A History of Drug Abuse and Addiction in the U.S.
—Sue Rusche
• Great overview—a lot of material to cover but many
things to think about to spark future thought. David
was right—our brains would be full by the end of the
day.
• Very informative. Having the source (and year) of
data available. Lots of good data to have at our fingertips
for future stories. I appreciate Sue’s knowledge on
the cutting edge issues and current trends.
• Very interesting historical data. A lot of information I
was unaware of. I was very impressed with Sue’s
knowledge, which is so in-depth. Sue is able to answer
nearly all questions.
Fundamentals of Drug Action—Shelly Schwartz-
Bloom
• I’ve been to many neurology meetings/substance
meetings and never before completely understood how
the nerve synapse and neurotransmitters work.
• She’s an excellent teacher—does a pretty good job
making very complex issues easier to understand. I
loved the video. Bob—poor Bob—good job walking us
through typical drug OD, resuscitation, and relapse.
• Great explanation of the science. The video was
helpful to explain the science. I appreciate the breakdown
of concepts to explain it.
The Neurobiology of Addiction I—David Friedman
• Examples of how animals get addicted will help me
explain to readers why addiction is not a “moral failing.”
Question: If abuse always precedes addiction, is
there a “point of no return” when the substance abuser
crosses the line and loses control over his/her use?
• Very good and important to get to the underlying
science behind addiction. Also good to learn difference
between addiction and dependence.
• Great explanation of how dependence is not addiction.
The operant conditioning part of talk was fascinating
in terms of the reward system/dopamine.
• Well-explained. The first three lectures built on each
other.
The Neurobiology of Addiction II—Shelly
Schwartz-Bloom
• Good explanation of drug abuse’s long-term effects;
broke down jargon into layman’s terms.
• The analogy between addiction and congestive heart
failure was a very convincing way to illustrate how addiction
is a disease like other chronic diseases. The
info on epigenetics was especially fascinating.
• One of best “lay” explanations of science I’ve ever
heard. Excellent/humane way of talking about use of
animals as models and why needed.
Does Prevention Work? What Science Tells Us
• I was surprised to learn that certain common interventions
are not very effective, and that price does
have such a strong deterrent effect.
• Again, very knowledgeable. His background and
expertise made him especially credible. Good idea for
stories/columns came from his presentation. He’ll be
source of future columns.
• Very good, very informative and a great sense of
humor. This was my favorite presenter because it was
the perfect blend of information and personal anecdotes.
I wrote down dozens of story ideas from this
presentation.
A Personal Story of Addiction—Susan Rook
• Susan does a remarkably good job of showing how
an intelligent, accomplished, personable, and likable
person can fall into addiction, and how hard it is to
climb out—especially when the majority of people in
society don’t know how or are disinclined to help.
• Powerful and provocative. Most important part was
talking about how to cover recovery stories and the
need to do them years after sobriety.
• Absolutely amazing. Don’t change a thing about this
presentation!
Does Addiction Treatment Work?—Deni Carise
A—Interesting, with good references and suggestions
for public policy ramifications.
• A very important message that came through was
that a relapse after treatment stops does not mean
that treatment didn’t work—it means that treatment
did work and needed to be continued.
• Great perspective. I appreciate the optimism regarding
health care reform’s impact on parity and treatment of addiction/
MH services.
• Deni’s talk was very informative and provided me with a
completely different perspective on treatment. I am glad that
she also discussed the health care reform’s impact on substance
abuse treatment.
Targeting Dispositions for Drug Offenders—Doug Marlowe
• Especially liked “high risk/low risk” grids. Helpful to understand
there is no “one size fits all” strategy. Very energetic
speaker.
• Engaging speaker, information is groundbreaking and especially
useful to journalists covering addiction and criminal justice
system. Useful, helpful stuff learned here.
• Another great presentation that yielded dozens of possible
story ideas. This opened my eyes about the failures of the
justice system in a way that makes me want to pass the information
to readers.
A Provider’s Perspective—Addiction Treatment in the
21st Century—Barbara Krantz
• The info on SPECT scans may help convince people that
addiction actually is a brain disease. It would be interesting
to learn more about what actually happens in treatment and
which therapies work best.
• Cutting-edge use of technology is very cool. I like how her
science supports addiction as a disease.
• I really enjoyed hearing about cutting-edge science (the
SPECT scan).
Scientifically Reliable Internet Sources—Sue Rusche
• Very useful to have these links pulled together for us!
• Good overview of websites/links to addiction sites. Will
keep for future reference.
• Sue provided a very comprehensive presentation regarding
online resources. I certainly plan on visiting some of these
websites to learn even more about addiction.
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College on Problems of Drug Dependence—Marc
Kaufman
• Interesting—even though I’m not staying for CPDD meeting.
• Very helpful for those of us attending the conference. I
didn’t know much about the college.
• Good overview of meeting and helpful picks for most
“newsworthy” items.
Journalists Roundtable—Tom Linden
• This was a good way to get some ideas going and to start
thinking about how to deal with problems such as resistant
editors and the presentation of preliminary data.
• Great discussion on story ideas and the debate about
when science is publishable.
• It was a great idea to talk about tangible, meaningful
ways to apply what we’ve learned to reporting about addiction.
To what extent did the program meet your overall
expectations?
• It was better than I expected. Feel ready and eager to
get back to work and explore.
• Beyond expectations. Overwhelmed by quality of speakers,
information presented.
• Some very useful resources and research on covering
addiction were presented. Lots of helpful technical info to
help understand the science of addiction.
To what extent will the program improve the quality
of your reporting on addiction?
• I understand the biology better and feel even more committed
to the goal of spreading the word about addiction as a
disease.
• It will allow me to reference evidence-based scientific research
and theory into future columns and editorials.
• So many new resources and story ideas I can fully back up
the claims.
In next six months, do you plan to use workshop material
in stories you write or produce?
• We publish a lot of statistics that have a “wow” factor, and
I definitely got a lot of those! For bigger articles, I will need
to focus on practical advice, as my publication always does.
• Yes, because I have to justify my time here and because I
believe we have an obligation to tell people the current state
of addiction theory and practice.
• Expect several stories out of this. Likely a lot on opioids
and adolescents. Will be sharing a lot with our crime reporters
too.
In next six months, do you plan to visit the Addiction
Studies Program website? What information would
be most helpful to you?
• References to statistics, studies, well-done journalism on
addiction issues.
• I’ll visit many of sites suggested here.
• A lot of the subjects—links—mentioned this weekend will
be very helpful.
To what extent did material presented change the
way you al presente change the way
ente change the way
e (not a reporter) on this topic. very rchstory ideas.
The location was prview the nature of addiction?
• I didn’t know about the breadth of the science showing
that addiction is a disease.
• I have a much better understanding of how addiction is a
disease, and how important it is to provide treatment that
fits the specific needs of the individual.
• Knew of the genetics of addiction but didn’t understand it
fully. More likely to treat it as more medical problem with
the same medical care as other diseases.
How would you rate the overall quality of the program?
• Very focused on the journalism so relevant.
• Fantastic! Very well organized and presented as well. A
lot of information, but not too overwhelming.
• The scope of topics was excellent, and the speakers provided
information that was thought provoking and highly
informative. The small group setting allowed for great discussion
and conversation among the presenters and participants.
Has the program changed the way you will write or
produce stories about addiction?
• Better understanding the brain science—and emerging
evidence is unquestionable.
• Definitely made me very aware of the science behind
addiction and the need to frame it as a disease.
• The comparison of addiction and cancer was astounding.
Understanding addiction as a disease gives me a
greater sensitivity when covering stories related to it.
What aspects of the program did you like most?
• I was very pleased to hear from such top people in
the field. The quality of the presenters and their presentations
was consistently excellent.
• Scope of topics, quality of presentations, numerous
opportunities to ask questions.
• Neuroscience in lay terms, explanation of judicial process.
On the logistics, the flow and timing of the conference
was great.
B—1) More info on treatment options,
2) This is a suggestion
for a different type of program—for college students
anticipating a career in substance use disorders
research, counseling, policy-making, or other aspect of
the field.
C—1) More examples of innovative treatment programs
and more talk about treatment options.
2) Eliminate
some of the redundancy in the presentations—some repeating.
3) Quick-paced maybe expand by a day?
G—1) Better understand the CPDD meeting’s opportunities.
2) Tweek the second day program for any overlap.
H—1) This may be trivial, but I could have used a nice
break midday both days. It would have made it easier
to absorb some of the information.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself
or your work?
• I aspire to be a science writer. After attending this
program, I am excited about pursuing this career path.
• Thank you so much for all your work—it has been an
invaluable experience.
• I really appreciate this opportunity.
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