We curate a digest of the latest news in our field for advocates, policymakers, community coalitions and all who work toward shaping policies and practices to effectively prevent substance use and treat addiction.
Phoenix House Foundation, a large, multi-state addiction treatment provider, has partnered with Vanguard Services Unlimited, a nearly 50-year-old substance abuse treatment provider based in the Washington D.C. area. The new organization will extend both groups’ reach and will be dubbed "Phoenix Houses of the Mid-Atlantic."
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission (LCC) has banned the sale of alcoholic energy drinks, becoming the second state in the nation to do so.
Good deeds and good work weren’t enough to keep the Historic Triangle Substance Abuse Coalition’s (HTSAC) doors open. The Virginia-based coalition ran out of grant funds last week and had to shut down.
Election night is over, and most of the results are in: it’s a mixed bag for the alcohol and other drug initiatives on state ballots. California’s efforts to legalize marijuana -- a.k.a. Proposition 19 -- fell short with 56 percent of voters rejecting the measure. Initiatives related to medical marijuana in South Dakota and Oregon also failed, while Arizona narrowly approved a medical-marijuana measure.
Massachusetts voted to repealed a 6.25 percent alcohol tax, and Washington chose to block at least one measure seeking to privatize liquor distribution. Meanwhile, California approved Prop. 26, possibly negating efforts to require the alcohol industry, among others, to pay for the harm caused by their products.