An alarmingly large number of Maine teenagers using inhalants to get high, an activity that is often referred to as huffing. For example, more than 20 percent of eighth graders in a Maine School District have tried huffing at least once.

But in the last few years, parents and school officials have increased their prevention efforts, and a June 24 article in the Republican Journal newspaper indicates that these efforts have garnered national attention:

Of those teens who die each year from inhalants, 40 percent die while trying it for the first time -- a statistic unknown to most teens or parents. Community efforts have brought the proportion of Five Town CSD eighth-graders trying huffing down to 15 percent in 2008, but too many kids are still taking risks.

"Parents usually have no idea that their kids are experimenting with inhalants, nor do they realize their own home is loaded with products that can be abused," said Dalene Dutton, executive director of Five Town Communities That Care. "Parents can quite literally save their children's lives by making a few simple changes in buying habits and becoming aware of the signs and symptoms of inhalant abuse."

Dutton was recently invited to present the work of the Five Town Communities That Care coalition at a National Academy of Sciences event in Washington, D.C. The successful work of the local coalition in using data and research to address youth behavioral problems is gaining the attention of leaders in Washington and prompted the invitation.

Teen inhalant abuse remains a troubling phenomenon throughout the United States, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimating that more than 22.9 million Americans have "huffed" at least once in their lives.

Labels: prevention, inhalants, huffing

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A "semi-autobiographical verse novel" novel by the mother of a former teen meth addict, Crank has been portrayed as a harrowing account of the rapidity with which a teen can sink into drug addiction -- and the depths to which that addiction can drag both teens and their families.

A June 22 review by Allison Spooner of examiner.com provided an outline of the novel's plot as well as a bit about author Ellen Hopkins:

Kristina [the novel's main character] is a typical, well behaved teenager; she gets good grades, she stays out of trouble, she loves her family. This all changes when Kristina goes to visit her absent, deadbeat father in an attempt to re-connect to the man she calls the "Prince of Albuquerque."

Her illusion soon crumbles as she discovers the "Prince" is a drug addict and exactly the same deadbeat her mother assumed he was. Soon Kristina is thrust head first into an addiction to "the monster."

The author states at the beginning that these events are loosely based on her experience with her own daughter's addiction, and that nothing in the story is impossible. To those who don't have any experience with addiction, it's scary to learn how fast one substance can take control (meth doing so faster than most).

Teen meth addiction can be a particularly devastating form of drug abuse. Methamphetamine is highly addictive, and can inflict significant damage upon an individual's body and mind in a relatively brief period of time.

Labels: teen_drug_use, addiction, meth

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The end of school has arrived for almost all U.S. students, and many are eager to take advantage of the lazy, hazy days of summer.

However, in addition to encouraging sloth-like behavior, summer is also the time of year when less supervision and more free time can prompt some young people to engage in dangerous behaviors such as drinking and the abuse of other drugs.

"There are ways to help prevent the incidences of underage drinking," Dale Cameron-Kody, the community wellness coordinator for Pittsford, N.Y., said in a June 16 article on the Democrat and Chronicle website. "Ask a lot of questions of your child. 'Where are you going? Who are you going with? Are you staying in one place or driving around? Do I have to worry about alcohol and drugs tonight?'"

If your child is going to a party at a friends house, call the parents that are hosting the party. Make sure they'll be home and that alcohol is not being served.

Labels: prevention, teenage_drinking, summer

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On Wednesday, June 17, the Winnacunnet (N.H.) School Board voted to increase the penalties for students who violate the school's drug policy. Winnacunnet students who are caught using alcohol or another drug three times will be permanently banned from high school sports.

Currently, if a student violates the policy, he or she is suspended for 10 days. [Students] can 'buy back' five of those days by enrolling in an approved substance abuse education program. A second offense during the season means removal from the team for the remainder of the year. (Source: Seacoast Online)

Athletic Director Carol Dozibrin said the change in policy came after the school realized it had the weakest penalties in the district.

