AMERSA, Author at AMERSA

New Website + SAj Volume 37, Issue 3 Is Now Online!

Aug 17, 2016 by AMERSA

We’re delighted to announce that SAj’s Volume 37, Issue 3 is now available online! You’ll notice a new Taylor and Francis website as well!

As always, we welcome your comments via email and Twitter.

CARA Bill Expands Buprenorphine Prescribing to Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

Jul 15, 2016 by AMERSA

By Associate Editor Deborah Finnell:

Word traveled fast through the nursing community about the Senate’s final approval (07/13/2016) of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). This historic moment was especially sweet for those of us who have been long-time advocates of expanded access for persons needing treatment for opioid dependence. Furthermore, thanks to the ongoing support from and persistence of Senators Markey and Paul, this legislation will allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants prescribe buprenorphine. Currently, only physicians were able to prescribe this treatment.

In 2015, my colleagues and I published an editorial for the Substance Abuse journal with an appeal for “all advanced practice nurses … to be allowed to join physicians in prescribing buprenorphine” (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08897077.2015.1101733). We were discouraged in knowing that there seemed to be limited interest in opening the 15-year old Drug Addiction Treatment Act that restricted buprenorphine prescribing to physicians. Yet, we hoped that our voices would be heard.

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), chief author of CARA said, “This is also the first time that we’ve treated addiction like the disease that it is, which will help put an end to the stigma that has surrounded addiction for too long.” Like other health disorders, opioid and other substance use disorders can be effectively treated and recovery is possible. I urge lay persons and health care providers alike, to become educated about these brain-based substance use disorders. Further, my colleagues and I urge you to read our publication in Substance Abuse and “carefully and intentionally consider the language used to describe alcohol and other drug use and disorders, the individuals affected by these conditions, and their related behaviors, comorbidities, treatment, and recovery” (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08897077.2014.930372).

2015 Thomson Reuters Impact Factor!

Jun 15, 2016 by AMERSA

Today our publisher informed us that Substance Abuse’s 2015 Impact Factor has increased to 2.576!

The Journal is now ranked 8/18 in the Substance Abuse (Science) category, and 11/34 in the Substance Abuse (Social Science) category. This is an impressive accomplishment that points to the work of the authors, reviewers, Associate Editors, Managing Editors, and Editor-in-Chief. We’d also like to thank our publisher, Taylor & Francis, and of course, the Executive Board and committees of AMERSA. Here’s to continuing to improve the literature in addiction medicine so that treatment, science, and discussion will also be effective!

We will likely have more information to share as we receive more of it, but for the moment, we wanted to get this wonderful news out to the world.

The Authors’ Own Words: Brief intervention for daily marijuana users identified by screening in primary care: A subgroup analysis of the ASPIRE randomized clinical trial

May 23, 2016 by AMERSA

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Brief intervention for daily marijuana users identified by screening in primary care: A subgroup analysis of the ASPIRE randomized clinical trial
Daniel Fuster , Debbie M. Cheng , Na Wang , Judith A. Bernstein , Tibor P. Palfai , Daniel P. Alford , Jeffrey H. Samet, Richard Saitz
Substance Abuse
Vol. 37, Iss. 2, 2016

Marijuana is the illicit drug most commonly used by patients in primary care identified by screening, but the efficacy of brief intervention to decrease marijuana use is not known. In this study, we assessed the impact of two brief interventions on marijuana use among daily/ or almost daily marijuana users in primary care. The two brief interventions, a Brief Negotiated Interview lasting 10-15 minute structured interview, and an Adaptation of Motivational Interviewing (MOTIV), that lasted for 30-45 minute intervention, were compared to no intervention. Our results suggest that the two forms of brief intervention have no apparent impact on marijuana use or drug-related problems among primary care patients with frequent marijuana use identified by screening. Therefore, efforts to address marijuana use in non-treatment seeking individuals identified by universal screening should shift from screening and one-time brief intervention to other more intensive interventions.

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Our newly released issue is now online —> April-June 2016.
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The Authors’ Own Words: Prevalence of marijuana and other substance use before and after Washington State’s change from legal medical marijuana to legal medical and nonmedical marijuana: Cohort comparisons in a sample of adolescents

May 20, 2016 by AMERSA

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Prevalence of marijuana and other substance use before and after Washington State’s change from legal medical marijuana to legal medical and nonmedical marijuana: Cohort comparisons in a sample of adolescents
W. Alex Mason , Charles B. Fleming , Jay L. Ringle , Koren Hanson , Thomas J. Gross , Kevin P. Haggerty
Substance Abuse
Vol. 37, Iss. 2, 2016

This study is one of the first to explore the degree to which the transition from legal medical marijuana to legal medical and non-medical marijuana in Washington State might influence adolescent marijuana and other substance use. Results providing some support for marijuana-for-cigarettes and marijuana-for-alcohol substitution effects shortly after the non-medical marijuana law was enacted suggest that continued monitoring of marijuana as well as other substance use among adolescents is needed as legalization takes root. The analytic model used in the current study may be useful for further tests in longer-term studies with larger samples.