Various schools around the U.S. have lined up extravagant goodies, such as brand new cars, iPads, and college scholarships, in the hope of attracting teens to attend supervised, alcohol-free events after their annual high school proms.

According to Reuters, the prizes are sometimes provided by local businesses while others are purchased through parent-led fundraising.

In Roanoke, Virginia, one student will be given a new 2013 Nissan Juke and two others will get iPads.

“Research shows that if they stay to the end of the after-prom party, they are more likely to be alcohol- and drug-free,” said Kathy Sullivan, the director of the Roanoke group.

In Pennsylvania, one high school student will drive away a black Honda Civic just for going to a supervised after-prom party. In Derby, Kansas, a high school booked an entire amusement park for its after-prom party.

Meanwhile, Allen High School in Allen, Texas gave away eight $250-worth of scholarships, several computers, a party for 20 at a local barbecue restaurant and tickets to a Texas Rangers baseball game.

At the Johnson City, New York, students have a chance to get microwaves, laptops and television sets. On top of that, attending students will be given a suitcase with $100 worth of merchandise.

Generation Rx (GEN Rx) Project was launched last week at the Georgia Capitol in response to the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse among youth and adults aged 12 – 25 in Georgia. Present at the launch were Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) Commissioner Frank Berry, members of the Georgia Legislature, and youth from Catoosa and Gwinnett Counties.

“The abuse of prescription drugs by youth in Georgia and across the country has grown substantially since the 1990s,” Commissioner Berry said in a news release. “Every day, 2,500 youth aged 12 to 17 abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time, and nearly 20 percent of teens report abusing medications that were not prescribed to them.”

GEN Rx is funded by a $2.6 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It uses a four-pronged approach which includes the following:

• Education and awareness about the dangers of abuse
• Promoting the utilization of Georgia’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
• Education about the proper disposal of unused and expired medications
• Collaboration with law enforcement to eliminate improper prescribing practices

In the last few years, the state of Georgia has been addressing the crisis through several programs and local government efforts. In 2011, the state adopted the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) which enables pharmacists to track the issuance of prescription drugs to identify individuals who are “doctor shopping,” as well as  pill mill operators.

There’s also the “Think About It” Program launched by the Medical Association of Georgia Foundation recently to increase awareness on the issue of prescription drug abuse and coordinate efforts by multiple collaborative partners.

In the recent years, we have seen a lot of substance abuse treatment centers opening here and there. All of them promise to help addicts get their lives back using this and that programs. The question is: are any of those programs the right one for you?

If you will take an addiction treatment facility’s claim at face value it won’t be any easier for you to pick the right substance abuse treatment program.

A New York Times feature cited a 2012 study conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University which concluded that “the vast majority of people in need of addiction treatment do not receive anything that approximates evidence-based care.”

The CASA Columbia report has exposed the sad truth that most of those providing addiction treatment are not medical professionals and are not equipped with the knowledge, skills or credentials necessary to provide the full range of evidence-based services.

So how do you make sure then that you’re not wasting time and money for an addiction treatment?

Anne M. Fletcher, a science writer and author of “Inside Rehab” and “Sober for Good,” offers the following guidelines:

1. Get an independent assessment of the need for treatment and kind of treatment needed from an expert who is not connected with the rehab center you are considering.

2. Check the credentials of the treatment program’s personnel.

3. Don’t choose a program just because it’s popular.

4. Meet with the therapist who will treat you and ask about your treatment plan.

5. Find out if you will receive therapy for any underlying condition, like depression or a social problem that could get in the way of your recovery.

6. Look for programs that use research-based approaches.

Benzo Fury is a colorless stimulant that contains 5-APB or 6-APB compounds. It is sold in pellet or powder form via the Internet, and typically labelled “not for human consumption,” “plant food,” “bath salts,” or “research drug.”

Last month, a study of Benzo Fury was presented at a British Neuroscience Association conference in which experts say the active ingredient of the substance acts on the brain like both a stimulant and a hallucinogen — a combination that can make the drug dangerous to users.

“We have found that 5-APB behaves a little like amphetamine – that is, like a stimulant with addictive potential – and a bit like a hallucinogen, acting via serotonin receptors. This kind of mixed properties can be found in some illegal ‘designer’ drugs,” the presenting author, Dr. Jolanta Opacka-Juffry, said in a news release.

Dr. Opacka-Juffry  is a principal lecturer in neuroscience and director of the health sciences research centre at the University of Roehampton. The co-author of the research is Dr. Colin Davidson, a senior lecturer in neuropharmacology and expert in drugs of addiction at St George’s University of London.

Benzo Fury is now considered one of the most popular “legal highs” in the United Kingdom, and it’s also sold in the United States. Both Dr. Opacka-Juffry   and Dr. Davidson recommend further studies on the long-term effects of Benzo Fury because at this point no one really knows what the drug can do to users.

Dr. Opacka-Juffry, however,  cautioned that it’s “in the combination of these stimulant and hallucinogenic properties that the greatest danger lies.”

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.

For those who do not know, codeine works by suppressing cough while  promethazine works by blocking the action of histamine to reduce symptoms of allergies, such as runny nose, sneezing or nausea. The use of codeine/ promethazine syrup must be supervised by a physician.

