Written By: Frances Harding, Director, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
April is a time of renewal, which makes it a perfect time for individuals and communities to renew their commitment to underage drinking prevention. In fact, April is Alcohol Awareness Month, making it the most appropriate month of the year to spring forward with prevention efforts. The theme for this year’s observance is “Healthy Choices, Healthy Communities: Prevent Underage Drinking.”
This April, hundreds of communities across the Nation are hosting Town Hall Meetings, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services …

Written By: Wilma Townsend, Acting Associate Director, Office of Consumer Affairs, Center for Mental Health Services
Calling all behavioral health advocates! SAMHSA is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Voice Awards. The awards honor leaders in the field of behavioral health, as well as leaders in the entertainment industry, who play a vital role in educating the public about the real and uplifting experiences of people in recovery.  Once again, winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony—now in its 7th year—at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Calif. on Wednesday, August 22.
The Voice …

Written By: Rashetta Fairnot, Public Health Advisor, CSAT Consumer Affairs

On March 21st from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET, Recovery Month will be hosting our first Twitter chat of 2012 to help spread the word that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover. Our co-hosts, Marsha Baker, LCSW, Public Health Advisor, and Linda Kaplan, M.A., Senior Public Health Advisor of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, will share their expertise and insights on the topic of Recovery Support: Promoting Prevention, Collaboration, and Recovery Management.
This is an opportunity for the prevention and recovery …

Cross-posted from Aids.Gov

Written By: Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Our colleagues at SAMHSA have just released a new Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP), Addressing Viral Hepatitis in People With Substance Use Disorders. This is an important and helpful step toward achieving the fifth goal of the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, which calls on us to ensure that persons who use drugs have access to viral hepatitis …