Labels: high school, drug use

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The rate of teen prescription drug use in South Wood County, Wisconsin, is higher than the national average. DaNita Carlson, health educator for Wood County, wants parents and teens to better understand the dangers of teen prescription drug use, and take steps to prevent abuse.

"Prescription drugs are particularly dangerous when young people indiscriminately mix and share them, or combine them with alcohol or other drugs," Carlson said in an interview with the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune. "Prescription drug misuse in teens is particularly problematic because adolescence is the period of greatest risk not only for drug experimentation but also for developing addiction."

Carlson urged parents to educate themselves not only on what types of drugs kids are abusing, but where (and how) the young people are getting these substances.

Labels: teen_drug_use, prescription drugs

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Sun Street Centers Parents Creating Solutions is an organization with a simple message: Don't supply teens with alcohol. According to a June 5 article by David Nordstrand of The Californian, the organization was started by a group of parents who realized that adult-provided alcohol at teen parties was a problem:

"A lot of adults think it's OK to provide alcohol at teen parties," said Anna Foglia, executive director of Sun Street Centers in Salinas, which offers drug and alcohol-abuse programs.

Adults often do provide alcohol in the well-intentioned, but mistaken, hope that they'll be better able to control things by having a party at home. It's called "social hosting."

"It's dangerous, and it's illegal," Foglia said. "All those adults are really doing is sending a message that it's OK to drink."

Experts estimate that underage drinking is responsible for about 5,000 deaths in the United States every year.

Labels: prevention, teenage_drinking, parental_involvement

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A study from Penn State University indicates that parents who allow their teenagers to drink at home may be increasing their children's risk of dangerous drinking later in life.

Dr. Caitlin Abar, of PSU's Prevention Research and Methodology Center, studied 300 college freshmen. Half the group had parents who never allowed them to drink, and they were the ones less likely to drink heavily in college.

"The greater the number of drinks that a parent had set as the limit for their teens, the more often they drank and got drunk in college," Dr. Abar reported. Dr. Abar's study conflicts with conventional wisdom that it is best not to make alcohol into a "forbidden fruit" and better to drink with your children at home, the way some European families do.

A previous study from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found that teenagers whose parents gave them alcohol at parties were three times more likely to binge drink in college.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 87 percent of college students have experimented with alcohol and 40 percent say they regularly engage in binge drinking, which is defined as having five or more drinks at one sitting.

Labels: teenage_drinking, binge drinking, college_students

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Despite his addictions to crystal meth and gin martinis, Brad Lamm managed to sustain a career, first as a television weatherman, then as a nightclub owner. He didn't seek help for his substance abuse problem until his business partner told him their working relationship was done unless he sought treatment.

Though he didnt know it at the time, Lamm had just participated in a type of intervention called ARISE (A Relational Intervention Sequence for Engagement).

Contrary to the medical model of pathology, [psychiatrist Dr. Judith] Landaus method assumes that families and communities are inherently competent and have the capacity to heal and looks for strengths within those relationships. An "intervention recovery network" within the family functions like a board of directors, a system of checks and balances so that the addict cannot manipulate people one-on-one. (Source: The Denver Post)

Lamm is writing a book about his experiences, titled "How to Change Someone You Love." In his book, he argues against the conventional belief that friends and family members are powerless to help a loved one who has an addiction. He should know. Hes living proof.

Labels: drug_abuse, interventions, families, friends

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Schools in Oakland County, Michigan have seen a decrease in many types of drugs. But theyre seeing an increase in the use of prescription drugs among teenagers. To try and combat the problem, the county uses K-9 police units to conduct drug sweeps in the schools.

According to Sgt. Joseph Lambourn, acting coordinator of the K-9 units, all school requests for drug sweeps go through him. Ill bring in all the dogs for a full-scale search, he said. Depending on the schools request, we search cars, lockers, and/or backpacks. -- Source: The Spinal Column (Walled Lake, Mich.)

Though the county relies on drug sweeps as part of its overall effort to fight drug use, recent budget cuts have reduced the frequency of the searches.

Are you worried that your teen might be abusing prescription medications? If so, education is your first step: Take a few moments to learn about the signs, symptoms, and dangers of teen prescription drug abuse, as well as the intervention and treatment options that are available to help your family.

