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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

ATOD and Advocacy Update - Week-Ending April 5, 2013



Study Reports College Students Listen to Advice About Alcohol
The age old method of talking and giving advice can still be very effective in preventing others from adopting unhealthy lifestyles. According to a new study done by researchers from Penn State University, talking about alcoholism might actually help prevent college students from drinking. The researchers conducted a survey and found that when parents discussed all aspects of alcoholism, ranging from why people choose not to drink to what overdrinking can do to the body, college students might actually listen and take the advice. However, the time when parents give the talk plays a huge factor. Read the rest here.


Two stories from the LA Times

Painkiller Deaths Rise Again in US
The number of deaths attributed to abuse of prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin rose again in the latest federal stats, reports the Los Angeles Times. Those types of drugs are largely responsible for a 3% increase in overall drug fatalities in 2010, say CDC researchers, and preliminary numbers for 2011 suggest things are only getting worse. In all, 16,651 people suffered fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers in 2010, a percentage that accounts for 43% of all fatal overdoses.  "While most things are getting better in the health world, this isn't," says CDC chief Tom Frieden. "It's a big problem, and it's getting worse." The spike worsened a trend that began in 2009, when drugs edged out motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death. The gap has widened, with drugs at 40,393, road accidents at 35,332, and guns at 31,672. The FDA, meanwhile, is considering a proposal that would make it tougher for doctors to hand out painkillers as if they were candy to non-cancer patients.

Prescription drug-related deaths continue to rise in U.S.
Despite efforts by law enforcement and public health officials to curb prescription drug abuse, drug-related deaths in the United States have continued to rise, the latest data show. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that drug fatalities increased 3% in 2010, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Preliminary data for 2011 indicate the trend has continued. The figures reflect all drug deaths, but the increase was propelled largely by prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin, according to just-released analyses by CDC researchers.  The numbers were a disappointment for public health officials, who had expressed hope that educational and enforcement programs would stem the rise in fatal overdoses. The rest of this story is here.




Study links military deployment with child alcohol, drug problems
A University of Iowa study finds children of deployed or recently-returned military parents are at a much higher risk of alcohol use, binge drinking and marijuana use than non-military families.  U-I Psychiatry Professor Steve Arndt, director of the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, says he was surprised the numbers were so high.  Professor Arndt says, "I expected to see some increase, but not as much as we saw and certainly not as much that it was consistent among all of the grades, even the youngest kids."  The study was based on data from the 2010 Iowa Youth Survey, which got responses from more than 78,000 Iowa students in grades six, eight and 11. The study also found when parental deployment resulted in a child not living with a parent or relative, the risk of binge drinking and marijuana use was even higher.  "We don't know if it's because one of the parents has to abruptly leave or if there's something in particular about the military," Arndt says.  "Those kids who had to go live somewhere else were far more affected by the deployment, staggeringly so." In one example, the study found sixth-graders in non-military families had binge drinking rates of about two-percent. That jumped up to about seven-percent for the children of deployed or recently returned parents.  One of the likely reasons for the higher substance abuse rates Arndt gives is "destruction of the family unit," when one parent has to be out of the household for so long. "It's clear that the families of deployed military personnel need added support," Arndt says. "Schools, community organizations, even the military itself might want to attend to that because when the soldier's family is in trouble, the soldier's not going to be quite up to their full potential." He says similar studies also identified a higher suicide rate in the same groups of students.

Drug-Related Deaths Continue to Increase in the United States
Drug-related deaths increased 3 percent in 2010, and preliminary figures indicate the upward trend continued in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports. The increase was largely driven by prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. “While most things are getting better in the health world, this isn’t,” said Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the new figures. “It’s a big problem, and it’s getting worse,” he told the newspaper. “The data supporting long-term use of opiates for pain, other than cancer pain, is scant to nonexistent. These are dangerous drugs. They’re not proven to have long-term benefit for non-cancer pain, and they’re being used to the detriment to hundreds of thousands of people in this country.” In 2010, overdose deaths involving prescription painkillers increased to 16,651. That represented 43 percent of all deadly overdoses. Frieden advocates the use of computerized drug monitoring systems that track prescriptions for painkillers and other commonly abused narcotics.


