Teen Drug Help
Alabama Teens See Low Risk in Drug Use
According to the results of the Pride Survey on Student Behavior and Perception, teens believe that the risks associated with drug use are low.
Virginia Guy of the Drug Education Council in Mobile, Ala., says this trend has been developing over the past couple of years: "The last two or three years we've noticed that there has been an increased low perception of risk -- in other words kids aren't perceiving drugs as being very harmful or risky -- and we have some major concerns."
Guy attributes the trend to reduced funding for drug and alcohol education in public schools.
According to the Pride Survey, alcohol and tobacco use by Alabama teens decreased slightly this year over last year. However, use of alcohol and tobacco remains higher among Alabama teens than teens in other states. In addition, marijuana use by Alabama teens is on the rise. The study included survey responses from 280,000 students in grades six through 12 throughout Alabama.
(Source: www.wkrg.com)
Labels: marijuana, teen drinking, teen drug use
Study Links Music and Marijuana Use
According to a new study, listening to music that mentions marijuana may make teens significantly more likely to use the drug. The study included survey data collected from 959 9th graders.
Among respondents, 12 percent identified themselves as current marijuana users, and 32 percent reported having tried marijuana. Respondents were also asked to list songs that they listened to and researchers analyzed the content of these songs. The average respondent listened to 21.8 hours of music per week and heard about 40 references to marijuana in music each day.
Dr. Brian Primack, lead author, commented on the findings: "Students who listen to music with the most references to marijuana are almost twice as likely to have used the drug as their peers whose musical tastes favor songs less focused on substance use. Interestingly, we also found that exposure to marijuana in music was not associated with other high-risk behaviors, such as excessive alcohol consumption.
"This suggests that there is a real link between the marijuana lyrics and marijuana use. Although it may be that heavy exposure to music about marijuana causes marijuana smoking, it may also be that those who smoke marijuana seek out music with lyrics related to marijuana."
(Source:www.msnbc.com )
Labels: marijuana
Teen Pot Smokers Prone to Depression, Anxiety, Study Finds
Teenagers who smoke pot on a daily basis may be more susceptible to depression and anxiety in adulthood because of damage inflicted on their developing brains. This finding comes from a new study conducted by McGill University in Canada.
Scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre utilized adolescent and adult lab rats to conduct the study. The researchers found that after 20 days of exposure to cannabinoids (the active ingredient in marijuana), only the adolescent rats were negatively affected.
The adolescent rats exhibited a decrease in brain serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is known to be involved in emotional perception and that has been linked to depression. In addition, the adolescent rats showed increased levels of norepinephrine, which plays a key role in the fight-or-flight response. Increased levels of this chemical could contribute to heightened anxiety.
Gabriella Gobbi, one of the study's co-authors, commented on the findings: "Just because marijuana is a plant doesn't mean that it is harmless. Our study demonstrated that the cannabinoid, when consumed daily, can induce a permanent change in the brain."
(Source: www.canada.com)
Labels: anxiety, depression, marijuana, pot
Florida Survey Highlights Need for Increased Anti-Drug Efforts
Although the results of Florida's 2009 Youth Substance Abuse Survey were largely positive, binge drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug use remain areas of concern. Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp announced this week that the survey showed long-term reductions in drug use among middle and high school students and attributes the reductions to the success of prevention efforts.
Kottkamp reinforced the importance of the survey as a tool to track a serious threat: "Drug use threatens the health and safety of our children and their families. Children are Florida's most vulnerable residents and protecting them from the dangers of substance abuse remains a high priority. The survey is a critical tool in the effort to prevent drug use."
Alcohol use has declined steadily since 2000, but the rate of alcohol use among Florida's students continues to exceed national figures.
Bruce Grant, Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control, commented: "The results of the survey show the success of our prevention efforts over time. Yet, we still have our work cut out for us to reduce youth use of inhalants, marijuana and prescription drugs. Overall, underage drinking remains the most significant challenge we face."
(Source: www.thegovmonitor.com)
Labels: binge drinking, drug-use, marijuana, prescription drugs
Parental Monitoring Linked to Reduced Marijuana Use
A review of recent studies suggests that parental monitoring may be key in reducing teen use of marijuana. Psychologists Andrew Lac and William Crano from Claremont Graduate University reviewed 17 studies containing data on over 35,000 teens to examine the connection between parental monitoring and adolescent marijuana use. In all studies, parental monitoring was evaluated according to adolescent self-reporting, not parents' reports.
