Treating the growing numbers of opioid addicts will require anti-addiction medications and coordinating treatment for people within criminal justice system, medical experts said.

Stressors such as poverty, parental neglect, social stigma and physical or sexual abuse can increase a person’s vulnerability to drugs, and that has implications for the treatment of addicted individuals, particularly juveniles, who are imprisoned, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told a meeting at AAAS.