Internet Can Help Spread The Word That Clean Really Is Cool The anti-drug movement has long been on the Web, and parents can use a number of Web sites as key tools in getting ideas on how to educate their teens. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Internet's greatest advantage is its ability to reach large groups of youth on local and global levels. Earlier this month, the Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign launched a new advertising and online campaign aimed at teens. [continues 284 words]
DETROIT -- In the 1980s, a frying egg was used as a scary metaphor for a brain sizzling on drugs. Two decades later, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has launched an Above the Influence campaign -- a play on the saying "under the influence" -- to remind teens to just say no to drugs but in a unique way. Unlike the previous ads that have tried to shock teens into action, the new ads use humor, exaggeration and shame to play on teens' desires to maintain their identities and reject negative influences. The ads will run through April. [continues 818 words]
Comments On Drug Use And Treatment George Kolodner, a board-certified addiction psychiatrist and medical director of the Kolmac Clinic in Silver Spring, Md., was online Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 4:30 p.m. ET to answer your questions about Crystal Methamphetamine use and the treatment for addiction. From The Post: Meth Comes Out of the Closet (Post, Nov. 8) Kolodner was quoted in today's article: "George Kolodner, a board-certified addiction psychiatrist and medical director of the Kolmac Clinic in Silver Spring, said his clinic saw an increase in crystal meth users beginning about two years ago, but the trend has not accelerated since then. He said meth users are the most difficult patients to treat because there is no medication to prevent craving or treat the protracted post-use symptoms, such as dysphoria, or depressed mood. [continues 1191 words]
Latest Campaign Focuses On Exaggeration, Not Fear In the 1980s, a frying egg was used as a scary metaphor for a brain sizzling on drugs. Two decades later, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has launched an Above the Influence campaign -- a play on the saying "under the influence" -- to remind teens to just say no to drugs but in a unique way. Unlike the previous ads that have tried to shock teens into action, the new ads use humor, exaggeration and shame to play on teens' desires to maintain their identities and reject negative influences. [continues 832 words]
WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was awarded the Drug-Free America Guardian Award on Tuesday for his efforts to combat substance abuse. The award recognized Hatch for working to create the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign as well as for sponsoring legislation dealing with the drug problem. "On the issue of substance abuse, we could ask for no better advocate than Sen. Hatch," said Roy J. Bostock, chairman of the Partnership for Drug-Free America. Hatch, at a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, thanked the partnership for the award and vowed to continue to work with others to attack the problem. [continues 81 words]
Parents who wait too long to have the tough talk with kids about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse often will find that their children will be susceptible to substance abuse, experts say. Prevention experts stress to parents the importance of staying informed about the changing drug landscape facing their children today, according to the Guam Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. "Parents play a critical role in their children's lives," said Richard Calamba, with Mental Health's prevention and training division. [continues 821 words]
Abuse Of Dust-Off Can Prove Fatal, Authorities Say Generations of teenagers have sniffed common household products -- from glue to Whiteout to the propane in cigarette lighters -- for a cheap, easy route to intoxication. But the danger posed by the latest inhalant of choice, a common computer keyboard cleaner called "Dust-Off," has prompted area police to warn parents and teens that the "high" could be fatal. Inhaling the compressed gas can cause brain damage and heart failure by robbing the lungs of oxygen, authorities say. [continues 929 words]
Solid Relationship Can Steer Kids Clear Of Drugs Rayvic Garrido, a single dad of three, says when it comes to talking with his kids about drugs, he follows one policy: laying the truth out on the line. "I have had personal experiences with friends of mine who have passed away because of drugs," the 35-year-old Dededo resident said. Telling his kids about the realities of substance abuse and his own encounters with it, he hopes, will help them avoid some of the same mistakes. [continues 421 words]
We are heartened by the recent study that indicates that marijuana use among teenagers in the 10 states where medical marijuana is legal appears to be dropping. The study, released by the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. this week, is based on data from national and state studies, which show a general drop in marijuana use by teens. According to the study, in California, usage among ninth-graders has plummeted 47 percent since 1996, the year the state became the first to legalize medical marijuana. [continues 255 words]
According to the 17th Annual Study on Teen Drug Abuse, one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller. That figure, "one in five," doesn't have much meaning alone. But it sure does when you consider that it means more teenagers have abused a prescription painkiller than have experimented with Ecstasy, cocaine, crack, or LSD. That pretty much means that for most teens who use a substance, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription painkillers, like Vicodin and OxyContin , are their "drugs of choice." Which is why Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, calls today's youth Generation Rx. [continues 510 words]
