Today the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) commended Congress for yesterday’s passage of several important addiction-related provisions in its bipartisan, end-of-year spending package that will increase Americans’ access to addiction treatment.

The Kentucky Society of Addiction Medicine (KYSAM) sent a letter to the Kentucky Board of Nursing, expressing KYSAM’s strong support for the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Council’s recommended amendments to Kentucky’s professional standards for Kentucky APRNs who prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). With the opioid addiction and overdose epidemic significantly impacting the country and Kentucky, KYSAM greatly appreciated the APRN Council’s efforts to increase access to evidence-based OUD treatment and encouraged the Kentucky Board of Nursing to adopt the APRN Council’s recommendations.

The office of the Inspector General at HHS released rules which shows they are not expanding the patient engagement and support safe harbor to include cash and cash-equivalent payments offered as part of contingency management interventions or other programs to motivate beneficial behavioral changes.

ASAM sent a letter to congressional leadership opposing the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019, which would, among other things, completely remove cannabis from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

ASAM, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and 67 partner organizations sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn urging him to commence rulemaking to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes.

ASAM congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their projected historic victory.

The Oregon Society of Addiction Medicine (ORSAM), Oregon Recovers, and nine other organizations sent a letter to Governor Kate Brown in support of raising beer and wine taxes in the state and using that revenue to make significant investments in addiction prevention, treatment and recovery services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the allocation of up to $20 billion from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) in the Phase 3 General Distribution.