Codeine/promethazine syrup should not be taken by people who are allergic to codeine-related medicines or any ingredient in codeine/promethazine syrup. It is also not recommended for patients with severe drowsiness, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep apnea, fever, diarrhea caused by food poisoning or antibiotic use, and productive cough. Additionally, pregnant women and patients with history of heart problems, low blood pressure, seizures, substance abuse, liver or kidney problems, and bladder problems  must share these conditions to their health care provider before taking codeine/promethazine syrup.

In general, codeine/promethazine syrup is a safe medication as long as it is taken according to a doctor’s prescription. But like any other medicines, it has some side effects — the most common are dizziness; drowsiness; constipation; headache; blurred vision; and dry mouth, throat, or nose.

When taken in large amounts or combined with alcoholic drinks for recreational use, codeine/promethazine syrup  may trigger more dangerous impact, such as confusion, hallucinations, irregular heartbeat, tightness in the chest, seizures, tremors, and uncontrolled muscle movements.

“Hookah smoke can do as much or more damage than cigarette smoke because you have to inhale more deeply,” Councilman Vincent Gentile, a Brooklyn Democrat, told Crain’s New York. “In fact, one session of hookah can be like smoking 35 to 100 cigarettes.”

In 2010, Gentile introduced a bill that would prohibit new hookah bars from opening and existing hookah bars from expanding or moving to a new location. The legislation also requires existing establishments scofflaw hookah owners from illegally selling tobacco instead of shisha.

“We’re not trying to close down anybody who’s already in business,” Gentile added.

A recent study from the University of California San Francisco found that hookah smoking could increase levels of benzene and carbon monoxide, which ups a smoker’s risk for lung cancer and leukemia. The researchers confirmed that hookah doesn’t make a safer alternative to cigarette smoking given the toxins a person can inhale from it.

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.

At this point, you’ve probably heard enough on why athletes use steroids or about the short- and long-term effects of anabolic steroids. So is there anything else you might still be missing?

Read on and find out.

Fact # 1: Anabolic steroid use affects fat distribution in the body
It’s common knowledge that bodybuilders often resort to anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs to bulk up, but a Swedish study found that doing so could lead to dangerous fat distribution in the body. According to the researchers at Lulea University of Technology and Umea University, weight lifters who actively use anabolic steroids have more dangerous fat distribution in their body which raises their chances of suffering from strokes and heart attacks. The study involved ten elite lifters and the finding was published in the 2012 edition of The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research.

Fact # 2: Anabolic steroid use may cause severe kidney injury
It’s true that anabolic steroids can help you gain muscle mass and strength, but this doesn’t come without damaging your kidney. A 2009 research published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology revealed that habitual use of anabolic steroids has harmful effects on the kidney that were not previously recognized. But the good news is, there’s still a good chance that such kidney abnormalities can be improved by quitting steroids use.

Fact # 3: Steroid use are increasing among females and non-athletes
Gone are the days when steroids are only used by men and females who want to gain competitive advantage in sports. In fact, teen girls were found to be the fastest growing group of new steroids users. A 2003 national survey of more than 7,000 female high school students found that 5.3 percent of 9th to 12th graders had used steroids for non-medical reasons. Many of these girls were not even athletes. Experts said that girls who use steroids are also at greater risk of engaging in other problematic behaviors, such as attempting suicide, teenage pregnancy, and use of other illegal substances.

Fact # 4: Teens use steroids to look physically appealing
A lot of teens are heavily influenced by what they see from movie stars and the desire to achieve similar adoration from other people. Add to that is the presence of social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, wherein posting pictures have become a favorite pastime. Any teen would feel a heightened sense of confidence when their friends tell them they’re looking great. So to address their body image issues, some teens would go the easy route which is using steroids.

Fact # 5: It takes less than 5 seconds to find steroids for sale on the Internet
Obtaining steroids has become very easy with the Internet around. Teens just type in a few steroid-related keywords and they can access dozens of sites that sell steroids. An infographics on Taylor Hooton Foundation showed that it only takes 1 second for a student to locate steroids for sale online, with 40 percent of the high school seniors admitting it’s so easy to obtain the drug nowadays.

On April 27, residents of Davis  were encouraged to participate in a Take Back Initiative organized by the Davis Police Department (DPD) in collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). For six consecutive years, DPD has been running the collection event to make sure unused, unwanted and expired prescription medication are not landing on the wrong hands.

“During the span of those four hours that we did the event, we collected 315 pounds of unused, unwanted or expired medication,” Lt. Glenn Glasgow told The California Aggie.

The DPD holds the collection event twice a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. All collected prescription medicines are dispose through incineration, in accordance with federal and state environmental guidelines.

Glasgow said the event is their way to prevent potential abuse and addiction by children, teens, as well as adults. “We view it not only as a community service to assist people in discarding their unused, unwanted and expired medication properly because it could pose a threat to the environment if they are discarded improperly. We also view it as a way of hoping to avoid people being able to access prescription medication that was not prescribed to them,” he added.

Previous research showed that individuals who abuse prescription medicines usually get the drugs from people they know, such as friends and relatives. Thus, public health officials have been steadfastly reminding those with Rx medicines at home to store and dispose their pills properly to keep them away especially from kids.