Lac and Crano found that there is a strong, consistent link between parental monitoring and decreased marijuana use in adolescents. The strongest results appeared in female-only studies, suggesting that girls in particular may benefit from parental monitoring. In their report, the authors wrote: "Our review suggests that parents are far from irrelevant, even when it comes to an illegal and often secretive behavior on the part of their children."
Chronic use of marijuana is associated with a number of negative outcomes, including depression, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.
(Source: www.sciencedaily.com)
Labels: marijuana, teen drug use
Ontario Teens: Fewer Are Drinking but Other Substance Use Behaviors Remain Steady
According to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), fewer Ontario teenagers are drinking alcohol than a decade ago. However, binge drinking and use of marijuana haven't declined in recent years.
In 2009, approximately 58 percent of students in grades 7 to 12 reported drinking within the last year – a decrease of 8 percent since 1999. However, levels of pot use and binge drinking have remained steady since 2007. About one-fourth of Ontario teens reported binge drinking within one month of the survey, and one-fourth reported using marijuana within the past year.
Study co-author Robert Mann, a senior researcher on substance abuse at CAMH, commented on the results: "If you look over the past decade, you see a lot of decline of things like drinking, smoking, use of the harder drugs. That seems to stop this year. We're concerned that the declines appear to have slowed down or stopped and it's unclear what's going to happen next."
(Source: www.theglobeandmail.com)
Labels: alcohol, binge drinking, marijuana
California Survey Reports Increasing Rates of Teen Drinking, Drug Use
According to the results of the 2009 annual California Healthy Kids Survey, released earlier this week, teen use of and involvement with alcohol and marijuana has been increasing among California youth.
The survey found that 27 percent of ninth graders have been driven in a car by someone who has been drinking, or driven under the influence themselves. This represents an increase of 5 percent since 2005.
The number of high school freshmen who reported being very drunk or getting sick from drinking alcohol increased by 7 percent to 36 since 2005. In addition, 16 percent of seventh graders reported binge drinking, an increase of 6 percent since 2005.
Teens also reported that marijuana use is fairly common. Approximately half of high school juniors reported using marijuana at some time in their lives.
(Source: www.santacruzsentinel.com)
Labels: marijuana, teen drinking, teen drug use
Australian Children as Young as 10 Are Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment
A new study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that a number of pre-teen children have sought treatment for substance abuse problems, including abuse of amphetamines, marijuana, alcohol and heroin.
The Institute of Health reports that the number of Australians getting help from treatment providers is on the rise. Last year, treatment sessions increased from 7,000 to 154,0000. The Institute also reports that alcohol is, by far, the most common substance abuse problem.
Amber Jefferson, from the Institute, recounted drug use data, including: "Alcohol comprising 44 per cent of episodes in 2007/08, compares to 38 per cent back in 2002/03 ... and alcohol treatment is followed by treatment for cannabis at 22 percent, amphetamines 11 percent and heroin at 11 percent."
(Source: www.abc.net.au)
Labels: alcohol, heroin, marijuana, teen substance abuse, treatment
Florida Teen Charged with Felonies for Pot Brownies
According to the online student newspaper for Florida A&M University, The Famuan Online, a Florida teen was recently charged with nine felony counts of poisoning food and water after he baked marijuana into brownies and fed them to two teachers and seven fellow students without their knowledge.
Every person who ate the brownies experienced adverse effects, and one student was taken to the hospital. The teen did not think that the marijuana's effects would be significant when he served the brownies.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, can cause allergic reactions, including rashes, breathing difficulty, fatigue and unusual mood swings.
According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, short-term effects associated with marijuana use can include loss of motor coordination, increased heart rate, dry mouth, anxiety, problems with memory and learning, and trouble with thinking and problem solving.
(Source: www.thefamuanonline.com)
Labels: drug-use, marijuana, pot
Teen Attitudes toward Smoking Linked to Risk for Substance Abuse
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College recently published a study exploring the specific ways that parents and peers may influence teens to smoke, drink and use marijuana.
The results of the study indicate that teens' attitudes toward smoking influence their use of multiple drugs (smoking, drinking and marijuana), and that the influence is different between boys and girls. For girls, those with friends who were ambivalent or permissive of smoking were at greatest risk for using multiple substances. For boys, the greatest predictor of use of multiple substances was the extent to which they perceived that smoking was prevalent in their peer group.
