ADAI News

ADAI Receives Grant on Chronic Pain Management and Cannabis

The UW Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute has received a grant from the state Attorney General’s Office to provide training and education for health professionals and the general public on the subject of chronic pain management and cannabis use.

The grant was presented by Attorney General Bob Ferguson in an event at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute on Oct. 17.

The grant, to Beatriz Carlini, Phd, MPH, research scientist, and her colleagues at the Institute, will assess and address gaps in science-based training and education for a number of groups: staff of community organizations that provide information to individuals suffering from chronic pain, health care providers and the general public.

“Chronic pain is a major public health issue,” Carlini said. “This project will offer non-judgmental, science-based information to clinicians and to the general public on the role of medical marijuana as an option in alleviating intractable pain in our state.”

The ultimate goal of the project is to increase awareness of the options available to treat pain and other medical conditions, and to decrease unnecessary suffering among people living with chronic pain. The project will provide and information and education about medical conditions and populations for whom cannabis is recommended, and for whom it is not recommended, as well as possible side effects and risks.

Related article in Seattle Weekly, Oct 31, 2013.

[Photo from the Office of Attorney General Bob Ferguson.]

ADAI Small Grant Awards for March 2013

ADAI awarded two Small Grants for the March 2013 round of applications.  Congratulations to the recipients!

A. Murat Maga, PhD, Acting Assistance Professor Pediatrics, & Center for Tissue and Cell Sciences, Seattle Children's Research Institute. Characterizing Fetal Craniofacial Gene Expression Changes in Response to Chronic Gestational Ethanol Exposure Using a Mouse Model of FAS. 

Lindsey Zimmerman, PhD, Senior Fellow, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Debra Kaysen, PhD (Mentor), Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Enlisting Significant Others in SBIRT to Reduce Alcohol Use After Trauma.

You can read abstracts of these projects here.

The next deadline for ADAI Small Grant applications is October 15, 2013.  You can read more about ADAI Small Grants Program and application process on the ADAI Small Grant web page.

Heroin Use Spikes in Young Adults in Washington State

Heroin use is up across Washington State — particularly among 18- to 30-year-olds — as prescription-opioid use declines, according to a report from the University of Washington. The report Heroin Trends Across Washington State was released by Caleb Banta-Green from the UW's Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute.

The report received extensive coverage in the Northwest and in national media: 

Seattle Times: Heroin use spikes in young adults, UW report says

The Oregonian: Washington heroin use, deaths increase, especially among young people

The Olympian: State’s heroin problem growing, study shows.

Yakima Herald:  Opioids figure in 18 deaths in Yakima County last year

US News & World Report: Study: Heroin Abuse Increase May Be Due to Prescription Painkiller Crackdown

The Partnership at Drugfree.org:  Heroin use on the rise in Washington State

KUOW Radio: extended interview about heroin trends; also discussed infectious disease/syringe exchange and primary prevention.  Listen 

KPLU Radio: Listen

KOMO TV: Watch 

Read the full report. 

Marijuana: Science-Based Information for the Public

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute launched the website "Marijuana: Science-Based Information for the Public" in 2011 to provide current and science-based information about marijuana for the general public.  The site was updated with new resources after the passage of Initiative 502, which legalized adult use of marijuana in Washington state.  The updated site includes factsheets on the health and social aspects of marijuana, a section on law and policy, special sections for parents and teens, and describes University of Washington research and information activities about marijuana.

We will continue to expand the site with a special emphasis on knowledge focusing on the state of Washington. 

Visit http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/

Parent Child Assistance Program (PCAP) is "Best Practice"

The UW's Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) has been designated as a Best Practice by the federal Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs.

PCAP offers a home visitation case‐management model for mothers who abuse alcohol or drugs during pregnancy. Its goals are to help mothers build healthy families and prevent future births of children exposed prenatally to alcohol and drugs.  PCAP is directed by Therese Grant, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, and Director, UW Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, and Associate Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.

