Pubdate: Sun, 12 Jun 2016
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The Buffalo News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/GXIzebQL
Website: http://www.buffalonews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61
Author: Ronald Santasiero
Note: Ronald Santasiero is a board-certified family physician in 
Hamburg who has treated addicted teens for over 10 years.

WE MUST DO MORE TO FIGHT A GROWING ADDICTION CRISIS

As a provider of addiction treatment, mostly to teens, it is 
frustrating to watch as the problem worsens. No family is immune.

The federal government has mandated a 100-patient limit for 
physicians who treat opiate addiction with buprenorphine (Suboxone, 
Zubsolve). Physicians are not limited in treating any other medical 
problem. The number of physicians certified to treat opiate addiction 
with buprenorphine is not enough to serve even a minority of addicted patients.

The addiction problem has several root causes. The proliferation and 
mass use of social media has accelerated addiction. Teens no longer 
accept what parents say about the dangers of drugs. Instead they use 
social media to get answers that downplay the dangers, and instruct 
impressionable teens on how to obtain drugs and how to modify drugs 
for intravenous use. Technology has been a contributor to the problem.

The opiates manufactured by pharmaceutical companies have been a 
major problem. The more potent a drug, the more likely addiction is.

The third root cause is the collapse of the family unit. Many parents 
are not raising children anymore. They depend on social media, 
schools and friends to educate their children about the dangers of 
drugs. Teens do not have a sense of right and wrong, boundaries or 
consequences because many parents are "too busy" to instill these values.

What can we do to mitigate this horrible epidemic?

1. Legislators need to lift the limit on the number of addicted 
patients doctors are allowed to treat. The limit was originally meant 
to prevent unscrupulous providers from preying on addicted patients 
by creating addiction "treatment mills." The exact opposite has 
prevailed. Because we have a shortage of treatment spots for addicted 
patients, some doctors have done exactly what the government has 
tried to prevent.

2. The government could pass legislation that would allow physician 
assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine. It is 
clear buprenorphine treatment achieves better results than other 
treatments. There is no reason this group of providers should be 
prevented from treating opiate-addicted patients.

3. Prevent pharmaceutical companies from developing more extended 
release or extremely potent opiates. They have the ability to make 
the present opiates difficult to abuse by injecting, but they do not. 
Do we really need more drugs like fentanyl? This is a drug that is 
highly abused on the streets.

4. Accept addiction as a disease, not a crime. We need a war on 
addiction, not a war on drugs. We need to act now before we lose the 
next generation.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom