Psychoactive substances are part of daily lives. Legal substances such as alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine; medications such as opioids and benzodiazepines; and illegal drugs like fentanyl surround us from early childhood through old age. Depending on the substance, they impact health in various ways, both in the short and long term, with some of the most profound effects occurring during adolescence.
Don’t miss this session from Dr. Sharon Levy, Chief of the Division of Addiction Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School
Booking
Sign up at this link or on the Book Now button at the top of the screen, and complete the form that follows. You’ll then receive an email confirmation and a link to the webinar, plus we’ll send you a calendar reminder nearer the time. Delegates will have exclusive access to recordings for 90 days after the event, together with slides. Plus you will get a personalised CPD certificate via email.
- ACAMH Members MUST login to book onto the webinar in order to access this webinar and get a CPD certificate
- Non-members this is a great time to join ACAMH, take a look at what we have to offer, and make the saving on these sessions
EARLY BIRD £20 for ACAMH Members (Print, Online, Concession) Join now and save (£30 from 30/09/25)
EARLY BIRD £40 ACAMH Learn Account holders (£50 from 30/09/25)
EARLY BIRD £40 Non Members (£50 from 30/09/25)
£5 ACAMH Undergraduate/Postgraduate Members
FREE LMIC Members
Don’t forget as a charity any surplus made is reinvested back as we work to our vision of ‘Sharing best evidence, improving practice’, and our mission to ‘Improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people aged 0-25’.
About the session
In this session, Dr. Sharon Levy explores how teen substance use is not merely a rite of passage, but rather a phenomenon rooted in developmental neurobiology. The tendency to experiment with substances—and the vulnerability to develop substance use disorders—stems from the way the adolescent brain is wired. Psychoactive substances are reinforcing because they increase dopamine release. The concentration of dopamine receptors is densest during adolescence, accounting for the natural tendency to engage in exhilarating behaviors. Drug use can cause larger dopamine releases than natural rewards. The developmental drive for highly stimulating experiences “sets up” teenagers and young adults for drug use.
At the same time, the prefrontal cortex—the brain’s center for executive functioning—continues to mature throughout adolescence and into young adulthood. This creates a developmental mismatch: adolescents are drawn to intense stimulation but lack fully developed abilities to anticipate consequences and evaluate risks.
Dr. Levy emphasizes that while different drugs affect different brain regions, their use outside narrow therapeutic windows can have devastating consequences. Teens are in the crosshairs: their natural curiosity, risk-taking, overconfidence, penchant for large brain rewards, and immature ability to think through consequences create a perfect storm for drug use, and immature prefrontal cortexes increase the risk for substance use disorders.
Learning objectives
- To explain which parts of the brain develops during adolescence and how their development relates to substance use initiation;
- To explain why adolescents are more vulnerable to developing substance use disorders than adults;
- To describe outcomes that are associated with cannabis use during adolescence
- To name the receptor in the human central nervous system that nicotine binds to
About the speaker
Sharon Levy, MD, MPH is a Pediatrician, Addiction Medicine specialist, Chief of the Division of Addiction Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She has evaluated and treated thousands of adolescents with substance use disorders, conducted research and written extensively on the topic. In 2016 she established the nation’s first accredited Pediatric Addiction Medicine Fellowship training program, and in 2023 she was appointed Chief of the first Division of Addiction Medicine at a pediatric medical center in the US.
Booking
Sign up at this link or on the Book Now button at the top of the screen, and complete the form that follows. You’ll then receive an email confirmation and a link to the webinar, plus we’ll send you a calendar reminder nearer the time. Delegates will have exclusive access to recordings for 90 days after the event, together with slides. Plus you will get a personalised CPD certificate via email.
- ACAMH Members MUST login to book onto the webinar in order to access this webinar and get a CPD certificate
- Non-members this is a great time to join ACAMH, take a look at what we have to offer, and make the saving on these sessions
EARLY BIRD £20 for ACAMH Members (Print, Online, Concession) Join now and save (£30 from 30/09/25)
EARLY BIRD £40 ACAMH Learn Account holders (£50 from 30/09/25)
EARLY BIRD £40 Non Members (£50 from 30/09/25)
£5 ACAMH Undergraduate/Postgraduate Members
FREE LMIC Members
Don’t forget as a charity any surplus made is reinvested back as we work to our vision of ‘Sharing best evidence, improving practice’, and our mission to ‘Improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people aged 0-25’.