A nationwide survey of over 46,000 high school students found that fewer adolescents and teenagers are using methamphetamines. The survey also found that most kids arent using any drugs at all, NBC has reported:

Use of methamphetamines is down, along with cocaine, cigarettes and alcohol. Theres no increase in teens using LSD, Ecstasy, heroin or "date rape" drugs like GHB and Rohypnol.

One disturbing trend the survey found was an increased belief among teens that marijuana use is safe. There is a similar belief about prescription drug use as well.

Labels: binge drinking, methamphetamine

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Recovery from an addiction to methamphetamine is possible. Just ask Josh Palmer.

At thirteen, Palmer started drinking and getting high. Before long, he also making and selling methamphetamine. When he was 23-years-old, his mom died from cancer, and shortly after that, he lost his home. Thats when he realized something needed to change.

A Nov. 22 article by George Anderson of the Daily Dunklin Democrat provided the following information about Palmer's comeback from meth addiction:

Palmer said he began his path to sobriety by going through the Dunklin County Drug Court and by getting involved with a faith-based meeting at Malden in April of 2004. After becoming sober, Palmer said he got back with his wife and kids and began working in substance abuse counseling ...

He recently became known nationally after becoming involved with an anti-meth campaign through the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ... The campaign, which kicked off on Sept. 1, 2009, is scheduled to run through the end of Nov.

Palmer said he has heard that the commercials are getting people's attention and has had a "good response so far."

Palmer said he got into the campaign to try to "give hope" to those who feel hopeless.

Labels: awareness, addiction, recovery, meth, methamphetamine

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Georgia will soon launch an aggressive public awareness campaign based on the successful Montana Meth Project. The $6 million campaign will take aim at methamphetamine use, which is estimated to cost Georgia about $1.3 billion a year.

John M. Willis, editor and publisher of the Calhoun Times, provided the following details in a Sept. 3 article:

[Jim] Langford said the campaign will focus on preventing meth use among the states most vulnerable population, its young people. According to the Department of Health, 51 percent of people entering treatment for meth abuse in Georgia are between the ages of 12 and 25, substantially higher than the national average.

In 2007, 32 percent of federal drug offenses in Georgia involved meth, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Langford said Northwest Georgia had some of the highest incidences of meth use in the state of Georgia.

Langford said the Georgia Meth Project is based on similar programs in Montana and Arizona, the first two states to launch Meth Project prevention campaigns. Those states saw 45 percent reductions in teen meth use in two years, he said.

Labels: awareness, meth, methamphetamine

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"Shake and bake" methamphetamine is contributing to a spike in the number of people arrested for possession of the drug.

The number of meth-related arrests had been declining for years, but a new formula is allowing users to make methamphetamine relatively easily by combining cold pills and a few chemicals in a two-liter soda bottle and then shaking it for a few minutes.

The old way to make methamphetamine required laboratory equipment and cans of flammable liquid. Many people suffered injuries during explosions at these home laboratories.

Drug users now can make methamphetamine faster, quicker and cheaper. They can even make a small batch of meth from a few cold tablets.

Law enforcement officers have expressed concern over the new "shake and bake" recipe for meth. Methamphetamine addiction often leads to disorientation, violence, poor judgment and a number of other devastating physical and psychological effects.

Labels: meth, methamphetamine, abuse

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Experts on drug abuse have known for a long time that teenagers are more susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs than adults. Some studies show that the earlier a person starts to use drugs, the more likely he is to become an addict.

Now a new study of laboratory animals from Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois found that adult mice react differently to cocaine and methamphetamine than adolescent mice.  Young mice were much less sensitive to these drugs' capability of stimulating locomotion; in fact, it was as if the adolescent mice did not even get a dose of the drug, according to lead author Professor Justin Rhodes.

This finding is very significant because it means a teenager's first experience with cocaine or methamphetamine would probably be much less intense and more enjoyable than an adult's.

"There is a lot of data in humans that show a relationship between how your initial response predicts your later use," said Dr. Rhodes.  "If you have a strong reaction to something, then you are less likely to do it again."

He said that further studies are necessary to figure out what it is in the brain that allows adolescence to be less sensitive, because the reasons why they show different sensitivity to drugs has long-term consequences.

The study appeared in the journal Neuroscience.
 

Labels: cocaine, methamphetamine

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments