WELCOME TO ALCOHOL AWARENESS MONTH April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and here's a great way to get started: Tell a friend about the Get Serious petition so they can add their voice to yours and thousands of other community leaders demanding effective policies that reduce underage drinking and save kids' lives. Dear Friend, Did you know that over 5,000 kids die every year from alcohol-related causes? And real solutions to unde...

Prescription drug abuse among teens is at epidemic levels. Yet, it has not appeared on the radar screens of many parents and educators. For example, did you know that crushing an OxyContin (pain reliever) pill and snorting it has the same effect and addictive qualities of heroin? For your information, the Join Together Resource Database includes the following report: Prescription Drug Abuse Policy Brief Almost 48 million Americans have used a prescription drug nonmedically at leas...

I have found that parents and loved ones of an addict (alcohol, illicit and prescription drugs) know less than needed to assist the addict in need. There are, in my opinion, many factors that create this condition: * A continued sense of denial that there is a serious life-threatening condition. * Many have not accepted the "disease model"--the addict is sick and needs medical and therapeutic attention. It was not until recently that alcoholism was recognized as a disease by the AMA (Am...

Inhalant abuse is among the most common forms of drug abuse, particularly among pre- and early adolescents, who inhale or "huff" chemical vapors found in many common household products that are not generally thought of as drugs. Seventy-one percent of inhalant users are 12 to 25 year olds, according to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health performed by the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. NIDA Community Drug Alert Bulletin - Inhalants ...

Community leaders across the country are grappling with problems caused by drug and alcohol use. Everyone wants to know: What really works? What policies are the most effective in preventing and treating these problems? How can we save lives? These questions are especially important for elected officials. But too many politicians call for policies that won't work, and too few even know that proven strategies exist. Every public official ought to know there are better ways to prevent alcoho...

One of my ultimate goals in creating this blogsite was to find a resource that would help create a comprehensive educational program to address the risks facing our children with regard to substance abuse and other issues. The following demonstrates that help may be here for the taking. I will research this further, but in the meantime I offer the following: Just in from CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) via email: "This month, the jour...

My personal experience after creating this blogsite has been general apathy. Parents believe that their children are living a "normal", age-appropriate life style. Maybe their own experience and adolescent experimentation caused no long-term damage. They tell me, "my kids are doing just fine" or, "I trust my children to raise their children in a safe environment". OK, then why do we have rising incidents of death caused by underage-drinking, the growing methods of experimentation with substa...

Hey older (1946) Baby Boomers, have you walked into a room and forgot why you are there? Don't despair, the younger boomers (1964) have had the same experience. Why are you concerned? Are you worried about memory loss and the onset of Alzheimer's disease? Again, don't despair. In the event you do become a victim of Alzheimer's, you will soon have no knowledge of your disease or anything else. The "Real Victims" of Alzheimer's are the caregivers--the one's with their full faculties who m...

Join Together 10/4 News Summary reports (Sad but True): Meth Ingredients Banned from eBay 10/3/2005 Drugs containing pseudoephedrine and other substances that could be used to make methamphetamine have been banned from sale on the Internet auction site eBay, the Oregonian reported Sept. 30. Company officials said the move came as states have passed various laws to control spread of methamphetamine precursor chemicals. "It became really not possible for us to make sure ...

Chicken and Egg--Depression and Alcohol Abuse Do people become depressed because they drink or are they already depressed and drink to self medicate. Research shows a strong relationship between alcoholism and depression. Yet experts continue to debate on which came first. Additional research also suggest a similar relationship between anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse. The first signs of these compounded conditions often begin during adolescence. I have personal experience (...

"A third of all girls older than 12 have tried a popular new alcoholic beverage. Known as “girlie drinks” or “alcopops,” their sweet fruity flavor can’t conceal the negative health consequences. Companies market these “starter drinks” to appeal to girls and young women. Don’t be taken in." (American Medical Association) Teenage Drinking Survey Results Consumption • Approximately one-third of teen girls have tried alcopops • Teen girls drink alcopops more than...

On September 22, 2005, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) released its "School Food Safety Bill of Rights." It gives parents tips on how to take advantage of a new Federal law requiring more frequent inspections and easy access to school cafeteria inspection reports. Armed with this information, parents can really make a difference in the safety of foods in school lunch cafeterias! You can find the School Food Safety Bill of Rights at: http://www.takeaction.c...

The following Email was sent to: • New York Daily News • New York Post • The New York Times • Poughkeepsie Journal • King Features Syndicate Subject: "Choking Game" Kills Teens The "Choking Game" (aka: space monkey, space cowboy, knockout, gasp, rising sun) is a dangerous mutation of games of old which involve hyperventilation to get a brief sensation of light-headedness, kind of a "high". We did it back in the '50's by holding our breath and "pushing", similar to what people d...

You have undoubtedly read or seen a media bltz on "The Choking Game". If not, do a Google Search using this term or some of the other terms used by teens: space monkey, space cowboy, knockout, gasp, rising sun. The Choking Game is a dangerous mutation of games of old which involve hyperventilation to get a brief sensation of light-headedness, kind of a "high". We did it back in the '50's by holding our breath and "pushing", similar to what people do when they try to unclog their ears as they ...

ALCOHOL ABUSE * J.C. Penny Discontinues Underage Drinking T-Shirts * "Big Alcohol" Targets Teenage Girls * Facts for Teachers * J.C. Penney Chastised for Alcohol T-Shirts * Busch Seeks Reduced Taxes on Alcohol * Alcopops: Make "Big Alcohol" Pay Up * Alcohol News--The Marin Institute * Doubt We Have a National Drinking Problem? * Spirituality, Religion and Recovery * Teen Drinking Alert * PARENTAL ALERT--Alcohol...