Labels: prevention, teen_drug_use, schools, prescription drugs

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A University of Pittsburgh professor is recommending that children and teenagers have different standards for binge drinking behaviors and blood alcohol assessments than adults do.

"The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA] definition of binge drinking was developed for adults and not for kids under 18," Professor John Donovan wrote in the journal Pediatrics. "Children and young adolescents weigh substantially less than adults and would likely achieve higher blood alcohol concentration levels ... with significantly fewer drinks."

The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern that brings a person's blood alcohol levels to greater than 0.08 grams per deciliter. At that level, a person is usually legally drunk and exhibits mental and physical impairments. The NIAAA standard is five drinks for a man and four drinks for a woman.

Dr. Donovan examined records of body compositions and alcohol elimination rates for children, adults and adolescents. He believes standards should be adjusted to the following levels:

• Ages nine to 13: Three or more drinks for children ages nine to 13.
• Four or more drinks for boys and three or more for girls ages 14 or 15.
• Five or more drinks for boys and three or more for girls ages 16 and 17.

Dr. Donovan would also believes that the definition of a "heavy drinker" should be re-defined for young people.

"When kids and young teens use alcohol, it puts them at heightened risk for later alcohol and drug dependency, delinquency, early pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as involvement in motor crashes," he wrote.

Labels: teenage_drinking

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Babies who are exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally or as infants are more likely to become hooked on cigarettes in early adulthood, according to a new study from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Roni Grad, a professor of pediatrics, assessed children during their mothers' pregnancies, at 1.5 months, at 1.5 years, and again at ages six, nine, 11, 16, and 22 years old. If mothers smoked during pregnancy or early childhood, their children were more likely to be smokers at ages 16 and 22 years old. Fathers' smoking habits did not matter.

"I would definitely discourage any mother from smoking around her child," Dr. Grad said at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society. "If they were exposed early, I would go the extra mile to keep them from experimenting because they may be at higher risk of becoming nicotine dependent very quickly."

Teen smoking has been associated with a wide range of health and behavioral problems, including the development of anxiety disorders.

Labels: smoking, parents, anxiety

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Since December 2006, more than 10,000 people have been killed as a result of the Mexican drug war. While both the Mexico and U.S. governments continue fighting to end the flow of drugs across the border, the timeless rule of supply and demand keeps the drug cartels going.

In all, 46 percent of Americans 12 and older have indulged in the often destructive national pastime of illicit drug use. This array of consumers is providing a vast, recession-proof, apparently unending market for the Mexican gangs ...

"The damage done by our insatiable demand for drugs is truly astounding," said Lloyd Johnston, a University of Michigan researcher. (Source: The Associated Press)

Federal figures on drug use show that 114 million Americans have used illicit drugs as some point, and 20 million Americans are current users of illicit substances. This level of demand motivates Mexican drug cartels to find methods, many of them violent, for continuing and expanding their business.

Is your teen struggling with alcohol dependency or drug addiction? If so, a therapeutic boarding school can provide the structure and support that will allow him to overcome his addiction and put him back on the path toward a healthier and happier life.

Labels: teen_drug_use

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According to a May 26 report by the United Press International, the annual rate of alcohol poisoning among German teenagers increased by more than 100 percent during the first seven years of the current decade:

Reports by the German Federal Commissioner for Narcotic Drugs said the number of adolescents treated in the hospital for alcohol poisoning went from 9,500 in 2000 to 23,165 in 2007. About 3,800 of these alcohol poisoning patients were ages 10 to 15, the study said.

Martin Stolle and colleagues of the German Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence in Hamburg said that the main reason for the increase was the number of intoxicated teen girls.

With a much more permissive attitude than most Americans have toward young people and alcohol, German society is thought by many to encourage responsible drinking by not forcing young people to hide their alcohol use. However, this study indicates that increased openness does not necessarily equate to a safer experience.

In addition to alcohol poisoning, teen binge drinking has been associated with a number of other health, social, and developmental problems.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, binge drinking

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