A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh has found that substance abuse disorders in teenagers are strong predictors that the teens will die at a younger age, possibly before the age of twenty-five.

"Previous studies have shown that many teens who engage in alcohol and drug use and other high-risk behavior believed they would die within two years. 'Unfortunately, this insight on the part of some teens apparently does not eliminate these problem behaviors,' said Dr. Clark."

Researchers followed 870 teens for eight years, to track behavior and mortality. Twenty-one of those teenagers, about 2 percent, died when or before they were twenty-five. Males accounted for 14 of these deaths, which translates to a 10-percent mortality rate for males with substance abuse disorders. Source: Medical News Today

Learn more about the long term effects of binge drinking and alcohol abuse at http://www.drugrehabtreatment.com/effects-of-binge-drinking.html.

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Labels: death, predictors, early_drinkers

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When Jonathan Gibralter became president of Frostburg (Maryland) State University, one of the first things he did was institute a zero-tolerance policy on drug and alcohol use. Though some students were upset, many thanked him.

"Gibralter's public stand places him in a growing but still small minority of university presidents who openly acknowledge that substance-abuse issues are present on campus. Progressive colleges and universities are shifting their primary efforts from individual users to the entire campus community..."

Gibralter said his decision was influenced, in large part, by his experience running a drug and alcohol prevention program at another university. During his service in that capacity, Gibralter said, he and his wife urged the school's president to take action against the institution's glaring drug and alcohol problems. Source: University Business

Labels: prevention, college, binge_drinking

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The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project found THC at its highest level in marijuana since testing began in the 1970s.

"Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people, who may be not only at increased risk for psychological conditions, cognitive deficits, and respiratory problems, but are also at significantly higher risk for developing dependency on other drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, than are non-smokers."

The Potency Monitoring Project has been analyzing marijuana samples since 1975. In their most recent quarterly report, the researchers documented THC levels as high as 37.2 percent, with average levels at about 9.6 percent. Of special concern among substance abuse specialists is the fact that increased THC levels increase the probability that users will become addicted. Source: U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy

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Labels: marijuana, addiction, THC

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The Florida Medical Examiner's Commission has reported that the misuse of prescription drugs was responsible for more deaths in that state last year than was the abuse of illegal substances such as heroin and cocaine.

According to the NewsInferno website, the commission's analysis of nearly 170,000 autopsies revealed that prescription drugs caused three times as many deaths as did illegal drugs:

Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, [the commission] found, while legal opioids like OxyContin caused 2,328 fatalities. The study also found that while the number of people whose deaths involved heroin increased 14 percent in 2007, to 110, deaths related to the opioid oxycodone increased 36 percent, to 1,253.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, around seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs  an increase of 80 percent in just six years. The Drug Abuse Warning Network reports that since 1995, the number of drug abuse-related emergency room visits involving pain relievers increased nationwide by 153 percent.

Bill Janes, the director of Florida's Office of Drug Control, told the News Manatee website that the state is working to implement a statewide monitoring program in an effort to combat the abuse of prescription medication.

"The monitoring plan is our priority effort, but that is not enough," Janes said. "We are working to increase awareness among our families by focusing our efforts on communities, schools, businesses, churches, and the media. ... Only through a comprehensive, coordinated strategy will we be able to reverse this tragic, unacceptable trend."

Labels: death, prescription_drugs

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Researchers with St. Louis' Washington University School of Medicine have determined that women who begin drinking at a younger age face an increased likelihood of becoming dependent upon alcohol later in life.

"An early age at the onset of drinking is a strong predictor of subsequent alcohol dependence," said Richard A. Grucza, Ph.D., who authored the study. "About one in three individuals who start drinking at age 17 or younger become alcohol dependent. For those who wait until age 21 or older, that number is one in ten."

Grucza, an assistant professor of psychiatry at WU, was quoted in a press release about the study that was posted on the school's website:

"In our previous work, we found that women born after 1944 had a substantially higher risk for alcohol dependence compared to those born prior to that. Now we have found that women born during this 'high risk' period also began drinking earlier than their predecessors, and this earlier drinking might explain the higher rates of alcoholism.

As the age of drinking onset got lower for women, the rates of alcohol dependence increased. ...There is a lot of discussion about whether the minimum drinking age should be lowered again. Our findings would suggest that from a public-health point of view, lowering the legal drinking age might lead to increased rates of alcohol dependence."

Grucza and his team analyzed data that had been compiled during the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which was completed in the early 1980s.

