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Danielle McCarthy was 16 years old when she died. She had been given Ecstasy while at a friend's party, and didnt like the way it was making her feel. She asked friends to call for help, but no one would. Shortly thereafter, she had a seizure.

In an article on www.abc2news.com, Kelly Groft reported on the group that Danielle's parents founded in the aftermath of tragedy:

"The morning we found out she had died, we just couldn't understand," [Patty McCarthy, Danielle's mother, said]. "We were wondering, how could she have died? And the first thing that came that came out of my mouth was, 'Friends Don't Let Friends Die.'"

Unfortunately that's not always the case. That's why Danielle's family launched a non-profit organization called 'Friends Don't Let Friends Die'. The goal is simple, 'Our goal is to stop that and to educate preteens, teenagers, young adults, even parents, on the importance of picking up a phone, making a phone call, saving another person's life.'

The website is designed to attract kids with rap music and information aimed at preventing another tragedy. The Federal Government is also working to raise awareness. Frances Harding, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, says it's clear what's holding a lot of kids back, "They're scared of getting in trouble."

Since its inception three years ago, the Friends Dont Let Friends Die team has spoken to thousands of people about the importance of asking for help. Danielles parents acknowledge that her friends hesitated to get help because they didnt want to get in trouble. The message of Friends Dont Let Friends Die is that not getting help can have even greater consequences.

Labels: drugs, drug overdose

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Sleep-deprived children are more likely grow up to be teenagers who abuse drugs and alcohol, according to a new study from Idaho State University.

• Professor Maria Wong kept track of 386 children from the time they were three years old until they reached their early 20s.
  
• Children who had trouble sleeping were more likely to use illegal drugs like marijuana, heroin, and cocaine as young adults.
  
• These individuals were also at increased risk for binge drinking and blackouts.

"The bottom line is that sleep is important," said Tim Roehrs, director of research at the Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "Even if it is not causal for these relations, improving sleep will modify and minimize the risks. In the addicted adult, at least the alcoholic, sleep problems that remain after the initial acute withdrawal are predictive of relapse."

The Idaho study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: sleep deprivation, drug-abuse, alcohol abuse

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According to a policy statement released April 12 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, alcohol use among young people remains "a major problem" in the United States:

Although the minimum legal drinking age is 21 years, alcohol use by youth continues to be a major problem in the United States. Alcohol consumption can interfere with adolescent brain development, and use of alcohol early in life is associated with future alcohol-related problems.

The new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), "Alcohol Use by Youth and Adolescents: A Pediatric Concern," published in the May issue of Pediatrics (published online April 12), describes risk factors that contribute to youth alcohol use, including having friends who use alcohol, tobacco, or other substances; patterns of use in communities in which alcohol and other drugs are less expensive and easily attainable; and exposure to alcohol advertising. ...

The authors recommend additional research into the prevention, screening and identification, brief intervention and management and treatment of alcohol and other substance use by adolescents continues to be needed to improve evidence-based practices.

Labels: alcohol, teen drinking

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The Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Campus and Community Partnership has just received a 5-year extension on its grant, thanks to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. According to an April 15 article by Steven Bartlett of The Press Republican newspaper, the extension will allow the program to continue to work of reducing teen drinking and drug use in the Plattsburgh area:

We have 30 different organizations that are part of the partnership," [said project coordinator Jessica Mathews]. "We try to eradicate and reduce the use of drugs and alcohol in the community among youth 18 and under."

The Plattsburgh Campus and Community Partnerships mission is to empower the community to make healthy lifestyle choices through collaborative planning.

This is done by fostering respectful, responsible and productive citizens and by preventing alcohol, tobacco and other drug use and related health and behavior problems.

Labels: drug-abuse, teen drinking, new york

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Children who have serious respiratory problems such as asthma are just as likely as other teens to experiment with inhalants, according to a new study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

• About 4 percent of all teenagers sniff or inhale common household substances such as gasoline and glue in order to get high.
• Among teenagers with asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions, the rate was slightly higher at 4.4 percent, even though the practice may pose a greater risk to that group of teens.

The findings were based on a study of 67,850 students ages 12 to 17 years old that was conducted between 2006 and 2008.

