Teen dies after smoking synthetic pot
AP,
Thu Oct 27, 5:02 PM EDT
PITTSBURGH — A 13-year-old in the U.S. who became ill after smoking synthetic marijuana and had a double lung transplant has died.
Tonya Rice tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper that her 13-year-old son, Brandon, died Thursday morning at a hospital in Pennsylvania.
The boy smoked the fake marijuana out of a plastic candy dispenser and suffered chemical burns to both lungs. He was put on a respirator in June and had a double lung transplant in September.
The boy's mother says anti-rejection drugs he's taken since the transplants weakened his immune system and made him unable to fight off a recent infection.
Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law outlawing such substances a few days after the boy became ill. The ban took effect in August.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Alcohol Marketing to Minors
The Latest News Update 10/25/11 From Marilyn Belmonte of the Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force: re: Alcohol Marketing to Minors on Facebook:
Much of the alcohol-related content on Facebook is available to underage Facebook members, according to a study conducted by the Marin Institute. There are guidelines requiring age restrictions on Facebook but the study found that content promoting alcohol and binge drinking was accessible by underage members in advertisements, pages, applications, events, and groups.
Alcohol companies can buy ad space that allows them to access a user’s profile. The Marin study found that one out of every eight ads contained alcohol and all alcohol-related ads were displayed to under-21 users.
Facebook pages and groups allow members to become fans and therefore stay in touch with their discussions, photos and events. At the time of the study, the ten top beer brands had 93 pages with more than 1.1 million fans. But only 50% of these pages restricted access due to the member’s age. Once a member becomes a fan of these pages, they receive marketing messages on their own Facebook page. None of the Facebook groups about alcohol had age restrictions.
Facebook applications allow users to play games, take quizzes and send special messages to their friends. There are over 500 Facebook applications associated with alcohol. 66% of the alcohol applications are accessible to underage members. These applications allow underage members to send virtual “mixed drinks” or “shots” to other Facebook friends.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing, Facebook violates the industry’s advertising guidelines. Responsible Placement Guideline #2 states “Beverage alcohol products should not be advertised or marketed in any manner directed or primarily appealing to persons below the legal purchase age”. Guideline #3 states “Beverage alcohol advertising and marketing should be placed in broadcast, cable, radio, print, and internet/digital communications only where at least 71.6 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be of legal purchase age”.
According to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, numerous studies prove that a greater exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in drinking among underage youth effect by influencing expectations, attitudes, and creating an environment that promotes underage drinking.
Parents can not assume that websites such as Facebook are going to follow guidelines designed to protect our children. We also can not monitor every step they take on the internet. But we can take the responsibility of talking with our teens about the problems related to underage drinking. Studies prove that parental guidance during adolescence has a major impact in reducing drinking. Parents can offset pro-drinking messages just by having thoughtful discussions with their teens.
Much of the alcohol-related content on Facebook is available to underage Facebook members, according to a study conducted by the Marin Institute. There are guidelines requiring age restrictions on Facebook but the study found that content promoting alcohol and binge drinking was accessible by underage members in advertisements, pages, applications, events, and groups.
Alcohol companies can buy ad space that allows them to access a user’s profile. The Marin study found that one out of every eight ads contained alcohol and all alcohol-related ads were displayed to under-21 users.
Facebook pages and groups allow members to become fans and therefore stay in touch with their discussions, photos and events. At the time of the study, the ten top beer brands had 93 pages with more than 1.1 million fans. But only 50% of these pages restricted access due to the member’s age. Once a member becomes a fan of these pages, they receive marketing messages on their own Facebook page. None of the Facebook groups about alcohol had age restrictions.
Facebook applications allow users to play games, take quizzes and send special messages to their friends. There are over 500 Facebook applications associated with alcohol. 66% of the alcohol applications are accessible to underage members. These applications allow underage members to send virtual “mixed drinks” or “shots” to other Facebook friends.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing, Facebook violates the industry’s advertising guidelines. Responsible Placement Guideline #2 states “Beverage alcohol products should not be advertised or marketed in any manner directed or primarily appealing to persons below the legal purchase age”. Guideline #3 states “Beverage alcohol advertising and marketing should be placed in broadcast, cable, radio, print, and internet/digital communications only where at least 71.6 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be of legal purchase age”.
