This study examined whether Motivational Interviewing (MI), found effective with voluntary entrants to drug treatment, would improve intrinsic motivation and treatment retention among drug court probationers. Probationers were randomly assigned to receive either a two-session MI intervention or a two-session Drug Education (DE) intervention…

Objective: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive, strengths-based model of case management for clients in drug abuse treatment. Method: 503 volunteers from residential or intensive outpatient treatment were randomly assigned to one of three conditions of Iowa Case Management (ICM) plus treatment as usual…

Marijuana is the number one illicit drug of abuse worldwide and a major public health problem, especially in the younger population. The objective of this article is to update and review the state of the science and treatments available for marijuana dependence based on a pre-meeting workshop that was presented at ISAM 2006. At the workshop,…

This paper critically examines methadone treatment from the perspective of adult and community education and questions the absence of rehabilitation. It identifies biomedicine and the methodology of evidence based medicine as the discourses that determine our understanding of addiction and treatment. It is especially critical of psychiatry for the…

Many counselors, psychologists, and social workers assist clients to take psychotropic drugs but recoil from helping clients to rethink drug use or stop taking drugs. They might fear resisting the prevailing ideology, violating "standards of care," or contradicting physicians' advice. This article discusses withdrawal emergent reactions from…

While the epidemiologic trends concerning alprazolam (Xanax[R]) are unknown, the use of benzodiazepines, in general, has increased in popularity among youth within recent years. To shed light on the drug problem, the current pilot study used a qualitative approach to investigate relevant beliefs, norms, and perceived addiction associated with…

This study addresses the effects of motivation and problem severity on outcomes in two court-based drug treatment programs. Data were examined for 578 offenders served by a drug court and 223 served by a drug treatment court mandated through California's Substance Abuse Crime Prevention Act (SACPA). It was hypothesized that client-reported…

This report is based on the results of the National Drug/Alcohol Collaborative Project which examined the prevalence of multiple substance use, particularly the combined use of drug and alcohol. The introductory chapter describes the background and purpose of the project. Chapter Two reviews the literature about multiple substance abuse and…