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In an effort to help the public better understand the mental health implications of gaming, an international foundation and a public health nonprofit this month released a white paper, calling it a first‐of‐its‐kind report, that analyzes the potential role of gaming as an innovative solution to the increasing mental health crisis in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health care payments continue to evolve and shift away from fee‐for‐service payment systems that typically reward volume and move to value‐based payment (VBP) models that incentivize high‐quality, cost‐effective care. While this is happening more for physical health services, there's more uncertainty about the role of behavioral health. A new white paper aims to tackle that question with information about existing models that have been implemented along with recommendations for federal and state policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization or day treatment programs can provide more intensive levels of care with multiple types of therapy, more frequent sessions with mental health professionals, and clinically informed care coordination and case management. This observation on residential treatment is included in a new white paper released this month by the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper from Jennifer L. Doleac and Anita Mukherjee, which found that greater opioid abuse and opioid-related crime has resulted from laws expanding access to the overdose-rescue drug naloxone. According to the study, there is no evidence that naloxone leads more people to search for fentanyl.

As Scott E. Hadland, M.D., senior author of a dramatic paper published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine puts it, drug use among adolescents is not getting more common — it's at its lowest in almost 50 years. But it's getting more deadly, due to fentanyl. In "The Overdose Crisis among U.S. Adolescents," by Hadland and lead author Joseph Friedman, Ph.D., the problem is laid out clearly: After guns and car crashes, overdose (OD) deaths are now the third leading cause of death among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's (AACAP's) Program Committee has issued a Call for Papers for submission of abstracts of original investigations for consideration in the 2024 Annual Meeting of AACAP, October 14‐19, in Seattle. AACAP is planning for an in‐person meeting in Seattle and as such, will require all presenters to be in‐person in Seattle for their presentation. The Call for Papers deadline is Feb. 15, 2024 (11:59 p.m. EST). For more information, visit https://aacap.confex.com/aacap/2024/cfp.cgi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been many calls for federal changes to address the opioid epidemic, but one from Beau Kilmer, senior policy researcher and director of the Drug Policy Research Center at the RAND Corporation, released last week is a particularly interesting distillation that doesn't omit pros and cons for each strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2017 – 2022, law enforcement seizures across the United States of mushrooms containing psilocybin increased dramatically, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The number of law enforcement seizures increased from 402 seizures in 2017 to 1,396 in 2022. In addition, the total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased from 226 kg (498 lbs.) seized in 2017 compared with 844 kg (1,861 lbs.) in 2022. This analysis, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, was led by researchers at New York University (NYU) Langone Health in New York City, and the University of Florida, Gainesville. The data used for the analysis were collected through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, a grant program aimed at reducing drug trafficking and misuse administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Though law enforcement seizures do not necessarily reflect prevalence of use, they represent an indicator of the availability of illicit drugs. "We are in the middle of a rapidly evolving cultural, media, and legal landscape when it comes to psychedelics, and we need data to help shape informed and appropriate public health strategies," said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., in announcing the research publication last week. "Moving forward, we must continue to track data on the availability of psychedelics, patterns in use, and associated health effects to guide efforts in promoting accurate education and reducing potential harms among people who do plan to use psychedelic drugs." Adverse effects of psilocybin mushrooms, such as "bad trips," are marked by "distorted thinking, perceptual changes, putting oneself in physical danger, and intense feelings of fear, anxiety, and confusion," according to NIDA. "People who take psychedelic drugs like psilocybin may also experience short‐term side effects such as raised blood pressure and heart rate, agitation, confusion, vomiting, or nausea, which may be severe and require medical attention." Joseph J. Palamar, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, co‐investigator on the NIDA‐funded National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), and lead author on the paper, said "Research studies suggesting its effectiveness in treating mental health issues and extensive positive media coverage may lead some people to seek 'shrooms' outside of medical contexts. People who use psilocybin outside of medical supervision need to be educated about risks associated with use." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary manner by which states have been using Medicaid to expand access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment may actually be making it more difficult for individuals to receive the services most appropriate to their needs, a newly released paper suggests. Moreover, this preferred strategy in many cases violates the law, authors with the National Health Law Program contend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An over‐reliance on federal block grants and "one‐off" funding initiatives has left the addiction treatment system under‐resourced to respond to an addiction crisis that stands to be at least as deadly as COVID‐19 during the span of the Biden administration, a trio of prominent researchers argue in a newly released policy paper. The authors suggest that the new administration and Congress should prioritize efforts to build on what they consider the most impactful developments in improving access and quality in addiction treatment, such as Medicaid expansion and parity mandates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A white paper from Canada and the United States focuses on collaboration between the two countries on their commitment to deal with the overdose crisis. "Substance Use and Harms During COVID‐19 and Approaches to Federal Surveillance and Response," issued Sept. 27, states that the increase in "substance use harms and deaths" during COVID‐19 is partly due to a decrease in access to services. The white paper itself focuses on the restrictions to methadone access in the United States and says little about the Canadian rules, but they are much more lenient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY At the fifth SIG/MET workshop, held during the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, the group shared papers, posters and discussions exploring developments in information measurement. The opening session on bibliometric case studies examined interdisciplinarity among consumers of academic research, increased funding for coauthors of previously funded authors and a classification of acknowledgement types. A session on information retrieval in relation to bibliometrics included studies on overcoming the limits of computational linguistics in very large corpora, an interactive context explorer of bibliographic data called Ariadne and comparative approaches to visualizing the structure of a very large dataset. The alternative metrics session covered application of altmetrics for analyzing public policy documents, a novel usage indicator promoting article discovery, the basis for connections among faculty members using Twitter and the heavy use of Twitter among academics. The daylong workshop included awards for best papers, best student papers and two featured presentations on the application and use of metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the concept of civil commitment for substance use disorders (SUDs), discussing a research paper released by Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Topics discussed include the views of some people that addiction is a disease and its treatment should not be coerced; a paper by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on it; and the benefits of involuntary commitment laws for substance use disorders.