According to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, numerous studies prove that a greater exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in drinking among underage youth effect by influencing expectations, attitudes, and creating an environment that promotes underage drinking.
Parents can not assume that websites such as Facebook are going to follow guidelines designed to protect our children. We also can not monitor every step they take on the internet. But we can take the responsibility of talking with our teens about the problems related to underage drinking. Studies prove that parental guidance during adolescence has a major impact in reducing drinking. Parents can offset pro-drinking messages just by having thoughtful discussions with their teens.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Kudos to Family Circle…for great, real life articles for parents & teens! Aug 2011
If you are wondering about teens, underage drinking, tobacco and drug use, check out these articles with advice from the experts at www.familycircle.com:
Q&A: My Usually Good Teen Was Caught with Drugs
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/abusing-prescription-drugs/
My Teen Told Me His Friend Smokes Pot. Now What?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/friend-smokes-pot/
Hard Candy: New Ways Kids Get High
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/new-ways-kids-get-high/
Q&A: Is My Teen Selling His Prescription Drugs?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/selling-prescription-drugs/
How to Plan a Teen Party
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/activities/teen-party/
What should I say to my child about “field parties,” that involve lots of drinking?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/school/back-to-school/solutions-to-back-to-school-problems/
High Season: Teens and Marijuana Use http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teen-marijuana-use/
Video: Teens and the Dangers of Binge Drinking
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teens-and-binge-drinking-dangers/
Back from the Brink: One Teen’s Struggle with Alcoholism
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teens-alcoholism-struggle/?page=1
Q&A: Is My Teenager’s Friend on Drugs?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/teen-friend-on-drugs/
Q&A: My Usually Good Teen Was Caught with Drugs
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/abusing-prescription-drugs/
My Teen Told Me His Friend Smokes Pot. Now What?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/friend-smokes-pot/
Hard Candy: New Ways Kids Get High
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/new-ways-kids-get-high/
Q&A: Is My Teen Selling His Prescription Drugs?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/selling-prescription-drugs/
How to Plan a Teen Party
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/activities/teen-party/
What should I say to my child about “field parties,” that involve lots of drinking?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/school/back-to-school/solutions-to-back-to-school-problems/
High Season: Teens and Marijuana Use http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teen-marijuana-use/
Video: Teens and the Dangers of Binge Drinking
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teens-and-binge-drinking-dangers/
Back from the Brink: One Teen’s Struggle with Alcoholism
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/drugs/teens-alcoholism-struggle/?page=1
Q&A: Is My Teenager’s Friend on Drugs?
http://www.familycircle.com/teen/advice/rosalind/teen-friend-on-drugs/
Monday, July 11, 2011
Rethinking Addiction’s Roots, and Its Treatment
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/health/11addictions.html
By DOUGLAS QUENQUA
Published: July 10, 2011
There is an age-old debate over alcoholism: is the problem in the sufferer’s head — something that can be overcome through willpower, spirituality or talk therapy, perhaps — or is it a physical disease, one that needs continuing medical treatment in much the same way as, say, diabetes or epilepsy?
Enlarge This Image
Bryce Vickmark for The New York Times
Dr. Christine Pace helps Derek Anderson manage his heroin addiction at Boston University Medical Center. With the help of medication, Mr. Anderson has been clean for six years.
VIDEO: Nora Volkow
Readers’ Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Increasingly, the medical establishment is putting its weight behind the physical diagnosis. In the latest evidence, 10 medical institutions have just introduced the first accredited residency programs in addiction medicine, where doctors who have completed medical school and a primary residency will be able to spend a year studying the relationship between addiction and brain chemistry.
“This is a first step toward bringing recognition, respectability and rigor to addiction medicine,” said David Withers, who oversees the new residency program at the Marworth Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Center in Waverly, Pa.
The goal of the residency programs, which started July 1 with 20 students at the various institutions, is to establish addiction medicine as a standard specialty along the lines of pediatrics, oncology or dermatology. The residents will treat patients with a range of addictions — to alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, nicotine and more — and study the brain chemistry involved, as well as the role of heredity.
