The Office of National Drug Control Policy hosted a media briefing on Nov. 20, to highlight the Obama Administration’s unprecedented approaches to addressing drug addiction.

Ben Tucker, deputy director for State, Local, and Tribal Affairs set the tone by giving stats about how costly criminalizing drug use has been.

“The Department of Justice released new data showing that drug use cost our society about $193 billion a year. Fifty six billion of those dollars can be traced directly back to costs associated solely with the criminal justice system,” said Tucker.

The deputy pointed out that contributing to this immense cost are the more than seven million people in the United States who are under the supervision of the criminal justice system with more than two million behind bars.

For states and localities across the country, the costs of managing these populations have grown significantly. Between 1988 and 2009, state corrections spending increased from $12 billion to more than $50 billion per year.

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From the Ashe Mountain Times 11.18.11

North Carolina’s Speaker of the House believes finding answers for the mental health services of Ashe County and the state isn’t likely to happen until the effects of President Barack Obama’s health-care plan are known.

Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, made the comments after a Tuesday luncheon at Shatley Springs Restaurant, where he was invited to address a gathering organized by Rep. Jonathan Jordan, R-Ashe.

Ashe is one of five counties that formerly used New River Behavioral HealthCare, which was dissolved following an unexplained financial crisis that is currently under investigation.

Tillis took five questions from the Ashe Mountain Times related to mental health services:

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On November 16, The Treatment Research Institute (TRI)  released its latest science-derived product, the RoadMAP Toolkit^TM  helping treatment counselors in substance abuse deliver relapse prevention techniques to clients in group therapy.

The RoadMAP Toolkit is a collection of multi-media helping tools – reusable interactive posters, linked assignment sheets, an engaging video – that counselors can use to model, explain and strategize with their patients around the evidence-based practice (EBP) of relapse prevention.

For more on the toolkit, click HERE.

From the Raleigh Record.org (11.16.11)

North Carolina is changing the way the state Medicaid program will pay for mental health services in a move some are calling a second round of major mental health reform. But no one can give a clear answer of how that will affect mental health consumers statewide and their ability to get needed services.

In June, state lawmakers enacted a new law requiring all mental health management agencies in the state to apply for Medicaid waivers in order to reorganize the way they get paid for care.  The changes also mean Wake County Mental Health Services will be dramatically reorganized and merged into an organization based in Durham County.

Lawmakers say the new system will contain the rising costs of mental health care while continuing to provide services for people who really need them. Opponents say the changes are all about cost containment, and don’t guarantee high-quality care to the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who need mental health services annually.

“It’s a complete transformation in the mindset and developing more skill sets and being able to live below the means… so that we’re living with a tight budget,” said Ramon Rojano, head of Wake County Mental Health Services.

For more on this story, click HERE.