One of the many challenges clinicians have in treating patients with a chronic mental or physical illness is the risk of their developing a substance use disorder as a form of self-medication. For a long time, nicotine and alcohol—given their ease of acquisition—have been common addictions of concern; today, however, two other substances are rapidly rising in prevalence—opioids and marijuana.
Both drugs can be obtained legally, and both can claim legitimate medical benefits, which make them attractive to many people dealing with illness and pose a dilemma to physicians and therapists in regards to their distribution and management.
To help guide psychiatrists and other providers through this emerging problem, addiction will be one of the tracks at the 2016 IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, including several sessions devoted to opioid and marijuana use.
The opioid addiction theme will kick off right as the meeting commences on Thursday, October 6. John Renner, M.D., an associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and vice chair of APA’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry, will hold a daylong educational course titled “Buprenorphine and Office-Based Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.”
For those not able to attend this detailed course, Renner will chair a shorter session on Friday, October 7, that will also provide an update on the use of buprenorphine and how this important anti-addiction agent is shaping clinical care.
Jeffrey Eisen, M.D., the medical director for community-based Lahey Health Behavioral Services in Boston, will also chair a pair of workshops dedicated to the opioid epidemic.
The first, on Friday morning, will focus on innovative strategies to combat this public health crisis, while the second, to be held on Sunday, October 9, will take a broader look at the challenges and opportunities in prescribing controlled substances to patients.
That broad view is important, for while opioids receive much of the news coverage, marijuana is also becoming a significant topic in physician offices, as more and more states legalize this drug for medicinal and/or recreational use. As recently highlighted at an National Institutes of Health summit (
Psychiatric News, June 3), however, there is still a great knowledge gap in what is known about the benefits and risks of this drug, especially its effect on long-term health.
In addition to Eisen’s workshop, two APA members from Colorado—Karen Rice, M.D., and Rachel Rebecca, M.D.—will discuss their experiences practicing psychiatry in one of the most progressive states in terms of marijuana restrictions. Their workshop, “The Colorado Experience With Legalized Marijuana,” will be held Thursday. ■
More information on all the IPS tracks, including addiction psychiatry, can be accessed
here. Dates, times, and locations of the sessions will be published in the IPS program distributed on site at the meeting as well as in the Meetings App. Instructions on downloading the app will appear in the program.
