Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) is partnering with Healthy Guilford Coalition and UNCG to host a town hall meeting this coming Monday, 10/21/2019. The town hall focus will be on preventing underage drinking. A 32″ flatscreen TV will be given away at the event as well as $25 gift cards and other prizes. The event

With addiction and recovery getting more national exposure than ever before, we pause on September 20, 2019 to celebrate vital players of the health system and continuum of care – addiction professionals. National Addiction Professionals Day will be celebrated on September 20, 2019, as part of National Recovery Month. Started by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals in 1992, the

Spectrum News published a segment the week of 1/14/2019 on the recent reduction in Guilford County deaths by opioid overdose. In the piece, Spectrum interviewed Clinical Supervisor Les Quagliano of Alcohol and Drug Services to gain more information on the role that medication plays in the treatment process. Narcan and buprenorphine were highlighted. While deaths

It has been confirmed that music icon, Tom Petty, died of an accidental drug overdose. Toxicology reports indicate that Petty had a mixture of several medications including the potentially lethal fentanyl as well as oxycodone and several benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines and opioids are a high risk medication combination, and have been tied to numerous other overdose

The New Yorker has published a fascinating, in-depth article on how the Sackler family (owners of Perdue Pharmaceutical) made billions of dollars selling Oxycontin throughout America. While effective pain management was, and is, a very important medical consideration, scores of people were introduced to a drug that was heralded as relatively “safe”, but which opened

Historically, abstinence-based recovery has sought to establish that recovering addicts abstain from all use of illicit substances including alcohol. This model of treatment was originally rooted in the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program which by design was intended to address alcohol addiction specifically. That program has been extremely popular and effective in helping alcohol dependent

Celebrate Life By Coming Together is a free family event open to the public. This event will remember, celebrate, empower, and encourage the loved ones of those impacted by overdose; support those who are in recovery from substance use; and give hope to the community. This event will have food, bounce houses, games, resource tables,

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it intends to lower the allowable level of nicotine contained in cigarettes. The linked article states that approximately 35 million people still smoke in America (a new historical low) although hundreds of thousands die each year in the U.S. from tobacco-related illnesses. The American Heart Association

A University of Michigan study funded by the National Institute On Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that college students are presently 51% more likely to use marijuana than same age peers who are not enrolled in college. This trend has been increasing at about 10% per year for several years underscoring the need for increased prevention

North Carolina has an informative website which addresses the rising opioid problem. The address is GovernorsInstitute.org and this site highlights the issue of opioid use and misuse in the United States. Mentioned there is that 998 North Carolinians died of opioid overdose in 2015. The Governors Institute offers guidelines on opioid prescribing and also focuses