Countering ominous predictions by anti-drug advocates, the 10 states that passed medical marijuana laws over the last decade have seen sharp declines in pot use among teenagers, according to a new survey by a marijuana advocacy organization. In California, usage among ninth-graders has plummeted 47 percent since 1996, the year the state became the first to legalize medical marijuana. The study, released by the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. this week, is based on data from national and state studies, which show a general drop in marijuana use by teens. [continues 478 words]
"There is a problem here. You can't act like an ostrich and put your head in the sand. Ignoring it will not make the problem go away, it will only encourage the problem." Dr. Dawn Walker, chief of staff for Northern Cochise Community Hospital, has joined "Partnership for a Drug-Free America" to fight methamphetamine abuse in the Willcox area. In the last 24 months, Walker has seen the destruction it causes "at least on a weekly basis and almost on a daily basis," she said. [continues 455 words]
WASHINGTON--When local police visited an assisted-living facility near Pittsburgh, Pa., they found employees cooking more than just the evening meal--authorities seized a lab used to make methamphetamine. Police also made two of the more than 400 arrests that were part of the first nationally coordinated operation aimed at producers and sellers of the highly addictive drug. Authorities announced Tuesday the results of Operation Wildfire, a cooperative effort among police in more than 200 communities--including Fairbanks, Anchorage and Wrangell--and the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 200 pounds of the drug and 56 labs were seized. [continues 791 words]
Marijuana Is Hitting an All-Time High on the Small Screen Nancy Botwin is a widowed suburban soccer mom who happens to sell marijuana to support her family. Played by Mary-Louise Parker, she's the star of Showtime's fresh half-hour dramedy "Weeds," which made its debut on Monday. An attentive parent and a member of the PTA, Nancy is one of many sane, seemingly everyday TV characters who relate to reefer. The Supreme Court may have voted against legalizing medical marijuana, but that hasn't stopped pot from cropping up all over cable TV, where you're more likely to see a joint dangling from a character's lips than a cigarette. [continues 1107 words]
Parents used to be warned about huffing, the act of inhaling fumes from paint or glue, a common way for middle school students to get high. But the new fad, parents, is dusting. Remember that can of Dust-Off you used to clean your keyboard? Your children could be using that can to get high. Compressed air is a heavy gas that fills the lungs and keeps good air out. It generally causes dizziness and a buzz that lasts a couple of seconds. The air actually decreases oxygen to the brain, heart and lungs, and it can kill without warning. The air can also cause the tongue to freeze, causing frostbite. [continues 162 words]
A smartly-dressed young mother, the head of the healthy children's committee, stands before the parent-teacher association to demand that fizzy drinks be removed from the school vending machines. Moments later she is negotiating a deal to buy a large quantity of marijuana to sell to teenagers and their parents. Welcome to Weeds, the latest sitcom to delve into the dark side of American suburbia. But where Desperate Housewives deals with the fantasy of life and death in a gated community, Weeds, set in the fictional Californian town of Agrestic, sticks closer to the real world -- and is likely to make conservative America seethe. [continues 439 words]
Despite earning a largely enthusiastic response from TV critics, a new show about a pot-selling suburban mother is provoking outrage among the public and generating concern among anti-drug organizations worried that the comedy makes light of a harmful and illegal activity. "Weeds," which premiered last night on Showtime Networks, narrates the story of Nancy Botwin, a widow in suburban California who turns to purveying marijuana to provide for her two children after the sudden death of her husband. Showtime, a premium cable network, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom, a publicly traded entertainment conglomerate. [continues 540 words]
Is Hollywood going one toke over the line? Marijuana use is cropping up on some critically acclaimed shows, and anti-drug forces fear the glamorization of pot could boost its use among youths. Who's Lighting Up - -- Pot is an ongoing theme on HBO's "Entourage" (Sundays, 10 p.m.), which centers on a rising young movie star and his New York buddies who have gone Hollywood. Sunday's episode features two teens getting high at a bat mitzvah. - -- Streetwise Maurice "Smoke" Williams (Kirk Jones) lit up on last week's premiere of "Over There" (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.), FX's gritty Iraq war drama. [continues 306 words]
A survey released Monday indicates a downward trend in drug and alcohol use among Indiana youth, with rates for many drugs at their lowest since 1991. Reported use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants all declined this year, in some cases by more than three percentage points, according to an annual survey by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University. The center attributed part of the decline to prevention initiatives. Not all the news was positive. More than 5 percent of high school seniors surveyed said they used methamphetamine at least once. [continues 751 words]
Is Hollywood going one toke over the line? Marijuana use is cropping up on some critically acclaimed shows, and anti-drug forces fear the glamorization of pot could boost its use among youths. Who's lighting up: - -- Pot is an ongoing theme on HBO's "Entourage" (Sundays, 10 p.m.), which centers on a rising young movie star and his New York buddies who have gone Hollywood. Sunday's episode features two teens getting high at a bat mitzvah. - -- Maurice "Smoke" Williams (Kirk Jones) lit up on last week's premiere of "Over There" (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.), FX's gritty Iraq war drama. [continues 364 words]