Almost One in Five High School Age Boys in U.S. Have Received ADHD Diagnosis
Almost one in five boys of high school age, and 11 percent of school-age children overall, have received a medical diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States, according to new government data. Many doctors are concerned that ADHD diagnoses and medication are overused in children, The New York Times reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found an estimated 6.4 million children ages 4 to 17 had received an ADHD diagnosis at some point. This represents a 16 percent increase since 2007, and a 53 percent increase in the past 10 years. The findings come from a CDC study of children’s health issues, which included interviews with more than 76,000 parents nationwide. About two-thirds of those diagnosed with ADHD receive prescriptions for stimulant drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin. These drugs, while they can be very effective in treating the disorder, also have the potential for addiction, anxiety and even psychosis, the article notes. The American Psychiatric Association is soon expected to change the definition of ADHD, in order to allow more people to receive the diagnosis and treatment, according to the newspaper. A growing number of high school students are using ADHD drugs to help them get better grades. Teens get them from friends, buy them from student dealers, or pretend to have ADHD in order to get prescriptions. Abusing these drugs can lead to mood swings and depression, heart irregularities and extreme exhaustion or even psychosis during withdrawal, according to medical experts. There is little evidence about the long-term effects of young people abusing these stimulants. CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden told the newspaper, “We need to ensure balance. The right medications for ADHD, given to the right people, can make a huge difference. Unfortunately, misuse appears to be growing at an alarming rate.”


ER key to curb painkiller abuse
Prescription drug abuse is a growing national tragedy. One of the biggest culprits is opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Percocet. Shockingly, more than 200 million such drugs are prescribed annually, accounting for more than 16,000 deaths a year. Significantly more people become addicted to opioids, many of which have chemical similarities to heroin. Most opioids are prescribed in the doctor's office, which has prompted some states to restrict primary care physicians like myself from prescribing them and to encourage referrals to pain specialists. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken these curbs a step further by focusing on emergency departments. In January, he announced a voluntary initiative to limit prescription of opioid painkillers in the emergency rooms of the city's 11 public hospitals. This approach should be expanded across the nation. From 2004 to 2009, the number of emergency visits in New York City hospitals related to opioid abuse or misuse more than doubled. Click here to read the rest.

Arrest Rate for Drug Abuse Violations Decreases for Fifth Year in a Row
The arrest rate for drug abuse violations has decreased for five years in a row, according to data from the national Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. In 2011, there were 491 arrests per 100,000 U.S. residents for drug abuse violations (i.e., selling, manufacturing, or possessing drugs), a 22% decrease from the peak of 633 arrests in 2006. Eighteen percent of drug abuse violation arrests in 2011 were for sales or manufacturing, while 82% were for possession. It is difficult to determine whether the most recent decrease is the result of a shift in policing and enforcement practices or an actual shift in the occurrence of drug sales and possession.
SOURCES:  Adapted by CESAR from Snyder, H. and Mulako-Wangota, J., “Arrest in the United States, 1980-2010, Bureau of Justice Statistics Arrest Data Analysis Tool, October 2012. Available online at http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=datool&surl=/arrests/index.cfm (accessed 3/26/13); and  U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2011, 2012. Available online at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/persons-arrested/persons-arrested (accessed 3/26/13).


Road to 'Drunkorexia' - The downsides of the weight-conscious alcohol boom
In a culture that's still obsessed with dieting, the U.S. weight loss industry is worth around $60 billion and growing. In recent years, there's been an important addition to that market: alcoholic beverage companies. Marketing increasingly plays to consumers' insecurities by perpetuating the myth that we can -- and should -- drink without gaining weight.  At the same time, researchers have noted a disturbing trend, especially among college students, that combines the worst of drinking and dieting. They call it "drunkorexia," which is colloquial for skipping meals or exercising heavily to "save" or burn calories, making room for drinking at night. Continue reading here.

Study Tests Safety of Drug Treatment for Meth Addiction
Researchers at UCLA are studying a drug they hope will treat methamphetamine addiction, The Huffington Post reports. In a small study, the drug, Ibudilast, appeared to be safe and eased meth addiction. The study included 11 people addicted to meth who were not seeking treatment. Some received the drug, and others got a placebo. The trial was the first of three phases of human testing required by the Food and Drug Administration for approval. It was meant to evaluate the safety of the drug taken in combination with meth, the article notes. “Very preliminary results would indicate that Ibudilast may dampen craving and improve cognitive functioning,” said Dr. Aimee Swanson, co-investigator on the trial and research director at the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine. There are currently no drugs approved to treat meth addiction, the article notes. Counseling, in-patient rehabilitation or 12-Step groups often are not effective in treating meth addiction, Swanson said. “When we see people come to participate in the trial, it’s really their last resort,” Swanson said. “Many of them can no longer hold down a job, they have strained relationships with family members. Gone went the cars, gone went the business, gone went the house, gone went the kids. The main focus of this person’s life is using meth.” Swanson noted Ibudilast may prevent activation of central nervous system cells called glial cells that have been linked to drug dependence. “When you’re on meth, your whole brain is saying, ‘I need meth,’” she said. “If you could block meth from interfering with glial, it would allow the messages that you would like to be sending and receiving to actually get to your brain.” The study took place in a hospital unit, which participants were not allowed to leave for three weeks. They received intravenous injections of meth two to three times per week while they were treated with Ibudilast. The researchers will now move on to further testing, which will be funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, according to the article.


When It Comes to Curbing Drinking, College Students Do Listen
One of the more effective ways to reduce excessive drinking in college is also the most obvious — talk to freshman before they set foot on campus. It turns out that discussing drinking in any way, including why some teens drink while others abstain, as well as the potential dangers of over-indulging, during the summer before students start school can both reduce the odds that light drinkers will escalate their alcohol intake, and increase the likelihood that already heavy-drinking teens will cut down or stop, according to new research. Read more here.


New Anti-Smoking Ads Unveiled by CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has unveiled a new series of anti-smoking ads designed to appeal to people’s emotions. They follow anti-smoking ads released last year, which the CDC said had a strong impact across the country. Last year’s graphic ad campaign featured the health consequences of smoking. According to the CDC, call volume to its national toll-free quit line, 800-QUIT-NOW, more than doubled while the ads ran. The hotline received an additional 192,000 calls, while the government’s smoking cessation website, www.smokefree.gov, received 417,000 new visitors—triple its previous traffic. The new ads started airing on TV and radio on April 1 and will run for 12 weeks, HealthDay reports. The ads also will appear on billboards, online, and in theaters, magazines and newspapers. They tell the stories of smokers whose lives were adversely impacted by smoking or by being exposed to secondhand smoke. One ad features a woman who was 16 when her mother died of lung cancer. The woman quit smoking so her own daughter would not suffer in the same way. In another ad, a man with diabetes whose smoking led to amputation, heart surgery, blindness in one eye and kidney failure, says, “Make a list. Put the people you love at the top. Put down your eyes, your legs, your kidneys and your heart. Now cross off all the things you’re OK with losing because you’d rather smoke.” “This campaign is saving lives and saving dollars by giving people the facts about smoking in an easy-to-understand way that encourages quitting,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a news release. “This campaign is effective. The increase in calls to quitlines after last year’s campaign shows that more people are trying to quit smoking as a result of these ads.”


Parents’ Deployment May Increase Risk of Kids’ Substance Abuse
Having a parent deployed in the military may increase the risk of substance abuse in teens and preteens, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Iowa evaluated data from 2010, when 1.2 million American children had a parent in the active duty military, Reuters reports. The study included 1,700 children of deployed parents, and 57,000 children from non-military families. The study focused on children in sixth, eighth and 11th grades. Among sixth graders, 12 percent who had a deployed parent had tried alcohol, and 7 percent had consumed five or more drinks in one sitting. In contrast, 4 percent of sixth graders in non-military families had tried alcohol, and 2 percent had five or more drinks in one sitting. The researchers found 29 percent of 11th graders in military families engaged in binge drinking in the past month and 15 percent had smoked marijuana, compared with 22 percent and 10 percent of their peers in non-military families. Among preteens and teens of deployed parents, 15 percent had misused prescription drugs in the past month, compared with 7 percent of children in non-military families, the researchers report in the journal Addiction. “We worry a lot about the service men and women and we sometimes forget that they are not the only ones put into harm’s way by deployment—their families are affected, too,” senior study author Stephan Arndt, PhD, said in a news release. “Our findings suggest we need to provide these families with more community support.” A study published earlier this year had similar findings. That study found having a parent or sibling who has been deployed in the military increases the risk of drug and alcohol use among middle and high school students.


Has Prescription Drug Abuse Changed?
This blog is my reaction to the LA Times article posted on March 31, 2013:  Prescription drug abuse grows even deadlier."
According to a recent report by the LA Times, CDC Director Tom Frieden said "while most things are getting better in the health world, this is not." Frieden was referring to the burgeoning problem of prescription drug abuse.  Most if not all doctors know about the addictive nature of pain killers such as Oxycodone and Hydrocodone and Percocet and many others.  They are in the difficult position of cautioning or recommending against these legally addictive but effective pain reducing drugs in favor of safer remedies that will be far more difficult for the patient to apply. Read the rest here.

Majority of Americans in Favor of Legalizing Marijuana, Survey Finds
The majority of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. The findings represent a shift in public opinion, particularly among young people, Reuters reports. This is the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue that a majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana, according to the Pew Research Center. They found 52 percent of those surveyed favor legalization, while 45 percent oppose it.
The survey found young people are most likely to support legalization. Among Americans ages 18 and 32, the survey found 65 percent favor legalizing marijuana, up from 36 percent in 2008. There has also been a shift in attitudes toward marijuana among Baby Boomers, the survey found. Half favor legalization, up from 17 percent in 1990. Almost three-quarters of people surveyed said government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth, the article notes. The survey found 60 percent think the federal government should not enforce federal laws banning marijuana use in states where the drug is legal. The survey found partisan differences in attitudes toward marijuana: 59 percent of Democrats favor legalization, compared with 37 percent of Republicans. Tom Angell, Chairman of the advocacy group Marijuana Majority, told Reuters, “You’re going to start seeing more politicians running toward our movement instead of away from it, just as we’ve seen happen” with same-sex marriage.


The War on Drugs Is Far More Immoral Than Most Drug Use
In the Washington Post, Peter Wehner advises the Republican Party to reassert itself as the anti-drug-legalization party. "One of the main deterrents to drug use is because it is illegal. If drugs become legal, their price will go down and use will go up," he writes. "And marijuana is far more potent than in the past. Studies have shown that adolescents and young adults who are heavy users of marijuana suffer from disrupted brain development and cognitive processing problems." Of course, no one is advocating that adolescent marijuana be made legal. And does Wehner understand that prohibition creates a powerful incentive for upping drug potency? But rather than focus on mistaken arguments common to drug prohibitionists, I want to address a relatively novel claim: "Many people cite the 'costs' of and 'socioeconomic factors' behind drug use; rarely do people say that drug use is wrong because it is morally problematic, because of what it can do to mind and soul," Wehner writes. "In some liberal and libertarian circles, the 'language of morality' is ridiculed. It is considered unenlightened, benighted and simplistic. The role of the state is to maximize individual liberty and be indifferent to human character." Click here to read the rest of this article.

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