Friday, January 14, 2005

$20.6 Million Available for Substance Abuse, HIV and Hepatitis Prevention Programs for Minority Populations SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the availability of FY 2005 funds for cooperative agreements to help prevent the onset of substance abuse, and the transmission of HIV and hepatitis, among minority populations in communities with a high prevalence of substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis. It is expected that approximately $20.6 million will be available to fund approximately 59-82 cooperative agreements to support the implementation of minority substance abuse, HIV and hepatitis strategic prevention framework projects that build a solid foundation for delivering and sustaining effective substance abuse prevention and related services. The average annual award amount will range from $250,000-$350,000 per year for up to five years..."  
  

Heroin: Changes in How It Is Used: 1992-2002  A DASIS report (in Adobe Acrobat format), brought to our attention by Open Minds - "Data on substance abuse treatment admissions from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), 1992 to 2002, provide a way to monitor changes in the way heroin has been used over the past 10 years. As suggested in an earlier report, these data support the conclusion that heroin inhalation was a new and growing problem among young adults in the early 1990s."  
  

Mental Health Drug Use Increasing Rapidly  WebMD story - "More Americans than ever are being treated for substance abuse, depression, and other mental health disorders, but the treatment they are getting is increasingly limited to prescription drugs alone. That is the finding from a government study that assessed changing patterns in the treatment of mental illnesses from the mid-1990s to 2001. While the number of people receiving other types of treatment, such as psychotherapy or behavioral therapy, remained the same during the five-year evaluation period, prescription drug use increased rapidly."  
  

Binge-drink girls risk mental health (UK)  ITV.com story - "The number of young girls admitted to hospital with mental health and behavioural problems caused by alcohol is increasing. The greatest rise is in girls under 14, according to latest research, leading experts to warn of the dangers in the rise of binge-drinking. While overall admissions to hospital due to mental and behavioural disorders caused by alcohol have remained stable in the past few years, in girls aged 14 and under they have gone up by 24 per cent..."