CE00881: Everything You Wanted to Know About Street Drugs But Were Afraid to Ask!

Harold L. Crossley, DDS, PhD

Course Description:

The dental practitioner and staff, as health care providers, have an ethical as well as legal obligation to be aware of any aspect of a patient's health and social history that will have an impact on their dental treatment. Recognition of chemical dependency as a disease in a patient, either active or recovering, may require alteration of the dental treatment plan. This dynamic, hard-hitting presentation will take you from the streets and into the office to help you identify the substance-abusing patient.

Course Objectives - As a result of taking this course, the participant should be able to:

• Identify the differences among chemical abuse, dependence, and addiction
• Review the pathophysiology of addiction
• Discuss the origins and mechanisms of action of some commonly abused substances
• List the signs and symptoms associated with the abuse of alcohol, cocaine, heroin and marijuana

Instructor:

HAROLD L. CROSSLEY, DDS, PhD is a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland Dental School. A native of Rhode Island, Dr. Crossley received a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island in 1964. He later was awarded the Master of Science (1970) and Doctorate degrees (1972) in Pharmacology. The University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore awarded Dr. Crossley the DDS degree in 1980. Since that time he has been the Director of Curriculum Innovation and Management, Director of Conjoint Sciences and Preclinical Studies and is currently the Director of Continuing Dental Education at the Dental School. The liaison between the classroom ad his dental practice which he mentored on a part-time basis in the Dental School Intramural Faculty Practice produced a practical approach to understanding pharmacology of drugs used in the dental office. Dr. Crossley has co-authored a umber of articles and four books dealing with a variety of topics within the field of pharmacology. Other areas of expertise include the pharmacology of street drugs and chemical dependency. He has been appointed to the Governor's Commission on Prescription Drug Abuse, serves on the Maryland State Dental Association's Well-Being Committee and was a member of the University Interdisciplinary Committee for Drug Abuse Education. He is an active member of Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Dental Society, and the International College of Dentists. He has been a consultant for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement agencies since 1974. Drawing on this unique background, Dr. Crossley has become nationally and internationally recognized as an expert on street drugs and chemical dependency as well as the clinical pharmacology of dental drugs.

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