AMCS partners with Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington

Here at AMCS we believe in helping and educating all age groups in our community. We partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington to hold a forum for the teens about the adverse affects of opioid abuse and addiction. Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin^®), hydrocodone (Vicodin^®), codeine, morphine, and many others. Opioid abuse and addiction is a serious global problem that affects the health, social, and economic welfare of all societies. The consequences of this abuse have been devastating and are on the rise. Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015(11). There is also growing evidence to suggest a relationship between increased non-medical use of opioid analgesics and heroin abuse in the United States. Though it gets less press, the opioid epidemic has been hitting teens and children hard, with hospitalization rates for opioid exposures nearly doubling for teens and more than doubling for kids under age 5 between 1997 and 2012.

With alarming statistics like these it was very important for us to talk to teens in our community. Dr. Edwin Chapman conducted a very interactive session with the teens of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington D.C. The teens where able to ask questions and left the session informed.

For more information about Opioid Abuse here’s an articles:

http://drugabuse.com/library/opiate-abuse/

Cited Source:

(1) Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:1445–1452. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm655051e1