Drug Abuse Prevention

Montana Makes Effort to Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Prescription Drug Abuse on August 25th, 2010

In a previous post, we talked about the efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse, being done by Suffolk County in New York. In this post, we share the efforts of the state of Montana, currently ranked as third highest in the country in terms of teen abuse of prescription pain relievers, according to a feature on KRTV.com.

prescription drug abuseThe feature also shared that a new report indicated that 10 percent of the state’s teenagers have abused prescription medication in the past month, and mentioned that Montana is among the remaining seven states that still does not have a prescription drug registry or monitoring program.

Now, the state Attorney General’s office is sharing its efforts towards managing the state’s teen prescription drug abuse problem. After failing to secure the approval of the Montana Legislature for a prescription drug monitoring program twice, the feature said that the bill has been revamped and will be brought forward in the Legislature’s next session.

Siri Similie of the Attorney General’s office shared: “What they see on the street and what they are able to buy from drug dealers are pills. That is the most common drug they see and we also know that we are losing hundreds of Montanans every year to prescription drug overdose, mixed toxicity, and other complications that are side effects of misuse and abuse.”

Montana has also begun to organize prescription drug collection days, where residents are given the opportunity to dispose of prescription drugs in their homes properly. This is yet another way to prevent teenagers from gaining easy access to prescription drugs that may be abused. The next prescription drug collection day is scheduled for September 25.

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National Drug Facts Week Scheduled

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Facts on August 17th, 2010

On Monday, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced the launching of the National Drug Facts Week, according to a feature on the website of the National Institutes of Health. National Drug Facts Week will serve as a way to bring teenagers and scientific experts together in order to talk about drug abuse. It is an expansion of the online Drug Facts Day previously conducted by NIDA.

National Drug Facts WeekNIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow was quoted in the feature: “What we learned through our annual Web chat is that teens have many questions about drug use and are eager for objective, factual answers, so we wanted to build a series of events where teens could ask scientists their questions directly.”

National Drug Facts Week will encourage the conduct of community-based question and answer events participated in by teenagers and scientists. Schools, community groups, hospitals and various youth-oriented clubs can serve as the sponsors of these events. Those interested in organizing such events can ask NIDA for an online toolkit that will provide teenagers and their sponsoring organizations information regarding: “how to create an event, how to publicize the event, how to find a scientific expert and where to find scientific information on drugs.”

This new awareness week is supported by the following federal agencies: the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in HHS, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at NIH, the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Defense.

National Drug Facts week will begin on November 8.

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Exercise in Teens Can Prevent Future Drug Abuse

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Raising Healthy Kids on August 12th, 2010

A study conducted by researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy indicated that physical exercise as an adolescent can decrease cocaine-seeking behavior, at least in young adult rats, as shared in a feature on PhysOrg.com.

According to the feature, what these results may show is that the same effect may be achieved in human subjects; this makes physical activity as an adolescent as a potential deterrent for cocaine abuse. The results of the study were published online through the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

exerciseLead author Panayotis Thanos, a neuroscientist at the Brookhaven Lab and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Laboratory of Neuroimaging, shared: “This is a first step in trying to understand the connection between exercise and substance abuse. We want to see how manipulating exercise will impact susceptibility to drug abuse and addiction.”

The researchers worked on the premise that physical activity results in an improvement in the way the brain processes dopamine, which is associated with the experience of pleasure and reward. Based on previous studies, the researchers decided to focus on how exercise during adolescence affected drug use later in life.

Thanos explained: “The major idea in this paper is that animals exposed to exercise during adolescence showed less preference for cocaine later in life. This hammers home the notion that exercise may play a valuable role in decreasing the risk of drug addiction.”

The study grouped animals into the control group, which remained sedentary, and the exercise group, which began working out during adolescence. The exercise consisted of running on treadmills five days a week over a period of six weeks; this continued into the conditioning and testing periods.

