Addiction and Drug Use

Maybe it's time to give teenagers some credit: Recent data shows rates of teen pregnancy and abortion are at historic lows, and teens are drinking less and taking fewer hard drugs. However, marijuana use among teens is up. Sound Medicine's Barbara Lewis spoke with Dr. Theresa Rorhr-Kirchgraber, professor of clinical medicine and pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine, about the good news. 

New numbers released by the federal government reveal a continuing upward trend in drug overdose deaths, with 43,982 deaths in 2013 from both prescription medications and illegal drugs combined. Deaths involving prescription opioids increased 1 percent from 2012, while heroin-related deaths rose a staggering 39 percent.  However, almost twice as many people died from prescription opioid overdoses (16,235) as from heroin (8,257).

At Harvard University’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, mental health patients are given access to their therapists' notes, as part of their innovative Open Notes program. Dr. Michael Kahn, a psychiatrist at Beth Israel wrote about why the program was launched in a recent JAMA article. Here, he reflects on what clinicians are learning from it. 

In September, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it would allow patients to return unused opioid painkillers to pharmacies, as a way to tackle the growing issue of prescription drug abuse. Deborah Frye, Deputy Director of Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, explains why this is a step in the right direction. 

It's possible to be almost addicted to a substance, according to Wesley Boyd, who co-authored the book "Almost Addicted" in 2012. Dr. Boyd is the founder of the Human Rights and Asylum Clinic at CHA; a physiatrist at Cambridge Health Alliance; and on the faculty of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.