The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced that the latest Monitoring the Future (MTF) national survey results of drug use among full-time college students and their non-college peers are now available online, highlighting that daily marijuana use is at the highest level since the early 1980s for this age group.

Below are the highlights from the 2016 MTF survey results on drug use among college students compared to their peers not attending college (ages 19-22).

A study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health suggests there is reason to be concerned that young adults who regularly consume energy drinks could be at risk for future substance use disorders.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug that acts by blocking the dopamine transporter (DAT), resulting in a rapid spike in the neurotransmitter dopamine. This increase in dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region associated with reward, causes the user to feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, mentally alert, and hypersensitive to sight, sound, and touch. In some cocaine users, these powerful reinforcing effects can lead to abuse and addiction. Currently, there are no medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat cocaine use disorders.

Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) conceptualizes a person’s perceived ability to perform on a task as a mediator of performance on future tasks. A change in the level of self-efficacy can predict a lasting change in behavior if there are adequate incentives and skills. The Abstinence Self-efficacy scale is a 20-item self-report measure (some 9 or 12 item measures available) that assesses an individual’s confidence to abstain from substance use or health behaviors in a variety of different situations.

Join us for the largest global gathering of employee assistance professionals.  Attendees come from thirty five countries around the globe. This is the most intensive and comprehensive learning and networking opportunity dedicated to the growth of the employee assistance profession. 

ASAP is booth #121, don't forget to stop by and register for a prize drawing!

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A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry this month finds that the rate of alcohol use disorder, or what's colloquially known as “alcoholism,” rose by a shocking 49 percent in the first decade of the 2000s. One in eight American adults, or 12.7 percent of the U.S. population, now meets diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder, according to the study.

This webinar will present descriptions and reports of research, historical and current, which investigate the utility of the workplace as a site and modality for treatment, including a discussion of the psychological principles that make it work.

Health and safety agencies in Iowa have issued an advisory to warn Iowans of counterfeit pain pills containing dangerous synthetic opioids. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) laboratory analyzed pills made to resemble the prescription pain reliever oxycodone, finding them to contain more powerful and illicit synthetic opioids fentanyl and U-47700, putting users at higher risk of opioid overdose.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration unveiled two new data reports on the state of quality assurance practices related to the workforce in substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities. The quality assurance practices include continuing education requirements for staff, regularly scheduled case review with a supervisor, and case review by an appointed quality review committee.

This year marks SAPAA’s 25th anniversary.

It's being called "gray death" — a new and dangerous opioid combo that underscores the ever-changing nature of the U.S. addiction crisis.

In 2008, a research paper published by a psychology professor and two undergraduate students at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., found that 10% of Harry Potter fans surveyed reported showing characteristics of addiction after the final book in the popular series was released.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) continues its efforts to raise public awareness so that all drivers know how to operate safely around large trucks and buses through a newly formed partnership under the Our Roads, Our Safety campaign.

Drug-impaired driving is an increasingly critical issue for states and state highway safety offices. In 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) reported that drugs were present in 43% of the fatally-injured drivers with a known test result, more frequently than alcohol was present (FARS, 2016). NHTSA’s 2013–2014 roadside survey found drugs in 22% of all drivers both on weekend nights and on weekday days (Berning et al., 2015). In particular, marijuana use is increasing.

ASAP has released a 3rd course in its Survey of Psychoactive Drugs series. This one addresses opioids and is written by Reed Morrison, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and our CEO.  Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illicit drug heroin as well as the legally prescribed pain relievers oxycodone, oxycontin, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and others. They act on opioid neuroreceptors in the brain to produce pleasure and relieve pain. They are also dangerously addictive.

Mark your calendars! SAMHSA’s next National Prevention Week will be from May 14 to 20, 2017. Each year around this observance, communities and organizations across the country come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and positive mental health. The theme for NPW 2017 is: Making Each Day Count. Learn More

ASAP will be joining industry professionals from all over the world on May 16-18 in Orlando, FL. We would like to hear about how we can help YOU. So stop by Booth #500 as we celebrate our 20th anniversary at ASAP. Learn More

With more states legalizing marijuana and record numbers of people dying from drug overdoses, concerns about drug-impaired driving are escalating. While we have made progress in combatting drunk driving in recent decades, drug use by drivers continues to rise. In fact, in 2015 (the most recent national data available) drugs were present in 43% of the fatally-injured drivers with known test results, appearing more frequently than alcohol. Learn More

ASAP is going to the AAOHN 2017 National Conference. Hope to see you on April 24-27 at Booth 257. We would love to tell you about what has changed and what is up and coming in the industry, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary at ASAP!  Learn More

The National Safety Council report also found that while 71 percent of employers believe that abuse of opioid prescription painkillers is a disease that requires treatment, 65 percent also consider it a justifiable reason to fire a worker. Learn More

FRA is expanding the scope of its drug and alcohol regulation to cover MOW employees. MOW employees will become subject to FRA random drug and alcohol testing on June 12, 2017 when the final rule takes effect. Learn More

China will ban the manufacture and sale of four variations of the synthetic drug fentanyl starting March 1, a move that US Drug Enforcement Administration officials call a "game-changer" for the United States' battle with manufactured opioids. Learn More

The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (a.k.a. “Trucking Alliance”) has submitted a set of detailed comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that strongly support a petition calling for motor carriers to be exempt from having to use urinalysis to test for drug use by CDL driver applicants. Four of the six petitioners are member companies of the Trucking Alliance. Learn More

American Substance Abuse Professionals, the nation’s leading provider of Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) and drug-free workplace services, is celebrating its 20th year of Saving Lives By Changing Lives. ASAP was founded in 1997 to protect public safety by helping employers and their safety-sensitive employees comply with substance use regulations and employment substance use policies.

For too many in the United States, St. Patrick's Day has ended in tragedy due to drunk drivers getting behind the wheel. Over St. Patrick's Day from 2011 to 2015, a total of 252 lives were lost in drunk-driving crashes.