The biennial California Healthy Kids Survey -- which evaluates drug and alcohol use by surveying thousands of students -- has revealed troublesome trends among youth in the Santa Cruz, California, area:

Thirty-six percent of high school freshmen countywide report that they have been 'very drunk' or sick from alcohol, up from 29 percent in 2005. Sixteen percent of seventh-grade students report recent binge drinking, up from 10 percent in 2005. (Source: The Press-Banner)

Marijuana use among Santa Cruz youth has also risen significantly, increasing from 18 percent in 2005 to 26 percent this year among high school freshman. Bill Manov, director of alcohol and drug services for the countys Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, told The Press-Banner that he believes drug use is up because students dont perceive the behavior as dangerous or damaging.

Labels: teen_drug_use, alcohol_abuse, drug use

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Iowa Drug Drop
On Saturday, October 31, five locations in and around Des Moines, Iowa will serve as "drug drops," where medications that are no longer needed can be handed over for safe disposal. The event is being hosted by the Polk County Substance Abuse and Addictions Workgroup.

"Prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse is a growing problem," the Des Moines Register reported in an article announcing the drug drop program. "If you have expired or unused medications dispose of them in an environmentally safe way by bringing them to one of the drug drop locations."

The following locations will host the drops:

• Ankeny Fire Station
• Wadle & Associates, PC (Urbandale)
• Northern Warren Fire Station (Des Moines)
  
• Pleasant Hill Fire Station
• Des Moines Fire Station #6

Keeping out-of-date or otherwise no longer useful medications in the house -- or disposing of them in unsafe manners -- can lead to a number of health and safety concerns, and has been identified as a contributor to rising rates of prescription drug abuse by teens.

Labels: prescription drugs, safety, iowa

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An Illinois judge is visiting area schools in an effort to prevent students from having to visit him in court. An Oct. 20 article on the website of The Plainfield Sun provided the following details about a program that is designed to convince teens to sign contracts pledging to refrain from substance abuse and other dangerous (and illegal) behaviors:

Created several years ago by Mark A. Drummond, a judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Quincy, the 50-minute program provides students with information about the consequences of poor choices.

The talk is peppered with true stories of teens who made wrong decisions and is designed to drive home this message: Encourage friends to avoid wrong behavior that might give them a criminal record or lead to the death of a friend.

"By the time a teen hits the courthouse, it is too late," said Drummond, a father of three who made a similar pact with his children when they were teenagers. Most teens want to do the right thing, and hopefully they'll encourage their peers to do the same."

Labels: prevention, illinois

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Anyone admitted to an Australian hospital after a car accident will now be tested for drugs. The mandatory testing is part of a new zero tolerance policy implemented by law enforcement.

"Each road-related casualty admitted to hospital, previously only screened for alcohol, will be tested for cannabis, ecstasy and amphetamines.

The State Government has bankrolled the $4 million blood screening project and police expect it to lead to hundreds more drug driving convictions every year. [Source: The (Melbourne) Herald-Sun]

The move comes in the wake of revelations that one in five people killed in car accidents last year were under the influence of drugs.

Labels: laws, australia, dui

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According to an Oct. 19 article by Lauren Zwaans and Ben Harvy of the Australian news website Adelaide Now, alcoholic drinks at many area clubs are so expensive that teenagers are turning to drugs -- and drug dealers are making the most of it:

Cheap illegal drugs bought at a fraction of the cost of nightclub alcohol are luring teenage partygoers into the dangers of substance abuse, experts warn. ...

Some clubs are charging premium admission prices to compensate for lost alcohol sales. ...

Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia director of drug monitoring Jason White said the exploitation by dealers of the gap between the price of alcohol and illegal drugs was concerning. "The relative cost of alcohol at some venues compared to the cost of an ecstasy tablet means that some people regard ecstasy as a better way to spend their money," he said.

Club owners told Adelaide Now theyve also noted increases in the use of cocaine and LSD.

Labels: drug use, alcohol, australia

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A major research study of drug addiction in India found that the majority became hooked on drugs after friends introduced drugs to them. An additional 35 percent said they became addicted after trying out drugs for fun and out of curiosity.

• Researchers from the National Drug Agency in India surveyed 26,840 drug addicts, most of whom were addicted to heroin or morphine.
  
• Most of the study subjects were between 18 and 40 years old.
• Ninety eight percent of the subjects had attended school.
  
• The vast majority were men.

Dr. Mahmood Nazar Mohamed said that the first taste of drugs could put youngsters in risk for addiction. He also said rehabilitation could take between one to two years depending on the level of addiction.

Labels: addiction, research, peer-pressure

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A study from from Weill Cornell Medical College suggests that friends' and parents' attitudes toward smoking may influence teens' use of alcohol and other drugs. The study also suggests gender differences in teens' substance abuse decisions:

• Professor Jennifer Epstein and her colleagues surveyed 2,406 sixth and seventh graders in New York City for this study.
• Girls were more influenced to use drugs and alcohol if their immediate peer group held benevolent or permissive attitudes toward smoking.
• If a boy thought that boys his age in general were smoking, he was more likely to use tobacco, drugs and alcohol himself.

"If a teenager feels that smoking is socially acceptable and widely practiced, they are much more likely not only to smoke but to also drink and use marijuana," Dr. Epstein said. "A parent's opinion matters. Moms and dads are critical role models and should let their attitudes against drug use be known."