“In the past, the specialty was very much targeted toward psychiatrists,” said Nora D. Volkow, the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “It’s a gap in our training program.” She called the lack of substance-abuse education among general practitioners “a very serious problem.”
Institutions offering the one-year residency are St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, the University of Maryland Medical System, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the University of Minnesota Medical School, the University of Florida College of Medicine, the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Marworth and Boston University Medical Center. Some, like Marworth, have been offering programs in addiction medicine for years, simply without accreditation.
The new accreditation comes courtesy of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, or ABAM, which was founded in 2007 to help promote the medical treatment of addiction.
The board aims to also get the program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a step that requires, among other things, establishing the program at a minimum of 20 institutions. The recognition would mean that the addictions specialty would qualify as a “primary” residency, one that a newly minted doctor could enter right out of school.
Richard Blondell, the chairman of the training committee at ABAM, said the group expected to accredit an additional 10 to 15 institutions this year.
The rethinking of addiction as a medical disease rather than a strictly psychological one began about 15 years ago, when researchers discovered through high-resonance imaging that drug addiction resulted in actual physical changes to the brain.
Armed with that understanding, “the management of folks with addiction becomes very much like the management of other chronic diseases, such as asthma, hypertension or diabetes,” said Dr. Daniel Alford, who oversees the program at Boston University Medical Center. “It’s hard necessarily to cure people, but you can certainly manage the problem to the point where they are able to function” through a combination of pharmaceuticals and therapy.
Central to the understanding of addiction as a physical ailment is the belief that treatment must be continuing in order to avoid relapse. Just as no one expects a diabetes patient to be cured after six weeks of diet and insulin management, Dr. Alford said, it is unrealistic to expect most drug addicts to be cured after 28 days in a detoxification facility.
“It’s not surprising to us now that when you stop the treatment, people relapse,” Dr. Alford said. “It doesn’t mean that the treatment doesn’t work, it just means that you need to continue treatment.” Those physical changes in the brain could also explain why some smokers will still crave a cigarette 30 years after quitting, Dr. Alford said.
If the idea of addiction as a chronic disease has been slow to take hold in medical circles, it could be because doctors sometime struggle to grasp brain function, Dr. Volkow said. “While it is very simple to understand a disease of the heart — the heart is very simple, it’s just a muscle — it’s much more complex to understand the brain,” she said.
Increasing interest in addiction medicine is a handful of promising new pharmaceuticals, most notably buprenorphine (sold under names like Suboxone), which has proved to ease withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts and subsequently block cravings, though it causes side effects of its own. Other drugs for treating opioid or alcohol dependence have shown promise as well.
Few addiction medicine specialists advocate a path to recovery that depends solely on pharmacology, however. “The more we learn about the treatment of addiction, the more we realize that one size does not fit all,” said Petros Levounis, who is in charge of the residency at the Addiction Institute of New York at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.
Equally maligned is the idea that psychiatry or 12-step programs are adequate for curing a disease with physical roots. Many people who abuse substances do not have psychiatric problems, Dr. Alford noted, adding, “I think there’s absolutely a role for addiction psychiatrists.”
While each institution has developed its own curriculum, the basic competencies each seeks to impart are the same. Residents will learn to recognize and diagnose substance abuse, conduct brief interventions that spell out the treatment options and prescribe the proper medications. The doctors will also be expected to understand the legal and practical implications of substance abuse.
Christine Pace, a 31-year-old graduate of Harvard Medical School, is the first addiction resident at Boston University Medical Center. She got interested in the subject as a teenager, when she volunteered at an AIDS organization and overheard heroin addicts complaining about doctors who could not — or would not — help them.
This year, when she became the in-house doctor at a methadone clinic in Boston, she was dismayed to find that the complaints had not changed. “I saw physicians over and over again pushing it aside, just calling a social-work consult to deal with a patient who is struggling with addiction,” Dr. Pace said.
One of her patients is Derek Anderson, 53, who credits Suboxone — as well as a general practitioner who six years ago recognized his signs of addiction — with helping him kick his 35-year heroin habit.
“I used to go to detoxes and go back and forth and back and forth,” he said. But the Suboxone “got me to where I don’t have the dependency every day, consuming you, swallowing you like a fish in water. I’m able to work now, I’m able to take care of my daughter, I’m able to pay rent — all the things I couldn’t do when I was using.”
A version of this article appeared in print on July 11, 2011, on page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Medicine Adds Slots for Study Of Addictions.
By DOUGLAS QUENQUA
Published: July 10, 2011
There is an age-old debate over alcoholism: is the problem in the sufferer’s head — something that can be overcome through willpower, spirituality or talk therapy, perhaps — or is it a physical disease, one that needs continuing medical treatment in much the same way as, say, diabetes or epilepsy?
Enlarge This Image
Bryce Vickmark for The New York Times
Dr. Christine Pace helps Derek Anderson manage his heroin addiction at Boston University Medical Center. With the help of medication, Mr. Anderson has been clean for six years.
VIDEO: Nora Volkow
Readers’ Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Increasingly, the medical establishment is putting its weight behind the physical diagnosis. In the latest evidence, 10 medical institutions have just introduced the first accredited residency programs in addiction medicine, where doctors who have completed medical school and a primary residency will be able to spend a year studying the relationship between addiction and brain chemistry.
“This is a first step toward bringing recognition, respectability and rigor to addiction medicine,” said David Withers, who oversees the new residency program at the Marworth Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Center in Waverly, Pa.
The goal of the residency programs, which started July 1 with 20 students at the various institutions, is to establish addiction medicine as a standard specialty along the lines of pediatrics, oncology or dermatology. The residents will treat patients with a range of addictions — to alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, nicotine and more — and study the brain chemistry involved, as well as the role of heredity.
“In the past, the specialty was very much targeted toward psychiatrists,” said Nora D. Volkow, the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “It’s a gap in our training program.” She called the lack of substance-abuse education among general practitioners “a very serious problem.”
Institutions offering the one-year residency are St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, the University of Maryland Medical System, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the University of Minnesota Medical School, the University of Florida College of Medicine, the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Marworth and Boston University Medical Center. Some, like Marworth, have been offering programs in addiction medicine for years, simply without accreditation.
The new accreditation comes courtesy of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, or ABAM, which was founded in 2007 to help promote the medical treatment of addiction.
The board aims to also get the program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a step that requires, among other things, establishing the program at a minimum of 20 institutions. The recognition would mean that the addictions specialty would qualify as a “primary” residency, one that a newly minted doctor could enter right out of school.
Richard Blondell, the chairman of the training committee at ABAM, said the group expected to accredit an additional 10 to 15 institutions this year.
The rethinking of addiction as a medical disease rather than a strictly psychological one began about 15 years ago, when researchers discovered through high-resonance imaging that drug addiction resulted in actual physical changes to the brain.
Armed with that understanding, “the management of folks with addiction becomes very much like the management of other chronic diseases, such as asthma, hypertension or diabetes,” said Dr. Daniel Alford, who oversees the program at Boston University Medical Center. “It’s hard necessarily to cure people, but you can certainly manage the problem to the point where they are able to function” through a combination of pharmaceuticals and therapy.
Central to the understanding of addiction as a physical ailment is the belief that treatment must be continuing in order to avoid relapse. Just as no one expects a diabetes patient to be cured after six weeks of diet and insulin management, Dr. Alford said, it is unrealistic to expect most drug addicts to be cured after 28 days in a detoxification facility.
“It’s not surprising to us now that when you stop the treatment, people relapse,” Dr. Alford said. “It doesn’t mean that the treatment doesn’t work, it just means that you need to continue treatment.” Those physical changes in the brain could also explain why some smokers will still crave a cigarette 30 years after quitting, Dr. Alford said.
If the idea of addiction as a chronic disease has been slow to take hold in medical circles, it could be because doctors sometime struggle to grasp brain function, Dr. Volkow said. “While it is very simple to understand a disease of the heart — the heart is very simple, it’s just a muscle — it’s much more complex to understand the brain,” she said.
