Teens who get drunk often or who use marijuana on a regular basis are more likely to be sexually active, according to a new study from Canada. The same study also found that sexually active girls are at higher risk for attempted suicide.

• Researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth.
• They found that teens who use pot are 60 percent more likely to be sexually active.
• Teen who are regular drinkers are 50 percent more likely to be sexually active.

"Teens who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior," said Peter John Mitchell, a member of the research team. "This study reveals a risk profile that may help parents as they nurture their teens to adulthood."

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use, marijuana, sex, teens

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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 of teenagers in Georgia found that hard alcohol was the most abused substance among high school students:

• Thirty-eight percent of surveyed students told researchers that they were drinkers.
• Forty-four percent of self-identified teen drinkers had consumed Scotch, bourbon, rum, vodka or whiskey within the past month.
• The majority drank at friends houses and got the alcohol from someone who bought it for them.

Researchers used data from 2,465 students in grades nine through 12 that had been collected for the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Labels: alcohol_abuse, teens

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The average teenager sees about 200 ads for alcohol on television each year. According to a new UCLA study ads for beer, liquor and alcopops are more likely to be aired on cable television when teens are watching.

Dr. Paul Chung, a professor of pediatrics, and his research team studied more than 600,000 ads on cable television. The researchers found that more ads were shown on shows that had a higher percentage of young watchers between the ages of 12 and 20 years old.

"The study did not examine whether alcohol and advertisers are intentionally over-exposing adolescents," Dr. Chung said. "The alcohol industry has consistently denied actively targeting teenagers, and our study was not designed to test that claim. However, the ultimate effect of their advertising strategies, intentional or not, appears to be greater exposure than might be expected if adults were the targets of ads."

The UCLA study appeared in the American Journal of Public Health.

Labels: teens, advertising, television

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The Community Child Protection Team of Salisbury, North Carolina, met last week to discuss teen abuse of prescription drugs and possible steps to address the problem in the community. The chairman of the group cited a recent statistic from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America that one in five American teens has abused prescription pain medication, stimulants, and/or tranquilizers.

A Salisbury attorney, Mr. Morris, shared his observations with the group: "I see it every day in court ... and the judges and DAs see it many more times daily." Morris said he believes that almost all physicians and pharmacists are honest; however, money may still be an incentive for over-vending the drug legally (a pharmacy makes $400 on a prescription for the painkiller OxyContin). OxyContin, which is the chemical cousin of heroin, may be even more addictive and more deadly.

(Source: www.salisburypost.com)

Labels: teens, abuse, prescription_drugs

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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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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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