Teen Drug Help
Painkiller Abusers Often Rely on 'Leftovers' from Friends, Report Says
According to a 2008 study, which is appearing this week in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, almost all abusers of opioid painkillers obtain the drugs from a friend or family member who had a prescription.
The study, conducted in Utah, involved 5,300 adults. Of the 2 percent of adults who reported using an opioid painkiller not prescribed to them, 97 percent reported obtaining the drug from a friend or family member. And most of the time the friend or family member gave them the drug willingly.
Report co-author Erin Johnson, project coordinator for the Utah Department of Health's Pain Medication Management and Education Program, commented: "We found that one in five patients are prescribed opioids and the majority of those have leftover medication. With all these excess pills, there is a great likelihood of misuse and abuse that could result from that. So dispose of your leftover pain medication immediately."
According to the report by Johnson and her team, 85.2 percent of people who used an opioid without a prescription said the drug was given to them by someone who did have a prescription, and 9.8 percent said they took the medication without the knowledge or permission of the owner. Only 4.1 percent said they had bought the drug.
(Source: businessweek.com)
Labels: painkillers, prescription drugs
American Teens Think Smoking More Risky than Drugs, Alcohol
According to a new national study, American teenagers believe that smoking cigarettes is riskier than consuming alcohol or using illicit drugs. The study, conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), included survey responses from 44,979 adolescents, aged 12-17, who took part in the 2007 and 2008 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Study authors expressed concerns that teens may be more likely to experiment with alcohol or illegal substances if they believe that the risks associated with using drugs and alcohol are low. Pamela S. Hyde, SAMHSA administrator, said in a news release:
"We are on the right track with cigarette smoking and need to keep raising awareness among teens about the dangers of other substances. Understanding that perception of harm is a strong predictor of potential substance use among young people can help guide the development of substance prevention messages."
SAMHSA researchers found that perception of risk relating to cigarettes was fairly constant among all respondents. However, perception of risk with regard to alcohol and other substances varied widely by age and gender. For example, more than two-thirds (70 percent) of respondents believed smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day to be a major health risk. By contrast, only 40 percent of respondents believed binge-drinking (consuming five or more drinks at a time once or twice per week) posed a major health risk.
(Source: businessweek.com)
Labels: cigarettes, teen smoking, teen substance abuse
Partnership for a Drug Free America and Hershey Company Team Up with Parents to Help Kids Make Healthy Choices
The Partnership for a Drug Free America and the Hershey Company are teaming up to launch "Sweet Talk Tools for Families" -- a new website offering tips and tools to help parents communicate with kids about making healthy choices. The site focuses on encouraging parents and kids to bake together as an opportunity to talk, share personal experiences, work together and listen to each other.
Jennifer Goss, community relations manager for The Hershey Company, commented on the new program: "Nothing is more important than spending quality time with your kids, and the kitchen offers wonderful opportunities for getting together. While you're checking out recipes, mixing and baking chocolate treats together, you can catch up on your children's busy lives, and talk about some serious subjects in a relaxed setting."
"Sweet Talk Tools for Families" utilizes useful talk tips such as Teachable Moments, a communication strategy developed by the Partnership, as well as five simple Hershey recipes that parents and kids can use together.
Andy Phillips, national director of corporate relations for the Partnership, explained: "Talking with kids about the risks of drugs and alcohol isn't as hard as parents think and these unique Sweet Talk tools help make these conversations easier with free, research-based tools and tips to help parents and caregivers have ongoing discussions with their kids."
The "Sweet Talk" site is part of the Partnership's nationwide initiative Time to Talk, which reinforces the significant influence of parents in helping children make healthy choices. The Partnership champions the idea that parents can minimize the risk of drug and alcohol abuse by being heroes in their kids' lives.
(Source: prnewswire.com)
Labels: communication, healthy choices, parental-involvement
Cocaine or Ecstasy Use in Adolescence Increases Risk of Addiction
New research from the University of Valencia (UV) indicates that exposure to ecstasy (MDMA) or cocaine during adolescence may increase vulnerability to addiction in adulthood.
José Miñarro, lead author of the study and coordinator of the Psychobiology of Drug Addiction group at UV, commented: "Although MDMA and cocaine are psychoactive substances frequently used by teenagers, very few studies have been done to analyse the short and long-term consequences of joint exposure to these drugs."
Miñarro and colleagues studied the joint consumption of different drugs in order to examine any interactive effects. Over an eight-day period, the researchers administered MDMA, cocaine and saline solution to adolescent mice.
According to Miñarro, "The animals exhibited an increase in vulnerability to re-establishing behaviour (relapse), showing a preference for certain environments previously associated with the pleasant effects of the drug."
