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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