The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) is a physician society with a focus on addiction

Addiction

Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...

 and its treatment.

History

ASAM has its roots in research and clinical traditions that pre-date its founding in the early 1950s, when Ruth Fox, M.D. began regular meetings with other physicians interested in alcoholism and its treatment at the New York Academy of Medicine

New York Academy of Medicine

The New York Academy of Medicine was founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York City metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health reform...

. In 1954 these physicians established the New York City Medical Society on Alcoholism (later expanded as NYCMSA and Other Drug Dependencies) with Dr. Fox as its first President. "NYCMSAODD" was funded largely through the older Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to...

. As the organization grew, it was subsequently named the American Medical Society on Alcoholism (AMSA).

Interest in addiction medicine grew with the establishment of the NIDA/NIAAA Career Teacher Program for medical school faculty (1970) and the creation of the California Society for the Treatment of Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies

California Society of Addiction Medicine

California Society of Addiction Medicine is the California organization of physicians who specialize in treating addiction. Addiction medicine is the medical specialty that provides care and treatment for people with substance use disorder...

 as the California specialty society for physicians devoting significant time to treatment of chemically dependent patients. In 1982 the American Academy of Addictionology was incorporated and began efforts to achieve recognition for this new specialty within medicine. In April 1983 a single national organization was formed of these groups uniting within AMSA.

ASAM was admitted to the American Medical Association

American Medical Association

The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...

 (AMA) House of Delegates as a voting member in June 1988, and in June 1990 the AMA added addiction medicine

Addiction Medicine

Addiction medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the treatment of addiction. The specialty often crosses over into other areas, since various aspects of addiction fall within the fields of public health, psychology, social work, psychiatry, and internal medicine, among others...

 (ADM) to its list of designated specialties.

In 1989, to reflect the Society's concern with all drugs of addiction as well as its interest in establishing addiction medicine as part of mainstream medicine, the organization was renamed the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

Mission

1. Increase access to and improve the quality of addictions treatment.

2. Educate physicians, medical and osteopathic students, and the public.

3. Promote research and prevention.

4. Establish addiction medicine as a specialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

Leadership

ASAM is governed by its officers, including the President, President-Elect, Immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, the Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer, and the Board of Directors consisting of six Directors-At-Large, 10 Regional Directors and four Ex-Officio positions. The president serves a two-year term.

Membership

Membership is granted to physicians within any specialty or position, including medical directors, researchers and educators.

Annual Conference and Meetings

ASAM hosts an Annual Medical-Scientific Conference, which brings together addiction experts internationally.

Courses

Ruth Fox Course for Physicians, which educates doctors on addiction medicine.

Comprehensive Medical Review Officer: Toxicology Testing and the Physician's Role in the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse, which presents scientific information and guidelines for Medical Review Officers, usually the overseers of various drug testing programs.

State of the Art in Addiction Medicine, a program for addiction medicine professionals in the United States.

Review Course in Addiction Medicine, a primer for physicians and other health care professionals who are preparing for a career in addiction medicine, as well as for primary care providers who wish to increase their skills in identifying and managing patients whose medical problems are caused or exacerbated by substance use disorders.

Advocacy

ASAM advocates for parity in training, credentialing and privileging; access to treatment; and payment for treatment.

Positions

ASAM is critical of the current regulatory state of medical marijuana; in 2010, the society published a white paper calling for federal regulations to oversee research and development of cannabis based medicines and issued recommendations for state medical authorities to "...assure that physicians who choose to discuss the medical use of cannabis and cannabis-based products with patients...[a]dhere to the established professional tenets of proper patient care..."

They have criticized the idea that video game playing can be addictive.

They have called for increased funding to treat addiction as a mental health disorder since the early 21st century and proposed in 2011 a new clinical description of addiction, describing addition as a chronic brain chemistry disorder.

Journal of Addiction Medicine

Journal of Addiction Medicine (JAM) is the official journal of ASAM. JAM functions independently from ASAM in terms of its editorial content. The current Editor-in-Chief is George Koob

George Koob

George F. Koob, is a Professor and Chair of the Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders at The Scripps Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego.- Biography...

, PhD.

Other Publications

• Principles of Addiction Medicine, Richard K. Ries, Shannon C. Miller, David A. Fiellin, Richard Saitz, editors. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is an academic and professional medical publisher owned by Wolters Kluwer group. It publishes textbooks, various electronic media, and over 275 journals and newsletters in the health-care field. Publications are aimed at physicians, nurses, clinicians, and students...
  
  ; fourth edition (2009), ISBN 978-0781774772
• Patient Placement Criteria for the Treatment of Substance-Related Disorders, second edition (revised), edited by David Mee-Lee. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (2001) ISBN 978-1880425060

PPC-2 Supplement

ASAM News

Awards given by ASAM

Public Policy Award

Media Award

John P. McGovern Award

R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award

ASAM Medical-Scientific Program Committee Award

Young Investigator Award

Annual Awards

Ruth Fox Scholarship

Presidents

Term	President
1954–1961	Ruth Fox, M.D.
1961–1963	Stanley Gitlow, M.D.
1963–1965	Luther A. Cloud, M.D.
1965–1967	Percy E. Ryberg, M.D.
1967–1969	Arnold S. Zentner, M.D.
1969–1971	Ruth Fox, M.D.
1971–1973	Stanley Gitlow, M.D.
1973–1975	Maxwell N. Weisman, M.D.
1975–1977	Charles S. Lieber Charles S. Lieber Charles Saul Lieber was a clinical nutritionist who established that excess alcohol consumption can cause cirrhosis of the liver even in subjects who have an adequate diet, contradicting then-current scientific opinion.... , M.D.
1977–1979	Joseph J. Zuska, M.D.
1979–1981	Sheila B. Blume, M.D.
1981–1983	LeClair Bissell, M.D.
1983–1985	Irvin L. Blose, M.D.
1985–1987	Max A. Schneider, M.D.
1987–1989	Margaret Bean-Bayog, M.D.
1989–1991	Jasper G. Chen See, M.D.
1991–1993	Anthony B. Radcliffe, M.D.
1993–1995	Anne Geller, M.D.
1995–1997	David E. Smith David E. Smith David E. Smith is a medical doctor from the United States specializing in addiction medicine, the psycho-pharmacology of drugs, new research strategies in the management of drug abuse problems, and proper prescribing practices for physicians... , M.D.
1997–1999	G. Douglas Talbott, M.D.
1999–2001	Marc Galanter, M.D.
2001–2002	Andrea Barthwell Andrea Barthwell Andrea Grubb Barthwell, M.D., worked in the White House under President of the United States George W. Bush as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.... , M.D.
2002–2005	Lawrence S. Brown, Jr., M.D.
2005–2007	Elizabeth F. Howell, M.D.
2007–2009	Michael M. Miller, M.D.
2009–2011	Louis E. Baxter, Sr., M.D.
2011–2013	Donald J. Kurth, M.D.
2013–2015	Stuart Gitlow Stuart Gitlow Stuart Gitlow , board-certified in general, forensic, and addiction psychiatry, is the Executive Director of the Annenberg Physician Training Program in addictive diseases.-Credentials:Gitlow has earned MD, MPH, and MBA degrees... , M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.