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10/05/2009 - Adolescent Drug Treatment
According to a new study by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, only about 10% of adolescents who need help for problem drug or alcohol use actually enter treatment. The study attributed the poor treatment access to a lack of adolescent-only services in the treatment system. It also found that very few of the available programs met the criteria for quality. “Less than one-third of addiction programs in the U.S. have a specialized program for adolescents” stated lead author Hannah Knudsen, Ph.D, of the University of Kentucky.
At my private practice, The Center for Addiction Medicine, it became more and more discouraging to see an increasing number of patients (ages 13-18) presenting for treatment from high dose prescription opioids and black tar heroin abuse and dependence without adequate high quality rehabilitation programs in this area. As such, I researched and adopted the Matrix Model for teens and young adults – a comprehensive, organized set of evidence-based therapeutic interventions including individual, family, and group sessions. The Foundation study also recognized the importance of developing programs that are tailored specifically for adolescents and their stage of cognitive development.
Among all prescription medications, opioid analgesics are the most widely diverted and abused. According to the Director of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, “in 2006, drug-induced deaths in the United States exceeded firearm-injury deaths and ranked second only to motor vehicle accidents as a cause of accidental death”. Emergency room visits for non-medical use of opioid analgesics increased 39 percent from 2004-2006. Treatment admissions for prescription opioids increased 74 percent from 2002-2006. In my addiction medicine practice, prescription opioid abuse and dependence is the number one presenting problem in adults and adolescents with heroin a close second in the adolescent age group.
These facts illustrate the significant need for treatment availability in all age groups, but the most underserved are our children.