Increasing interest in addiction medicine is a handful of promising new pharmaceuticals, most notably buprenorphine (sold under names like Suboxone), which has proved to ease withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts and subsequently block cravings, though it causes side effects of its own. Other drugs for treating opioid or alcohol dependence have shown promise as well.
Few addiction medicine specialists advocate a path to recovery that depends solely on pharmacology, however. “The more we learn about the treatment of addiction, the more we realize that one size does not fit all,” said Petros Levounis, who is in charge of the residency at the Addiction Institute of New York at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.
Equally maligned is the idea that psychiatry or 12-step programs are adequate for curing a disease with physical roots. Many people who abuse substances do not have psychiatric problems, Dr. Alford noted, adding, “I think there’s absolutely a role for addiction psychiatrists.”
While each institution has developed its own curriculum, the basic competencies each seeks to impart are the same. Residents will learn to recognize and diagnose substance abuse, conduct brief interventions that spell out the treatment options and prescribe the proper medications. The doctors will also be expected to understand the legal and practical implications of substance abuse.
Christine Pace, a 31-year-old graduate of Harvard Medical School, is the first addiction resident at Boston University Medical Center. She got interested in the subject as a teenager, when she volunteered at an AIDS organization and overheard heroin addicts complaining about doctors who could not — or would not — help them.
This year, when she became the in-house doctor at a methadone clinic in Boston, she was dismayed to find that the complaints had not changed. “I saw physicians over and over again pushing it aside, just calling a social-work consult to deal with a patient who is struggling with addiction,” Dr. Pace said.
One of her patients is Derek Anderson, 53, who credits Suboxone — as well as a general practitioner who six years ago recognized his signs of addiction — with helping him kick his 35-year heroin habit.
“I used to go to detoxes and go back and forth and back and forth,” he said. But the Suboxone “got me to where I don’t have the dependency every day, consuming you, swallowing you like a fish in water. I’m able to work now, I’m able to take care of my daughter, I’m able to pay rent — all the things I couldn’t do when I was using.”
A version of this article appeared in print on July 11, 2011, on page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Medicine Adds Slots for Study Of Addictions.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Burlington targets those who buy alcohol for teens
WAY TO GO, MARILYN BELMONTE!!!
http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-22/news/29571882_1_young-adults-alcohol-task-force-poster
May 22, 2011|By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent
Burlington high schoolers designed the new…
The Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force is trying a new strategy to keep alcohol out of the hands of teenagers.
The group is undertaking a public education campaign this month targeting not teens or even their parents, but instead young adults who might be tempted to procure alcohol for underage siblings or friends.
The task force’s message to the 20-somethings, which is being conveyed through posters and flyers, is to refrain from that impulse.
“We have found that the most common way that high school students acquire alcohol is from older siblings and friends, so we wanted to reach that age group,’’ said Marilyn Belmonte, task force cochairwoman.
“Some of those in their 20s now may have had alcohol bought for them when they were in high school. So they might feel it’s the right thing to do the same for someone else,’’ she said.
Belmonte said the task force, a community organization that fights underage alcohol and illicit drug use, chose this month to deliver its message because this is the time of year when college students return home for the summer and when high schools hold their proms and graduations.
Designed by Burlington High School students, the posters are being placed in all of the town’s liquor stores and most of its pizza-serving restaurants, with the consent of those businesses.
Participating restaurants also agreed to attach the fliers — which are smaller versions of the poster — to their delivery boxes and place them in their take-out bags on Friday night and Saturday.
Belmonte got the idea for the initiative two years ago when she heard of a similar campaign that Weymouth’s substance abuse coalition was undertaking.
“I thought it was a great idea,’’ said Belmonte.
With the consent of the Weymouth coalition, the Burlington task force is employing the same slogan the South Shore group used: “Be the Designated Grown-up.’’ But Belmonte said that while the Weymouth campaign highlighted the criminal penalties young adults could incur procuring alcohol for a minor, the Burlington program is focused on the guilt they would feel if their younger sibling or friend became injured or got in trouble by consuming alcohol.
That theme came from an informal survey Belmonte conducted on Facebook last year in which she asked young adults what might deter them from buying alcohol for the underaged.
