Young adults who had participated in a community-based prevention program in middle school reduced their prescription drug misuse up to 65 percent, a new study finds. The researchers studied the effectiveness of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program, designed for parents and children ages 10 to 14. It aims to prevent teen substance abuse and other behavior problems, strengthen parenting skills and build family strengths. It consists of seven sessions for parents, youth and families, and includes videos, role-playing, discussions, learning games and family projects. The program reduced prescription drug abuse rates by 65 percent, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health. In a second study, published in Preventive Medicine, the researchers examined a prevention program for middle school students and their families called PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience). The researchers conducted follow-up surveys with families and teens for six years after they completed the program. They found that program reduced substance misuse rates up to 31 percent. Students who participated in the program had significantly reduced rates for use of marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, methamphetamine and inhalants. Teens and young adults who had participated in PROSPER reported better relationships with parents, improved life skills and few problem behaviors, Newswise reports. “We think the programs work well because they reduce behaviors that place youth at higher risk for substance misuse and conduct problems,” lead author Richard Spoth said in a news release. “We time the implementation of these interventions so they’re developmentally appropriate. That’s not too early, not too late; about the time when they’re beginning to try out these new risky behaviors that ultimately can get them in trouble.”
Doctors in Ireland are demanding a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sporting events, warning the beverage alcohol industry is “grooming child drinkers.” Sporting bodies are “very much in the alcohol industry’s pocket,” a communications regulatory committee was told April 17 by representatives of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI). The proposed ban is similar to smoking advertising bans in the United States, which forced a sponsorship change for NASCAR's top racing series from the Winston Cup to the Sprint Cup. Click here for the rest of the story.
Growing Numbers of Americans Support
Legalizing Pot Use
A group of high
school friends known as "the Waldos" at a San Rafael, Calif., high
school coined the term "4/20" in the 1970s as the designated time of
the day to smoke pot after school. It's 4/20 time again this week. For those
who aren't part of the millennial generation, 4/20 is unofficial "Weed
Day" in America – a counter-culture phenomenon that has drawn up to 10,000
marijuana legalization activists at college campuses in the U.S. in recent
years. In years past, Weed Day counter-culture "holiday" celebrations
have taken place on April 20 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, in several
Canadian cities, at the University of Colorado at Bolder and elsewhere. Weed
Day has also migrated to other parts of the world. Rest
of this story is here.
Researcher
Uses Virtual Reality to Reduce Addiction Cravings
A Duke University
researcher is studying whether virtual reality can be used to reduce cravings
in people who are addicted. The goal is to help them develop coping strategies
that they can use in the real world, Popular Science reports. A person using
virtual reality for addiction treatment is hooked up to a simulator, and enters
a virtual environment with one of their triggers, such as a crack pipe or
bottle of alcohol. Someone in the scene offers them their drug of choice.
Researchers slowly add cues to the virtual environment, or change the
situation, based on the patient’s history. A voice tells the person to put down
the joystick and look around the room without speaking, to allow their craving
to dissipate. The voice asks them to rate their cravings periodically. The
research is spearheaded by Zach Rosenthal, who receives funding from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Department of Defense. He uses virtual
reality to trigger a reaction, and then teaches patients to cope with it. The
method is called cue reactivity, which has long been used for treating phobias.
Dr. Rosenthal believes virtual reality is more effective than showing someone a
real-life trigger, such as a lighter or empty bottle, in a lab setting. His
hope is that creating a virtual world that is similar to the patients’
environment will help them transfer the lessons to the real world. Rosenthal has
been using virtual reality to treat substance abuse in veterans. The soldiers
have post-traumatic stress syndrome. The program trains veterans’ minds not to
respond to cravings when they are faced with temptations such as alcohol or
drugs. Veterans participating in the research receive cell phone calls several
times daily that transmit a tone to remind them about the steps they have
learned to deal with their cravings.