In designating PCAP as a Best Practice, AMCHP noted the program follows sound theory and evaluation practice, and is a good cost effective model for funding by Washington state, with positive results for the client, the counselor, and the community.  For more information, visit the PCAP website.

Prevention Can Can Pay Off in Curing Social Problems

UW Professor Richard Catalano has science-based solutions for problems that beset adolescents and follow them in to adulthood — academic failure, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, violence.  The work of the Social Development Research Group in the UW School of Social Work was featured in the Seattle Times today in a column promoting the value of prevention science to deal with numerous social problems.  Catalano, SDRG Director, was lead author on a 2012 paper for The Lancet that, in collaboration with researchers from around the world, is part of an effort to let leaders and the public know the ability to deal with social problems has matured, and that solutions are waiting to be put to use.  Read more in the Seattle Times...

SAMHSA Funds UW Fetal Alcohol & Drug Unit for Trauma Services for Pregnant, Parenting Women & Children

The UW's Fetal Alcohol & Drug Unit was awarded funding by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) under a program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women (PPW). The federal program expands the availability of comprehensive, residential substance abuse treatment, prevention, and recovery support services for pregnant and postpartum women and their minor children -- including services for non-residential family members of both the women and children.

FADU's new project, Partnership for Families will enhance the availability of trauma-informed, evidence-based intervention services for pregnant and parenting women and their children living at Perinatal Treatment Services, a long-term residential substance abuse treatment facility in King County, Washington.

The project will provide: (1) Seeking Safety therapy to the mothers; (2) sensory-based and trauma-informed parenting education and training for the mothers with their children; and (3) case management and services linkage to nonresidential family members, modeled on the Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) and including a male case manager to work with fathers of the children. Over three years, the project will serve 150 women and 75 children in residence at PTS, and approximately 300 adult non-residential family members. 

The project is designed to improve the health and well-being of family members by delivering high quality trauma-informed maternal therapy, parenting education that responds to the children’s trauma-based behavioral and self-regulation difficulties, and comprehensive case management that meets the needs of the family unit as a whole.

Research Funding: ADAI Small Grants Program

The UW Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute invites applications from University of Washington researchers for its Small Grant research awards. Proposed research must be in alcohol or drug abuse-related fields (including tobacco).

The maximum amount considered for funding is $30,000 for faculty and research scientists, and  $20,000 for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.  ADAI Small Grant funding is available to UW researchers only.

The next application deadline is Monday, October 15, 2012. Questions concerning the application process or suitability of a potential project should be directed to the Institute at 206-543-0937 or by email to [email protected]. Small Grant application guidelines are available on the ADAI website.

Alcohol and Pregnancy: UW Experts Speak Out

Is it safe to drink alcohol during pregnancy?  UW professors Susan Astley (Epidemiology and Pediatrics, FAS Diagnostic & Prevention Network) and Therese Grant (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Fetal Alcohol & Drug Unit) address that question in a special editorial published in the Seattle Times on July 5.  The UW experts challenge a recent Danish study which reported finding that drinking up to 8 alcoholic drinks per week during pregnancy has no effect on children’s intelligence or activity levels.   In their editorial, the UW authors point to numerous limitations of the Danish study which put the findings into question. 

Astley and Grant cite the long-established body of research and clinical work on FAS conducted at the University of Washington and elsewhere to clarify their main point: Research shows there is no safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy, and for women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and who drink alcohol, the best advice is to stop. 

Read the full article in the Seattle Times.

Adolescents & Young Adults with MH Disorders at Risk of Long-term Opioid Use

Patients ages 13 to 24 who are given opioids for pain are more than twice as likely to become addicted if they have mental health disorder, according to a study by Laura Richardson, UW Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics, and a team of investigators at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the UW. The study, “Mental Health Disorders and Long-term Opioid Use among Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Pain,” was published in the June 2012 Journal of Adolescent Health. Along with the new article, Richardson discusses how providers can help reduce risk of long-term opioid use in a video on YouTube.

Read more in UW Medicine Online News...