Substance Use

Smoking? Vaping? Drinking alcohol? Is substance use causing you problems?

As adolescent and young adult medicine specialists, along with caring for our patients’ primary health care needs, we routinely evaluate their health risk behaviors, including substance use. It is not uncommon for adolescents and young adults to have tried alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, or other illicit substances – and some may even engage in these behaviors regularly. Substance use or abuse can lead to negative consequences in the realms of school or work, relationships with family, significant others and friends, and of course, the growing and developing adolescent or young adult body and mind.

We at AYAM evaluate for and provide counseling about substance use and abuse at routine annual visits, as well as at follow up visits with our patients. We provide warm, personalized and nonjudgmental patient care, which we hope makes our patients feel comfortable seeking us out as a resource for support, guidance and management of any substance use issues. When indicated, we take a primary role in screening for substance use and help medically manage substance use issues as well as their medical consequences. As collaborative care specialists, we also often work together with other experienced providers, such as substance use specialist psychiatrists and therapists, to create a team approach for treatment. We at AYAM are ready to start working together toward a plan of care!