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In a new report by t he Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ), a public health data wing of SAMHSA, we are shown the rates of adolescent substance use through the lens of an "average day". While the overall use of substances declined from 2008 - the previous time this data was compiled -, rates for treatment-seeking have remained stable and the numbers are still quite shocking. Among the highlights (emphasis mine):   According to combined 2010 and 2011 NSDUH data, in the past year, nearly 7 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 drank alcohol , nearly 5 million used an illicit drug , and 3 million smoked cigarettes . In addition, on an average day during the past year, adolescents aged 12 to 17 used the following substances: • 881,684 smoked cigarettes; • 646,702 used marijuana; • 457,672 drank alcohol; • 38,540 used inhalants; • 21,775 used hallucinogens; • 6,747 used cocaine; and • 5,602 used heroin. The combined 2010 and 2011 NSDUH data indicate that: • a...

In a recent article from the journal Addictive Behaviors ,   researchers discovered that buprenorphine was rarely, if ever, used by IV drug users to get high. In fact, the vast majority of people who reported acquiring the medication from an illicit source did so with the expressed purpose of avoiding withdrawal symptoms. This seems to contradict the common misconception that heroin users "get high" on Suboxone, therefore we should promote abstinence-based treatment. To the contrary, studies like this one could be interpreted as evidence there is not enough access to these medications - if there were, people wouldn't be forced to seek the drugs from street dealers or friends. Interested to hear your take on the subject. Below is a table from study. You can read the abstract here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460313002232 Table 2.  Knowledge and Use of Buprenorphine among 602 Injection Drug Users in Baltimore, Maryland. Buprenorphine N (%) Suboxone...

Some promising results out of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research : brief interventions can help students aged 12-18 dramatically reduce their substance use – in as few as 2 sessions. The team, led by clinical psychologist Ken Winters, PhD, Tamara Fahnhorst, MPH, and Andria Botzet, M Ed., implemented a randomized controlled trial in an urban public school system, delivering one of two treatment conditions, plus a control. The first, student-only condition delivered two one-hour therapy sessions in a two-week period; the second added a session with the parent(s) of the student. The results are impressive: while 37% of the control group reported avoiding cannabis during the last three months at the 6-month follow-up, 63% of the parent-group and over 50% of the student-only group reported the same. See a complete rundown at Drug and Alcohol Findings or check the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment for the abstract.