This study appeared in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.

Labels: smoking, alcohol_abuse, drug use, teens, influences

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A study that was funded by Britains National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse found that about half of those who followed a six-month addiction recovery program quit abusing drugs.

An Oct. 1 Associated Press article provided the following information about the study:

British researchers monitored more than 14,600 patients across England addicted to either heroin, crack cocaine, or both. Heroin addicts were treated with oral methadone for at least six months between January and November 2008. Some patients also received counseling.

Since there is no recommended substitute drug treatment for crack, cocaine addicts only received the psychological therapy. The researchers did not compare the treated addicts to addicts who tried to quit on their own.

After six months, 42 percent of heroin users reported they had stopped injecting the drug. Among crack users, 57 percent said they had stopped. About half of the people addicted to both drugs said they had either quit or cut down.

Labels: treatment

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A report published recently by a Florida Youth Coalition found that teenagers dont have to go far to gain access to alcohol and other substances. In fact, they dont have to go anywhere at all -- they can get what they want at home.

An Oct. 2 article by Kenya Woodard of the website News-JournalOnline provided the following details about the findings:

The coalition's 14-page report consolidates information gleaned from about 180 students in Flagler's traditional middle and high schools through focus groups held earlier this year. About 75 percent of the participants were middle-school students.

In two separate sessions, different groups of students from sixth through eighth grades and ninth through 12th grades were asked to discuss topics such as substance use, and family and community issues. Coalition staff members and professionals who work with youths served as group facilitators.

A common theme in nearly all sessions was the students' exposure to alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Some students said they knew people who smoked and sold marijuana, admitted to knowing a family member or other person who uses or sells prescription drugs, and knew of peers who regularly smoked tobacco, according to the report.

Labels: drugs, exposure, access

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As if there werent enough reasons to keep kids from trying or regularly using cocaine, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has issued a public health alert concerning tainted cocaine:

Substantial levels of cocaine may be adulterated with levamisole  a veterinary anti-parasitic drug. There have been approximately 20 confirmed or probable cases of agranulocytosis (a serious, sometimes fatal blood disorder), including two deaths, associated with cocaine adulterated with levamisole.

Use of cocaine tainted with levamisole can severely reduce a persons white blood cells, which suppresses immune functions. Anyone who snorts, smokes, or injects the contaminated cocaine could experience rapidly-developing, life threatening infections.

Symptoms include high fever, chills, weakness, painful sores, and any infection that either doesnt get better or get worse quickly. If these symptoms appear, contact your local poison control immediately.

Labels: health_problems, cocaine

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Gordie Bailey is the subject of a documentary aimed at helping college students understand the dangers of hazing. Bailey, who was 18 years old when he pledged a fraternity at the University of Colorado, died from alcohol poisoning during a fraternity initiation ritual.

The documentary, titled "HAZE," was shown to University of New Hampshire fraternity and sorority members Sept. 23. Student staff writer Mallory Baker reported on the screening in the Sept. 24 edition of the school newspaper:

Gordie Bailey, was a pledge at Chi Psi fraternity at the University of Colorado in Boulder. On Sept. 16, 2004, he was sent into a local forest with his pledge class with orders to finish four handles of whiskey and six bottles of wine in the span of a half hour.

On Sept. 17, he was found dead in the library of the frat house. ...

In one respect, the message of HAZE was quite clear: College campuses nationwide have become both a haven and training ground for binge drinking, which the documentary defines as consuming five drinks in one sitting for men or four drinks in one sitting for women at least once in a period of two weeks.

In fact, according to a variety of alcohol and substance abuse experts interviewed in HAZE, 44 percent of college students in the United States are binge drinkers.

Labels: students, binge drinking, hazing

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A new study from Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that eating family dinners together is linked to lower drug, alcohol, and cigarette use among children and teenagers.

"The emotional and social benefits that come from family dinners are priceless," said Elizabeth Planet, CASA vice president.

The study documented the following for children whose families eat dinner together fewer than three times per week:

• They are twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana.
• They are one and a half times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to try drugs in the future.
• They are twice as likely to have friends who use marijuana and ecstasy.
• They are one and a half times more likely to have friends who drink, abuse prescription drugs, and use crystal meth
• They are one and a half times more likely to have friends who use drugs such as cocaine, LSD, and heroin.
  

The report also found that eating family dinners without distractions such as texting or using a Blackberry put children at an advantage, too. Children who ate infrequent family dinners that involved such distractions were three times more likely to use marijuana and tobacco, and two and half times more likely to drink alcohol.

About 59 percent of children and teenagers have dinner with their families at least five times a week. The average family dinner is 35 minutes long.

Labels: prevention, dinner, communication

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According to a Sept. 29 Associated Press article, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America has partnered with the National Association of School Nurses and the National Military Family Association to address concerns about substance abuse among teens of military families:

A key risk factor for children in military families is the fact that teens are more likely to experiment with alcohol or drugs during times of transition  and many military children have experienced multiple transitions as their parents mobilized for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan on top of ordinary military relocations, which happen on average nearly every three years.

Military teens also have easy access to prescription drugs, as many war veterans are being treated for physical or mental illnesses, the AP reported. The campaign will make resources available online, which parents can download and use to start conversations with their kids.

More information on this effort is available at www.timetotalk.org/military.

Labels: prevention, prescription drugs, military families

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