Warm Weather And Summer Vacation Are Just Ahead. When our community's teens and college students get out of school for a wonderful summer, "Party Time" will begin, with overeating, overdrinking and drug use more evident. In the interest of "Healthy Living," I always want to keep my readers informed of the latest `facts.' There is a new advertising campaign, themed "Facts for Parents," by the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (USA) to provide scientific facts about marijuana risks and harms for parents of teens. [continues 391 words]
Seventh-Graders Hear Details Of Slide Into Addiction To Latest Drugs Of Choice -- Prescription Pills A new kind of drug addict is emerging nationally and locally, as more teenagers turn to their medicine cabinets to get high. Call it Generation Rx. In a trend that an addiction specialist, Dr. Punyamurtula S. Kishore, founder of the National Library on Addictions, says he has seen firsthand in suburbs south of Boston, pills are replacing alcohol as the drug of choice -- and teens are replacing the 30-somethings that used to make up the majority of his patients. A nationwide survey released last month by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America found that members of "Generation Rx," as it dubbed them, are using prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin or stimulants such as Ritalin as much -- or more -- than other illegal drugs. [continues 597 words]
Teenagers are turning away from more conventional drugs like cocaine and marijuana and looking to the medicine cabinet, a recent study has found. The study, titled "Generation Rx" and conducted by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a not-for-profit group, shows that about one in five teens tried prescription painkillers in 2004. That rate of use is higher than that for Ecstasy, cocaine or LSD. It's a trend the administration at Central High School has already started to deal with. [continues 707 words]
On a sunny mid-semester day, Kevin's parents pulled up in front of the small New Brunswick house that he shares with five other University students. As his parents got out of the car, Kevin ran downstairs to greet them each with a hug. His parents followed him upstairs to his room, saying hello to his friends sitting in the living room. They engaged in family chit chat as Kevin, who asked for his real name to be withheld, slowly closed the door to his room. [continues 1286 words]
Known on the street as "tina," "crank," "ice," or just plain "crystal," methamphetamine is back in the news as a powerful, addictive stimulant that is easily created with store-bought ingredients. Users -- known as tweakers -- most commonly use a pipe to smoke the clear crystal chunks. Advocates laud the feeling of euphoria and sense of sexual liberation achieved under its influence. Critics talk less glowingly of episodes of erratic and violent behavior, as well as painful withdrawal symptoms. Although crystal meth appears to be most frequently used by younger adults, the drug is not completely unknown to middle school and high school kids. [continues 692 words]
Daniel Williams hardly looked like counter culture's poster boy. Sitting at a cafe table recently outside of Highland Coffees, he blended into the academic landscape: hair a bit tousled, notebooks askew, brainy-yet-hip glasses over a concentrated stare. The media clearly made him nervous. His eye contact was intermittent and he went "off the record" almost immediately. Nervousness is perhaps understandable. This is the state, after all, that considered drug testing all TOPS scholarship recipients, like Williams. So when you become the president of a student group at LSU that is trying to "decriminalize" marijuana in East Baton Rouge Parish, you choose your words carefully. Especially when talking to a reporter who is expecting you to say that you love smoking weed. [continues 1758 words]
The Partnership for a Drug Free America released its latest survey on teen drug use last week, prompting the usual almost-verbatim press-release reporting and expressions of being "shocked, shocked" about "kids today" from the media. Almost all of the coverage picked up the Partnership's label "Generation Rx," so named because nearly one in five of this group of adolescents reported having used the opioid Vicodin without a prescription. In the third paragraph of its story, the AP included a quote from the Partnership's chairman which said, "For the first time, our national study finds that today's teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have experimented with a variety of illegal drugs." [continues 166 words]
Teens Are Getting High On Their Parents' Painkilling Medications, Reports The Partnership For A Drug-Free America. About one in five have abused a prescription painkiller to get high, and one in 11 has abused over-the-counter products, like cough medicine, the group said on its Web site (www.drugfree.org). The good news: Fewer teenagers are using tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. So parents, lock up those prescription meds and talk to your teens. [end]
Hats off to the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that participated in this week's crackdown on Internet pharmacies that led to 20 arrests, including some in Tyler. That news came during the same week the Associated Press released the findings of a study showing one in five - 20 percent - of all American teens have abused prescription painkillers, a number the AP said was higher than the number of teens who have "experimented with Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD." [continues 451 words]
NEW YORK - About one in five teenagers have tried prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the teens often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to a study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday, found that more teens had abused a prescription painkiller in 2004 than Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. [continues 438 words]
