Yep… Your Teen May Know a Drug Dealer

In an annual back-to-school survey just released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, results find that 90% of American high school students are reporting their classmates — which comes to nearly 3 million students — using illicit drugs, including alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs, during the school day.

HealthDay News reported on the survey’s findings:

44% of high schoolers say they know a drug dealer who goes to their school.50% of those polled say they know of a place near their school where students can drink and get high during the school day.More than 1/3 say that students definitely have opportunities during the school day to take drugs, drink and smoke without getting caught.

And get this — 75% of teens say that social media only encourages the party mentality. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are like visual peer pressures! “Seeing photos of other teens partying… made them want to do the same. Nearly half of teens who have seen such pictures perceived that the teens in the photos ‘are having a good time.’ Kids who had seen such photos were three to four times more likely to have used marijuana, alcohol or tobacco compared to kids who had not viewed this type of picture.”

Both parents and school staff members must be aware of student and teen online activity, and parents especially should work to learn with whom their children are associating. Online history should be checked and monitored regularly, and Internet rules should be in place.

Whether it’s inappropriate photos shared on social networking sites, or suspicious Google searches regarding drugs, alcohol or anything that makes the parent uncomfortable, the Internet is a valuable blueprint for teens today — and while the young mind is certainly allowed to be curious and wander online and off, parents should be aware that for teens, drugs are more readily available than ever, and there are definitely fellow students more than willing to provide them.

Drugs in the Olympics: Misguided Views?

Stephany Lee is an American wrestler who was suspended for a year and was forced to miss this year’s Olympics because she tested positive for marijuana. Depending on her practice schedule, she says she uses 2-3 times per week, to help stave off insomnia, stress and irritability.

Judoka Nicholas Delpopolo was recently thrown out of the Olympics because he also tested positive for marijuana. He said he accidentally ate baked foods made with pot.

Patrick Sandusky, U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman: “The USOC fully supports the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code… Any positive test, for any banned substance, comes with the appropriate consequences, and we absolutely support the disqualification. We look forward to witnessing the continued success of our athletes and commend their dedication to clean sport.”

The Michael Phelps model

According to USA Today, “Delpopolo is 23, the same age Michael Phelps was when the swimmer was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe in 2009. Phelps, who never failed a drug test, apologized, received a three-month suspension from USA Swimming and is celebrated as the most decorated Olympian in history.”

In an interview with USA Today, Stephany Lee discussed her disappointment in not being able to compete in the Olympics, and that the current views on marijuana use among athletes is misguided. She also said at least “a good 50 Olympic athletes” are regular marijuana users before they stop in time for testing.

Other quotes from Lee:

“…you’re still going to be able to achieve your dreams regardless. Look at him [Phelps]. He’s awesome. He’s the best athlete ever in the Olympics. It’s a double standard. If you already make a name for yourself, then what happens afterward really doesn’t matter…”“We party just as hard as we train, especially when it’s over. People are going to do what they are going to do regardless. Just because there is a test on it doesn’t mean people are going to stop it. It just means they will change how they are using it and their consumption of it…”

Marijuana is becoming more popular among college athletes.

In 2009, the NCAA’s anonymous survey of more than 20,000 athletes found that 22.6% admitted to using marijuana in the previous year.In 2005, the previous time the survey was conducted, 21.2% of college athletes admitted to use in the prior year.In women’s sports, field hockey saw 35.7% of those surveyed admitting to smoking marijuana. And across all levels, the high-profile sports of men’s basketball and football did not see the highest admitted use.Among men’s sports, lacrosse led the way with 48.5% of surveyed players admitting to using.

So, if athletes aren’t typically tested for alcohol consumption, and drinking is essentially allowed in sports — and marijuana is typically not a performance-enhancing drug, though athletes are more and more turning to the drug — do you agree with Lee? Should athletes who use marijuana be suspended, regardless of their athletic abilities? Weigh in!

When It Comes to Alcoholism, White Matter Matters

New research shows: when women stop drinking, their brains recover more quickly than men. “White matter” has often been linked to alcoholism, because it “forms the connections between neurons, allowing communication between different areas of the brain.”

This basically means that women may have an easier time during the recovery process than men, neurologically and/or physically-speaking. It also means that side effects of alcoholism, like memory problems and other brain deficits, are a result of a decrease in that white matter stuff.

According to Psych Central, the researchers “examined brain images from 42 abstinent alcoholic men and women who drank heavily for more than five years and 42 nonalcoholic men and women.”

