Tiama Watson looked into the coffin and saw something she didn't expect" her own reflection. She and 300 other middle school students were participating in an event called "Drug Store". Launched by the University of Alabama in 1993, the program includes several interactive situations that address the seriousness of drug use.

"Groups of students traveled into nine tents set out along the Dunsmuir grounds. Within each tent, students were put in real-life situations... scenes included students seeing a classmate get peer pressured into taking and overdosing on Ecstasy, a mock-emergency-room scenario, and funeral services."

The "scared straight"-style seems to work. Many of the students expressed a first-time understanding that drug use affects not only the user, but his or her friends and family as well. Drug Store programs are available nationwide. Learn more online.

At the tender age of five, Frankie Santa Cruz was doing things his parents should have been doing; changing diapers, making bottles, and taking care of his siblings. His parents, strung out on meth, weren’t able to do these things, so Frankie had to step in.

"He recalls how his parents spent most of their time in the bathroom, leaving him to feed, clothe and care for his brothers and sister."

Frankie and his siblings were removed from the home in 2003. Today, they're back home, their parents have been clean for three years, and Frankie speaks publicly about the dangers of drug use. He hopes his story will influence both kids and parents to stay away from drugs. Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.

This week is Red Ribbon Week. Started as a tribute to a Drug Enforcement Officer who was killed by drug traffickers in Mexico, the week-long event promotes healthy living, and encourages adults and young people alike to live drug-free lives.

"The Red Ribbon Campaign is now the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation, reaching millions of young people during Red Ribbon Week."

The events coordinating organization, National Family Partnership, was begun in 1980 by parents nationwide who were concerned about rising levels of drug use among teens.

Barry Timmerman, coordinator of substance abuse services at The Youth Council in Nashua (New Hampshire), has heard countless stories of first time drug use. He believes that information vital to discussing and preventing teen drug use can be found in these stories.

"The responses from the many hundreds of teens who have chosen to be honest has taught me more about the complexities and reasons behind teen drug use than any other source of information."

Mr. Timmerman shares a composite response to a list of "first time" survey questions. The responses are telling; pointing to hypocrisy among adults, and the melodramatic scare tactics of anti-drug programs, as credibility issues which cause teens to take the issue of drug use lightly. Read more online.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has put together a list of principles that should be included in drug prevention programs. The list is the result of long-term studies of drug abuse behaviors and other factors.

"These principles were developed to help prevention practitioners use the results of prevention research to address drug use among children and adolescents in communities across the country. Parents, educators, and community leaders can use these principles to help guide their thinking, planning, selection, and delivery of drug abuse prevention programs at the community level."

Sixteen principles are listed in the article and address various stages of child development. Included in the article are tips for customizing the principles and programs for different audiences.

Labels: prevention

Over the years, research has overwhelmingly indicated that most young people start using drugs and alcohol in response to peer pressure. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration has a "family" page on their web site that's specifically designed to help parents help their children choose friends.

"Help your child learn what qualities to look for in a friend, and advise him about what to say if offered harmful substances."

The web page list several articles to help parents understand peer pressure, teach children how to say no to drugs, and overall choose their friends and social situations wisely.

Partnership for a Drug Free America has an on-line community called "Parent Partners". Membership is free, and with it parents can get an eNewsletter, announcements about regional programs and events, and email alerts about current drug trends. Parents can also participate in discussion forums and share their own stories about substance abuse, treatment, and recovery.

"...email newsletters are generally sent monthly and contain helpful prevention and intervention tips, local and national news items and events, and alerts about emerging or re-emerging illicit drugs."

You can sign up at the Partnership web site.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has created a teachers' guide based on it's anti-drug web site www.justthinktwice.com. The guide includes lesson plans and activities to help teachers address the consequences of drug use with their students.

"The curriculum was previewed and vetted by educators who felt that it was a dynamic, hands-on approach which would help teach America’s youth about the dangers of drugs."

The teachers' guide has been supported by Families Changing America which believes the guide and it's hands-on approach will help teens prepare for and face the pressures of drug use and abuse.

Across the U.S., some drug treatment facilities are beginning to use incentive-based programs to reward patients who's drug tests come back negative. A team of Yale scientists studied one of these programs to try and determine it's cost and effectiveness.

"If patients submitted drug-free urine samples, they earned chances to draw from a fishbowl with 500 chips... The longer the patients remained drug-free, the more draws they earned."

These types of programs have been proven effective in helping substance abuse patients stay abstinent for longer periods of time.

Read the full article online.

A recent study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that teens who participated in counseling for psychiatric problems were more likely to abstain from drugs than those who sought substance abuse treatment alone. In addition, adolescents who received both services at the same location faired better than those who had to attend separate locations. Read more from drugabuse.gov.

Hannah Wineberg struggles with ADHD. In order to get the medication she needed, she had to endure hours of testing to confirm her ADHD. So it frustrates her to learn that young people fake ADHD in order to get and abuse the same prescription drugs. Prescription drug abuse is becoming increasingly popular.

"In the same study conducted by Partnership [for a Drug Free America], the number of teens reported to have tried prescription drugs exceed those who have used cocaine, ecstasy, and crystal meth..."

The main reason prescription drug abuse has increased so dramatically is because it's easy to get. There's also a false sense of security associated with using prescription drugs. The belief is that, because they're prescribed by doctors, they're safer than illegal drugs. Read more from The Spokesman.

Labels: prescription drugs

Jay Shaw, a private equity firm founder, donated a $1 million gift to his alma mater, Colgate University, for a Wellness Initiative seeking to help undergrads "establish healthy behavior patterns that extend beyond their time at college." The initiative aims to change the university's culture.

"'We're going to be a campus that understand health and wellness, where it becomes acceptable to go for a walk, it becomes acceptable to ride your bike, it becomes acceptable not to smoke,' [Dr. Merrill] Miller said."

The initiative will also seek to identify kids considered to be "at risk" for things like substance abuse and depression, so they can get help quickly.

Read more online.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released a study on current uses of methamphetamine which shows that 18-25 year olds are still the most likely age group to abuse this drug.

"The combined data from more than 250,000 people who were surveyed for this report to give a more detailed picture of who is using the drug than in previous
SAMHSA reports..."

This detailed information helps prevention and treatment specialists better plan where to place resources and treatment centers, and gives parents, teachers, and caregivers a clearer picture of the dangers of this drug, and in what areas that danger is highest.