Schools in Billerica, Massachusetts, may soon have some new faces roaming the halls. The School Committee is considering whether to allow drug-sniffing dogs to search the schools.

The searches would be random and unannounced. The dogs, which are trained to sniff out marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, would be able to search all school property, including lockers, classrooms, parking lots, and storage areas.

Police Chief Dan Rosa said that he believes the step is necessary for improving school safety. The move toward drug-sniffing dogs was prompted, in part, by a recent survey of more than 2,000 students which found that marijuana use among the city's students was 111 percent higher than the national average. Source: The Lowell Sun

Labels: safety, drug-sniffing dogs, high_school

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An experimental treatment for teenagers who are addicted to opiates worked better than traditional ones, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Standard treatment involves use drugs such as buprenorphine and naloxone only during the short-term detoxification process. However, the new study indicates that using these drugs for a three-month period increases a teen addict's chances of staying drug-free.

Dr. George Woody, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Psychiatry, assigned 152 people ages 15 to 21 years old to two groups. All the teens were addicted to prescription opiates such as OxyContin, street opiates such as heroin, or a combination of both. Patients in one group received buprenorphine and naloxone along with individual and group counseling for a two-week period. The second group did the same for three months.

Those in the long-term treatment cohort fared better on random urine tests, reported less use of opioids, cocaine, and marijuana, and had less need for further addiction treatment.

"If you keep these young kids, average one and a half years of addiction, on buprenorphine-naloxone, they did a lot better," said Dr. Woody. "When you took them off buprenorphine and naloxone, their opioid use went up."

Another expert on teen addictions, Yale University professor Dr. David Fiellin, said that between 200,000 and 400,000 teenagers experimented with prescription drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin last year.

"They are taking them in a way that is not appropriate," he said. "A fair number of these individuals will become dependent or addicted."

Labels: addiction, treatment, opiates

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A new test developed by AbuseCheck" could help rehabilitation centers, counselors, and even court systems determine how much alcohol a person has consumed. The test measures the levels of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in hair follicles.

"FAEEs are byproducts of alcohol metabolism created by the body. As these molecules circulate in the blood, they are incorporated into the structure of growing hair. The more alcohol which has been consumed, the higher the levels of FAEEs in the hair during that period of time."

Unlike breathalyzers or urine tests that only evaluate recent alcohol use, the AbuseCheck" Hair Alcohol Test gives evidence of long-term use, according to the product's manufacturer. Source: MedicalNews Today

Labels: drug_testing, long_term_drug_use

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A West Vancouver (Canada) teenager who left her home after telling her mother that she was going to the movies was found dead later that night at the Edmonds SkyTrain station. The cause of death appeared to be a drug overdose.

"Jenni was the second teenager to die suddenly within the past month in circumstances that suggest illegal drugs might have been involved."

Though autopsy reports haven't returned yet, police suspect Ecstasy is to blame for the teen's death. Authorities hope the tragedy will serve to remind adolescents about the dangers of drug use. Source: The Province (Canada)

Labels: ecstasy, teens, overdose

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Sam Landry is a global language teacher at South Range High School in North Lima, Ohio, who spends a large portion of his free time working at the county and state levels to curb teen substance abuse. In October, Landry received the 2008 Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic Community Service Award for his efforts.

"In addition to [being] the Drug-Free Schools coordinator, Landry is also the chair for the Coalition for Capable and Healthy Youth Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Work Group, and the co-founder of the Coalition to Amend Ohio's Social Host Law."

Landry said he was surprised and honored by the award. The Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic treats approximately 1,500 substance addicts every year in the Youngstown, Ohio, area. Source: Salem (OH) News

Labels: recovery, drug_abuse, role_models

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In the Oct. 24 edition of the Sacramento Bee newspaper, a teenager wrote to the advice columnist for information about the club drug Ecstasy. Everyone she knows uses the drug, the writer reported - and though she's never tried it herself, she's curious, and wants to know about the side effects and how the drug works.

