According to a Feb. 19 article by Harriet Vaughan and Bonnie Burch of The Tennessean, a Tennessee woman has been punished for allowing teens to drink alcohol during a party at her house.

Simone Meyerowitz's sentence included being ordered to make a $2,000 contribution to the Boys & Girls Club of Franklin and Williamson County, plus $50 fines on each of 12 misdemeanor counts, in Circuit Court with Judge Jeff Bivins presiding.

"The charges, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and allowing underage adults to consume alcohol, stemmed from Meyerowitzs daughters 17th birthday party held last July," The Tennessean reporters wrote. "The police report stated that alcoholic beverages were served to 12 individuals ranging in age from 15 to 19 years old."

With laws varying from state to state, parents who host teen parties should be aware of their legal obligations -- as well as their parental responsibilities for ensuring the safety of their children and guests.

Labels: parental_involvement, laws

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Police in New Rochelle, N.Y., recently completed a training exercise to equip them to take a more effective role in the fight against underage drinking.

Shawn Cohen of lohud.com reported on the training in a Jan. 26 article:

About 85 police officers from 24 jurisdictions participated in the half-day training exercises on how to prevent underage drinking and safely disperse underage gatherings involving alcohol.

The event was sponsored by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in partnership with several groups including New Rochelle FOCUS (Families Organized to Curb the Use of Substances). ...

"House parties are chaotic and, when police departments respond to them, they're placed in chaotic situations," [said Bruce Kelly, coalition coordinator for FOCUS and a former investigator and prosecutor in the Westchester District Attorney's Office]. This training gives them effective ways to deal with the chaos and also make sure kids and parties are dispersed safely."

Labels: laws, underage drinking, parties

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According to North Carolina Attorney General Ray Cooper, the state discovered 206 meth labs last year. Thats a 40 percent drop from 2008, and Davison County report zero meth lab busts last year.

"A combination of the law and the diligent effort of the sheriffs office has resulted in the absence of meth labs for nearly two years in Davidson County," Sheriff David Grice said. "Our office will continue to work diligently and follow all leads related to meth and any other drugs." [Source: The Dispatch]

Attorney General Cooper recently implemented an electronic tracking system that will keep state investigators informed about unusual patterns of pseudoephedrine-related purchases. Pseudoephedrine is one of the ingredients necessary to produce methamphetamine. The system will track purchases in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.

Labels: prevention, laws, meth

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Sniffer dogs in Canada will be taking a back seat in the coming months. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 to tighten the leash on use of the canines for public sweeps, siding with a high-school student and a Vancouver man who both said they were searched illegally.

"In both cases, police violated the charter right against unreasonable search and seizure by allowing their dogs to embark on general sniff searches of a school and bus depot without more concrete reasons to suspect drugs were present, the Supreme Court said." [Source: Canwest News Service]

Sniffer dogs will likely still be used in airports and along the border, Canwest reported, two areas that werent addressed in the Supreme Courts ruling.

Labels: laws, canada, privacy

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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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On April 13, a new set of federal regulations went into effect in the United States in an effort to control the Internet-based sale of prescription medications. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 aims to prevent illegal online sales and purchases of these commonly abused substances.

Unscrupulous or 'rogue' Internet pharmacies exist to profit from the sale of controlled prescription medicines to buyers who have not seen a doctor and don't have a prescription from a registered physician. The pharmacies lack quality assurance and accountability, and their products pose a danger to buyers. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)

The new set of regulations includes a requirement of at least one face-to-face meeting between patient and doctor before a prescription is given, and the registration of online pharmacies.

Labels: laws, prescription drugs, drug_abuse, internet

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One of the ingredients used to make methamphetamine can be found in an over-the-counter drug. In 2005, the state of Iowa limited the availability of that drug in hopes of curbing meth production in the state. It worked for a while.

