Past Conferences

How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid:  The Straight Dope
November 17, 2009, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City
This important and timely CASACONFERENCESM was designed especially for those who want to know how to help children make it to age 21 without smoking, abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs: parents, pastors and clergy, principals, teachers, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and community leaders.

The four panel discussions included:

1.  The Teen World: The Straight Dope

2.  How to Know When Teens Are at Risk

3.  Don’t Let School Days Become School Daze

4.  How to Harness the Power of Parenting

Order a DVD copy of the conference by phone (212-841-5228) or by mail/fax. 

Sponsored by The MetLife Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Wounds of War: Substance Abuse, Veterans and Active Duty Military
May 20, 2009, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City
Whatever one’s view of past American wars and conflicts and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, all Americans support our military personnel serving there and admire their courage and their sacrifices to keep our nation free and safe from terrorism. According to a recent study, almost 1 in 5 Iraq veterans met criteria for either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or major depression, and 31 percent met criteria for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD, or major depression. These conditions tend to co-occur, often with substance abuse and addiction. The majority of individuals with a need for substance abuse and other mental health services do not receive minimally adequate care. Fewer than 10 percent of those with alcohol problems are even referred for treatment. Without such care, they cannot function in our society, hold down jobs or raise families. Many join the homeless population; some are even driven to commit suicide. This important and timely CASACONFERENCESM offered solutions to make sure our brave men and women receive all the support they need to re-establish their lives when they return home.

The four panel discussion included:

1. The War Within: Psychological, Neurological and Genetic Triggers.

2. Collateral Damage: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Military Families.

3. In the Line of Fire: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Among Active Duty Military.

4. Battle Scars: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Among Veterans.

Order a DVD copy of the conference by phone (212-841-5228) or by mail/fax.

Sponsored by The Bodman Foundation, The McCormick Foundation, Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP), Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Joyce and Donald Rumsfeld Foundation, The Harold and Colene Brown Family Foundation, Frank C. Carlucci, Togo D. West, Jr., Esq., Robert S. McNamara, Paul R. Ignatius, John W. Warner, IV Foundation and William S. Cohen.


How to Stop Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America's Colleges and Universities
October 23, 2008, The Conference Center at Dewey & LeBoeuf, New York City
Accepting as inevitable America’s college culture of alcohol and other drug abuse threatens not only the present well-being of millions of college students, but also the future capacity of our nation to maintain its leadership in the fiercely competitive global economy.  This conference, which built upon the findings of CASA’s 2007 report, Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities, brought the nation’s college presidents, trustees, alumni, students and the larger community together with leading journalists for dynamic panel discussions. This important and timely conference created a dialogue that offered solutions for how America can stop wasting its best and brightest young people.

The four panel discussions included:

1. Getting the 'High' Out of Higher Education: College Presidents, Trustees and Alumni.

2. Parent Power: The Role of Parents.

3. Student Disorientation: Substance Abuse Among America's College Students. 

4. A Public Affair: The Role of the Community.

Sponsored by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The American Legacy Foundation with additional support from Alpha Chi Omega.

Sobering Up the High Society:  Substance Abuse and Public Policy
February 14, 2008, The Barbara Jordan Conference Center, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.
This conference built upon the release and findings of CASA Chairman Joseph A. Califano, Jr.'s 2007 book, High Society: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About It. The conference showed healthcare practitioners, policymakers, and the American public that substance abuse and addiction causes and aggravates the nation’s most wrenching social problems — violent and property crimes, soaring health care costs, family breakup, domestic violence and child abuse, the spread of AIDS, teenage pregnancy, poverty and low productivity.

