Game Ideas : Game Review: This week in Coalitions Online 7-28-11

July 28, 2011

This Week In Coalitions Online...

1200 Prevention Leaders Learn New Strategies and Skills at CADCA Mid-Year

To strengthen their community problem-solving skills, nearly 1,200 substance abuse prevention leaders from across the country traveled to Anaheim, Calif. this week to participate in CADCA's 2011 Mid-Year Training Institute. The week-long training brought together community coalition leaders not only from the United States, but also from communities in eight foreign countries.

Coalitions in Action: Florida

Florida Coalitions Have a Prescription for RX Abuse

Florida is on its way to shedding its notorious title of "the Oxy Express" when the governor, with coalition support, signed last month into effect a bill that cracks down on clinics that frivolously dispense pain medication, feeding a statewide and nationwide RX abuse epidemic.

The Associated Press reports that the tobacco industry spent $9.3 million during the past two years to fight cigarette taxes, support candidates and influence politics in California, the American Lung Association said in a report released last week.

A new report developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) providing state-by-state analyses of a wide range of behavioral health issues reveals that despite some wide variations among the states in the types and levels of problems they confront— every state must deal with these issues. For example, among those aged 12 and older, Iowa had less than half the current illicit drug use rate of Alaska (5.3-percent versus 13.5-percent) yet Iowa also was among the top 10 states with the highest levels of people age 12 and older currently participating in binge drinking (28.6-percent).

Canadian scientists have found a link between methamphetamine use and developing Parkinson's disease.

Help spread the word that recovery from substance abuse addiction is real by participating in the national Recovery Month observance this September. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), this public health campaign is designed to highlight the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment and to promote the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible. To help community organizations plan a Recovery Month event or campaign, SAMHSA along with the Recovery Month planning partners have developed the Recovery Month Toolkit.