News from the Nodes

Northeast Node: CPDD Advocacy Day

Alan Budney, PhD, Northeast Node of the CTN Core Investigator and President-Elect of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) lobbied for science on addiction as part of a CPDD Advocacy Day.

Dr. Budney visited the offices of New Hampshire's two Senators, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, as well as the offices of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Diane Feinstein of California, who are both part of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.

Highlights from CPDD Advocacy Day
Several CPDD members, including about half of the Board of Directors, attended an Advocacy Day event on March 28, 2017 and met with 28 Congressional offices. Agenda items included requests for FY2017 support for funding of $34.1 billion for NIH and $1.1 billion for NIDA, and a FY2018 $2 billion increase over the FY2017 level for NIH and a proportionate increase for NIDA.

They also requested inclusion of a "drug abuse" category on the list of research areas eligible to compete for funding within the Peer-reviewed Medical Research Program in the FY2018 Department of Defense Appropriations bill, and inclusion of a special appropriation or alternative funding mechanism for NIH's Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

Members requested an exemption for academic research on synthetic compounds listed in various synthetic drugs bills and provided general education to the congressional offices about drug abuse, including the consequences of using drugs and efforts to combat this problem.

Thanks to those who contributed their time, money, and energy to this important event! Read more about CPDD Advocacy Day here: http://cpdd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017-Highlights-from-CPDD-Advocacy-Day.pdf

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Mid-Atlantic Node: DAD Special Issue

Recently hitting the newsstands is a 9-article supplement of the prestigious journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, entitled Prescription Opioids: New Perspectives and Research on their Role in Chronic Pain Management and Addiction.

Guest editors Maxine Stitzer, Robert Schwartz, and George Bigelow of the Mid Atlantic Node are grateful to the CTN for supporting the supplement and grateful for the skill and enthusiasm of the invited authors that include individuals both with and without CTN affiliation.

The supplement papers tell a story of the prescription opioid epidemic: the role of opioids in pain management, the advent of adverse consequences as opioid prescribing increased and the initiatives that are being implemented to staunch the flow of prescription opioids and address public health consequences.

First authors of the supplement papers include well known experts in the field of opioid epidemiology (Ted Cicero), pain management (David Tompkins; Walter Ling), overdose education (Kelly Dunn), prescription drug monitoring programs (Peter Kreiner), physician guidelines and training (Kelly Barth; Kathleen Brady), treatment interventions (Roger Weiss), physician supply for SUD treatment (Hannah Knudsen), and behavioral interventions for chronic pain treatment (Eric Garland).

This journal supplement adds to the growing literature on these inter-related topics and expands on some key areas with papers that provide insights and new data.

The issue is now available online to journal subscribers: check it out here!

Western States Node: Congrats to CODA!

CODA, a charter CTN community treatment program and frequent participant in CTN protocols, honored OHSU physician Honora Englander with the 2017 Advocacy Award for her role in the development and leadership of OHSU’s Improving Addiction Care Team (IMPACT).

IMPACT addresses the multi-faceted needs of hospitalized patients with alcohol and drug use disorders that complicate medical care for co-morbid conditions. IMPACT initiates addiction treatment services while patients are hospitalized and links them with community-based services for substance use disorders, housing, employment, and criminal justice. Many IMPACT patients continue medical and substance abuse services at CODA.

Dr. Englander received the award April 4, 2017 at CODA’s annual Advocacy Awards Luncheon.