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Shenandoah Valley Starts Process on Drug Testing Policy

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Testing, Raising Healthy Kids on May 30th, 2010

A report on the Republican Herald shares the first reading of the proposed drug testing policy that will be followed in Shenandoah Valley schools. The school board met on Wednesday and the proposed policy was read aloud by Superintendent Dr. Stanley G. Rakowsky. This was then approved unanimously by the members of the board.

young cheerleadersThe policy will affect students in the seventh until the twelfth grade who are engaged in extra-curricular activities such as football, cheerleading and the student council. There will be voluntary and mandatory drug testing in the form of urine tests. The students will be selected at random by an approved contractor. Up to ten eligible students may be tested randomly in two-week intervals throughout the school year.

The parents or guardians of the students involved will need to sign a consent form that authorizes the release of test results. Students whose parents will not give their consent will be prohibited from getting involved in extra-curricular activities.
Students who are not involved in the specified extra-curricular activities may be covered through enrollment in a voluntary program provided that their parent or guardian gives the necessary permission.

The testing will cover the following substances: anabolic steroids, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, codeine, depressants, heroin, marijuana, morphine, methamphetamine, opiates, PCP, stimulants, Valium and alcohol.

Wednesday’s reading, as mentioned earlier, is the first reading of the proposed policy. Two more public readings will be held before the school board takes a vote on adopting the policy or not. The policy may be amended during this time.

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Separating Depression Truths from Myths

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Addiction, Raising Healthy Kids on May 1st, 2010

Depression can be the cause or the effect of drug abuse. Many people suffering from depression try to escape from the negative feelings by drowning themselves with alcohol or numbing their senses with drugs. On the other hand, depression can also be a result of drug addiction. Many drug abusers have reportedly suffer from depression after long-term abuse of drugs. Thus, it is important to understand depression to help our loved ones, especially our kids, manage their feelings and avoid the possibility of drug abuse.

depressionMyth: Depression is a passing feeling and will just go away after some time.
Fact: Depression is a major medical condition. It does not simply go away after days of shopping or nights of partying. It is a serious condition involving brain patterns that can affect one’s life and functioning. It can even cause harm to the person suffering from it or to his loved ones.

Myth: Depression affects the mind and rarely affects the body.
Fact: Depression can cause serious pains to the physical body. Common manifestations of depression are irritability, anxiety and despair. However, it can also cause chest pain, headache, back pain, digestive problems, sleeping problems, nausea and vomiting, muscle ache, and change in appetite.

Myth: Positive thinking can cure depression.
Fact: As depression is a serious medical condition affecting the brain, most people suffering from it cannot bounce back by mere optimism. Depressed people need to seek professional help to achieve a balance in brain chemicals.

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Avoid Teen Drug Addiction by Bonding with the Family

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Addiction, Raising Healthy Kids on April 18th, 2010

In many occasions, teenagers take drugs only out of curiosity or boredom. Sometimes, that can’t be helped, given that the adolescence is when individuals begin to explore parts of themselves that were otherwise unknown during most of their childhood.

family activitiesBut we often forget the family’s impact on a teenager’s life. The love and support of a family can help a teenager forget about trying drugs. Doing some activities together is a great way of channeling their attention away from drug abuse, and the activities don’t need to be that complex to be effective. For instance, the simple act of having dinner together will not only fill everyone’s stomachs, but also provide a venue for better communication in the family.

Doing some physical activities together can also help a teenager avoid drug addiction. Strenuous tasks such as hiking, swimming, and playing sports relieve an individual’s stress and aid in releasing a ton of internal aggression or angst. Family members can also reconnect with each other a lot more during this time; remember that actions speak louder than words, and this will be all action.

The family plays a great role in an individual’s growth and development. Efforts to curb drug addiction through fun activities help a lot, and although they may not seem to work at first, perseverance and open communication with each other are key to finding out the reasons for the teenager’s drug habit. Have dinner together. Do some hiking. Swim. Play some sports. It would not hurt to at least try.

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