Dr. Jennifer A. Epstein, lead author and assistant professor of public health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior at Weill Cornell, commented on the study's findings: "If a teenager feels smoking is socially acceptable and widely practiced, they are much more likely not only to smoke, but to also drink and possibly use marijuana ... While the differences between how boys and girls are influenced by these social factors are subtle, they could help us develop new gender-specific educational tactics for preventing these behaviors."
(Source: www.sciencedaily.com)
Labels: marijuana, teen drinking, teen smoking, teen substance abuse
Overall Drug Use Down, Marijuana Use Up in Indiana
According to an annual survey released in August by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University, overall drug use among adolescents in Indiana has decreased, but marijuana use is on the rise.
The survey is the 19th annual "Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use by Children and Adolescents." The results show the yearly trends in drug abuse by sixth to 12th graders in 557 schools across the state. The survey collected responses from adolescents about 22 different drugs and methods of drug use, including tobacco, crack cocaine, inhalants and prescription medications.
The survey included additional questions this year on the use of drugs that are administered with syringes. Because they are placed directly into the bloodstream, drugs that are injected present a substantially higher risk of overdose than those that are ingested. In addition, syringes are vehicles for the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
Mi Kyung Jun, a research associate who worked on the survey, commented on the evolution of the survey over the years: "When we started we also surveyed fifth graders, but as time grew on their drug use fell significantly ... Also, we've had to add more drugs to the list. We are constantly changing the survey to match trends."
Jun also commented on the rise in marijuana use detected by this year's survey results: "We do not ask why ... We just monitor the use. We can say that this is very odd. They may think it is a less harmful alternative to other drugs."
(Source: www.idsnews.com)
Labels: indiana, marijuana
Pot Potency at an All-Time High
The potency of marijuana has been on the rise for the past three decades and is now at an all-time high. Average potency, measured by the concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC, is currently around 10 percent. According to government data, the average THC content of marijuana has increased by more than 150 percent in the past 25 years, from less than 4 percent in 1983 to 10.1 percent in 2008.
According to Mahmoud ElSohly, director of the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, of the thousands of marijuana samples that his labs test each year, many contain a THC content of over 30 percent. ElSohly predicts that average levels of THC concentration will continue to rise in the coming years before topping off at around 15 or 16 percent. Authorities are particularly worried about the increasing potency because high levels of THC have been shown to affect the brain much differently than lower levels. Users of higher potency marijuana are more likely to experience significant side effects such as dysphoria, paranoia, irritability, inability to concentrate, and insomnia.
(Sources: www.redorbit.com)
Labels: marijuana, pot, weed
Study Indicates that Government Anti-Marijuana Ads Don’t Work
A new study suggests that the federal government’s $1 billion anti-marijuana campaign, which is targeted at young people, may be ineffective. The study, released this month by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication, found that teens who specifically said they were exposed to the ads were no less likely to use marijuana.
In fact, the study found evidence that the anti-drug campaign has had the reverse effect for some youth. Teens who recalled seeing 12 or more ads per month were more likely to start using marijuana than those who had seen fewer messages per month. Study authors think that youth who are repeatedly exposed to images of their peers using marijuana may assume that marijuana use is typical or normal.
The ad campaign was started in the late 1990s, as a project of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, supervised by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The campaign, which is designed to reach 12- to 18-year-olds, has been waged via television and movie theater commercials, websites, and other forums. According to the study, 94% of youth surveyed reported being exposed to these messages, at an average rate of two to three messages per week.
Tom Riley, spokesman for the ONDCP, countered the study’s conclusion by saying the ads included in the study ended four years ago and the campaign has evolved significantly since then. Riley points to a steady decline in youth marijuana use in recent years as proof of the campaign’s success. Study authors agree that there has been a decline in marijuana use by youth, but argue that they could not find evidence that the government’s campaign contributed to it.
Although the effectiveness of the government campaign is in question, a separate annual study has recorded a steady decline in marijuana use among youth between 1997 and 2007. The national Monitoring the Future Study found that since the late 1990s, marijuana use has fallen at least 20% among 7th, 8th, and 12th graders. (Source: ABC News)
Labels: marijuana
