Youthful drug users bode ill for the future
Youthful drug users bode ill for the future
Prevention, diagnosis, treatment
If current trends are any indication, clinicians can expect to see more young injecting drug users with HIV in the coming years. Baltimore physicians report that illicit drug use among adolescents is a "serious and growing problem" in the United States, with drug-related arrests and deaths increasing at an alarming rate.
In Fairfax County, VA, for example, drug-related arrests of adolescents have increased more than 10-fold in 10 years. In the Texas town of Plano, 12 adolescents have died from heroin overdoses in the last 18 months. The use of injected drugs is especially troubling, with a "heroin epidemic" currently taking place among adolescents and young adults. The use of other drugs, such as methamphetamines and marijuana, is at an all-time high.
How should clinicians respond to the problem? In an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, pediatrician Ann B. Bruner, MD, and psychiatrist Marc Fishman, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, make these recommendations for stemming the tide of illicit drug use among youth:
· Prevention - The Office of National Drug Control Policy is launching an antidrug advertising campaign toward adolescents, featuring messages like "Cannabis Stupida." Further programs are needed to identify youth that are at risk and to test interventions to modify risk factors. Parents also should receive regular guidance on substance abuse.
· Diagnosis - Health care practitioners should ask young patients annually about drug use. Parents can be advised that home drug test kits are available, but that testing should not be considered a substitute for other interventions, such as family discussions about drugs.
· Treatment - The authors acknowledge that treatment resources for youth are "alarmingly scarce." Successful programs should include a broad scope of services such as family interventions and mental health care.
Bruner and Fishman conclude that treatment resources for adolescents should be increased, and that there should be a "multifaceted approach" to treatment programs, such as pooling together community resources in the juvenile justice and social services systems. More public debate on the subject is needed, as is more research, "to provide convincing evidence to policymakers that our adolescents desperately need substance abuse treatment now," they say.
Reference
1. Bruner AB, Fishman M. Adolescents and illicit drug use. JAMA 1998; 280:597-598.
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