Pubdate: Wed, 12 Apr 2006
Source: Oak Bay News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Oak Bay News
Contact:  http://www.oakbaynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1346
Author: Sheila Potter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

HIGHWAY TO HEROIN?

Controversial study suggests link between use of herbal products and 
use of hard drugs

Local health food stores dismiss a new study that concludes teens 
using herbal products are more likely to have tried hard drugs. The 
study looked at 2,006 high school students in Monroe County, New York.

The study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent 
Health, found that teens using "herbal or natural products" were 5.9 
times more likely to have tried cocaine, 8.8 times more likely to 
have tried heroin and 6.8 times more likely to have tried methamphetamines.

"That's bizarre," said Angeline Sewell, owner of Self-Heal-Herbs in 
downtown Victoria. "Our whole industry is based on health. Drug abuse 
is based on destruction ... People who try herbal products tend to be 
self-empowered. That doesn't lead to drug use."

Like most studies of this type, researchers (headed by Susan Yussman, 
a doctor and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of 
Rochester's Golisano Children's Hospital) cannot make a causal link. 
Nobody is claiming that St. John's wort is a gateway drug to crystal meth.

Yet health-food store owners are sensitive to the possible negative 
connotations of the results and many questioned the motive behind the study.

Sewell wondered if it was part of the "grand pharmaceutical 
(industry's attempt) to say, 'Oh let's get rid of all these herbs.'"

Shaun Emery, natural living manager for Planet Organic Market in 
Saanich Centre, also questioned the study.

"You are dealing with a very small control group. One group of teens 
in a New York county is not a typical reference for what's really 
going on in the general public. You always have to question the 
source of studies like this as well."

Yussman said she came up with the idea for her study after reading a 
study showing an association between food supplements and high-risk 
behaviours in young military recruits.

The link she found could be because "children who are open to 
experimenting with herbal products may be more open to trying illicit 
drugs," Yussman said.

The study suggests that health-care providers must probe deeply into 
the supplement and herb use of teens as well as their potential use 
of illegal drugs, she concluded.

The survey asked teens if they had tried "herbal or other natural 
products to make you feel better, or to help you perform better at 
sports or school," which could cover anything from performance 
enhancers such as creatine to chewable vitamins.

Further studies might narrow the drug use link to specific types of 
herbal products, such as sports enhancers, Yussman said.

Sewell offers her own possible explanation: perhaps teens feeling 
sick from drugs turn to natural remedies to feel better.

The theory of adventuresome teens makes a certain amount of sense to 
Carmine Sparanese, manager of Lifestyles Market.

"Kids are just trying anything at that age," he said.

Like other store managers, Sparanese said he doesn't notice a lot of 
teens in his store.

Five or six years ago, there was a trend among kids taking creatine 
for sports, followed by a scare about health effects. Then after 
massive number of studies, creatine turned out to be perfectly safe, he said.

That trend seems to be over. These days Sparanese says he sees teens 
coming in with their parents, looking to supplement their diets with 
essential fatty acids and protein supplements.

"We're not seeing teens looking for a quick fix," he said.

Emery said parents come into Planet Organic with their teens looking 
for drug alternatives to acne and depression, while other teens seek 
athletic performance enhancement.

"When teens come in looking for these products, they also want to 
know how to use them," he said, noting that there is often a parent 
accompanying the teen.

"The first thing we do is educate them that these are supplements for 
a reason. Proper nutrition, along with training, are the only way to 
see true lasting results."

Emery said he started using vitamins since he was 13, while he was in 
competitive martial arts.

"While I do use sports supplements like creatine, I have never used 
any drugs or steroids," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman