From the new ATOD Chair: Ann Mahony

As the ATOD Section’s new chair, I will start by thanking Bob Vollinger, the ATOD’s esteemed chair for the past two years. Many colleagues in the field have “only spoken in superlatives” about the ATOD Section’s program presented at the Annual Meeting in San Diego. Uniformly Section members complimented the Section on its beautiful physical program as well as the content of the sessions, the event which recognized the astounding leadership of our friend and colleague Dr. Ron Davis who passed away just days after he received the section’s Lifetime Achievement award. This year the first Student Poster Showcase introduced the Section’s commitment to honoring ATOD experts at all points of their careers.         

As the new presidential administration is launched, rhetoric abounds about reaching across the political aisle. The benefit of reaching across the aisle was demonstrated with the passage of the historic Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Act. This legislation will require health insurers to provide the same level of coverage for mental illness and substance abuse as they do for other physical illnesses. Congressional praise is in order for acknowledging that an estimated 30 percent of persons in the United States suffer from a mental health and substance use disorder annually. This legislation is a commitment toward eliminating mental health and substance use disparity and moves the nation closer to equitable care.  

To continue the theme of reaching across the aisle, as the ATOD Section chair, it’s important as a Section for ATOD to reach across the public health aisle. Let’s open the doors of the ATOD field successes in the development and practice of environmental strategies, policies and advocacy, screening and brief intervention, and state systems. The ATOD field has documented great success in these areas; it’s time to ensure that these successes are seen, exchanged and adapted by experts in the fields of obesity, nutrition and physical activity. This is especially important given that the public health field may be at the tip of funding constraints at the federal, state, local, nonprofit and foundational levels which, I hope, may result in a renewed commitment to creativity and greater exchange.

It’s my view that the strengths of the development, process and accomplishments of state systems have long been overlooked in terms of creativity in building both systems and funding streams. States stand at the nexus of systems development because they can and do reach in all directions for funding. If strategic, a state can creatively fill gaps imposed by the federal funding stream to develop its substance abuse system to fill these gaps via braided funding and to move its practices and policies forward toward a more robust prevention and treatment system. This is exemplified by those states which have built an adolescent treatment system reflecting where the adolescent is developmentally and builds an evidence-based treatment system which reflects the age and needs of the adolescent client base. States may also garner funding foundations and private nonprofits to test practices before seeking state or federal funding. In the broader area of insurance reimbursements, it is states such as Massachusetts and Vermont which are forging ahead with state insurance coverage, elements of which may serve as models to the newly appointed federal health care reform leaders. 

With a new administration at the helm, and tobacco advocate Bill Corr serving in an instrumental position within the Department of Health and Human Services, it is an exciting time. Yet, there is a screaming absence of alcohol and drug issues in the Senate’s late January stimulus package. Therefore, it is more important than ever for the ATOD field to articulate its data, evidence of its accomplishments, and to advocate for more resources.