated to be more than $36 billion a year.”

Mr Templeman said the recent fact the New South Wales Casino, Liquor, Gaming and Control Authority had approved major supermarket applications to expand their outlets, as well as not heeding objections from New South Wales Health that super-cheap alcohol would grow sales, was totally irresponsible.

“Organisations responsible for the licence approval process, as well as the alcohol industry, and all supermarket/ retail sales organisations need to consider ways to enhance the health and wellbeing of their customers,” Mr Templeman said.
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“ADCA is calling for a joined-up approach to be taken with Governments at all levels to immediately address Australia’s growing drinking culture,” Mr Templeman said.

“The answer could be to modify the prescription electronic records system and link it to sales check-out screens to monitor purchasing patterns, particularly in relation to low-priced alcohol beverages, and to ensure customers are not under the legal age limit?”