"The drug also has potentially dangerous long-term psychotic effects. Research has shown it may cause confusion and memory loss, depression, anxiety, paranoia, mania, sleeplessness and psychotic episodes. This can occur weeks and even months after the drug has been used."

In addition to long-term dangers, immediate effects of Ecstasy use include erratic heart rate, loss of inhibitions, over-heating and dehydration (which can be so severe that it causes seizures.) Source: The Sacramento Bee

Labels: ecstasy, drug_abuse, side-effects

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After four 10th-graders in Pennsylvania were hospitalized this week with drug reactions, experts and police are looking into the sale of "snurf pills" on the Internet.

The children bought the drugs from an online store that marketed the Snurfs as a natural remedy composed of three herbs - Fevizia, Palenzia and De la Amazon. However, no such herbs exist.

Available online since 2005, snurfs may contain Dextromethorphan, an ingredient in over-the-counter cough suppressants such as Robitussin.

Dextromethorphan is very popular among the youngest teens, according to Dr. Deborah Levine of New York's Bellevue Hospital. She said that middle-schoolers often take many times the recommended dose of cough syrups, risking serious toxicities.

"Talk to your kids," Dr. Levine said. "They should know these are serious medicines. Injuries and deaths can occur."

Labels: cough_syrup, drug_abuse, internet

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Female binge drinkers are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections and to participate in risky sexual behaviors that are women who don't drink, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins University.

Researchers interviewed 671 people over a 13-month period as they were being treated for sexually transmitted diseases. Women who binge drink were five times more likely to have gonorrhea, and three times more likely to participate in anal sex and to have several partners compared to females who do not drink.

Binge drinking is defined as having five or more alcoholic drinks in one session.

"Binge drinking results in a decreased ability to make clear decisions and can enable individuals to engage in behaviors that they would not if sober," according to Dr. Geetanjali Chander, one of the authors of the study.

The authors noted that today's women are drinking more than previous generations, and that when young women drink, they are at greater risk for sexual assault.

This study appears in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: women, risky_behaviors, binge_drinking

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Studies performed on animals indicate that adolescents are more likely than adults to become addicted to oxycodone (OxyContin), a powerful prescription painkiller related to opioids like heroin and morphine.

Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York allowed adolescent and adult mice to take as much oxycodone as they wanted. The younger mice were more sensitive to the drug and took less. If the drug was introduced to them again as adults, they were more sensitive and reactive to it than were mice that had never been exposed to it.

Some experts believe that this study shows that adolescents react differently to oxycodone, and that the drug can cause neurological changes that make them more sensitive to it as adults.

The authors of the new study believe that teenagers who abuse oxycodone recreationally react differently to it than people in pain do, and are therefore more likely to become addicted.

Oxycodone is frequently prescribed to terminally ill cancer patients. It has also become a popular drug of choice among 14- to 24-year-olds. While the abuse of cocaine and methamphetamine has fallen in recent years, the abuse of prescription painkillers rose 12 percent in 2006, the latest year for which government statistics are available.

Labels: addiction, teens, oxyContin

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Religious teens are less likely to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or use other drugs, according to a new study published in the Journal of Drug Issues.

The study found that individual religiosity is linked to being less likely to use alcohol or to smoke, and decreases a teen's chances of using marijuana by half. However, religiosity did not affect cocaine or heroin abuse.

Researchers from Brigham Young University looked at answers to these two questions given by over 14,000 teens: How often do you attend church? and How important is religion to you?

"Previously it was thought that if someone grew up in a religious community and went to church, then the community's religious strength would make a difference," said Professor Stephen Bahr, co-author of the study. "We basically found that was not the case. Individual religiosity is what makes the difference."

Labels: influences, religion, drug_use

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The University of Arizona has been awarded a $1.2 million federal grant to study substance abuse treatment for young women.

