Jan 23, 2024, 14:49 by ASAM Weekly Editors

History Repeats Itself - Trends in hallucinogen-associated emergency department visits and hospitalizations.

Jan 23, 2024, 10:29 by Bob Davis

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) a three-year cooperative agreement to implement the new “Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder” (PCSS-MAUD).

Jan 22, 2024, 12:19 by Anna Lembke, MD, FASAM

After more than two decades as a practicing psychiatrist, I’ll be the first to admit that we need new and innovative treatments to treat depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders. Psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA (Ecstasy) are being researched and promoted as ground-breaking advances for combatting mental illness. Multiple jurisdictions have already relaxed laws or policies related to these substances, often with an eye toward therapeutic use.

Jan 19, 2024, 18:34 by Molly McGrath

On January 18th, ASAM joined over 60 organizations asking the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to change Medicare's custody definition to permit coverage for older adults and people with disabilities who are living in the community after incarceration or have other history with the criminal legal system.

Jan 19, 2024, 12:48 by Molly McGrath

To facilitate remission, support long-term recovery, and save more lives of those affected by addiction, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) today released a new Public Policy Statement on Government Strategies to Foster Ethical Addiction Treatment, with several recommendations for policymakers at all levels in America.

Jan 16, 2024, 18:00 by ASAM Weekly Editors

Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment In The US.

Jan 11, 2024, 14:27 by Molly McGrath

Jan 10, 2024, 06:40 by ASAM Weekly Editors

Several of our publications this week address the economics of addiction - supply, demand, and resources.

Jan 5, 2024, 17:53 by Molly McGrath

On January 5th, ASAM submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding its recent rules proposing policy changes in 2025 Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

Jan 5, 2024, 08:57 by Molly McGrath

We must now focus on making treatment more readily available and building trust for emergency services. We have long been addiction medicine physicians with a keen awareness that we cannot broaden the reach of our treatment if the very persons affected are afraid to ask for help. This especially includes witnesses of an overdose.

Jan 2, 2024, 18:29 by ASAM Weekly Editors

ASAM Weekly Top 10 News Publications of 2023

Dec 27, 2023, 21:49 by ASAM Weekly Editors

A year-in-review... Top 10 Peer-reviewed Scientific Publications of 2023.

Dec 19, 2023, 17:27 by Molly McGrath

Dec 19, 2023, 14:33 by ASAM Weekly Editors

As we start wrapping up 2023, the next two issues of The ASAM Weekly will contain the best of publications in both news and science. We do this each year to allow our readers an opportunity to catch up on things they may have missed, reflect on things that might have changed, or find out if they’re reading what their colleagues are reading (sort of like personalized normative feedback mentioned in the study from Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research).

Dec 13, 2023, 11:45 by ASAM Weekly Editors

It takes big data to tackle some of the biggest issues in addiction. Cannabis use rates have been rising in recent years and a new study leveraging data from the largest integrated health care system in the US (the VA) has found that cannabis use disorder (CUD) rates have more than doubled among veterans. Unfortunately, increases were disproportionately found among veterans with psychiatric disorders, especially those with the most severe diagnoses such as bipolar and psychotic spectrum disorders (American Journal of Psychiatry).

Dec 13, 2023, 10:00 by Molly McGrath

ASAM applauded the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee for advancing the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (S. 3393). ASAM also applauded the committee for advancing the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act (S. 644), which is urgently needed to help more Americans with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive methadone through the expertise of addiction specialist physicians and local pharmacies.

Dec 11, 2023, 13:49 by Molly McGrath

Dec 5, 2023, 02:00 by Bob Davis

The field of addiction medicine has been working hard to raise awareness about the disease and its treatments. A new study from NIDA researchers is doing so because of unfortunate findings: overdose deaths rose significantly for pregnant and postpartum women across demographic groups and in areas with adequate health care access, underscoring how stigma and punitive policies are still discouraging treatment (JAMA Psychiatry).

Dec 4, 2023, 17:58 by Molly McGrath

Dec 1, 2023, 14:27 by Molly McGrath

ASAM recently joined a sign-on letter from the Kennedy Forum in response to a request for comments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to assess compliance with mental health parity and addiction equity in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).