NEW YORK -- About one in five teenagers has tried prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the pill-popping members of "Generation Rx" often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to a study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday, found that more teens had abused a prescription painkiller in 2004 than Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. [continues 180 words]
One in five teenagers has popped Vicodin, OxyContin or some other prescription painkiller to get high, a shocking new study has revealed. And, just as disturbing, today's teens can get those drugs almost effortlessly -- simply by raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "A new category of substance abuse is emerging in America: Increasingly, teenagers are getting high through the intentional abuse of medications," said Roy Bostock, chairman of the Partnership. "For the first time . . . today's teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have experimented with a variety of illicit drugs -- including Ecstasy, cocaine, crack and LSD. [continues 257 words]
Capitalizing On The Availability Of Prescription Drugs In Their Homes, More Teens Last Year Abused Painkillers Than used Ecstasy, Cocaine, Crack Or LSD, A Report Said NEW YORK - About one in five teenagers have tried prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the pill- popping members of ''Generation Rx'' often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to a study by the Partnership for a Drug- Free America. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday, found that more teens had abused prescription painkillers in 2004 than Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. [continues 256 words]
There are disturbing new statistics about teenage drug abuse out there, numbers that show a new way of thinking about getting high by a new generation. "'Generation Rx' has arrived," said Roy Bostock, chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, in a story for the New York Post. In its new study, the group surveyed 7,300 teenagers, the largest such sampling of attitudes toward drugs in the nation. The findings: One in five teens have used prescription drugs as their method of choice for altering their consciousness. [continues 436 words]
You have probably heard it time and time again: talk to your kids about drugs! It is good advice. Kids who learn about the risks of drug use from their parents are less likely to use drugs than kids who have not had such conversations with their parents. Where do you start? Below are some tips for getting the conversation started and places to learn more so that you feel better prepared with correct information about drugs. Use those teachable moments that come up when watching TV. News reports, anti-drug commercials and alcohol and drug use portrayed in movies can lead into a conversation with your children about alcohol and other drug use. [continues 194 words]
NEW YORK -- The nation's teenagers are increasingly trying prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the pill-popping members of "Generation Rx" often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to the latest national study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday morning, found that about one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller -- more than have experimented with either Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. [continues 314 words]
State's program is among 1st in nation to focus on the task Who is eligible Here are the basics of eligibility for the new methamphetamine treatment program at the Miami Correctional Facility: History: Inmates must show a significant history of substance abuse with significant impairment caused by meth use. Release date: Inmates must have a projected release date that falls within 14 and 24 months at the time of admission, must have had no institutional incidents involving weapons or assault for at least one year and must have a good disciplinary conduct history. [continues 680 words]
Last week Milford Exempted Village Schools made it clear that they won't play dumb and passively abide teen drug use. School officials capped an eight-month investigation with the Friday arrest of 16 students on drug charges, stirring up a hornet's nest. Their use of an undercover private investigator who posed as a student is controversial and may trigger a legal challenge. But it's a bold rebuke of the denial and excuse-making that takes place in too many families, schools and communities. Milford took action on behalf of kids. We applaud the message and leave it to the Milford community to debate the means. [continues 412 words]
Gov. Phil Bredesen today signed legislation that targets the manufacture and use of methamphetamine. The Meth-Free Tennessee Act stiffens the penalties for making meth and requires pharmacies to move certain cold and sinus products, those containing psuedoephedrine, behind the counter. Retailers that don't have pharmacies must remove the products from their shelves and stop selling them. Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, is an ingredient used to make the illicit drug. Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant, often called "speed' or "crystal." The drug can be taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked. [continues 415 words]
It could be the hairspray you use to fix your hair, or the cooking spray in your kitchen cabinet. It could be the glue your son is using to put together a model car, or the correction fluid he uses on his homework. The list of chemicals teenagers are using as inhalants is endless and, according to state and federal officials, the number of teens using common household items as recreational drugs is increasing. "Inhalant abuse is on the rise," said Rebecca Smith, community outreach coordinator for the Council on Substance Abuse in Montgomery. The council, an affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, has for the past couple of years been monitoring the number of area teens who use inhalants. [continues 432 words]