Labels: inhalants, huffing

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The abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications is a growing problem among both adults and young people. A March 10 article on the website of Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reports on efforts to fight a rising prevalence of cough medicine abuse among teens in Victoria, British Columbia:

Teenagers in Victoria looking for an easy, legal high, have started downing cough medicine, with at least five overdosing in the past two weeks, according to the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

Workers at Victoria's Specialized Youth Detox centre are getting daily calls from parents, relatives and teachers as 14- to 18-year-olds swallow products containing dextromethorphan (DM or DXM).

"This is such a new thing for us," said Raegan Scott-Haspect, co-ordinator at the youth detox centre where teenagers trying to break addictions from crack cocaine, alcohol and marijuana are the norm.

Only two weeks ago, Grade 9 student Sarah Hackett started the Facebook group "DXM Is Not Cool!" after her friends began popping up to two dozen pills at a time.

Labels: over-the-counter drug abuse, cough medicine

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Articles about teen alcohol abuse usually involve young people who have made unhealthy (and illegal) decisions to drink.

But an April 7 report on the website of Illinois newspaper The Coal City Courant featured teens who are working to reduce the likelihood that fellow minors will be able to access alcohol:

Project Sticker Shock, an initiative sponsored by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission (ILCC), seeks to increase public awareness and educate young people, their parents and liquor retailers of the dangers of underage drinking.

As part of the statewide effort, students from Coal City High School's chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) joined the school's police resource officer Skeeter Ehrman and social worker CJ Dziuban in stickering package liquor at seven businesses.

As Kristen Arndt and Shane Webb made their way through each of the stores they affixed bright yellow warning stickers to multi-packs of beer and other packaged goods. The stickers remind buyers that the sale and consumption of liquor to minors is illegal as is the use of fake identification to obtain alcohol.

Labels: alcohol, law

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A new study from Arizona State University found that juvenile offenders who used alcohol and marijuana show problems with psychosocial maturity.

• Researchers followed 1170 offenders from ages 15 to 21 years old.
  
• The ones who decreased their alcohol and marijuana use were more likely to grow psychosocially, while the ones who continued using drugs and alcohol were more likely to stay immature.
  
• This study appeared in the journal the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Labels: drug-abuse, alcohol

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A designated driver is supposed to be a person who, before a party ever begins, agrees not to drink anything at all. But recent surveys have found that many teenagers believe the designated driver is just the “least drunk” one of the group.

“According to a new Canadian study, the first problem is 20 percent of teens start drinking and then choose a designated driver. Also, according to the Centers for Disease control, 30 percent of teens pick a driver who has been drinking. ‘Part of the problem is that we don’t really get across the correct notion of what it means to be a designated driver,’ says Len Pagano, president and CEO of the Safe America Foundation.” [Source: MyHighPlains.com]

Melissa, age 17, admits that at most parties “everyone else gets ridiculous,” and there’s one person who’s only had “four shots” and is chosen as the designated driver. Parents should remind their teenage children that drinking is illegal for anyone under 21, and should also make it clear that only a person who has not been drinking can be a designated driver.
 

Labels: alcohol

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Three Canadian communities are creating chapters of an innovative program that is designed to help at-risk youth avoid drug use and other criminal behaviors. An article on www.teenchallenge.ca provided the following details:

"The Strengthening Families Program is nationally and internationally recognized as best practice for its success rate with high-risk youth from 14 to 18," says Susan O'Neill, manager of the Saint John Branch of the John Howard Society.

The society is rolling the program out in three locations - Saint John, Tobique First Nation and the rural area outside Campbellton, thanks to funding from the federal Youth Justice Fund, she said. ...

Young people and their families can be referred to the program by probation officers, or they can refer themselves, she said.

"We are targeting the most at-risk children, those who have become quite seriously involved with illicit drugs, and in that case they are usually coming through the justice system," she said.

Labels: drug prevention

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

If teenagers live near a store that sells tobacco and liquor, they are more likely to smoke and drink, according to a new study from the University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University.

Dr. Joshua West and his colleagues removed the risk factors such as peer pressure in order to study only the effect of living near a liquor and tobacco retail outlet.

"It turns out that proximity to a retailer is important to an adolescent's decision to use alcohol and tobacco," said Dr. West. He believes the reason may be that many teenagers do not have access to transportation.
 

Labels: alcohol abuse, risks

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments