What's New

Register for SAMHSA’s 21^st Prevention Day!

Don’t miss this national event that brings together 4,000 people to advance substance use prevention. At SAMHSA’s 21^st Prevention Day on February 3, 2025, you’ll hear directly from youth across the country who are advancing prevention and inspiring their peers and communities. The 2025 theme, “Telling the Prevention Story,” underscores sharing prevention successes and inspiring action. Register now for SAMHSA’s 21^st Prevention Day.

Behavioral Health Workforce Career Navigator

SAMHSA announced the launch of the Behavioral Health Workforce Career Navigator, designed to help current and aspiring behavioral health professionals identify state requirements for a range of behavioral health careers and roles. The navigator supports President Biden and Vice President Harris’ commitment to expanding America’s behavioral health workforce, a key element of the Administration’s Unity Agenda for the Nation. SAMHSA also published the Practical Guide for Expanding the Community-Based Behavioral Health Workforce, which presents best practices for expanding community-initiated prevention and care and the role of behavioral health support specialists. The guide offers examples of community-based models of care and provides resources for communities working to ensure community members’ well-being.

Data on Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Treatment Facilities

In October, SAMHSA released the “National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS) 2023: Data on Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Facilities.” The report provides findings on key operational characteristics of substance use disorder and mental health treatment facilities, including use of pharmacotherapies, language assistance provided, and suicide prevention services. Conducted by the federal government since 2021, the N-SUMHSS is a voluntary annual survey providing federal, state, and local governments, as well as the behavioral health research community, with information about the number and characteristics of public and private substance use disorder and mental health treatment facilities nationwide.

Behavioral Health of LGB+ Youth: Data from 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

SAMHSA released “Behavioral Health of Adolescents Across Sexual Identities: Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH),” an infographic report highlighting data pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and any non-heterosexual-identifying youth. Results from the 2023 NSDUH indicate that co-occurring major depressive episode (MDE) and substance use disorder (SUD) were more prevalent among LGB+ youth than among straight youth. LGB+ youth also were more likely than straight youth to experience mental health issues, including having an MDE and serious thoughts of suicide. For more information on these and other results, read the full report here.

Monitoring Drug Street Names Added to DAWN

SAMHSA’s Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is a public health surveillance system that monitors alcohol and drug-related emergency department (ED) visits. When drug names are identified in DAWN’s substance-related ED visit data, they are checked against DAWN’s drug database so that any drug name or street name not currently listed in the database can be added. The newly released DAWN Network Watch presents drug street names that appeared in DAWN data for the first time from January 2023 to August 2024. This important resource improves communication and awareness of drug slang, helps identify substance misuse, and can prevent misunderstandings of the substances involved in street drugs.

Curated Collections Now Available from Alcohol Research: Current Reviews

Alcohol Research: Current Reviews (ARCR), a peer-reviewed journal produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), recently launched Curated Collections—a website feature highlighting key alcohol research areas to help readers quickly locate relevant ARCR articles from 2012 through today. As of October 2024, ARCR had developed 19 Curated Collections, with plans to create new Collections as the alcohol research field continues to evolve. The Adolescents and Young Adults Curated Collection, for example, examines literature on alcohol use and its causes and consequences during adolescence and young adulthood. Explore all of ARCR’s Curated Collections here.

High Truths on Drugs and Addiction in College

“High Truths on Drugs and Addiction” is a podcast hosted by Dr. Roneet Lev, an emergency and addiction physician who has served at the White House and still practices on the front lines. Episode 199, “Drug Prevention in College,” aired in October and featured DEA’s Rich Lucey and Education Development Center’s (EDC) Erin Ficker for a conversation on preventing drug use and misuse on college campuses. Topics mentioned included primary prevention; collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies focused on prevention; data around alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use among college students; DEA’s One Pill Can Kill campaign; building youth resilience strategies from a young age; SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework; and more. Tune into the episode here.

Area-Level Social Determinants of Alcohol-Related Mortality: Knowledge Gaps and Implications for Community Health

An article published in October highlighted the findings of an NIAAA-supported review summarizing associations between area-level social determinants of health (e.g., alcohol control policies, health care availability, and a community’s socioeconomic environment) and alcohol-related mortality. The findings suggest that alcohol control policies and socioeconomic conditions have a major impact on alcohol-related deaths. They also highlight numerous remaining research gaps to better understand why some population subgroups, such as women, are at higher risk of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related deaths. Read the full article here.

Evaluation of “Alcohol and Pregnancy: The More You Know” Podcast

“Alcohol and Pregnancy: The More You Know” is a two-season podcast developed as part of the CDC-funded B SMART program several years ago. An evaluation of the podcast was recently published in Pedagogy in Health Promotion (PHP). The evaluation found that more than 85 percent of participants reported being better able to educate patients about prenatal alcohol use risk and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) post-podcast. Podcast episodes, available here, include interviews with experts in the field, people with lived experience, patient advocates, and demonstrations of difficult conversations with patients.

NIAAA Publishes New Strategic Plan

In the spring of 2024, NIAAA released its strategic plan for fiscal years 2024–2028, “Advancing Alcohol Research to Promote Health and Well-Being.” The strategic plan considers the long-term priorities of the alcohol research field while remaining flexible to adapt to emerging public health needs and scientific opportunities. It charts a course for the next five years and outlines the goals and priorities that will guide NIAAA’s research through a dynamic balance of basic, translational, and clinical research relevant to NIAAA’s mission. Visit the strategic plan web page to read the NIAAA Director’s Message, cross-cutting research themes from the strategic plan, research goals, and more.