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Innovative Drugs-of-Abuse Testing System

Concateno plc, Europe's largest provider of drug and alcohol testing programmes, and Royal Philips Electronics announced an innovative handheld drugs-of-abuse detection device.

Concateno-Philips pioneering system will make testing for drugs such as cocaine and heroin quicker, simpler and easier, enabling immediate point-of-care drug test results, similar to current alcohol tests. Concateno and Philips will deliver the new solution to selected customers in the second half of 2009.

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One-Stop Browsing

Columns - On the Web

Sunday, 31 March 2002

For the counselor, the Internet can be an excellent resource. Thousands of web sites provide both the professional and client with a variety of information that, not too long ago, was either not available to the clinician or not readily accessible. There are a number of perspectives about the Internet and its application to substance abuse and mental health treatment strategies. Frequently the discussion of the Internet turns to the "dark side" of its use. This usually involves discussions about compulsive online use attributed primarily to online pornography or the social dangers of limiting face-to-face interactions with "real" people.

With the virtual sea of governmental, social advocacy, and individual sites hawking their Internet wares, I have chosen a few sites to review that may be of interest to the widest audience. This does not preclude the existence of other valuable sites, but should get you started on some interesting and potentially valuable online resources in your work. There are a variety of specific sites dealing with the training and practice of substance abuse counselors. The web sites are therefore categorized based on content:

One-Stop Browsing. http://www.drugteach.org/clearing.htm is a site produced by The Outreach Training Institute in Richmond Hill, New York. This site includes almost 50 web sites for counselors, counselor-in-training, and patients interested in resources. Their site is a one-stop location for a variety of the common and not-so-common resources, such as drug and treatment information, resources, and even grant funding opportunities. (I did notice that at least two of their web site links were inactive. These two links were Hazelden and Addiction Recovery Resources for the Professional. Their corrected web site locations are http://www.hazelden.org and http://www.lapage.com/arr/, respectively).

ASAM Criteria. http://www.asam.org is a resource by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The site describes ASAM criteria (stay and discharge criteria for patients with alcohol and drug problems). Their second revised edition includes more information on the needs of dual-diagnosed patients.

Over-The-Counter and Prescription Information. MEDLINE (a governmental agency) offers an OTC (over-the-counter) and drug interaction guide at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html. This is a valuable tool for the chemical dependence and mental health counselor.

Political Landscape Information. MEDLINE also offers updated political or national information on mental health topics at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html

Licensing/Certification Information. NAADAC has resources for counselors in training located at http://www.naadac.org/links.htm. It is a central site that provides links to both training and licensing opportunities. For those looking for phone numbers and addresses of the certification/licensing boards in their own states, http://www.aatbs.com/AODA/aoda-bd.htm is the place.

Research, Grant, and Other Training Opportunities. The Addiction Technology Transfer Center in Kansas City at http://www.nattc.org/ has a variety of links for the professional. This site not only contains additional training links but also includes resources for funding and research opportunities.

In addition, there are some useful resources for not only the clinician but also the patient and/or family. These include:

Treatment Descriptions. http://www.alcohol-drug-treatment.net created by Alcohol and Other Drug Addiction Service in Spring, Texas is an easy-to-read site. It can be used to describe treatment modalities and the criteria associated with them. Although this site may have been constructed for the consumer, it could be a quick way to review treatment options and other information of relevance for a patient or family considering treatment. This site also includes dual-diagnosis information, which is not as common as other chemical dependency (CD) or mental health sites.

Dual-Diagnosis Resources. In addition to those sites above which have links related to dual-diagnosis and its identification and treatment, other links include Comprehensive Service Development for Mental Illness, Drug Addiction, and Alcoholism located at http://users.erols.com/ksciacca/ and Dual Diagnosis Recovery Network which is located at http://www.dualdiagnosis.org.

Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon. Two easily recognizable resources are Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) at www.alcoholics-anonymous.org and Al-Anon at www.al-anon-alateen.org. Another useful site keeping in this genre the Addiction Recovery Resource Center located at http://www.addict-help.com/.

In a very real sense, looking on the Internet can be overwhelming. Sites that incorporate an all-in-one-stop-shopping experience are easier to navigate and help you remember where you are going (that is also why my search engine of choice is www.dogpile.com and reference site is www.refdesk.com).

As you review these resources, keep in mind that it is not uncommon for sites to change locations or to be incompatible with some browser versions. Be patient and if a site is taking too long to view, hit the "back button" and try it again or go on to another site.

Scott Christie, PhD, CADC, works in both private practice and as an instructor at Rogue Community College in Southern Oregon. As a doctoral student, he studied Distance Clinical Supervision Strategies over the Internet and continues with his interest in technology in both teaching and practice.

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