Advisory

Education Initiative on Substance Abuse Coming to Houston

Buprenorphine considered major breakthrough in addiction to narcotic painkillers, heroin

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will come to Houston on March 9 to informphysicians and the public about buprenorphine, a new office-based medical treatment for addiction to prescription pain relievers and other opiate drugs, such as heroin. The forum will offer information about the science of buprenorphine and the federal requirements for establishing this new office-based treatment.

SAMHSA has targeted selected metropolitan areas impacted by drug abuse or opiate dependence problems in a continued effort to get more physicians, pharmacists and treatment providers familiar with this new medication-assisted treatment option. SAMHSA is working in partnership with the Texas Department of State Health Services, Substance Abuse Division, Program Services Branch to convene its “New Paths to Recovery” education forum.

According to nationwide data from SAMHSA’s 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an estimated 4.7 percent of the population misused prescription pain relievers in the past year.  Another recent study, SAMHSA’s “Drug Abuse Warning Network 2003: Area Profiles of Drug-Related Mortality,” found that of the 287 drug misuse-related deaths in Houston and the surrounding area in 2003, some 152 involved misuse of opiates.

The Houston community education event will be followed by a buprenorphine training session for interested physicians on March 25. SAMHSA is sponsoring physician-training opportunities in collaboration with four organizations: the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), the American Academy of Osteopathic Addiction Medicine (AAOAM), the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

WHO: Speakers for the event will include:

• Nicholas Reuter, M.P.H., Senior Public Health Advisor, Division of Pharmacologic Therapies, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, DHHS
• John Keppler, M.D., Clinical Director Texas, Division of Substance Abuse, Department of State Health Services
• Jane C. Maxwell, Ph.D., Director, Center for Excellence in Epidemiology, Gulf Coast Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Research Professor, Center for Social Work Research, University of Texas
• Katherine McQueen, M.D., Medical Director, InSight, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center
• Person in Recovery

WHEN: March 9, 2006 / 9:30-11:30 a.m.

WHERE:
Council on Alcohol and Drugs, Houston
303 Jackson Hill Street , Houston

For information on attending please call our toll-free line at 877-521-5671 or e-mail at csatconference@samhsa.gov

SAMHSA, is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions, treatment, and mental health services delivery system.

SAMHSA is An Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service