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Special Interest Group/Classification Research (SIG/CR) explored the significance of studies on classification and its real world effects through paper presentations by students and faculty at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting workshop. Presenters looked at the effects of approaches to classifying and structuring knowledge and at the ways classification models frame similarities and differences and influence views of society and the world. Among the papers on specific models and cases were presentations on capturing situation semantics in metadata, classifications of violence and disasters and historians' perspectives on organizing information. Fundamental philosophical positions were shown to inform classifications, and the effects of classificatory systems evolve with time. Other papers addressed the cultural, political and theoretical consequences of compiling a controlled vocabulary, outsourcing metadata and information resources for classification of social and cultural issues. The workshop ended with the announcement of new officers and presentation of student scholarships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Bringing comic relief to the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, SIG CON opened with discovery that the alleged nephew of the group's figurehead, Dr. Llewellyn C. Puppybreath III, and speaker at the 2014 meeting was an imposter of dubious character. With the purloined ceremonial wand accounted for, the 2015 symposium opened with a presentation on the I-Index, an anti-establishment altmetric, eschewing group recognition in favor of individualism and self-citation. A paper on the correlation among computer science doctorates, rising arcade revenues and climate warming in Australia highlighted the income and career opportunities available to techies relocating to Oz. Analysis of ASIS&T members' social media posts revealed a skewed distribution of posters, topics and irrelevant content, especially by Association leadership. The session also featured a Monty Python character reporting on fatal answers at the Bridge of Death, multiple personalities of Dr. N. E. Doofus and a séance with illustrious ASIS&T members spanning the spectrum from living to dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Special Interest Group/Information Needs, Seeking and Use (SIG/USE) convened at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting to explore the links between theory and practice in information behavior. In his keynote address, Ross Todd urged the audience to go beyond models and aim for synthesis and meta-analysis, focusing on the user. Lightning talks addressed a social cognitive theory analysis of a program for disadvantaged youth; adults with limited literacy and health information; mobile information workers; forming a community of practice; and information sharing practices among online communities. A key takeaway was that research should actively involve communities and their members rather than simply being about them. Safiya Noble's keynote highlighted hidden biases in automated search engine returns with encouragement to design algorithms enabling users to opt in or out of filtered returns. Attendees explored the topics raised further during a mixer chat and table talks. The symposium ended with presentations for the best paper, poster and research proposal and awards for student and international conference travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY At the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Special Interest Group/Social Informatics (SIG/SI) celebrated its 11th research symposium and the more than 100 panels, papers and posters presented over the years. The theme, 'The Impacts of Social Informatics Research,' was evident in studies illustrating social informatics in a variety of contexts. Speakers explored the use of communications technology in marginalized communities and language use in informal chat about illegal behavior in online communities. Presenters also examined human rights in Indonesia, taking a value-oriented approach in social informatics research, efforts to create a safer internet and ways big data marginalize individuals through algorithms used in quantitative analyses. A panel considered where social informatics fits in the IT curriculum of iSchools. An examination of social connectedness through digital channels and devices won the Best Paper Award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sen. Kamala Harris (D‐California) is Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden's pick for vice president. And although she has been pilloried by the pro‐marijuana progressives for her prosecution of marijuana cases, in fact, she was not overly aggressive in these cases, according to an article in The Mercury News. "There is no way anyone could say that she was draconian in her pursuit of marijuana cases," said Niki Solis, a high‐ranking attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender's Office during Harris' time as district attorney, the paper stated. Marijuana legalization was a centerpiece of her presidential campaign. For the Mercury News story, see https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/11/kamala‐harris‐prosecuting‐marijuana‐cases/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on several Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) awards and the International Paper Competition as of 2015. Topics include the ASIS&T history awards, both the research and best paper honors, providing cash awards to their winners, the deadlines and nomination requirements varying among the ASIS&T Annual Awards, and the 15th annual International Paper Competition to be held by the SIS&T Special Interest Group/ International Information Issues (SIG/III) which will be based on the theme of "Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community."

The article discussed how a paper released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) entitled "Prevalence of Alcohol Dependence Among US Adult Drinkers, 2009-2011" accidentally promoted heavy drinking and misconstrued diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence. It mentions that mass media widely circulated the paper, using the familiar synonym "alcoholics" instead of "alcohol dependence" that added to denial.