Tuesday, March 19, 2013

New Report Outlines Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Drinking


As you all may know I am quite impressed with the work of Dr. Willenbring and his blog. So when I see appropriate article in this blog (or any other location for that matter) I added to this blog to support this Dr. Willenbring exposure in the internet and advocate for his type of work and the reduction of harm from this profession. I am becoming more and more fearful of the power that psychiatry and psychology type professionals can have on the general population. My concerns are about ethical (or I mean lack of ethics), I have been observing from my colleagues. It is unfortunate; I do not think they are bad people (although there are some that do a lot more harm than good). There is a lot of it that is inadvertent, but as Dr. Scott Lilienfeld call it "Joyfully Oblivious" to their ignorance of the science they propone to follow. The fact is that not many of professionals in this field have been trained on any science. So much of what they say is based on personal experience, hunches and intuitions that they dress up with the signs of science, but they do not follow standards required by the rest of the health related professions. There are a growing number of patients and professionals who are demanding EVIDENCE BASED treatment. In the United States we have been talking about science based treatment for perhaps the last 30 or more years, but as far as I can tell we are not even close to starting to implemented it because the ignorance of science and understanding of it's standards. Even the professional organizations and the licensing board of many of the states are lost when it comes to science and science based treatment protocols. Dr. Willenbring brings it to reality and is a modal for what science base treatment and best practice is about. You should consider subscribing to Substance Matter: Science and Addiction.

 

Fortunately enough for patients, I think this inclusion of science in Psychology is a growing trend, and he is not the only one.  For me, it is not growing fast enough. The legacy that the majority of the profession is leaving for posterity is not going to be going to be noble, respectable and something to be admired by history. History will not absolve them from the harm that is being cause today.


Here, introducing to you again today- Dr. Willenbring.




New Report Outlines Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Drinking
Mark Willenbring, MD at Substance Matters: Science and Addiction - 2 weeks ago

New Report Recommends Public Health Focus on Harmful Drinking vs. Eliminating Consumption**** Tuesday, February 26, 2013**** International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) **** Findings Run Counter to Current Public Health Approach, Discredit Traditional Perspectives**** WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire) - The traditional public health perspective on alcohol and noncommunicable diseases is indicted in a new report from the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP). "Alcohol misuse and global health: The case for an inclusive approach to harmful drinking" discredits the tradi... more »

Friday, March 8, 2013

Syringe Exchane Bill as it reads. Have any imput?

I think that it needs to be a lot more comprehensive this population has been stigmatized, discriminated against, and ignored for decades if not the whole century. The drug laws where not about people's health and wellbeing they were all founded on racism and I am not sure that this legacy of racism has ever gone away.

 

HB 735 | SB 808

An act relating to a needle and syringe exchange program; amending s. 381.0038, F.S.; authorizing the Department of Health to establish a needle and syringe exchange program; providing criteria for the program; providing that the distribution of needles and syringes under the program is not a violation of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act or any other law; providing conditions under which a program staff member or participant may be prosecuted; providing for severability; providing an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Section 1. Subsection (4) is added to section 381.0038, Florida Statutes, to read:

381.0038 Education; needle and syringe exchange program.— The Department of Health shall establish a program to educate the public about the threat of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

(4) The department may establish a program offering the free exchange of clean, unused needles and hypodermic syringes for used needles and hypodermic syringes as a means to prevent the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), AIDS, and other blood-borne diseases among intravenous drug users.

(a) The needle and syringe exchange program must meet the following criteria:

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

1. The program shall provide for maximum security of exchange sites and equipment, including an accounting of the number of needles and syringes in use, the number of needles and syringes in storage, and any other measure that may be required to control the use and dispersal of sterile needles and syringes.

2. The program shall strive for a one-to-one exchange, whereby the participant shall receive one sterile needle and syringe unit in exchange for each used one.

3. The department shall make available educational materials, HIV counseling and testing, and referral services targeted to education regarding HIV/AIDS transmission and drug use prevention and treatment.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the possession, distribution, or exchange of needles or syringes as part of a needle and syringe exchange program established by the department is not a violation of any part of chapter 893 or any other law.

(c) A needle and syringe exchange program staff member or participant is not immune from criminal prosecution for:

1. The possession of needles or syringes that are not a part of the exchange program; or

2. Redistribution of needles or syringes in any form.

Section 2. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013

Websites Associated with NEW FLORIDA's Syringe Exchange

This is the Federal Fund provider bill full text of 111th CONGRESS H. R. 179, Janurar 6, 2009 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr179/text

This is an announcement from the State of Florida on SB 808 and HB 735
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Handlers/LeagisDocumentRetriever.ashx?Leaf=housecontent/HouseMinorityOffice/Lists/Latest%20News/Attachments/16/needle%20exchange%20program%20press%20release.pdf&Area=House

This is the schedule of the committes in it visited and the member of the committes.
http://mfhmobile.net/Bill/BillDetail/0735


This is an important website name Florida Needles Exchange Initiative
http://cleanneedlescleanflorida.com/index.html