Public Policy

Public Policy Priorities for 2013

CSAM Blueprints and White Papers

• Expansion of Substance Use Disorder Treatment within Reach Through Health Care Reform (04/2011)

• CSAM Statement on the Medical Aspects of Marijuana Legalization (4/2010)
• CSAM's Position on Medical Marijuana (o4/2010)
• Blueprint for Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Treatment in California (09/2009)
• Impact of Marijuana on Children and Adolescents: Evidence-Based Information on Cannabis/Marijuana (09/2009)
• CSAM Recommendations to Improve California's Response to Methamphetamine (o4/2007)
• Blueprint for Drug and Alcohol Treatment in California (o1/2007)

Background Information

• Addiction is a Chronic Relapsing Disease by Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy
• Eliminate the Stigma Associated with the Diagnosis and Treatment of Drug Problems by Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy
• Addiction is a Brain Disease by Alan Leshner, MD, former Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Treatment vs. Incarceration

• Global Commission on Drug Policy
• Proposition 36 Success Stories
• Reallocate Resources Toward Drug Treatment and Prevention by Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy

Background Information

• Addiction is a Chronic Relapsing Disease by Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy
• Eliminate the Stigma Associated with the Diagnosis and Treatment of Drug Problems by Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy
• Addiction is a Brain Disease by Alan Leshner, MD, former Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Substance Abuse Treatment Parity Resources

• Report on Parity from Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy
• Report on Parity from the Washinton Business Group on Health
• Results of 2001 Rand Corp. Study on Substance Abuse Parity
• National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets
• Op-Ed by Donald Kurth, MD
• Parity Fact Sheet
• Replies to Arguments Raised by Parity Opponents

CSAM Supports Needle Exchange Programs and Pharmacy Sale of Syringes to Save Lives Without Increasing Drug Addiction

• Syringe Fact Sheet
• Research Shows that Needle Exchange Programs Decrease HIV Infections Without Increasing Drug Use
• Evidence-based findings on the efficacy of syringe exchange programs: an analysis of the scientific research completed since April 1998 by David Satcher, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General

Methadone and the Treatment of Opiate Dependence

• Fact Sheet on Methadone Treatment Issues
• NIH Consensus Statement on the Effective Medical Treatment of Opiate Addiction
• CSAM Letter to Drug Court Judges on Methadone