Welcome to our November newsletter. Wisconsin CONNECT is a collaborative. We seek to provide technical assistance and training opportunities for substance use prevention and treatment grantees, providers, clinicians, social workers, and support staff.
We draw on local and national academic and community resources to reduce and prevent substance use and improve overall health and wellness in Wisconsin.
To that end, we want to help you connect the dots with this newsletter. It is a tool to support our efforts to promote new research, share tools and trainings that aim to help you engage in different communities, enhance practice and improve the health of your clients and program participants.
|
|
|
|
Addiction Professional
Newly published research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that misuse of buprenorphine continues to drop even as the number of patients receiving the medication to treat opioid use disorder continues to rise.
|
|
Wisconsin State Journal
Alcohol taxes collected in Wisconsin jumped nearly 17% in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to state tax revenue data analyzed by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum. The largest annual increase between 2009 and 2020 was only 2.4%.
A separate Forum report released last December found that alcohol-related crash fatalities had risen significantly despite there being fewer drivers on the road because of the pandemic. Full-year data wasn’t available, according to the report, but preliminary data showed that total vehicle miles were down in the state by about 25% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to 2019.
The report found that the number of alcohol-involved crash fatalities increased from 52 to 78 during the study period in 2020 compared with 2019.
In August 2019, the Forum reported that total deaths in Wisconsin related to drug and alcohol use had more than tripled since 1999. Such deaths include deaths in which alcohol is the primary cause, such as liver disease or alcohol poisoning, as well as fatal accidents in which the deceased person was intoxicated.
|
|
Clin Obstet Gynecol
Stimulant use, including cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and prescription stimulants, in pregnancy is increasingly common. In the US, stimulants are the second most widely used and abused substances during pregnancy and pregnant women using stimulants in pregnancy are at increased risk of adverse perinatal, neonatal, and childhood outcomes. This review describes the pharmacology, pathophysiology and epidemiology of stimulants, summarize the maternal and neonatal effects of perinatal stimulant use, and outline treatment options for stimulant use disorders among pregnant women.
|
|
The Washington Post
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra outlined the Biden administration’s strategy for curbing drug overdoses Wednesday, committing more federal support for harm reduction techniques such as distribution of clean syringes and test strips used to check street drugs for hidden fentanyl.
The four-part strategy also includes measures to prevent drug addiction, in part by continuing to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of opioids; expand medication-based treatment, which research has shown to be the most effective approach; and improve support for people recovering from substance use disorder.
|
|
Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit
“Deaths associated with psychostimulant drug use are on the rise across the United States, and understanding what is driving shifts in the choice of drugs people are being exposed to is crucial for preventing them, Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit attendees in a session presented on Thursday.
Looking at surveys of drug use in the US from 2016 to 2019, the number of individuals reporting cocaine use has remained fairly consistent, which suggests that increases in mortality are a result of individuals being exposed to cocaine that is more dangerous than what had been previously used, Dr Volkow said. A likely culprit is the presence of fentanyl, as deaths involving cocaine in combination with opioids have increased while cocaine-involved deaths without the presence of opioids have remained relatively stable.”
|
|
Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit
The rise of phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) methamphetamine over the past decade has devastated communities, damaged the minds of users, driven up homelessness, and confounded addiction treatment providers, Sam Quinones, author of “Dreamland” and the soon-to-be-published “The Least of Us,” told Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit attendees in a session presented on Friday.
From the late 1980s into the 2000s, methamphetamine was made using ephedrine in a simple chemical process. Large factories and labs in Mexico produced quantities that spread west of the Mississippi River in the United States. In 2008, however, the Mexican government made ephedrine illegal for all but a few companies to possess. This sent traffickers down a new path for making methamphetamine, Quinones said.
A new, more complicated process involving the precursor P2P emerged. The chemicals required were found in common items, such as racing fuel, perfume, and photography and tanning products. By 2013, enormous quantities of P2P meth were being produced and sold at historic levels, and over the ensuing years, distribution spread to all corners of the US.
The new meth differed in a significant way from its ephedrine-based predecessor, Quinones said: Whereas the methamphetamine produced before 2008 made users want to socialize and stay up for days, P2P meth has driven its users in the opposite direction.
|
|
Revised DHS 75 Implementation: Improving substance use services
The new Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 75 was published October 25, 2021. This administrative rule sets the minimum standards for substance use prevention, intervention, and treatment services delivered across a variety of settings and levels of care. With a goal of supporting access to services throughout the state, the new rule eases requirements for providers in many areas while maintaining safety and quality of care standards.
Support for a seamless transition
All substance use providers are invited to attend monthly virtual meetings hosted by DHS. Information on the implementation of the revised Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 75 will be shared at these meetings. These virtual meetings are held the second Friday of every month from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join our email list to get more information(link is external)
|
|
|
Who should register?
Substance use prevention and treatment professionals who would like to:
- Gain knowledge on systemic family issues
- Improve communication with family members
- Help families make effective changes
- Implement effective trauma-informed crisis-management, stabilization, and facilitation of change in family dynamics
Trainer
How to register?
|
|
ECHO is an opportunity for women’s substance use treatment providers to come together with clinicians who provide care to women with substance use disorders to learn and share information and strategies to improve the lives of women, their children, and their families.
The ECHO is conducted monthly for 1 hour and includes a brief educational presentation on a topic of interest, a case presentation by a collaborator, and a discussion on strategies that can help the provider offer the best possible care for the client/patient.
The sessions take place the 2nd Thursday of every month from 11:00 am – 12:00 noon.
|
|
|
Upcoming Topics
November 11: Cannabis and Pregnancy.
Speaker: Elizabeth Goetz, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UW School of Medicine and Public Health
|
|
|
|
Click here below to see all the upcoming trainings and events across topics. |
|
Have a training interest? Looking for technical assistance? Simply fill out this online form with what you are seeking and we will follow up to further explore your needs. |
|
|
|
We do this in partnership with the Bureau of Prevention, Treatment and Recovery within the Wisconsin Department of Health Service's Division of Care and Treatment Services, UW-Milwaukee, and our network of training providers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
