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Over the last few years, Winnebago County, Illinois officials have seen a disturbing trend related to adolescent and teen drug abuse: younger and younger people are dying from drug overdoses.

“’We’re noticing that the trend is getting young and younger. We actually this year have had a 14 year old and a 19 year old die as a result of either opiates and or heroin overdoses,’ said Sue Fiduccia, Winnebago County Coroner. You may think ‘not my teen, they would never search for drugs,’ but kids no longer need to actively search for a dealer, the drugs come to them.” (Source: WIFR-Channel 23)

Schoolyards and street corners are now popular places for buying and selling drugs. Surveys have found that most high school kids know who they’d need to talk to if they wanted to buy drugs. And most of the time, those people are fellow students.

Labels: death, teen drug abuse, overdose

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Students who are popular in high school are more likely to engage in teen alcohol abuse, according to an expert at the University of North Carolina.

• Dr. Joseph Allen has been following a group of teenagers since they were 13 years old, who are now freshmen in college.
• He found that the ones best liked by their peer group in high school were more likely to drink and abuse drugs.
• Dr. Allen thought this might no longer be the case once they entered college, because peers are more academically homogeneous in college.
• However, he found that popular students are still more likely to drink at higher levels in college than their less popular peers.

"Popular kids are well-socialized, and being part of well-socialized as an adolescent includes such things as drinking," he said.
 

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School officials from Washoe County, Nevada managed to capture the attention of a roomful of teenagers with the debut of a documentary titled “The Truth About Prescription Drug Use and Abuse.”

“At the back of the room Thursday, Davy Jones and Cathy Bandoni, whose 15-year-old son, Austin died last year after an accidental methadone overdoes, watched the video, in which they talk about his passions and finding him dead. At one point, Jones and Bandoni left the auditorium in tears.” [Source: Reno Gazette-Journal]

During an interview later, Bandoni said she’s glad the film was done “by kids for kids,” believing it’s likely to have a greater impact. Surveys have shown that prescription drug abuse by teenagers increased from 10.1 percent in 2007 to over 14 percent last year.

Labels: prescription drugs, drug prevention, students, schools, awareness

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In Connecticut, a group of parents is ready to try something different in order to protect their kids from the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse: homework. Not for the kids, but for the parents.

The as-yet-unnamed group includes 20 parents equipped with training and materials to lead intensive 12-hour workshops designed to teach skills such as how to communicate with your kids about touchy subjects and where to set boundaries. [Source: New Canaan (CT) Patch]

Robert Curry, the man spearheading the new group, says the goal is to more than talk about drugs and alcohol. Parents to lay a foundation that will help them in all areas of parenting. The program is based on a curriculum developed by the Georgia-based Active Parenting Publishers and the book How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid by Joseph Califano.

Labels: parental-involvement, substance use, prevention, awareness

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People who suffer from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are not likely to be violent unless they are also a substance abusers, according to a study from the University of North Carolina.

• Dr. Eric Elbogen and his colleagues went through the records of 34,653 people from a government health survey conducted in 2003.
• Three years later, the researchers checked whether these people had engaged in violence, including sexual assaults, attacks with guns or knives, arson, or physical fighting.
• Those who suffered from severe mental illnesses but did not abuse substances were not at higher risk to committing violence.
• However, the combination of substance abuse plus mental illness put a person at three times the risk for violence.

"The reality is you still have people with mental illness who do commit violent acts," said Dr. Elbogen. "There is a relationship [between mental illness and violence] but it's much weaker than most people think."

If you or someone you love is struggling with mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse (also known as dual diagnosis), know a range of treatment options are available to you.
 

Labels: violence, substance use, dual diagnosis, mental health

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College students who abuse the prescription drug Adderall have below average grade point averages, according to a study from the University of Michigan.

Adderall is a stimulant used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children. College students and even professors abuse it in order to enhance their powers of concentration and ability to stay awake. It is an easy drug to obtain because it is so widely prescribed.

"The most common abusers are those students who do not study and procrastinate all semester, then tried to cram an entire course worth of material into one night, " said Aimee Hourigan, of the substance abuse and prevention program at the University of North Carolina. "These students panic and are much more likely to use the drug."

The University of North Carolina conducted a survey last spring of 600 students and found that about 19% had used Adderall as a study aid in the previous month. The survey also found that 24% of male students had used it compared to 15% of the females. Previous studies have concluded that almost one in ten college professors abuse Adderall.

Labels: prescription drugs, college, adderall

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Lindsay Lohan made another court appearance this week. This time, she was fitted with an ankle bracelet that will monitor her alcohol consumption.

“The bracelet uses the same technology as a Breathalyzer, but instead of checking the breath for alcohol, it samples the perspiration on the skin. After alcohol is consumed, it eventually enters the bloodstream and a small amount is expelled through the skin.” [Source: The Associated Press]

The reporter covering Lindsay’s story for the Associate Press wondered if parents would soon be trying to use similar technology to monitor their kids. More importantly, he wondered if they should use it. Because the technology isn’t widely available, yet, parents have some time to answer that question for themselves.

Labels: alcohol, prevention

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 0 Comments