NY SEEKS TO IMPROVE ADDICTION STRATEGIES - DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH:

A "collaborative council" was established by Executive Order on April 15, 2009, with the lofty goal of "identifying ways in which statutes, regulations, rules and policies may be revised in order to promote addiction prevention, treatment and recovery efforts" (click here ). The timetable hardly suggests a sense of urgency: an "interim report is due in 18 months, and a final report a year after that - by October 31, 2011! Also to be noted is the statement that "involvement of non-governmental stakeholders, including community based organizations and business entities, is essential to the development of strategies to address the devastating effects of addiction" - but membership on the council is limited to 20 State agency heads.