Dr. Sally Stevens, executive director of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, said the Institute will study and test several different models for treatment and recovery.

"It's a different approach for drug treatment research," she said. "This is important. The adolescent research is not that old and we have not come that far along to be looking at gender-specific research for girls."

Bridget Ruiz, principal investigator for the grant, said, "It's really about creating a paradigm shift. Substance abuse treatment has historically been an acute episode of treatment where you come in for 90 days, get the curriculum and treatment, and are sent on your way. We've found that it really takes one year at least for young people, moving and out of recovery, before they come to some stability."

Over 2.1 million teenagers needed treatment for alcohol or drug abuse in 2006, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health - but only 181,000 received treatment at a specialty facility.

Learn about Four Circle's Women-Only Recovery Program

Labels: women, treatment, genders

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An Arkansas state panel has recommended that alcoholic beverages like Mike's Hard Lemonade be categorized as hard liquor and sold only in liquor stores rather than grocery stores or gas stations. The task force also recommended raising sales taxes on the beverages.

"The recommendations, six in all, are designed to attack underage drinking because alcohol is generally the first drug young people try and is considered 'the premiere gatekeeper' to illegal drug use, Arkansas Drug Director Fran Flener said."

Other recommendations included keeping the state's minimum drinking age at 21 and enforcing its social host liability law, which holds individuals responsible when underage drinking occurs on their property. Source: Arkansas News Bureau

Labels: teenage_drinking, underage_drinking, alcohol_sales

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A team of researchers from the U.S., Britain and New Zealand have found that teens who begin drinking or using drugs before age 15 are more likely to engage in risky behavior well into their 30s than are individuals who remained mostly sober until much later. The risk was prevalent regardless of the teens' backgrounds or family histories.

"The 'good kids,' who were without behavior problems as children and didn't have any of the family risk factors, but who began using drugs and alcohol before 15, ended up being 3.6 times more likely to be dependent on substances at age 32. They were also more likely than the other good kids to wind up with a criminal conviction and a herpes infection."

The study did not find the same results for kids who tried alcohol or drugs just once or twice. It was only the kids who were "invested" in a lifestyle of regular use that were at risk. Source: PsychCentral

Read more: Higher Risks in Early Drinkers

Labels: consequences, adults, early_drinkers

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Methadone, a chemical used to treat adult heroin addicts, may help teenagers who are addicted to heroin and other opiate drugs, according to a study from Ireland.

Currently, European doctors are restricted from prescribing methadone to people under the age of 18. However, the new study, which focused on 19-year-old addicts, found that methadone could be helpful during treatment. Teenagers in Europe are increasingly experimenting with opiate drugs, especially heroin and prescription painkillers, as are their peers in the United States.

Methadone is widely used to treat adult heroin addicts in the United States.

Labels: heroin, addicts, methadone

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Dr. Gabor Mate, a physician and bestselling author, warns that stigmas associated with drug abuse and addiction prevent addicts from getting the help they need.

"People addicted to power, money, sex, or gambling are not judged or looked at in the same light as drug addicts... 'People think that there is freewill involved,' said Mate."

This misconception often causes roadblocks when physicians, psychologists, and others attempt to open clinics or rehab centers for drug addicts, Male said Until the stigma is removed and people realize that drug addiction is a disease, he said, addicts will not be able to get all the help they need. Source: Cambridge Times (Canada)

Labels: support, judgement, compassion

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A study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that children who experiment with alcohol before age 15 are more likely to develop alcohol dependency as adults.

NIAA researchers analyzed records of more than 22,000 young people and found that those who took a first drink before age 15 had more drinking problems later in life than did those who delayed experimenting with alcohol.

The findings may indicate that parents should not offer a child and even young adolescent an alcoholic beverage because it could act as "trigger" for a problem, especially among those who have a genetic predisposition toward addictions.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, addiction

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