The results of the study are scheduled to be published in the August 2008 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Labels: girls, addiction, binge_drinking

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On an average day, 13,000 teens and pre-teens try alcohol for the first time. Studies have shown that people who start drinking at age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than are those who wait until they're 21.

"The sky is falling on our teens and young adults, and there is plenty of responsibility to go around: from permissive parents who think it's better to have their teens drink at home than risk drunk driving to colleges and universities turning a blind eye to ever-increasing binge drinking on campuses and at local bars."

The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse found that alcohol misuse cost the United States $220 billion in 2005; more than the cost of cancer or childhood obesity. Now that summer is in full swing, teens have a lot more free time, and parents have the responsibility of making sure that time is used well. Source: The Free Lance-Star

Learn more by reading Higher Risks in Early Drinkers.

Labels: addiction, underage_drinking, binge_drinking

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A concerned parent wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer about a string of graduation parties he attended at which the graduates and their friends were given easy access to alcoholic beverages. The parties, he wrote, confirmed for him the findings of a recent study by the U.S. government which noted that many young people get alcohol from parents and other adults.

"'In far too many instances parents directly enable their children's underage drinking - in essence encouraging them to risk their health and well-being,' Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson said in a statement. 'Proper parental guidance alone may not be the complete solution to this devastating public health problem - but it is a critical part.'"

Some parents who approve of drinking at home may think they're protecting their kids from drinking and driving, but what they're really doing is encouraging drinking outside the home as well. A teenager who thinks his parents approve of his drinking is far more likely to partake at parties and other gatherings where parents aren't present.

Labels: parental_involvement, parties

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The term "alcoholic" means different things to different people. For example, some individuals can abuse alcohol without becoming dependent (dependency being the traditional threshold for alcoholism). In other cases, opinions vary on what, exactly, indicates dependency. To avoid these inconsistencies, and to ensure standard definitions across the profession, most medical personnel refer to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual.

"The criteria for [alcohol dependence] reflect that the patient is physiologically dependent upon alcohol, and would suffer alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he stops drinking. To be diagnosed with Alcohol Dependence, one must meet three [out of five] criteria."

The five criteria referenced in the DSM excerpt above include the following:

• Alcohol withdrawal symptoms
• Alcohol tolerance
• Alcohol taken in larger amounts over a longer period than intended
• Persistent desire or unsuccessful effort to cut down on alcohol consumption
• Increased time spent attempting to obtain alcohol

Source: Marin Independent Journal

Labels: alcohol, dependency, diagnosis

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Most of the news coming from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse indicates that marijuana use is down among teenagers. But one startling figure shows that use among eighth graders has increased by 27 percent between 1992 and 2007.

"There's also a 188 percent increase in the number of teens admitted into treatment programs with marijuana as the primary addiction .... and there's no easy answer to the problem."

One preventative measure is to ensure that children have more to do than go to school and come home. Extracurricular activities give them constructive and enjoyable things to do with their time, thus decreasing the chances that they'll turn to drugs or alcohol out of boredom. Source: Fox28 News

Labels: prevention, marijuana, pressure

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A new Canadian law gives police permission to test drivers for both alcohol and drug use when impaired driving is suspected. The law, titled the Tackling Violent Crime Act, went into effect July 2, 2008.

"The new legislation empowers Canadian police who suspect a driver of being impaired by any drug, illegal, prescription, or over the counter, to conduct a Standardized Field Sobriety Test, a roadside test of physical coordination. If found to be impaired, the driver must submit to a mandatory Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) assessment...."

A DEC assessment is an hourlong 12-step process that is conducted by a Drug Recognition Expert. The law also includes new penalties, including a minimum $1,000 fine for the first offense, and no less than 30 days in jail for the second. Source: CNW Group

Labels: canada, drunk_driving, sobriety_test

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Thanks to $600,000 from the U.S. government, the Martinsville City Schools in Virginia will be starting an Alcohol Abuse Reduction Program. The federal grant will help fund increased prevention and counseling services in city schools.

"After three years of the Alcohol Reduction Program in Martinsville schools, officials aim for a 37 percent overall decrease in substance abuse, reductions in negative attitudes and behaviors, and increased decision-making and resistance skills."

