09-17-2023 GAR - Flipbook - Page 16
16 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, September 17, 2023
Colliding worlds
continued from previous 14
So, what’s really going on? “The
right question is not why the addiction, but why the pain?” says
Tarkovsky. “Sometimes it’s physical
pain, sometimes it’s emotional pain,
but there’s something hiding underneath our psychology that is driving
that small percentage of everyone that
tries drugs to actually become addicted.”
So how do you talk to a teen about
substance abuse? There is no straight
forward answer to this question. Why
do the parents want to have a conversation about this in the first place? Just
to offer general warnings to their teenager about substance abuse? Or have
they noticed a change in their child’s
behavior or has someone else brought
a concern to them that they haven’t
noticed? If it is a 13-year-old who is
trying cigarettes it will be a very different discussion than if it is a 17-year-old
who is drinking and driving.
Is there an underlying problem? Are
they sad, depressed or anxious? Do
they have problems in their relationships including their relationship with
their parents? Many things need to be
considered before having this discussion.
But when the time comes to approach your teen, it is best to be
non-confrontational unless there is an
immediate risk. For example, if a teen
with their driver’s license is driving
drunk or high, that is time for an intervention. You as a parent may not be
able to solve this problem alone and
may need to seek professional help.
It is a very different conversation if
there is problematic use that has not
yet had negative consequences. An example would be a teen who is smoking
pot, but they aren’t doing it while driving and it’s not disrupting their studies
yet, but you are aware they are doing
something that can potentially affect
their ability to function.
Tarkovsky recommends that parents have an open conversation using
motivational interviewing which is a
way to discuss difficult subjects in an
open-minded way. “So instead of say-
Power of Psychedelics
continued from page 13
ing, why are you doing this? Stop doing
this, you say, can you tell me a story?
Tell me how you started smoking pot.
Tell me what purpose it is serving for
you. Do you like how it feels? What do
you like about it?” says Tarkovsky.
Beginning with these open-ended
questions and exploring the situation
instead of coming down hard and
punishing the kid, parents can assess
the problem and how bad it is. Most
substance abuse is not an issue of free
will and there is a definite distinction
between use, abuse and dependence.
Once a teen becomes dependent on a
drug or alcohol, a completely different
approach is needed.
At this point parents should seek
professional help. Their health care
plan often has immediate help and/or
referrals to the next step. Those without a health care plan can check with
their local health department for help.
The good news is that the percentage
of teens using drugs has gone down
since the 70s and 80s. But the bad news
is there are more drug related deaths in
teens now. This is largely because teens
can use a credit card and order drugs
online. Many of these drugs are fake
and laced with fentanyl.
If the teen is not yet dependent on
a substance, there should be definite
ground rules laid down with consequences if the rules are broken. At the
very least, there should be a discussion
about the long-term health problems
caused by repeated use of the substance a teen may be trying. But most
importantly, keep an open conversation going with your teen. Be there for
them if they need to talk.
Opioid crisis
continued from page 10
source Bergen – and the pharmaceutical
manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. The
payment is the most recent installment of
approximately $395 million that Maryland and its subdivisions will receive
from the settlements over the course of
18 years.”
“A portion of those funds,” says Keller,
transfer of substances that receive breakthrough therapy designation from Schedule I to Schedule II, which – with DEA
oversight – will enable patient access and
reduce the burden on further clinical investigation.”
The legislation could potentially benefits veterans, as well. “The Breakthrough
Therapies Act responsibly reduces the
barriers to research and limited access
of potentially life-saving treatments like
MDMA- and psilocybin-assisted therapy,” said Martin R. Steele, a retired
Lieutenant General in the United States
Marine Corps., and President of Veteran
Mental Health Leadership Coalition, in
Sen. Booker’s release. “Veterans should
not be forced (nor should anyone else) to
leave the country – at great expense – to
access breakthrough therapies that can be
safely provided and further studied in real-world settings here at home.”
Nayak notes that ongoing clinical trials of psilocybin at the Johns Hopkins
Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness
Research include alcohol use disorder
with comorbid major depression, Alzheimer’s disease, OCD, and chronic Lyme.
Completed clinical trials with psilocybin
include for tobacco smoking cessation,
depression, psychological distress associated with cancer, not to mention several
non-clinical, mechanistic studies.
In 2021, The Dell Medical School at the
University of Texas at Austin became one
of a small number of U.S. academic health
centers with an arm dedicated to psychedelic therapy and research, as it launched
the Center for Psychedelic Research and
Therapy. According to the university, the
center will “conduct clinical research to
better understand the potential for drugs
such as psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and
ayahuasca to treat severe depression, anxiety and PTSD when used as part of treatment with a trained provider.”
In a release, the university said that the
“initial focus will be on military veterans
living with post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), adults experiencing prolonged
grief disorder or depression, and those
who have experienced childhood trauma.” It noted that Texas has the nation’s
second-largest veteran population.
Nayak of Johns Hopkins says that
clinical trial participants need to be thoroughly vetted for variables such as family
history of bipolar disorder, for example,
as the improper use of psilocybin can be
traumatizing. “Psychological support for
patients is very important so that must
also be part of the treatment plan,” he
says.
“about $10 million will go into the Opioid Restitution Fund to be used at the
state’s discretion to directly address the
harms of the opioid crisis. We can apply
this revenue to grant programs, access to
naloxone, peer support programs, access
to drugs used to treat Opioid Use Disorders (OUDs), and health crisis hotlines.
Nearly $5 million has already been distributed to local governments to implement programs to help residents affected
by opioids. Last year, Maryland established the Opioid Fund Advisory Council
to provide guidance on the use of these
funds. This council holds public listening
sessions ‘to give members of the public
an opportunity to provide input on the
use of prescription opioid-related legal
settlement funds in Maryland.’ Separate
from these are county-wide meetings
around the state to inform residents of
what is being done for their jurisdiction.”
How do you measure success? “Several ways,” Keller explains. “The meetings solicit input from residents including those who, like me, have first-hand
knowledge of the problems we face. Plus,
the more data we have, the more we can
see what works and what doesn’t. Then
we can shift gears and implement the
ones that truly make a difference.
“Most of all, we need to educate
young people about the risks by having open and honest communications
about what’s going on. We need to talk
to our kids. The earlier we start, the
better chance we have to fight this in
the future.”