The results of the study emphasize that "reinforcing effects" are more prominent in mice exposed to cocaine and MDMA in adolescence than in mice not exposed to these drugs during adolescence.
As Miñarro explained, "Adolescence is a critical stage in development, during which time drug consumption affects plastic cerebral processes in ways that cause changes that persist right through to adulthood."
(Source: sciencedaily.com)
Labels: cocaine, drug addiction, ecstasy
Sweet Tooth and Depression in Children May Predict Alcoholism
A new study indicates that a sweet tooth in children may be an indicator for problems with depression and, later, alcoholism.
The study, conducted by the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, included 500 children ages 5 to 12. The children were asked to taste five samples of sugar (sucrose) water with varying amounts of sugar and indicate their preferred level of sweetness. About one-fourth of the participants had depressive symptoms and 49 percent had a family history of alcoholism.
Researchers found that a liking for intense sweetness was greatest in the 37 children with both depressive symptoms and a family history of alcoholism. Among these children, the preferred level of sweetness was 24 percent sucrose -- the equivalent of 14 teaspoons of sugar, or about twice as much sugar as the average soda. The other children participating in the study preferred about 18 percent sucrose, or one-third less sugar.
The researchers believe that more study is needed to establish whether a liking for intense sweetness is a reliable indicator of later alcohol problems.
Study author Julie A. Mennella, a developmental psychobiologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, said in a news release: "We know that sweet taste is rewarding to all kids and makes them feel good. In addition, certain groups of children may be especially attracted to intense sweetness due to their underlying biology. At this point, we don't know whether this higher 'bliss point' for sweets is a marker for later alcohol use."
(Source: www.businessweek.com)
Labels: alcoholism, depression, sugar
Illinois Mom Organizes Drug Forum After Three Young People Die of Heroin Overdose
Parents in Lake Zurich, Ill., are concerned about teen heroin use, especially because three Lake Zurich High School alumni have died of heroin overdose within the past 14 months. One mom, Michelle Hines, is taking action. She has initiated a local drug forum where parents can learn about drug use in their community.
Hines commented: "When I found out about all the kids dying, I thought, 'Enough already.' Someone's got to do something. We've got to fight back. Heroin is in our town and kids are dying. If parents don't know it's here, then they can't educate their kids. We're doing the best we can to let them know."
In December 2008, 19-year-old Kelly Gawron, a Lake Zurich High School alumnus, was discovered dead in her bed after overdosing on heroin. Then, in June 2009, a 22-year-old former student died in the hospital three days after he overdosed on heroin. Only one month later, a 21-year-old former student died in a halfway house of an overdose.
Needle marks, also called "track marks," used to be a tell-tale sign of heroin use. However, with a dramatic increase in the purity of heroin available over the last few years, users no longer need to inject heroin. The drug can be smoked or snorted. One objective of the forum is to inform parents about changes like these. Another objective is to fight the "not my kid" attitude that many parents may have.
Hines commented: "There have been so many parents who believe this would not happen to their kids. Their kids are in sports. Their kids are in every activity, and there's no sign of foul play. The signs aren't the same anymore."
(Source: dailyherald.com)
Labels: drug overdose, heroin
Ecstasy Carries High Risk of Death Even for Young, Healthy
Ecstasy-related fatalities seem to include a greater number of otherwise healthy teens than other stimulant-related fatalities, according to a new study by a professor from England's University of Hertfordshire School of Pharmacy and researchers at St. George's University of London's International Centre for Drug Policy. The report covers an 11-year, UK-wide analysis of mortality from stimulant-type drugs.
For the study, researchers reviewed stimulant-related deaths from a government database and from the British Crime Survey 2001-2007. They identified 832 amphetamine and methylamphetamine-related deaths and 605 ecstasy-related deaths. Methylamphetamines include such drugs as speed and crystal meth. In the course of this research, the scientists noted a disturbing trend: Ecstasy-related fatalities were usually identified in victims who were young and healthy.
Professor Fabrizio Schifano, lead author of the paper which will be published online in Neuropsychobiology, commented on the findings: "These data seem to support the hypothesis that young individuals seem to suffer extreme consequences after excessive intake of ecstasy. This is an issue of public health concern which deserves further studies. Ecstasy and amphetamines are very similar -- they are part of the same pharmacological group. But ecstasy does seem to show an intrinsic toxicity that is higher than that of amphetamines."
(Sources: sciencedaily.com; reuters.com)
Labels: death, ecstasy
Teens Who Drink with Parents Still at Risk for Alcohol Problems, Study Says
Parents who allow their teens to drink with them as a way to teach responsible drinking behavior may be doing more harm than good, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The study, which included 428 Dutch families with two children, found that the more teenagers were allowed to drink at home, the more they drank outside of the home. In addition, teens who drank either with their parents or on their own were at higher risk for developing alcohol-related problems. These problems included difficulty with school work, truancy and fighting.