The four panel discussions included:

1. America's Deadliest Epidemic: Substance Abuse and Healthcare Policy. Major topics include:

  • The medicalization of substance abuse
  • Health coverage parity for substance abuse and addiction
  • Expanding the nation’s substance abuse research budget

2. Criminal Hangover: Substance Abuse and Criminal Justice Policy. Major topics include:

  • Disparities, including racial disparities, in sentencing for drug offenses
  • Drug courts
  • Juvenile justice

3. Collateral Wreckage: Substance Abuse and Social Welfare Policy. Major topics include:

  • Women on welfare and substance abuse
  • Public housing, including "eviction only" policies
  • Child welfare policies

4. It's All About Kids. Major topics include:

  • Changing youth culture to reject substances of abuse
  • Taxation and public policies that reduce availability of licit and illicit substances of abuse

Order a DVD copy of the conference by phone (212-841-5228) or by mail/fax.

Sponsored by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, The American Legacy Foundation and The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Double Jeopardy: Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders in Young People
October 18, 2007, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City
This sold-out CASACONFERENCESM featured keynote addresses by Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Terry Cline, Ph.D., Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the participation of the most influential voices working at the intersection of substance abuse and mental health in young people.

Four moderated panel discussions dealt with cutting-edge topics at the intersection of substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders in young people:

1. “Born to Be Hooked? Neurological, Genetic and Environmental Factors” (moderated by Robert Bazell, Chief Science and Health Correspondent, NBC News)

2. “The Big Three: Alcohol, Marijuana and Tobacco” (moderated by Tracy Smith, National Correspondent, CBS News)

3. “Jack and Jill: The Role of Gender” (moderated by Carol Anne Riddell, Education Reporter, WNBC-TV, New York City)

4. “Paying the Piper: The High Costs of Failure to Act” (moderated by Elizabeth Cohen, MPH, Medical Correspondent, CNN)

The conference brought together attendees from sixteen states and the District of Columbia to discuss the most important issues at the intersection of substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment for young people, and discussed next steps that policymakers, educators and practitioners can take to eliminate the “double jeopardy” in which these co-occurring disorders place our nation’s youth.

Order a DVD copy of the conference by phone (212-841-5228) or by mail/fax.

Sponsored by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; The American Legacy Foundation; The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation; and The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Compound Fractures: Substance Abuse and Trauma
March 8, 2007, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City
This timely CASACONFERENCEsm examined the relationship between all forms of trauma and substance abuse and addiction. The conference featured keynote addresses by Nora D. Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey and brought together the most influential voices on the connection between trauma and substance abuse. Panel discussions were moderated by the nation’s leading print and television journalists, including CNN’s Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, MPH; Susan Dentzer, Health Correspondent, "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS; Jeffrey Toobin, Legal Analyst, CNN and Legal Writer, The New Yorker; and Carol Anne Riddell, Education Reporter, WNBC-TV, New York City, and examined groundbreaking research on the origins and causes of trauma, its implications for substance abuse, and prevention and treatment strategies.

Order a DVD copy of the conference by phone (212-841-5228) or by mail/fax.

Read what attendees said about the conference.

Sponsored by The Richard King Mellon Family Foundation, Substance Abue and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, Administration for Children and Families (ACF)/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust and The Office of Victims of Crime/U.S. Department of Justice.

Up in Smoke: Tobacco and American Youth

Sept. 21, 2006, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

Moderated by the nation’s leading journalists, this conference covered the relationship between nicotine use to other substance use and mental health problems. This included studying the impact of nicotine on the developing brain and the extent to which nicotine primes receptors for other substance use, anxiety, depression and other mood disorders. In addition, the conference focused on the impact of advertising on smoking prevention and cessation, smoking in films and television and tobacco control policy decisions on youth smoking.

 

Sponsored by The American Legacy Foundation and The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH).

 

Women under the Influence: Substance Abuse and The American Woman

March 2, 2006, The JPMorgan Chase Conference Center, New York City

The conference coincided with the release of CASA’s first book, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation-funded, Women under the Influence ‑ available online at Johns Hopkins University Press, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. The conference served to eliminate the stigma that keeps so many women from seeking help and provided practical suggestions for parents, healthcare professionals, teachers and public officials to recognize and address the special substance abuse problems of girls and women, including the need for customized prevention and treatment programs. Panel discussions moderated by the nation’s leading television journalists examined, in depth, the most important issues women face in all stages of their lifetime. The conference also offered solutions for how our nation can respond to this heavily neglected crisis.

 

Read what attendees said about the conference.

 

Sponsored by The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, The American Legacy Foundation and JPMorgan Chase.

 

So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality I & II

Sept. 22, 2004 and Sept. 21, 2005; The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City and The JPMorgan Chase Conference Center, New York City

The two conferences, held a year apart and built around a November 2001 CASA white paper of the same name, explored the roles that religion and spirituality play in preventing substance abuse and aiding recovery. The conferences, through panel discussions and keynote addresses, focused much-needed attention on the links and disconnects between religion and spirituality and substance abuse prevention and recovery. They also encouraged the religious and medical communities to work together to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction. Panels covered the roles of religion and spirituality in substance abuse treatment and prevention, the training of clergy and treatment providers, substance abuse in the clergy and the underlying mechanisms (neurological, sociological and familial) of substance abuse, religion and spirituality.

Read what attendees said about So Help Me God (I&II): Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality.

 

So Help Me God I was sponsored by The John Templeton Foundation, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and Guest House, Inc. Additional support was provided by The Fetzer Institute and The Donum Dei Foundation.

So Help Me God II was sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, The John Templeton Foundation and JetBlue Airways.

 

Missed Opportunity: Substance Abuse and Primary Care

April 21, 2005, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.

This conference focused on the profound disconnect between primary care and substance abuse detection and treatment. Designed to assist primary care practitioners and institutions, the conference brought together leading researchers and practitioners in the areas of primary care and substance abuse, in all its facets. The conference built on the findings of CASA’s report, Missed Opportunity: National Survey of Primary Care Physicians and Patients on Substance Abuse. The survey’s most troubling finding was that 94 percent of primary care physicians (excluding pediatricians) failed to include substance abuse among the five diagnoses they offered when presented with early symptoms of alcohol abuse in an adult patient. As revealed in the survey, some of the reasons physicians are missing or misdiagnosing patients’ substance abuse include:

  • Lack of adequate medical school training
  • Skepticism about treatment effectiveness
  • Patient resistance
  • Discomfort discussing substance abuse
  • Time constraints
  • Fear of losing patients
  • Lack of insurance coverage

To view the conference in its entirety, please go to http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/casa/21apr05.

 

Sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), The National Center on Primary Care (NCPC) at Morehouse School of Medicine, and The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Support provided by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Josiah H. Macy, Jr. Foundation. Additional support provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and PacifiCare Behavioral Health.

 

Family Matters: Substance Abuse and the American Family

April 29, 2004, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

This special CASACONFERENCEsm featured keynote addresses and two panel discussions. The first focused on helping parents understand situations and characteristics that increased their child’s risk of abusing substances, and how they can spot substance abuse by their child and what to do about it. The second panel explored the impact of substance abuse on the American family and how to reduce the occurrences of divorce, teen pregnancy, child and spousal abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

 

Audio CDs of this CASACONFERENCEsm are available for purchase. For information, please call (212) 841-5228 or email casaconferences@casacolumbia.org.

 

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Additional support provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

 

Combating Substance Abuse in the 21st Century: Positioning the Nation for Progress

Oct. 8-10, 2003, The Roosevelt Hotel, New York City

This groundbreaking conference focused on all areas of substance abuse — tobacco, alcohol, illegal and prescription drugs. Experts from around the nation discussed and evaluated the responsibilities of key segments of our society, including schools, businesses, religious institutions, law enforcement officials, treatment providers, research specialists, primary care physicians, and the entertainment and music industries. Each panel assessed how well the nation was poised to wage the battle against substance abuse and offered recommendations for achieving the goal of a drug-free millennium. Panels were moderated by national media figures including Bill O'Reilly (FOX News), Charlie Rose (PBS) and Al Hunt (CNN).

