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Schools in the Lakes area of Michigan are employing K-9 units to help fight teen substance abuse. The K-9 units, from the Oakland County (Michigan) sheriff's department, assist in random drugs sweeps; however, these sweeps are expensive and may soon be reduced due to budget cuts. Currently, schools don't always request sweeps every year, but an incident can spur a request any time.

Sgt. Joseph Lambourn, acting coordinator of the K-9 units, describes the process of conducting a K-9 drug sweep at a school: "I'll bring in all the dogs for a full-scale search. ... Depending on the school's request, we search cars, lockers, and/or backpacks. There are two K-9 officers ... one works midnights and the other works the day shift but he is a circle car patrol officer and assigned to travel throughout the county."

(Source: www.spinalcolumnonline.com)

Labels: substance use, k9, schools, michigan

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The Clear Creek public school district is proposing to drop its Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (DARE) program based on evidence that the program is ineffective at keeping kids off drugs. The proposal has created an outcry among district parents who support the decades-old curriculum. According to William Modzeleski, associate assistant deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS), the number of schools that utilize DARE has decreased sharply since 2001, when the federal government pulled funding for the program after several studies indicated that the program wasn't working.

The DARE program is based on the concept of resistance training - teaching kids to say no to drugs. In recent years, however, some experts have argued that resistance training simply isn't sufficient to reach kids. Proponents of DARE say that the program is an important vehicle for getting information to kids.

James Dement, a Friendswood Police Department officer who has administered the DARE program for 10 years, believes the program makes a difference: ""Yes, there are going to be kids who use drugs no matter what you do, no matter what you tell them. ... Then, there are kids who have decided 'I'm never going to use drugs and that's it. I've decided.' But, it's the ones in between. At least you can get them that information, and they're going to make better decisions." (Source: galvestondailynews.com)

Labels: schools, prevention, awareness

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Comsewogue High School in Garden City, New York, is planning to give away home drug testing kits to parents as part of a substance abuse workshop. School officials have stated that distribution of the kits is part of a wider effort to curb teen substance abuse, but says it isn't encouraging parents to spy on their children.

Assistant Superintendent Joseph Rella commented, "We are not endorsing drug testing at home by making these kits available. ... Our philosophy is: Testing isn't treatment. If a parent suspects his child is involved with drug abuse, we recommend they see a medical professional."

The action has caused some controversy, as many experts believe that drug testing should be performed by professionals. Dr. Sharon Levy, director of the adolescent substance abuse program at Children's Hospital Boston, says that drug testing is more complex than collecting a urine sample and home test kits can be misleading: "You might be falsely reassured that your child has had a negative drug test. ... A one-time test tells you very little." (Source: www.newday.com)

Labels: schools, drug-testing

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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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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

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Classes and discussions about substance abuse help at-risk children avoid alcohol in the short-run, according to a new study from Great Britain.

• Researchers from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry tested 2506 children, average age 13.5 years old.
• The researchers worked to determine the students' risk for developing dependencies on alcohol or drugs.
• 1159 children were determined to to be at high risk.
• Of these, 624 received a school-based intervention, and the others became part of a control group.

The intervention consisted of two 90-minute sessions led by teachers who had undergone a three-day workshop and four hours of supervised follow-up.

• Within the next six months, the children were re-tested.
• The group that had the intervention were 1.7 times less likely to use alcohol.
• The intervention group members were also 55% less likely to engage in binge drinking than were the members of the control group.
• However, the long-term effects of the intervention are yet to be determined.

This study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Labels: students, schools, prevention

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