This study referenced in a recent Medical News Today article showed that teens undergoing treatment for substance abuse reduced their own craving for alcohol and drugs when helping other adolescents do the same. The results highlighted that juvenile offenders who helped others with the same substance abuse problems largely increased their treatment responses.

The study was conducted in Northeast Ohio at the largest adolescent residential facility for substance abuse treatment, where the majority of the participants were marijuana dependent. Sixty percent of participants were dependent on alcohol and were all interviewed in their first 10 days of treatment and then again two days after their discharge.

Pagano and colleagues discovered that the 12-step program improved more than half of the end results and included decreases in two types of cravings, reduced egotistical entitlement and improved their psychosocial functioning.

Teens also participated more in treatment if they had religious practices such as prayer and worship, which led to better health outcomes. Pagano explains that youth entering treatment with a religious background tend to have an easier time in the recovery program.

Teens Helping Other Teens with Substance Abuse Decrease Their Own Cravings is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

“There is certainly a myth out there that black kids are more likely to have problems with drugs than white kids,” said senior author Dr. Dan Blazer of Duke University’s Department of Psychiatry. “This documents as clearly as any study we are aware of, that the rate of substance-related disorders among African-American youth is significantly lower.”

The new study had an unusually large sample – more than 72,000 people ages 12 to 17, who had taken part in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted between 2005 and 2008. About a third of the teenagers told researchers they drink, 19% said they use drugs, and 15% said they do both.

The lowest rates of drug and alcohol use were found among Asian-American teenagers. Among Native Americans, 37% said they used alcohol, followed by 35% of whites, 32% of Hispanics, 25% of blacks, and 19% of Asians. The rates of teens reporting drug use were 31% of Native Americans, 23% of mixed race, 20% of whites, 19% of blacks, 18% of Hispanics, and 12% of Asians.

Almost 8% of the teenagers met established medical criteria for an alcohol or drug use disorder. Among whites, it was 9%, which was twice the percent of African-American teens and three times the percent of Asians.

It is important to note the difference between using alcohol or drugs and having a substance dependency. Teenagers whose parents allow them to occasionally have alcohol at home or who have alcoholic drinks during religious ceremonies can count among those who use alcohol. However, in order to have an alcohol dependency, a teen must meet certain medical criteria such as being able to tolerate larger than normal amounts of alcohol, having been in trouble with the law because of alcohol, and so on.

Eight percent of the teenagers in the study who met the criteria for substance abuse disorders, and those who used marijuana, heroin, cocaine or sedatives were more likely to have substance dependency or alcohol disorders. About 26% of the teens using marijuana had problems with abuse or dependency.

The Duke research team found that prescription drugs such as oxycodone are now second in popularity among teenagers after marijuana. Opiate drug abuse is of particular concern because it is easy to overdose and die from these medications.

In an article published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Dr. Blazer said, “The diversity of substance use patterns across ethnic groups shows that cultural factors are important in promoting and protecting teenagers from using substances. Prevention and treatment programs that make use of culturally related factors may prove more effective than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.”

White Teens Have Double the Rates of Drug Addiction as African-Americans is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Kids are using any means to get high and the Internet provides endless opportunities to solicit products such as Salvia. The result for some teens is drug addiction. Psychiatrists and teachers across America are seeing teenagers high on drugs on a daily basis.

Now begins the question of what to do with high school athletes who are involved with these substances and their participation in school sports. A call has been put forth for drug testing among all high school athletes. If a student doesn’t want to be tested for drugs they have the choice to not participate in sports.

The benefits to drug testing are numerous. Parents would have a chance to help their child get clean and schools would be making a statement about the dangers of substance abuse. Coaches and their assistants should be encouraged to be tested also and share their results with the team.

Participating in a team sport is not a right, it is a privilege. If we tie it to being drug-free in our schools that would at least be a start towards ridding our schools of drug abuse.

Should High School Athletes Be Drug Tested Before Participating in Sports? is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

What Are Bath Salts?

