STIMULANT USE DISORDER IN TEENS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS: PROBLEMS AND TREATMENT

Recent reports of increasing deaths of young people in the United States from overdose of stimulants underscore the importance of understanding the scope of the problem. Some of the illicit use is with commonly prescribed medications in primary care and child and adolescent psychiatric clinics. Our objective is to look at the science behind stimulant use and misuse at different ages and in different countries. Human laboratory studies and clinical trials on treatment of stimulant use disorders will help guide the clinician in choosing proper steps in treating their patients with stimulant use disorder. This presentation will use data from original studies from the speakers, meta-analyses from the literature, appropriate case studies for practical application of the data, audience poll, and a discussion period with a discussant and questions period to help learning. Natchanan Charatcharungkiat, MD, will provide data on the epidemiology of stimulant use disorders in the United States and Thailand. She will also contrast the use of stimulants for ADHD in these countries and the subsequent risk of stimulant and other use disorders. Abigail Cohen, MD, will present data on the growing problem of misuse, diversion, and abuse of prescription stimulants on college campuses in the United States. William Stoops, PhD, will review data on human laboratory studies that he and others have conducted to look for potential medications to treat cocaine and methamphetamine use disorders. Paul Glaser, MD, PhD, will present data from his St. Louis database on using agonist therapy for stimulant use disorder and review the meta-analyses from clinical trials on agonist therapy. Paula Riggs, MD, will then give expert perspective as a concluding discussant. Stimulant use disorders continue to be a rising problem in adolescents and college-age adults. Awareness of the science on the epidemiology and potential treatments will help guide clinicians in their practice.