Strikingly, none said fear of criminal penalties would be a deterrent, Belmonte said.
“None of them felt that would ever happen,’’ she said of getting in trouble. “But each person said they would feel terrible if ‘something bad were to happen because I bought alcohol for my younger friend or younger brother or sister.’ ’’
http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-22/news/29571882_1_young-adults-alcohol-task-force-poster
May 22, 2011|By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent
Burlington high schoolers designed the new…
The Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force is trying a new strategy to keep alcohol out of the hands of teenagers.
The group is undertaking a public education campaign this month targeting not teens or even their parents, but instead young adults who might be tempted to procure alcohol for underage siblings or friends.
The task force’s message to the 20-somethings, which is being conveyed through posters and flyers, is to refrain from that impulse.
“We have found that the most common way that high school students acquire alcohol is from older siblings and friends, so we wanted to reach that age group,’’ said Marilyn Belmonte, task force cochairwoman.
“Some of those in their 20s now may have had alcohol bought for them when they were in high school. So they might feel it’s the right thing to do the same for someone else,’’ she said.
Belmonte said the task force, a community organization that fights underage alcohol and illicit drug use, chose this month to deliver its message because this is the time of year when college students return home for the summer and when high schools hold their proms and graduations.
Designed by Burlington High School students, the posters are being placed in all of the town’s liquor stores and most of its pizza-serving restaurants, with the consent of those businesses.
Participating restaurants also agreed to attach the fliers — which are smaller versions of the poster — to their delivery boxes and place them in their take-out bags on Friday night and Saturday.
Belmonte got the idea for the initiative two years ago when she heard of a similar campaign that Weymouth’s substance abuse coalition was undertaking.
“I thought it was a great idea,’’ said Belmonte.
With the consent of the Weymouth coalition, the Burlington task force is employing the same slogan the South Shore group used: “Be the Designated Grown-up.’’ But Belmonte said that while the Weymouth campaign highlighted the criminal penalties young adults could incur procuring alcohol for a minor, the Burlington program is focused on the guilt they would feel if their younger sibling or friend became injured or got in trouble by consuming alcohol.
That theme came from an informal survey Belmonte conducted on Facebook last year in which she asked young adults what might deter them from buying alcohol for the underaged.
Strikingly, none said fear of criminal penalties would be a deterrent, Belmonte said.
“None of them felt that would ever happen,’’ she said of getting in trouble. “But each person said they would feel terrible if ‘something bad were to happen because I bought alcohol for my younger friend or younger brother or sister.’ ’’
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Adult-Supervised Drinking in Young Teens May Lead to More Alcohol Use, Consequences
Allowing adolescents to drink alcohol under adult supervision does not appear to teach responsible drinking as teens get older. In fact, such a "harm-minimization" approach may actually lead to more drinking and alcohol-related consequences, according to a new study in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
See more of this 4/28/11 article from Sciencedaily.com at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428065615.htm
See more of this 4/28/11 article from Sciencedaily.com at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428065615.htm
Friday, April 1, 2011
Notes from APPLAUDD, Mar. 30, 2011, Underage Drinking & Effective Parenting Strategies
March 30, 2011 – Notes from APPLAUDD: A Prevention Program Learning About Underage Drinking & Drugs, Session #4, in addition to the powerpoint slide notes provided.
What is new about underage drinking these days? For one thing, we have lots of new research that our parents didn’t have about alcohol and its effects on adolescents.
Many adults think, “what’s the big deal? We did it, and we survived just fine!” The big deal is that we know more now than our parents did. Just like we do about cigarettes. So we need to do something about that – when you know better, you can do better.
We now know that alcohol impairs permanent memory in kids. While high school courses generally test students often, thus calling on their short term memory, college courses do not. In college, and on the SAT, it is permanent or long term memory that is required to do well. We also know that teens do not feel impairment as quickly as adults drinking the same amount, they do not feel the sedative effects that adults do, and their judgment around choices and consequences erodes more quickly after even small amounts of alcohol. The ability to choose to drink in moderation is much greater in adults than in teens.
The number of teens grade 9-12 who are drinking regularly increased by 11% from 2008 to 2009, research shows.
