1. Among the ASAMW content modifications approved by the ASAM Publications Council and addressed to the Board of Directors, guest editorials will be solicited beginning in November.  Staff work by Luke Waldron and Jasmine Rennie has resulted in an initial commitment from Dr. Nora Volkow of NIDA for the 13 November issue.  Submissions from our readership will be welcome; guidelines and criteria for submission are being developed.
2. We include a link here to a full-text article relating to trends, costs, and geographic distribution of amphetamine-related hospitalizations, in the U.S.  The article’s objective, which is met, is “…to clarify trends in amphetamine-related hospitalizations and their clinical outcomes and costs in the United States.”  It is provided in deference to the states’ impending legislative sessions *(calendar below), in which informed testimony supporting treatment funding will be crucial.  With intensifying national focus on opioid use, a concern that we should share is that other substance use disorders show no sign of abating in the general population.  The many among you who are engaged in policy development at the state and county levels will likely want such material when arguing the needs of our patients.

Winkelman TNA, Admon LK, Jennings L,  Shippee ND, Richardson CR; Bart G:  Evaluation of Amphetamine-Related Hospitalizations and Associated Clinical Outcomes and Costs in the United States, JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(6):e183758. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3758, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2707432

* Calendar of state legislative sessions (StateScape) http://www.statescape.com/resources/legislative/session-schedules.aspx

(identification of this open-access link does not constitute an endorsement of the policies or intent of StateScape).