August 31 marks International Overdose Awareness Day. This is a day to remember those we have lost in the past year to overdose of opioids and other substances. As of November 2021, more than 100,000 people have lost their lives annually to substance overdose. In order to properly commemorate those lives we have lost, we […]
News
IRETA Continues to Provide Intensive Learning Experience on Substance Use Disorders for Medical and Pharmacy Students
For 23 years, IRETA has hosted medical students for the Scaife Medical Student Fellowship in Substance Use Disorders. The program has been held virtually since 2020, due to COVID-19. This year’s program continued online. For three weeks in both June and July, small cohorts of medical and pharmacy students logged in from across the country […]
Will the FDA’s Crackdown on Tobacco Products Help Improve Public Health?
Is a Juul ban enough to solve the problem of nicotine addiction in young adults? Time has shown us that bans often don’t keep people from using a product or substance.
Alcoholics Anonymous Works. But It’s Important to Give People Options When It Comes to Recovery.
AA’s success rate has been historically difficult to measure, largely because the program is anonymous. But thanks to rigorous research we now know that Alcoholics Anonymous and clinically-related Twelve-Step Facilitation programs can be just as, or more effective than treatment modalities like CBT to maintain long-term sobriety for people with alcohol use disorder.
An Examination of America’s Deaths of Despair
Deaths of Despair are deaths caused by suicide, unintentional drug overdose, and alcohol use and intoxication. The term “deaths of despair” was coined in a 2015 paper by Ann Case and Ryan Deaton. The paper specifically addressed the rising morbidity and mortality of white, non-Hispanic Americans in midlife due to these types of deaths. But […]
Happy National Nurses Week from IRETA
This week is National Nurses Week. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the nurses who work specifically in the field of substance use disorder treatment.
Join Us For #SUDClinicianChat on Twitter
Join us on Twitter on Tuesday, May 24 at 10 a.m. for the first monthly #SUDClinicianChat. This month we will be discussing Co-Occurring Disorders. Over the course of the chat, we will be asking a series of questions about the experience clinicians have working with individuals who have co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. […]
The Role of Alcohol in the Overdose Crisis
Much of the recent discourse in the addiction treatment and recovery community has touched upon the record-breaking rise in overdose deaths in the United States, as well as the sharp uptick in alcohol use that came about at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But very rarely is alcohol discussed as being a part of […]
No, the Government Is Not Giving Out Crack Pipes & Other Harm Reduction Myths Busted
In President Biden’s March 1st State of the Union address, the opioid epidemic was discussed as one of four bi-partisan issues which the nation could unify. President Biden went on to explain strategies that can be done to combat the crisis of opioid use and overdose. “There is so much we can do. Increase funding […]
The Importance of Speaking the Same Language in Addiction Treatment
There is a recognizable need for improved treatment for substance use disorder in the United States. Drug overdose deaths are at an all-time high and standardization of the delivery and coverage for addiction treatment can be hard to find. Unfortunately, as it stands, addiction treatment and reimbursement practices can vary greatly from state to state, […]
