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Putting new taxes on alcohol or raising existing taxes to account for inflation would prevent 600 to 800 deaths a year, according to a study from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• Researchers looked at the number of alcohol-related deaths in Florida and compared them to the financial burden imposed by alcohol excise taxes, and found when taxes went up, death rates went down.
• If Florida taxes on liquor had been allowed to rise with inflation, the tax on distilled liquor would be $14 a gallon, and the tax on wine would be $5 a gallon.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: law, death, prevention

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Certain children with "anxious temperaments" are more likely to engage in teen substance abuse. Early detection and intervention of anxiety disorders among children may prevent later drug and alcohol use among adolescents and teenagers, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin.

"Children with anxious temperaments suffer from extreme shyness, persistent worry and increased bodily responses to stress," said Professor Ned Kalin, lead author.

"It has long been known that these children are at increased risk of developing anxiety, depression and associated substance abuse disorders," Kalin continued. "We believe that young children who have higher activity in (certain) brain regions are more likely to develop anxiety and depression as adolescents and adults, and are almost more likely to develop drug and alcohol problems in an attempt to treat their distress."

This study appears in the journal Nature.

Labels: substance use, anxiety, prevention

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Former troubled teen Alfred Murillo knows that if someone hadn’t intervened in his life 30 years ago, today he’d likely be in a jail cell or a coffin. When he was 15-years-old, he caught the attention of a 65-year-old street minister named “Augie” who believed Alfred had potential.

“’He told me that regardless of my past, I still had something to give and my choices mattered,’ recalls [Alfred], now 45. ‘you could tell that he genuinely cared. He came to the house and talked to my mom and me and gave me some direction. Augie helped me get the courage to make big changes in my life, and I could see that being in a gang was literally a dead end.’” [Source: The Deseret News]

Today, Alfred is paying that favor forward by reaching out to kids in the Glendale neighborhood of Salt Lake City. He distributes backpacks, cloths and food. He also meets one-on-one with kids he thinks have potential. His hope is that, in 30 years, some of them will pay it forward, too.

 

Labels: prevention, awareness, mentor

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Steven Adler is best known for a career that ended almost as quickly as it began. As one of the original members of the rock band Guns N’ Roses, Adler was just beginning to enjoy his band’s fame and fortune when drug and alcohol addictions got him fired.

For nearly 20 years, Adler sank deeper into his addictions, suffering multiple overdoses, jail time and even a stroke.

“It’s a struggle he graphically recounts in the recently released memoir My Appetite for Destruction. ‘I wore my heart on my sleeve with this book,’ Adler says. ‘I’m here to show all the underdogs that you can survive and you can succeed.’” [Source: Postmedia News]

Adler admits he spent most of the past 20 years blaming his former band mates – believing they let him down, betrayed him, when they fired him. He’s just beginning to realize that he was the one who let them down.

His addictions prevented him from playing – he couldn’t do his job, so there was no reason he should have been allowed to keep it. Adler is now clean and sober, and has started his own band – Adler’s Appetite – which has embarked on a 50-city tour.

Labels: addiction, recovery

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 0 Comments

Though it’s currently legal, the synthetic cannabinoid K2 is being banned by an increasing number of U.S. cities. Dallas and East Texas are two of the most recent cities to ban K2, which is also referred to as "Spice."

“The decision for Dallas comes on the heels of an investigation into what could be the first K2-related death in the country. And in East Texas, two men in their 20’s were hospitalized in Jacksonville from smoking K2. Since then, there have been two more K2 medical emergencies in North Texas.” [Source: KCEN-TV (TX)]

People treated for K2-related medical problems typically complain of severe chest pains and heart palpitations. Some patients suffer long-term heart damage.K2 was originally created as a type of incense, but recent claims that smoking it causes “marijuana-like” experiences have compelled young people to misuse it.
 

Labels: k2

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Officials in Cheshire, Connecticut, have worked for years to curb underage drinking. Some of their strategies have worked better than others, and now they’re trying a new one – focusing on parents.

“For the next three weeks, local radio airwaves will carry a message directed at parents, asking that they reconsider facilitating their child’s desire to drink by holding parties in what they consider to be ‘safe’ environments. The commercial, which will feature the voice of Cheshire Police Lt. Jay Markella, has already begun playing …” [Source: Cheshire Herald]

The commercials were funded by a grant to the Cheshire Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking. Cheshire Youth and Social Services Director Michelle Piccerillo says the commercials are necessary in order to persuade parents away from their casual belief that drinking is just “part of growing up.” Piccerillo hopes that, as parents learn about the dangers associated with underage drinking, they’ll steer their kids away from it.

Labels: teen drinking, prevention, awareness

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

A new study of laboratory animals found that exercise decreased cocaine-seeking behaviors among adolescents.

• Researchers at the Brookhaven Laboratory and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Laboratory of Neuroimaging exposed a group of "teenage" rats to cocaine that they could administer themselves.
• Then they allowed some control animals to be sedentary while others ran on treadmills.
• The adolescent rats who exercised also decreased the amounts of cocaine they used.
• Female rats tended to use more cocaine than males and preferred not to exercise more often than males.

"This is a first step in trying to understand the connection between exercise and substance abuse," said lead author Peter Thanos.

The study was published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

Labels: research, cocaine, treatment

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Drug addicts are at increased risk of contracting and transmitting HIV infections. Therefore, helping drug addicts could possibly curb the number of new HIV infections worldwide, according to information presented at the 18th International AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria.

Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said that many drugs increase sexual desire and impulsivity while decreasing the function of the inhibitory systems of the brain. Even after a person stopped using drugs, impulsive behaviors can persist for years.

"If you do not treat the addiction," she said, "the likelihood of any individual being infected by HIV becomes higher. "

For example, Volkow noted that substituting methadone for heroin reduces the rate of HIV transmission from 20% to 2% over a period of 18 months.

"Addiction is a chronic disease," Volkow said. "People take drugs, not because the individual wants to but because they have lost their ability to control."

Labels: health problems, addiction treatment, treatment, high risk behavior

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 2 Comments

Massachusetts now has three "sobriety-intensive" schools to help students who have drug or alcohol dependencies. Students not only take academic classes, they also attend counseling sessions and are required to be tested for drugs and alcohol once a week.

Will Luzier, director of the Governor's Interagency Council on Substance Abuse said the state needs more such schools, even though they are expensive.

Nationwide, there has been a 400% increase in the number of people over age 12 years old admitted to treatment programs for addiction to pain medications in the past few years. One study found that 26% of high school students in Massachusetts were offered, sold or given drugs on the grounds of their schools.

For students who don't have access to public-funded sober schools, a private residential boarding school for teens with drug and alcohol problems may be answer.
 

Labels: drug addiction, alcoholism, teens, schools

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

A small study funded by the National Institute of Health found that teenagers who stopped using marijuana will regain some cognitive deficits; however, their attention deficits will persist.

The researchers recruited 19 marijuana user and 21 teenagers in the same age group (15 to 19 years old) from similar backgrounds who did not use marijuana. Every participant completed tests three days, two weeks, and three weeks after the users stopped smoking marijuana.

Teen marijuana users had lower scores on tests of verbal learning and verbal memory, as well as attention deficits. After abstaining from marijuana for a few weeks, they improved in verbal learning and verbal memory and not in attention deficits.

The study appeared in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
 

Labels: marijuana, teen drug abuse, brain chemistry

Posted By: CRC Health Group 0 Comments