National Study: Teen Misuse and
Abuse of Prescription Drugs Up 33 Percent Since 2008, Stimulants Contributing
to Sustained Rx Epidemic
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime – a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime. Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen’s academic performance even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly. (Read the full report here)
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime – a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime. Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen’s academic performance even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly. (Read the full report here)
Hookah Smoking
Poses Health Risks, Study Finds
Hookah smoking
may be as harmful as cigarettes, but in a different way, a new study suggests.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 13
volunteers who had experience with hookah, or water pipe, smoking and
cigarettes. Each participant smoked either a hookah or cigarettes for four
days, and then a week later switched. They smoked an average of three hookah
sessions or 11 cigarettes daily. When participants’ nicotine blood levels were
measured, the researchers found those who used a hookah had about half the
nicotine levels of cigarette smokers. Carbon monoxide levels in participants’
breath were 2.5 times higher for hookah smokers, compared with cigarette
smokers. Carbon monoxide can increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke and
sudden death in people with heart or lung conditions, the Los Angeles Times
reports. “People want to know if it is a lesser health risk if they switch from
cigarettes to smoking a water pipe on a daily basis,” researcher Peyton Jacob
III, PhD, said in a news release. “We found that water-pipe smoking is not a
safe alternative to cigarette smoking, nor is it likely to be an effective
harm-reduction strategy.” The study found hookah smokers had significantly
higher levels of benzene, which is associated with an increased risk of
leukemia. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention. Hookah bars feature water pipes that are used to smoke a blend of
tobacco, molasses and fruit called shisha. Researchers say that contrary to the
belief of many hookah smokers, the water in the pipe does not filter all the
harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. The World Health Organization (WHO) noted
in a report that the smoke inhaled in a typical one-hour hookah session can
equal 100 cigarettes or more. The WHO report also stated that even after it has
been passed through water, the tobacco smoke in a hookah pipe contains high
levels of cancer-causing chemicals.
40 percent of parents give young
kids medicine they shouldn't
Four in 10 U.S.
parents give children age 4 and younger cough/cold medicine that is not
recommended for young children, researchers say. Dr. Matthew M. Davis,
director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's
Health, said children can get five to 10 colds each year, so adults often turn
to over-the-counter cough and cold medicines. However, a University of Michigan
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll showed more than 40 percent of
parents reported giving their children age 4 and younger cough medicine and
multi-symptom cough and cold medicine. Twenty-five percent gave decongestants. Read
the rest here.
More Booze Please! The National Drive to Lift Restrictions on Alcohol-preneurs
The craft beer industry has been on a tear, boasting a 17% rise in sales last year and continued growth expected going forward. Lately, it looks like a big surge is on tap not only for craft breweries, but small businesses that make wine and spirits as well. Like elected officials in virtually every state, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been an outspoken proponent of local businesses. Snyder even created something called the Office of Regulatory Reinvention a couple of years ago. It may sound like just another bureaucracy, but in fact its goal is to eliminate the red tape that snags entrepreneurs. In early 2013, a government newsletter was circulated boasting that the ORR had successfully helped to eliminate 1,000 regulations in Michigan since the office was opened. Apparently, most of these regulations were obsolete or pointless, and they were eliminated because they were burdens to local businesses. Rest of this story is here.
Controlling alcohol habits as students find 'release' may avoid
later addiction
Current college culture allows for an environment where risks of addiction and alcohol dependency increase while mental health decreases. According to an American Psychological Association report, there is a rising number of students grappling with mental health problems. Similar to the data seen at Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services, the most common of the disorders seen in students are depression, anxiety, suicidal, ideation, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and self-injury. According to a 2010 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, 45.7 percent have reported an increased number of clients struggling with alcohol abuse. Click here for more.
Current college culture allows for an environment where risks of addiction and alcohol dependency increase while mental health decreases. According to an American Psychological Association report, there is a rising number of students grappling with mental health problems. Similar to the data seen at Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services, the most common of the disorders seen in students are depression, anxiety, suicidal, ideation, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and self-injury. According to a 2010 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, 45.7 percent have reported an increased number of clients struggling with alcohol abuse. Click here for more.
To Crack Down On Prescription Drug Abuse, We May Need To Build A Better Pill Bottle
Over the past decade, deadly prescription drug overdoses have soared to record levels. But, since abusers often get their drugs from a friend or family member who obtained them legally, it’s difficult for authorities and public health advocates to effectively crack down on this issue. But new technologies could help — specifically, as group of Brigham Young University (BYU) students suggest, an electronic pill bottle that regulates how many painkiller pills can be dispensed at once. Read the rest of the story here.
Social change
shows up in preteen brain
New research
reveals which brain regions are active as kids on the brink of adolescence
consider their identity and social status. In a study of 27 neurologically
typical children who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at
ages 10 and 13, activity in the brain’s ventromedial prefrontal cortex
increased dramatically when the subjects responded to questions about how they
view themselves. Read
the rest here.
Low-achieving students don’t get top teachers
A study of a major urban school district reveals that high-achieving students tend to get the best teachers, leaving others to less experienced instructors. Even within the same school, lower-achieving students often are taught by less-experienced teachers, as well as by teachers who received their degrees from less-competitive colleges, according to a new study. Read the rest here.
A study of a major urban school district reveals that high-achieving students tend to get the best teachers, leaving others to less experienced instructors. Even within the same school, lower-achieving students often are taught by less-experienced teachers, as well as by teachers who received their degrees from less-competitive colleges, according to a new study. Read the rest here.
First-Ever
Nationwide Survey Documents Dramatic Improvements in All Areas of Life For
People In Recovery From Addiction
The results from the
first nationwide survey of persons in recovery from addiction to alcohol and
other drugs released today by Faces & Voices of Recovery documents the
heavy costs of addiction to the individual and the nation and for the first
time, measures and quantifies the effects of recovery over time. During their
active addiction, 50 percent of respondents had been fired or suspended once or
more from jobs, 50 percent had been arrested at least once and a third had been
incarcerated at least once, contributing to a total societal cost of $343
billion to our nation annually. Click
here to read more.
A new survey of teens finds 23 percent admit they have driven under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs or marijuana. Almost 20 percent of teens who drink and drive say alcohol improves their driving, while 34 percent say the same about marijuana. Teens are more likely to drink when they are less heavily supervised, according to the survey by Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and insurance company Liberty Mutual. The survey included 1,708 high school students in grades 11 and 12, USA Today reports. “The end of the school year and the summer months are exciting times for teens, but they are also the most dangerous,” Dave Melton, Managing Director of Global Safety for Liberty Mutual, said in a news release. “A celebratory toast can quickly lead to serious consequences down the line. These new data illustrate that there is clearly a strong need to increase the level of education around safe driving. More importantly, it’s a flag for parents to make sure they talk to their kids regularly about the importance of safe driving behavior.” He added, “The fact that an overwhelming number of teens admit to extremely unsafe driving habits and completely dismiss any risk concern yet still consider themselves safe drivers means either teens have a different definition of ‘safe’ or we need to do a better job of educating kids about the dangers of this type of behavior.” The survey found 11 percent of teens admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the summer in general; 8 percent on July 4th; 6 percent on prom night; and 5 percent to celebrate graduation. Earlier this year, the Governors Highway Safety Association released a report stating the number of 16- and 17-year-old driver deaths in passenger vehicles increased from 202 to 240 in the first six months of 2012—a 19 percent jump from same period the previous year.
What Can We Do To Reduce Substance Use Among Homeless
Youth?
Homeless young people use and abuse drugs and alcohol at alarming rates, perhaps as high as 50 to 84 percent, according to some studies. Beyond the obvious fact that using substances is bad for young people’s health, researchers say that drug and alcohol abuse can pull homeless youth farther and farther away from family, friends, school and other positive support systems. Interventions to get young people to stop using substances (or never use them in the first place) are crucial. But to date, we know very little about what works to help homeless young people get off and stay off drugs and alcohol. Click here to read the rest of this story.
Homeless young people use and abuse drugs and alcohol at alarming rates, perhaps as high as 50 to 84 percent, according to some studies. Beyond the obvious fact that using substances is bad for young people’s health, researchers say that drug and alcohol abuse can pull homeless youth farther and farther away from family, friends, school and other positive support systems. Interventions to get young people to stop using substances (or never use them in the first place) are crucial. But to date, we know very little about what works to help homeless young people get off and stay off drugs and alcohol. Click here to read the rest of this story.
Liver Disease: New Studies Demonstrates Lethal Link
Between Alcohol, Weight
Research announced today at the International Liver Congress 2013 has revealed the deadly impact that alcohol and body weight have on liver disease. Women should forgo the wine and doughnuts after a new study found the harmful combination of high alcohol intake and high body mass index (BMI) causes an increased risk of chronic liver disease. The study analysed a cohort of over 107,000 women to investigate how a female's weight and alcohol consumption affected their chances of suffering and dying from chronic liver disease. Click here for the rest of this story.
Research announced today at the International Liver Congress 2013 has revealed the deadly impact that alcohol and body weight have on liver disease. Women should forgo the wine and doughnuts after a new study found the harmful combination of high alcohol intake and high body mass index (BMI) causes an increased risk of chronic liver disease. The study analysed a cohort of over 107,000 women to investigate how a female's weight and alcohol consumption affected their chances of suffering and dying from chronic liver disease. Click here for the rest of this story.
While few of its individual findings will come as much of a surprise to seasoned professionals in the addiction field, a newly issued report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA Columbia) packs a punch in its assault on current substance use treatment practice. Perhaps the most stinging, if still not stunning, comment in the report is its statement that the medical profession is largely absent from addiction practice and that the counseling professionals who deliver most of the treatment services to patients are often subject to few or no qualification standards. Click here for the rest of this story.
Use of psychedelic drugs remains
prevalent in the United States
In a recent
F1000Research article, Teri S. Krebs and Pål-Ørjan Johansen from the Department
of Neuroscience at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, use data
from a randomly-selected sample of over 57,000 individuals surveyed for the
2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), to estimate lifetime
prevalence of psychedelic use. The authors of “Over 30 million psychedelic
users in the United States” estimate that approximately 32 million people have
used LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”), or
mescaline (peyote and other cacti) in their lifetime. This includes 17% of US
adults aged 21 to 64 years. The highest rate of psychedelic use was in the 30
to 34 age group, with an overall rate of 20%, or 26% of males and 15% of
females. Click
here for more.
Swedish researchers have found a commercially available breathing test device can be used to detect 12 controlled substances, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, US News reports. The device was tested on 47 people who had taken drugs in the previous 24 hours and were recovering at a drug addiction emergency clinic, the researchers report in the Journal of Breath Research. The test correctly detected drug use in 87 percent of cases, and was as accurate as blood and urine tests. Currently, police do not have a simple way to test drivers for drugs when they are suspected of driving under the influence (DUI), the article notes. Lead researcher Olof Beck of the Karolinska Institutet noted in a news release, “Considering the samples were taken 24 hours after the intake of drugs, we were surprised to find that there was still high detectability for most drugs.” Dr. Beck said police could use the test at the scene when DUI is suspected, and later confirm the findings with a blood test. The researchers collected breath samples using a currently available breath test called SensAbues, which consists of a mouthpiece and micro-particle filter. When a person breathes into the mouthpiece, the device separates saliva and larger particles from the tiny particles that are measured. The micro-particles pass through and deposit onto a filter, which is sealed and stored. The particles are then analyzed using lab tests known as liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
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