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For Your Information
Letter from H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., CAS, FASAM
Director, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Opioid dependence is a major public health problem in the United States. Heroin
use is on the rise, the abuse of prescription medications has surged, and misuse
of the latter - particularly among young people - gives particular reason for
pause. The 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that 12 percent of
youths aged 12 to 17 (almost 3 million children) and almost 23 percent of young
dults aged 18 to 25 (nearly 7 million) had used prescription-type drugs
non-medically at least once in their lifetime.
Misuse of opioids, including such pain relievers as morphine, codeine, oxycodone,
and Demerol, poses a particular threat if not curbed early in the addiction
cycle. Primary care physicians are often the ones who first prescribe pain
medications to their patients and are best positioned to identify prescription
misuse. With proper credentials, primary care physicians can now prescribe a
newly available medication, Buprenorphine, for the treatment of opioid
dependence.
To educate the medical community and the public about this office-based
treatment alternative, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment (CSAT), is embarking on a 14-stop community education tour. The cities
included in the tour are: Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago,
Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; Miami, Florida; New Orleans,
Louisiana;
New York City, New York/Newark, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City,
Utah; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Wilmington,
Delaware/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. These
communities are experiencing a significant prescription drug and/or heroin
addiction problem.
Dr. David Smith will be speaking
at Community Forum on Buprenorphine
San Francisco - May 12, 2003 - 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
San Francisco Department of Public Health
101 Grove St., Room 300, San Francisco, CA
SAMHSA/CSAT,
in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, invite you
to join us in San Francisco on Monday, May 12, to learn more about this new
therapy and to identify ways in which you can take advantage of its availability
in your community. This
New Paths to Recovery forum is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the San
Francisco
Department of Public Health, 101 Grove St., Room 300; San Francisco, CA.
We hope that you will be a part of
this new era of addiction treatment. Thank you for considering this invitation,
and please call our toll-free line at 877-521-5671 to be placed on our guest
list.
We look forward to seeing you
there.
For information on Buprenorphine, visit
www.buprenorphine.samhsa.gov
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