 

Please click here to view a webcast of this conference.

 

Sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Dana Foundation, The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Additional support provided by Orasure Technologies, Inc.

 

Feeling No Pain: Substance Abuse, Addiction and Pain Management

February 27, 2003, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

Through panel discussions and presentations, this conference explored the tension between pain management and substance abuse and considered the implications for public policy and patient treatment. Top experts discussed the roles of physicians, patients, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, the federal government, health insurers and HMO's in pain management. The keynote presentation was given by Glen R. Hanson, D.D.S, Ph.D., acting director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

 

Sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

 

Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sexual Behavior

February 7, 2002, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

This landmark conference explored the many connections between substance abuse and sexual behavior. Panels examined how substance abuse and sexual behavior are linked, how to prevent one from leading to the other, and how to address their consequences in different populations ‑ including children and teens, individuals involved in the criminal justice system and sex workers. Topics included the relationship of alcohol and drug abuse to teen pregnancy, sexual risk-taking, sexual performance, sexual aggression, date rape, child sexual abuse, incest, prostitution, the spread of STDs and HIV and domestic violence.

 

Sponsored by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

 

High Stakes: Substance Abuse and Gambling

June 12, 2001, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

This conference explored the comorbidity of gambling and substance abuse, the key differences between the two types of addictions, and what these differences mean for efforts to treat and prevent gambling. The conference also addressed the proper public role in benefiting from and regulating an activity with important public health consequences. A series of panel discussions and presentations took place over the course of one day at CASA headquarters.

 

Sponsored by The Century Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Mental Health.

 

Food for Thought: Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders

January 23, 2001, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Conference Center, New York City

This conference addressed the links between substance abuse and eating disorders, the media’s role in their development, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Keynote presentations were given by Alan Leshner, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; Steven E. Hyman, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Mental Health; and Steven Levenkron, M.S., one of the nation's premier clinical psychotherapists in this field. Though some prevalence estimates have been assembled, researchers still do not know or fully understand all of the driving forces behind the comorbidity of eating disorders and substance abuse. CASA’s White Paper on the subject, Food for Thought, was released in December 2003.

 

Sponsored by The National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Mental Health and the Commonwealth Fund.

 

Substance Abuse in the 21st Century: Positioning the Nation for Progress

February 29– March 3, 2000, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, Simi Valley, California

CASA’s first multi-day substance abuse conference looked at every kind of drug addiction and the responsibility of all institutions in American society to combat such addiction. To determine the responsibilities and opportunities of every sector of American society in combating the drug problem, the nation’s most engaged policy- and decision-makers were brought together to work toward the goal of a drug-free future. The conference featured several keynote presentations; a debate on the future of American drug policy between former U.S. Drug Czar Bill Bennett and former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke; and panel discussions that explored the responsibilities and opportunities of the education system, the medical research, religious and law enforcement communities, legal drug manufacturers, treatment providers, primary care physicians, the entertainment media and American businesses in the fight against drugs.

 

Click here to view a webcast of this conference.

 

Sponsored by: American Airlines, California HealthCare Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the J.M. Foundation, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Primerica Financial Services, Psychemedics Corporation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Schering-Plough Corporation and Wellpoint Health Networks, Inc.

 

Substance Abuse and Learning Disorders: Peas in a Pod or Apples and Oranges?

Feb. 1, 1999, The Radisson Empire Hotel, New York City

The first CASACONFERENCEsm examined the links between substance abuse and learning disabilities. Among the topics covered included how learning disabilities may be precursors to substance abuse; neurological links between substance abuse and learning disorders; the relationship between conduct disorders, speech and language impairments, and substance abuse disorders; and how to adapt substance abuse programs for the learning disabled.

 

Co-sponsored with The National Center for Learning Disabilities.