"'The law has been real effective, but like any criminal, you give the bad guys long enough and they'll find ways around the law,' said Darren Grimshaw, a police lieutenant in Burlington..."

Before the 2005 law was enacted, effectively limiting how much of a particular over-the-counter drug could be purchased by one person in a 30-day period, police were seizing 25 to 30 meth labs a year. The total dropped dramatically to three to five a year after the law, but is beginning to rise again. The state is now considering enacting a law that would allow electronic tracking of the over-the-counter drug's purchase.

Labels: laws, meth, rise_in_use

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Just before it broke for the holidays, Congress passed a bill that severely cut federal funding of drug task forces nationwide. Programs that combat illegal drug trafficking, substance abuse, gang activity and violent crime were significantly affected.

"In Nebraska, the money has supported nine regional drug task forces and one statewide drug task force since the early 1990s... The cutbacks put in jeopardy about three dozen investigators, said Mike Behm of the Nebraska Crime Commission. In addition, the task forces face uncertainty."

The Byrne anti-drug grants were one of the most affected, being cut from $525 million in 2007 to just $170.4 million in 2008. The Bush administration said the cuts were made because the program has not proven effective.

Labels: laws, task_forces, funding

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A new law enacted in Kentucky could cause people who manufacture methamphetamine to lose their homes or vehicles. The law requires a "full cleanup" and applies to any structure in which more than 2 ounces of meth have been manufactured.

"A full cleanup means everything inside the house has to be thrown away& The price is $10,000 for an average house. However, depending on the size, the price could reach $20,000."

The process of manufacturing meth leaves behind residue that poses health and environmental threats to any future occupants of the home, and only certified contractors can conduct the cleanup.

Labels: health_problems, laws, meth

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Authorities in Massachusetts are cracking down on parents who serve alcohol to teenagers in their homes.

Police in that state are arresting parents under a law called "the Social Host Law," which says that an adult who owns or controls property where teenagers are drinking can be charged with a crime, even if he or she does not provide the alcohol directly to the underage children.

"The notion that providing alcohol at home creates a safe drinking environment is not true," said Ralph Hingson, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research. "It behooves parents to try to do everything they can to delay the onset of drinking for young people."

According to statistics from that Institute, 5,000 people under age 21-years old die every year from alcohol-related problems, including 1,900 in automobile accidents.

Hingson noted that many studies show that the earlier a teen starts drinking, the more likely it is that he or she will develop a dependency on alcohol.
 

Labels: alcohol, parental_involvement, laws

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

St. Clair County, Michigan has launched a campaign aimed at adults who provide alcohol to teenagers. While teens may like the idea of having the “cool parent” who hosts parties and lets kids drink, that parent could end up in jail. A new ad campaign sends a warning.

Billboards have been seen throughout the county, with [Sheriff Tim] Donnellon and [Prosecutor Mike] Wendling photographed standing in front of the bars of the old county jail, with this caption: "Provide alcohol to minors and the party stops here."[Source: The Times Herald (MI)]

Studies have shown that the younger a child is when he starts drinking, the more likely he will become an alcoholic. In addition, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that about 5,000 minors die every year as a result of underage drinking. Some overdose, other are killed in car and other accidents.

 

Labels: teenage_drinking, parents, laws

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

Referred to more commonly as “NRG 1,” naphyrone is similar to mephedrone, and can be legally purchased. It is also linked to the deaths of several young people in the U.K., which has led an advisory council to call for its ban.

“ACMD [Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs] chairman, professor Les Iversen, said ‘Naphyrone is a drug with the potential to cause real harm due to its potency and associated health effects... Test purchasing has demonstrated that what you think you are buying is not often what is in the packet.’” [Source: Telegraph (UK)]

Test purchasing revealed that many products promoted as NG-1 are laced with other chemicals, some of which are potentially deadly. In addition, even though it’s often referred to as a “legal” drug, it isn’t.

 

Labels: prevention, laws

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse 0 Comments