According to the latest substance abuse campaign launched by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) officials, children as young as 9 years old should already have basic understanding about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

SAMHSA introduced this week the “Talk. They Hear You.” in conjunction with the 2013 National Prevention Week—an annual health observance dedicated to increasing awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. Its goal is to equip parents with information they need to help them start a conversation about alcohol with their children before their children become teenagers.

“These young people are our future leaders—our future teachers, mayors, doctors, parents, and entertainers,” SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in a news release.  “As our youth and young adults face challenges, we as a community, need to effectively communicate with them in every way possible about the risks of underage drinking so that they have the necessary tools to make healthy and informed choices.”

SAMHSA’s recently released report on underage drinking shows that more than a quarter of American youth engage in underage drinking. Even though there has been progress in reducing the extent of underage drinking in recent years, particularly among those aged 17 and younger, the rates of underage drinking are still unacceptably high.

“Talk. They Hear You.” features a series of TV, radio, and print PSAs in English and Spanish. The PSAs encourage parents to introduce alcohol-related discussions with kids while preparing dinner or doing chores together. Such opportunities are deemed more natural and help kids become comfortable in expressing their own views about alcohol drinking.

NCHIP’s initiative Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking is geared at address the problem of high-risk drinking on college campuses with the use of comprehensive evaluation and measurement techniques. Participating colleges and universities are encouraged to come up with alcohol prevention program, see how it works,  improve as needed, and then scale up the program.

“It’s been a really great source of collaborative learning and resources,” Annie Stevens, associate vice president for student and campus life at the University of Vermont, told The Associated Press. “It really does give you a chance to get out of your own bubble and look around and rely on your colleagues. We’re all struggling with the same thing and saying, ‘Hey, have you found anything you’re doing that seems to work?’”

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism revealed that four out of ten college students in the U.S. engage in high risk drinking; approximately 1,800 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries. Binge drinkers, in particular, are found to be at higher risk of unintended pregnancy, alcohol poisoning, unintentional and intentional injuries, neurological damage, high blood pressure, and liver disease.

At the University of Vermont, several programs have been utilized to combat high-risk drinking, among them include sending emails to parents before big party weekends and coordinating with police to pinpoint troublesome properties off-campus. Stevens said students are also asked about alcohol use any time they go to the campus health clinic for any reason, and if a students’ answers raise red flags a physician steps in. Such alcohol screening method is also in place at Dartmouth, along with another program developed at the University of Washington called BASICS — Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students.

According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), only 32 percent of all deaths related to underage drinking involved traffic accidents; the remaining 68 percent have been associated with homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning, and other causes of death.

MADD used 2010 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to understand the different and more prominent causes of deaths among underage drinkers and find possible ways to minimize these risks.

“These data show that taking away the keys truly does not take away all of the risks when it comes to underage drinking,” MADD National President Jan Withers said in a news release. “MADD hopes this information will inspire parents to have ongoing conversations with their kids about the dangers of drinking alcohol before age 21, especially since we know that a majority of kids say their parents are the biggest influence on their decisions about alcohol.”

For more than 30 years, MADD has been at the forefront of stopping drunk driving, supporting the victims of this violent crime, and preventing underage drinking. The organization, together with the National Presenting Sponsor Nationwide Insurance,  launched the Power Talk 21 campaign — the national day, observed on April 21, for parents to start talking with their kids about the perils of irresponsible alcohol use and abuse.

Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are defined differently by health experts. But both can interfere with the drinker’s life, relationships, work/school, social responsibilities, and financial capabilities.

Alcoholism, also referred to as alcohol dependence, is an illness wherein you develop a strong physical desire to drink alcohol beyond your capacity to control it. The two major warning signs of alcoholism are tolerance to consume excessive amounts of alcohol and withdrawal when drinking is stopped.

Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that can lead to inability to perform daily life’s responsibilities; drinking in situations that may result to physical harm or legal problems; and continued consumption of alcohol despite ongoing relationship problems. Unlike alcoholics, alcohol abusers still have  some ability to set limits on their drinking. Still, their alcohol use can be destructive and dangerous to themselves or others.

The bottom line is, you have a drinking problem if you have to rely on alcohol to feel better; lie to family, friends, co-workers and others to conceal your habit; fail to perform adult responsibilities due to drinking; exhaust your finances to get a booze; and find yourself in trouble with the law enforcement because of the habit.

Alcohol problems is a treatable disease, though. The earlier you spot the problem, the soonest you can get your life back on track. Treatment usually begins with detoxification, followed by prescribed medications and then therapy. There are also support groups across the country whose aim is to help problem drinkers to avoid relapse.

First of all, since when exactly did sizzurp become a favorite drink among the youth? Why should parents worry about it?

Robert Earl Davis Jr., a Houston disc jockey known as DJ Screw, was said to be the one who popularized the concoction of cough syrup and softdrink in the late 1990s. Many a time, hip hop musicians have rapped about the drink. Among those rappers who referenced the mixture in their lyrics include D12, Eminem, Lil’ Wyne, Big Moe, Lil’ Wayne, Ludacris, Slim Thug, Mack Maine, and Fat Joe.

Lil’ Wayne in particular has openly acknowledged his fondness for purple drank. In the music video Duffle Bag Boy, he was featured holding a Styrofoam cup with “RIP DJ Screw” written on it.

The mere mention of sizzurp in music has augmented its popularity, leading up to the awareness of some teenagers and young adults across the country.

In concocting sizzurp, users typically mix an ounce of cough syrup — containing codeine and promethazine — with Sprite or Mountain Dew and dissolved Jolly Rancher candy for extra sweetness, and pour it over ice. The drink is known to give users the euphoric high. However, other side effects include motor-skill impairment, lethargy, nausea, drowsiness, hallucinations, seizures, and even death.

In fact, some notable deaths linked with codeine overdose include that of DJ Screw in 2000; Big Moe, a DJ Screw protégé, in 2007; and Pimp C, a Texas rapper and a member of rap duo UGK, in 2008.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had warned people about the rising trend of cough syrup abuse. Although it is unclear as to how many people are drinking sizzurp, numerous health experts and the law enforcement are cautioning people about the fatal effect of cough syrup misuse.

In 2010, there were more than 185,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol. In the passing of years, this figure may either increase or drop, but  to say that underage drinking will totally never going to occur anymore is perhaps next to impossible. Still, preventive measures are there to reduce the problem.

On the national, state and local levels, some of the prevention strategies being enforced to curb underage drinking include increasing alcohol excise taxes, reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising, and development of comprehensive community-based programs.

At home, what parents can do is to talk to their kids about alcohol abuse.

According to a recent study by researchers from Penn State University, discussing alcohol drinking with teenagers before they start college can both reduce the risk that light drinkers will become heavy drinkers, and increase the likelihood that heavy drinkers will slow down or stop the habit.

“Over 90 percent of teens try alcohol outside the home before they graduate from high school,” Robert Turrisi, professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State, said in a university news release. “It is well known that fewer problems develop for every year that heavy drinking is delayed. Our research over the past decade shows that parents can play a powerful role in minimizing their teens’ drinking during college when they talk to their teens about alcohol before they enter college.”

Turrisi and colleagues studied 1,900 randomly selected incoming freshmen  — each of them was identified as belonging to one of four groups: nondrinkers, weekend light drinkers, weekend heavy drinkers and heavy drinkers.

Parents of the student participants were provided with a handbook containing information that included an overview of college student drinking, strategies and techniques for communicating effectively, ways to help teens develop assertiveness and resist peer pressure and in-depth information on how alcohol affects the body.

The researchers found that teens remain in the non-drinking or light-drinking groups when their parents followed the recommendations in the handbook and talked to their teens before they enter college. Similarly, teens transition out of a heavy-drinking group (if they were already heavy drinkers) when their parents talked to them about drinking before they set foot on campus.

Turrisi said talking to teens in the fall of the first year of college may not work as well; for many families it had no effect on students’ drinking behaviors. Similarly, adding extra parent materials in the fall seemed to have no additional benefit.

But what is it about peer pressure that forces someone to engage in risky behaviors? Why does it matter so much, especially in adolescents?

The truth of the matter is, peer pressure happens to everyone of us at some point in our lives. Some are good peer pressure, but many can be identified as negative peer pressure.

In his book Living with Peer Pressure and Bullying, Dr. Thomas Paul Tarshis defined peer pressure as the influence of other people’s perceptions on your decisions or actions. It can enter our lives in several different ways, such as in the form of comments made by classmates or peers outside of school; exposure to material items; and the pressure to perform certain behaviors.

With teenagers, peer pressure is deemed important because the choice made when dealing with it influences the success or failure of their future. As a teenager, the opinions of your friends and classmates in your choice of clothes, music or school becomes more important than that of your parents. The same goes for the more serious topics, such as drugs, alcohol, and sexual activity.

Dr. Tarshis explained some of the reasons why teens are forced to give in to negative peer pressures, which include the concern of losing a friend or making a new one; the concern about being teased; the fear of being left out or being bullied. Some teens who may feel that the consequences of not giving in to peer pressure are worse than feeling guilty about doing something that’s wrong.

Teens who are at higher risk of giving in to peer pressure are those who have poor self-esteem and confidence; poor family support; lack of hobbies or interests; lack of friends; and poor school performance. Kids who just moved to a new school or city are also vulnerable to giving in to peer pressure for the sake of gaining approval and acceptance.

Here are some dangerous beverages that may result in risky behaviors:

Green Dragon
This drink is created by placing a certain amount of marijuana in alcoholic beverages, such as brandy and vodka. Surprisingly, many online forums demonstrate how one can produce this concoction. Some of the side effects of drinking green dragon include getting high or experiencing “floating” feeling, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, chest pain, and fatigue.

Purple Drank
Also known as sizzurp or purple jelly, the drink’s main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. The cough syrup is typically mixed with soda like Sprite or Mountain Dew to produce a purplish hue concoction. This drink was popularized in the hip hop community in the United States, and is now a common sight in many party and clubs. But according Dr. George Fallieras, of the Good Samaritan Hospital, consuming large amounts of codeine and promethazine can cause peple to stop breathing.

Death Juice
This drink is a mixture of cocaine, marijuana, oxycontin, two different types of cough syrup, and beer. It is said to be mysteriously delicious, but poisonously intoxicating given the amount of the drugs used to make it.

According to a new study, dating in middle school could lead to higher drop out and drug use rates.

Researchers from the University of Georgia followed more than 600 students, from 6th to 12th grade, for over seven years and found that students who start dating in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school, and report twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use, according to a ScienceDaily report.

“A likely explanation for the worse educational performance of early daters is that these adolescents start dating early as part of an overall pattern of high-risk behaviors,” said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.

Orpinas said the study suggests “dating should not be considered a rite of passage in middle school.” She explained that the emotional complications involved in dating a classmate may be similar with that of dating a co-worker.

“When the couple splits, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this scenario could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying,” Orpinas said, citing the scenario as possible trigger for the use of commonly abused substances like alcohol and marijuana.

The results of the study were recently published in the  Journal of Research on Adolescence.

So what is this sizzurp thing that could make someone fall in critical condition?

Sizzurp is known in a variety of street names, such as purple drank, syrup, purple jelly, and lean. It’s a narcotic concoction of prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine.

Dr. George Fallieras, an emergency room physician and hospitalist at Good Samaritan Hospital, told Los Angeles Times that the codeine ingredient in cough syrup serves as a pain reliever and also suppresses coughing, while promethazine  is used as an antihistamine and commonly used to treat motion sickness and nausea. The codeine and promethazine contents in cough syrup are generally safe when taken in appropriately prescribed quantities, but when taken in very large amounts can cause people to stop breathing.

“A lot of times these guys are not just drinking the purple drink, they’re also drinking alcohol,” Fallieras said. “And potentially in combination with alcohol and other drugs — all of these together can be a lethal cocktail.”

Fallieras added that codeine is an opiate, the same family of drugs as heroin and morphine, and can be very addictive in high doses. Meanwhile, promethazine has at least anecdotally been noted to intensify the euphoric effects of codeine in the brain.

“There’s a misconception that codeine is a weaker formula of the same class of medicine [as heroin],” Fallieras said. “But the amount of codeine these guys ingest with the syrup is massive … it’s just the same as someone being addicted to heroin, except they’re not using needles.”

Lil Wayne wasn’t the first to have been reported of feeling badly ill after taking sizzurp. With its popularity in the hip hop culture, the concoction was blamed or suspected to have caused the deaths of several prominent users. In Nov. 2000, Texas-based DJ Screw, who popularized the codeine-based drink, died of a codeine-promethazine-alcohol overdose. In 2007, American rapper Pimp C was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room after suffering from respiratory depression due to an overdose of promethazine and codeine coupled with a preexisting sleep apnea condition.