As part of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM), in January 2000 the Addiction Practitioner Interest Group (PInG) was formed. It was developed to provide a membership “home” to those pharmacists interested in the treatment of patients and/or colleagues who suffer from the disease of chemical dependency. The mission of the interest group is to provide mechanisms for pharmacists to share information and ideas and update their skills and knowledge about addiction-related programs and treatments.
In 2012 APhA-APPM, Practitioner Interest Groups (PInGs) were changed to Special Interest Groups (SIGs). The new special interest group that was formed was: The Pain, Palliative Care and Addiction SIG which supports pharmacists, student pharmacist interns who care for individuals with all types of acute and chronic pain, and those patients with life limiting illnesses who have pain and other symptoms. The SIG also focuses on associated issues such as addiction, medication abuse and diversion.
