Buprenorphine: New Paths to Recovery

SAMHSA’s education initiative, “New Paths to Recovery,” recently organized a multi-state tour to inform physicians and the public about the medication buprenorphine, a new office-based treatment for addiction to prescription pain relievers and other opiate drugs, including heroin. (See SAMHSA News, Volume 12, Number 2.)

The four-stop tour began in mid March in Huntington, WV, and continued on to Jackson State University (JSU), in Jackson, MS, in April. The forums offered information about the science of buprenorphine and the Federal requirements for establishing this office-based treatment option.

After the JSU event, a buprenorphine training session for physicians convened in New Orleans, LA.

For the Agency’s third stop, SAMHSA traveled to the Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington, KY, for another community education event. Buprenorphine training sessions for interested physicians followed in Knoxville, TN, and Cincinnati, OH.

On August 6, SAMHSA will complete the tour with a stop in St. Louis, MO.

SAMHSA targeted states with large rural populations because they are affected by community problems with drug abuse or dependence on opiates, including heroin. The Agency’s goal is to get more physicians, pharmacists, and treatment providers familiar with this new office-based treatment option.

SAMHSA partnerships in this effort include the Mississippi State Department of Mental Health’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Jackson State University’s Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition; the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services, Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Office of Behavioral Health Services, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources; and the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Missouri Department of Mental Health.

SAMHSA is sponsoring physician trainings in collaboration with four organizations: the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the American Academy of Osteopathic Addiction Medicine, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association.

For more information on buprenorphine, visit SAMHSA’s Web site at buprenorphine.samhsa.gov. 

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