The grant money will also fund two new positions in the schools and several new programs. One of the programs, Positive Action, has been used in other districts, which have reported drops of up to 71 percent in drug, alcohol and tobacco use as a result of the initiative. Source: Martinsville Bulletin

Labels: prevention, schools, counseling

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Amy Winehouse is in the news again, this time for being rushed to the hospital where she was reported to be coughing up blood. She is the latest in a series of stars whose "fast and furious" lifestyle is seductively appealing to many people - primarily young fans.

"The idea that some spirits burn too fiercely, consuming themselves in their own flames, is incredibly seductive to the people least likely to know better, by which I mean the young. As you get older, you start to question all that romantic nonsense and see such deaths for what they really are: a tragic waste."

The danger inherent in Winehouse's lifestyle is that, without ever realizing it, she may take others down with her. The singer is admired by many young people who don't view her as someone who makes reckless and destructive choices, but rather as a person who is living with an all-out passion. Source: Belfast Telegraph

Labels: influences, celebrities, media

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A study by the University of Mississippi has discovered that today's marijuana is almost twice as strong as it was 25 years ago.

Over the past 33 years, researchers at UM have studied more than 65,000 samples of marijuana seized by law enforcement personnel in all 50 U.S. states. Since 1975, the amount of Tetrahydracannibinol (THC) in the studied marijuana consistently increased, reaching a 30-year high between 2007 and 2008.

Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the findings are worrisome because high levels of THC increase the risk of mental impairment and addiction, especially among young people.

Read more http://www.adolescent-substance-abuse.com/marijuana-potency.html.

Labels: marijuana, pot, potency

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A study that appeared in BioMed Central found that drug and alcohol use was often linked with sexual encounters. Many of those surveyed had specific sexual uses for either drugs or alcohol.

"Overall, alcohol was most likely to be used to facilitate a sexual encounter... males were more likely to use alcohol to facilitate a sexual encounter although nearly a quarter of female alcohol users also used it for the same purpose."

The study also found that young people who used drugs or alcohol in sexual encounters were far more likely to engage in risky behavior and to have multiple partners. Source: BioMed Central

Labels: sex, abuse

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When children move into the adolescent years, their behavior can leave parents wondering "Who are you?" In an effort to help parents better understand their teenagers, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America has launched a new website.

"The site... was created in collaboration with the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia, top scientists and researchers on substance abuse and addiction, and Boston-based WGBH, leading in public broadcasting and educational multimedia."

Called "A Parent's Guide to the Teen Brain", the website explains how the brain develops and why teenagers are prone to risky behaviors like drug or alcohol experimentation. It also gives advice on how parents can use this information to connect with their children. Source: PR Web

Labels: parents, behaviors

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Three times as many Floridians died this year from prescription drug abuse than from the use illicit drugs, according to a report from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. Florida is one of the few states that keep such records.

The new information supports the findings of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, which estimates an 80 percent increase in the number of people abusing prescription drugs in the United States over the past six years. This increase means that an estimated seven million people are illegally using prescription medications, primarily painkillers and opiates like oxycodone and hydrocone.

The Florida report found that 989 individuals died from using cocaine, heroin or methamphetamines, while 2,328 deaths resulted from the use of painkillers. An additional 743 deaths were attributed to the misuse of benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax.

Florida legislators are considering joining the 38 states that already have laws to monitor prescription drug sales.

Labels: death, abuse, prescription_drugs

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Parents feel confident about advising and guiding their young children, but they "wimp out" as the children enter adolescence, according to a new study from the Partnership for A Drug-Free America.

The findings are significant because teens in middle and high school need guidance on drugs, sex and other significant issues - but the parents of these older teens told researchers that they feel unequipped with information and answers. Many parents reported that they want to maintain a non-authoritarian friendship with their teenagers, so they were reluctant to give orders, search their children's rooms, and undertake other activities that might put them at odds with their children.

"Parents are the most powerful influencers in their kids' lives, including on their choice to try drugs or alcohol, but this study clearly shows that many parents feel increasingly overwhelmed as kids become teenagers," said Steve Pasierb, the partnership's president.

The survey involved more than 1,000 parents with children ages 10 to 19. More than half the parents of middle schoolers said they felt uninformed about drugs and alcohol, compared to 35% of parents of fourth and fifth graders. Many parents of older teens agreed with statements such as "I think it's important that my child considers me a friend" and "I have a hard time saying no."

The Partnership for A Drug-Free America is a nonprofit alliance of parents, scientists, and communication experts dedicated to helping families raise healthy children. The organization has conducted its annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Survey every year since 1978.

Labels: prevention, influences, older_teens

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