New Program to Treat Teen Drug Abusers

From BestHealth, September 2006

An outpatient adolescent substance abuse program has begun for treatment of area teenagers with alcohol, marijuana and other drug-related problems.

Michael Dawes, M.D., program director, said the program will include a team of psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, therapists and a licensed clinical social worker. “The goal will be to individualize treatment for each adolescent,” he said.

“We are creating this outpatient clinical program because few clinical resources exist in the Triad for substance-abusing adolescents and their families.”

Early treatment of drug abuse is important, Dawes said, because many of today’s drugs are more potent and potentially more toxic than drugs used in the 1960s and 1970s and may actually hinder or derail brain maturation. Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs are additional major concerns.

For more information, call (336)716-4635.