Effective prevention revolves around decreasing risk factors and increasing protective factors. As parents, we have done that since they were born, protecting our children from germs, falls, malnutrition. The desire to protect comes naturally, but we sometimes aren’t sure how best to do it.
Many parents find it hard to talk to their teens. Adolescents are trying to prove to themselves that they are all grown up. They want to take care of their own probems, so they put up barriers. So we figure, OK, it’s time we giv them more space. It’s easy for us to feel that there is nothing we can do to make a difference.
But, as soon as they know you’re not watching, teens have their ticket to ride. They are watching you very closely to see what boundaries you are going to set, how much they can get away with, what your expectations are. We need to see the barriers they set for what they are – developmentally necessary and normal, but not a sign that teens really can take care of all of their own problems, not an indication that they do not need involved and supportive parents to guide them. Teens are highly responsive to their perception of your disapproval. It is critical to clearly communicate your expectations to them.
It’s worthwhile to postpone drinking as long as possible, because of the high correlation of age of initiation (age when a child begins to drink) with the likelihood of becoming alcohol-dependent at some point, probably sooner rather than later in life.
Can children drink responsibly? Turkey is the only European country that has less of a problem with underage binge drinking than the US does, according to the World Health Organization (the UN of prevention). While the European approach to teaching kids to drink moderately may have worked in the 50’s, with today’s constant bombarding of children with media messages, marketing of fruit-flavored alcoholic beverages and pervasive glamorization of both social and binge drinking, today it has resulted in a generation of young Eur0peans who binge drink (ie, get drunk) more than American youth.
When the US raised the drinking age from 18 to 21, alcohol-related fatalities in that age group dropped 60%. It was originally dropped in response to the Vietnam War draft, which applied to all over 18. People thought, how can we send them to war but not let them drink? Also at that time, we didn’t have the research on brain development and how adolescents metabolize alcohol differently than adults to support the higher age that we do now.
There is an enormous amount of new brain development from adolescence to age 25. The brain develops back to front. The last part to finish developing is the part that helps us understand the consequences of our actions and how to plan ahead. The amygdala is the center of emotional development, and it controls our hormones during puberty.
Teenagers need 9 ½ to 10 hours of sleep. If your teen is getting a lot less or a lot more than that, look into why.
When a child has an increased risk for substance abuse or addiction, whether due to genetic predisposition or environmental factors, it means that the steps you take and things you do and say to help your child are even more important.
Social Host Liability - How can parents protect themselves from social host liability? Don’t serve alcohol to anyone under 21. Don’t allow anyone under 21 to possess or consume alcohol on your property. Make your rules and expectations clear to all guests.
Even if your child has a party while you are away that you do not know about, you can pay the consequences. Because the law applies to those under 21, as well. So while you may not be found liable, in terms of intention, you child still can be. And you can be found vicariously responsible to pay for all damages incurred that your children are found responsible for under age 21.
If a social host is found guilty criminally, the door opens very fast for multi-million dollar civil suits, which are easy to prosecute once criminal guilt has been established. The amount of these suits may often exceed the extent of your home insurance, and ultimately, your ability to pay.
Carefully consider your responsibility when you host a social event that includes anyone under age 21. Both your responsibility and liability are greater than most people think. Large teen parties can escalate out of control quickly.
Action Plan: Talk, talk, talk.
- Anti-Drug Messages
- Monitor whereabouts
- Be supportive
- Set rules & enforce
- Be flexible for special occasions
- Be good role models
- Have family dinners
- Medication disposal, monitor doses
- Short, frequent conversations
- Listen
- Be compassionate
- Build self-esteem
- Outlets for stress
- Increase developmental assets
- Online resources
- Join local coalition or parent organizations
What is new about underage drinking these days? For one thing, we have lots of new research that our parents didn’t have about alcohol and its effects on adolescents.
Many adults think, “what’s the big deal? We did it, and we survived just fine!” The big deal is that we know more now than our parents did. Just like we do about cigarettes. So we need to do something about that – when you know better, you can do better.
