Pubdate: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 Source: CNN.com (US Web) Copyright: 2000 Cable News Network, Inc. Contact: http://cnn.com/feedback/ Website: http://www.cnn.com/ Forum: http://community.cnn.com/ Author: Christy Feig, CNN Medical Senior Producer PROGRAMS INTRODUCED TO REDUCE TEEN MARIJUANA ADDICTION WASHINGTON (CNN) - - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) introduced five new programs for treating marijuana addiction in adolescents at the kickoff of its Recovery Month 2000 on Thursday. Researchers said the new programs are more effective than current outpatient treatment plans. "While no treatment is a magic bullet, each is associated with better results than existing treatments," said Michael Dennis, one of the researchers who designed the programs. National Drug Control Policy Director Barry McCaffrey was on hand for the event. He called for $2.6 billion in additional spending The programs were designed to work in outpatient treatment facilities. The five programs vary in length (6 to 14 weeks), mode( individual, group, and family ) and a planned number of sessions (5 to 23) and cost. The programs are: MORE Learn more about the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration 1. Motivational Enhancement Therapy/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/ CBT5) is a five-session treatment with two private sessions to motivate the adolescent to change and three group sessions on marijuana refusal skills, increasing social support for abstinence and relapse prevention 2. Cognitive Behavior Therapy 7 (CBT7) is a treatment designed to follow MET/ CBT5 and provide additional group sessions on other common topics including problem solving, dealing with anger and criticism, coping with cravings and relapse, and depression management. 3. The Family Support Network (FSN) is a treatment designed to supplement MET/ CBT or other types of treatment with additional support for families such as home visits and parent education meetings. 4. The Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (ACRA) is composed of 14 private sessions with the adolescent and/ or the adolescents concerned other that focus on learning alternative skills to cope with problems and to change the environmental issues related to continued substance abuse. 5. Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) - integrates substance abuse treatment into 12 weeks of family-focused treatment (plus other phone and case management contact) that involves working with the adolescents and their families on family roles and other problems areas. The researchers have followed up the 600 participants at 3 months and 6 months after completion. They are currently beginning 9 and 12 - month follow-ups. The rate of any use decreased by 31 percent between the 3 months before and directly after treatment. These are better than results in all prior studies of adolescent outpatient treatment in community settings. Improvements were also seen in terms of decreased involvement with the criminal justice system; decreased attention, family, and school problems; and decreased illegal activity, fighting or violence. The five types of treatment range from $105 to $244 per adolescent, per week, which experts say is sustainable under current funding levels. McCaffrey said 85 percent of people behind bars have chronic drug or alcohol problems. While the recent household drug survey showed use was down, it also showed there was a 45 - percent rise in treatment admission. McCaffrey said, "As encouraging as these numbers are... it seems to us we need to increase by 2.6 billion by 2007." - --- MAP posted-by: John Chase