The findings call into question the practice of allowing teens to drink at home with their parents as a way to teach responsible drinking behaviors. This practice is fairly common in the Netherlands, where the study was conducted. Researchers say, however, that the practice is not supported by scientific evidence.
Dr. Haske van der Vorst, lead researcher on the study, commented: "The idea is generally based on common sense. For example, the thinking is that if parents show good behaviour -- here, modest drinking -- then the child will copy it. Another assumption is that parents can control their child's drinking by drinking with the child.
"If parents want to reduce the risk that their child will become a heavy drinker or problem drinker in adolescence they should try to postpone the age at which their child starts drinking."
(Source: sciencedaily.com)
Labels: parental drinking, teen drinking
Negative Parental Expectations Encourage Misbehavior in Teens
A new study indicates that teens are more likely to conform to negative stereotypes when their parents expect them to do so.
The study, conducted by professor of psychology Christy Buchanan of Wake Forest University and co-authored by Johna Hughes of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, included more than 250 adolescents and their mothers. The adolescents were surveyed in sixth or seventh grade and then again a year later.
Buchanan commented on the implications of the study: "Parents who believe they are simply being realistic might actually contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Negative expectations on the part of both parents and children predict more negative behaviors later on. Higher expectations for risk-taking and rebelliousness predict higher levels of problem behavior, even controlling for many other predictors of such behavior."
Buchanan believes that parents who expect their children to become rebellious when they become teenagers may be making a significant mistake. Parents' assumptions that their kids will act a certain way may communicate to their children that something is wrong if the children don't act that way:
"Sometimes parents expect more negative behavior from their own adolescents than they should, based on the adolescent's history of behavior. By thinking risk-taking or rebelliousness is normal for teenagers and conveying that to their children, parents might add to other messages from society that make teenagers feel abnormal if they are not willing to take risks or break laws. This can mean, for example, that when parents expect teens to drink before they turn 21 or to engage in other risky behaviors, kids are less likely to resist societal pressures to do so."
(Source: sciencedaily.com)
Labels: behaviors, parents, teen risk taking
Project Shows Teens 'Your Face on Meth'
Mendocino County, Calif., is launching a new anti-meth project that uses image-altering software to show teens what their faces might look like after prolonged use of the drug.
The Face2Face project is being spearheaded by Sheriff Tom Allman. Using the software, Allman is able to show kids what they might look like three months, six months, a year and even three years into a methamphetamine habit.
Allman commented on the effectiveness of his method: "You're young. You're vibrant. You have great-looking skin. Your hair is there, your teeth are there. The software ... morphs it into causing the physiological effects that meth causes -- the open scabs, the droopy skin, the hair loss. It strikes at the vanity of teenagers. Some kids start crying when they see the devastating effect meth can do to their complexion. It was the way to crack the nut -- to say, 'This could happen to you.'"
The addiction rate after first-time use of methamphetamines is extremely high -- around 90 percent, Allman claims. Thus, Allman's goal is to prevent first-time use.
(Source: www.npr.org)
Labels: meth, teen drug use
Teen Drinking May Lead to Irreversible Brain Damage
A recent study led by a University of California, San Diego neuroscientist suggests that teen drinking may lead to irreversible brain damage.
Susan Tapert and colleagues compared the brain scans of teens who drink heavily with the scans of teens who don't. They found that teens who drink heavily sustain damage to brain nerve tissue, which negatively affects attention span in boys and the ability to comprehend and interpret visual information in girls.
Tapert commented on the findings: "First of all, the adolescent brain is still undergoing several maturational processes that render it more vulnerable to some of the effects of substances.
"For girls who had been engaging in heavy drinking during adolescence, it looks like they're performing more poorly on tests of spatial functioning, which links to mathematics, engineering kinds of functions.
"For boys who engaged in binge drinking during adolescence, we see poor performance on tests of attention -- so being able to focus on something that might be somewhat boring, for a sustained period of time."
For the study, the researchers looked at 12- to 14-year-olds before they used drugs or alcohol. Over time, some of the teens began drinking, a few rather heavily. Tapert's team compared those who began drinking with those who did not, and found that the binge drinkers performed significantly worse on cognitive tests.
Tapert explains that the result actually surprised her: "These results were actually surprising to me because the binge drinking kids hadn't, in fact, engaged in a great deal of binge drinking. They were drinking on average once or twice a month, but when they did drink, it was to a relatively high quantity of at least four or five drinks an occasion."
(Source: www.wbur.org)
Labels: binge drinking, brain damage, teen drinking