Here’s what they found:

The number of daily drinks had a strong impact on alcoholic women, with the volume loss 1.5 to 2 percent for each additional drink.In men, white matter brain volume in the corpus callosum recovered at a rate of 1 percent per year for each year of abstinence.For people who abstained less than a year, the researchers found evidence of increased white matter volume and decreased ventricular volume in women, but not in men.For people in recovery for more than a year, those signs of recovery disappeared in women and became apparent in men. Interesting!

Do you think the addiction recovery industry will tweak its processes to cater more to the differences between men and women? 

Cali’s Prescription Drug Monitoring System May Go Broke!

It’s now common for states to use these extremely helpful and beneficial federal prescription drug monitoring program, or “PDMP.” California’s prescription drug monitoring program called CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System), is a system that keeps track of doctors dispensing too much prescription painkillers, and also when patients are “doctor shopping” — going to multiple healthcare providers for the same drug, a sign of addiction and improper use of prescriptions.

Unfortunately, CURES recently took a huge hit from state budget cuts and may completely run out of money by 2013.

According to California Watch, “Given the rising rates of addiction attributed to the pain medications, there has been no worse time to cut the program, said Dr. Lee Snook, a Sacramento physician who treats pain patients. Snook said, “‘We would not like to see it go away. In fact, we’d like to see it strengthened. When dealing with addictive behavior, many of us get fooled. I get fooled. I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”

Take this staggering statistic:

“According to the CDC, the amount of morphine-based drugs has soared seven-fold over 15 years in the U.S. Since 1997, the amount distributed through the pharmaceutical supply chain went from 96 milligrams of morphine per person to 700 milligrams in 2007, enough for each person in the U.S. to take a 5 milligram Vicodin every four hours for three weeks.”

The California Attorney General’s Office says that if doctors and pharmacies have access to these monitoring systems and the controlled substance history information they provide during the diagnosis and prescription dispensing process, doctors will not be so fooled by addicted patients, thus cutting down prescription drug abuse in California.

Shum Preston, spokesman for CA state Attorney General, said CURES no longer has enough resources to provide daily technical support and answer general calls from pharmacies.

What kind of state programs do you think should be cut, so that PDMPs stay safer?

US Declares Cocaine Use & Colombian Production DOWN

This week, the White House and Office of National Drug Control Policy proudly declared — and congratulated itself — on the decline of cocaine production in Colombia, (now behind Peru and Bolivia) the place so notorious for producing pure versions of the dangerous drug. This decline has thus resulted in US workplace cocaine use and US cocaine overdoses.

According to LA Weekly, “There has been a 72 percent decrease in Colombian coke production since 2001 — from 700 metric tonds to 195 last year.

There are various reasons that have gradually come together over the past decade, though it’s not clear whether or not it’s solely America’s doing.

LA Weekly notes the purity of powder in the states has dropped by 28 percent since 2006, and overdoses have been down 41 percent ever since. Crack cocaine use and quality have also majorly declined since the late 90s, also contributing to the decline in cocaine.

And according to Fox News, ”Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos said the decline is part of his country’s overall strategy of cutting off funding sources for drug traffickers.”

Do you think this will have an impact on the drug wars in Mexico?

New Study Reveals: Married Women Drink More Than Married Men

CBS News has just reported on a new study that links marriage and alcohol use/abuse, a connection that leads to different consequences for men and women… and the findings are very interesting!

Past studies reveal that married people drink less than single people, and that married men drink less than women. This new study adds a whole new element: a married women, on average, drinks more than a woman who was never married, divorced or widowed, because she’s either influenced by her husband’s alcohol consumption, or she enjoys drinking with her husband as a couple.

In this still-unpublished study, being presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, researchers found that married men drink less than married women because 1) they spend less time with their drinking buddies, 2) their wives drink less than they do and 3) their wives limit how much they drink.

When it comes to divorce, however, it’s men who are at a higher risk of alcoholism, due to their coping mechanisms with stress and pain. And while men tend to drink more as a result of divorce, research shows women cope more by internalizing their stress, which results in higher cases of depression, weight loss and diet changes in women who experience divorce, rather than higher alcohol consumption. Women typically also drink less than men after divorce because they’re no longer influenced by their drinking husbands.

So what’s the lesson here? Men, if you’re going through divorce, watch your drinking. Men, listen to your wives when they tell you to lay off the alcohol. Women… don’t do anything, you’re perfect! Just kidding.

Do these new findings ring true for your marriage?