We now know that alcohol impairs permanent memory in kids. While high school courses generally test students often, thus calling on their short term memory, college courses do not. In college, and on the SAT, it is permanent or long term memory that is required to do well. We also know that teens do not feel impairment as quickly as adults drinking the same amount, they do not feel the sedative effects that adults do, and their judgment around choices and consequences erodes more quickly after even small amounts of alcohol. The ability to choose to drink in moderation is much greater in adults than in teens.
The number of teens grade 9-12 who are drinking regularly increased by 11% from 2008 to 2009, research shows.
Effective prevention revolves around decreasing risk factors and increasing protective factors. As parents, we have done that since they were born, protecting our children from germs, falls, malnutrition. The desire to protect comes naturally, but we sometimes aren’t sure how best to do it.
Many parents find it hard to talk to their teens. Adolescents are trying to prove to themselves that they are all grown up. They want to take care of their own probems, so they put up barriers. So we figure, OK, it’s time we giv them more space. It’s easy for us to feel that there is nothing we can do to make a difference.
But, as soon as they know you’re not watching, teens have their ticket to ride. They are watching you very closely to see what boundaries you are going to set, how much they can get away with, what your expectations are. We need to see the barriers they set for what they are – developmentally necessary and normal, but not a sign that teens really can take care of all of their own problems, not an indication that they do not need involved and supportive parents to guide them. Teens are highly responsive to their perception of your disapproval. It is critical to clearly communicate your expectations to them.
It’s worthwhile to postpone drinking as long as possible, because of the high correlation of age of initiation (age when a child begins to drink) with the likelihood of becoming alcohol-dependent at some point, probably sooner rather than later in life.
Can children drink responsibly? Turkey is the only European country that has less of a problem with underage binge drinking than the US does, according to the World Health Organization (the UN of prevention). While the European approach to teaching kids to drink moderately may have worked in the 50’s, with today’s constant bombarding of children with media messages, marketing of fruit-flavored alcoholic beverages and pervasive glamorization of both social and binge drinking, today it has resulted in a generation of young Eur0peans who binge drink (ie, get drunk) more than American youth.
When the US raised the drinking age from 18 to 21, alcohol-related fatalities in that age group dropped 60%. It was originally dropped in response to the Vietnam War draft, which applied to all over 18. People thought, how can we send them to war but not let them drink? Also at that time, we didn’t have the research on brain development and how adolescents metabolize alcohol differently than adults to support the higher age that we do now.
There is an enormous amount of new brain development from adolescence to age 25. The brain develops back to front. The last part to finish developing is the part that helps us understand the consequences of our actions and how to plan ahead. The amygdala is the center of emotional development, and it controls our hormones during puberty.
Teenagers need 9 ½ to 10 hours of sleep. If your teen is getting a lot less or a lot more than that, look into why.
When a child has an increased risk for substance abuse or addiction, whether due to genetic predisposition or environmental factors, it means that the steps you take and things you do and say to help your child are even more important.
Social Host Liability - How can parents protect themselves from social host liability? Don’t serve alcohol to anyone under 21. Don’t allow anyone under 21 to possess or consume alcohol on your property. Make your rules and expectations clear to all guests.
Even if your child has a party while you are away that you do not know about, you can pay the consequences. Because the law applies to those under 21, as well. So while you may not be found liable, in terms of intention, you child still can be. And you can be found vicariously responsible to pay for all damages incurred that your children are found responsible for under age 21.
If a social host is found guilty criminally, the door opens very fast for multi-million dollar civil suits, which are easy to prosecute once criminal guilt has been established. The amount of these suits may often exceed the extent of your home insurance, and ultimately, your ability to pay.
Carefully consider your responsibility when you host a social event that includes anyone under age 21. Both your responsibility and liability are greater than most people think. Large teen parties can escalate out of control quickly.
Action Plan: Talk, talk, talk.
- Anti-Drug Messages
- Monitor whereabouts
- Be supportive
- Set rules & enforce
- Be flexible for special occasions
- Be good role models
- Have family dinners
- Medication disposal, monitor doses
- Short, frequent conversations
- Listen
- Be compassionate
- Build self-esteem
- Outlets for stress
- Increase developmental assets
- Online resources
- Join local coalition or parent organizations
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