Bath salts are stimulants similar to meth and cocaine. They come in powder and crystal form, similar to traditional bath salts, and are typically snorted, injected or smoked. Poison Control officials have also reported bath salts being sold under the guise of plant food, pond scum remover and other seemingly innocuous products.

Experts believe the active chemicals in bath salts are mephedrone and MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), which are related to khat, an organic stimulant that is illegal in the U.S. Because there is no way to test for bath salts, their make-up is largely a guessing game.

Known on the street as White Rush, Red Dove, Monkey Dust, White Lightning, Blue Silk, Vanilla Sky, Aura, Hurricane Charlie, Ivory Wave, Loco-Motion and many others, bath salts are sold at head shops, convenience stores and on the Internet for as little as $20 each.

Effects of Bath Salts Addiction

Labeled “not for human consumption” to skirt federal laws, this warning should be a sign of the potential consequences of bath salt addiction. People who come into the emergency room high on bath salts are typically violent and agitated. Other effects of bath salt addiction include:

• Agitation
• Paranoia
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Hallucinations
• Chest pain
• Suicidal thoughts
• High blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Psychosis

Even days or months after the drug has worn off, users can feel disconnected from reality and suicidal. In addition to being highly addictive, bath salts can cause kidney failure, heart attack, seizures, muscle damage and stroke. There have been a number of deaths reported across the country.

A list of effects does little to convey how serious bath salts addiction can be. The stories shared by reporters throughout the country paint a grim picture of the consequences of bath salt addiction:

• In Panama City, Fla., a woman attacked her mother with a machete because she believed she was a monster.
• A man in Mississippi got high on bath salts and then slit his face and stomach repeatedly with a skinning knife.
• A group of officers subdued a Florida man who tore a radar unit out of a police car with his teeth.
• A 29-year-old Indianapolis woman led police on a wild car chase that led to her crashing several squad cars into a state park. When she was removed from the car, she was “incoherent, laughing uncontrollably and speaking nonsense,” according to the Chesterton Tribune.
• A 21-year-old slit his neck in front of his father and sister, believing the police were after him, and later shot himself.
• In Mississippi, a deputy was injured because a man under the influence of bath salts thought the officer was a devil.

Because the drugs are legal, the man was only charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
In spite of these horrible effects, users experience such strong cravings that they continue to abuse bath salts.

According to Mark Ryan, the director of the Louisiana Poison Center, “If you take the very worst of some of the other drugs – LSD and Ecstasy with their hallucinogenic-delusional type properties, PCP with extreme agitation, superhuman strength and combativeness, as well as the stimulant properties of cocaine and meth – if you take all the worst of those and put them all together this is what you get. It’s ugly.”

Bath Salts Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

A 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health survey said that students in the 18 to 22 year range, the typical college age, had a risk of abusing Adderall two times higher than their peers who were not attending college. The survey, with results published in the journal Addiction, also said that one-fourth of students enrolled in the 119 U. S. universities studied had used Adderall to help them study.

Adderall, the brand name for dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, was developed in the 1990s for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is a Schedule II controlled substance. A prescription is required to acquire it, and it has a high potential for addiction and abuse. Unauthorized possession of Adderall means a student could be penalized with jail time under the Controlled Substances Act.

Adderall is especially dangerous because it can be acquired at a relatively low cost per pill, and for many students, can aid in concentration ability. However, dangerous side effects include having a heart attack or stroke, developing high blood pressure, seizures, aggressive actions or psychosis. For some students who already have heart problems, Adderall is linked to immediate death.

As the students continue to use Adderall, tolerance develops, and they must increase their dosage to get the desired effects. Adderall abuse may also open the door to students experimenting with substances like methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Sometimes called a “cognitive steroid,” withdrawal from Adderall can include severe fatigue, depression and abnormal levels of hunger. Still, the perceived benefits of Adderall – like being able to concentrate for long periods of time during studying or exams, and staying up for long periods – make the drug a popular trend among many college campuses.

Experts fear that students may consider using a controlled substance drug to help with studying as an acceptable action, if it is in the name of boosting their academic performance. Some university officials also fear that students will not be able to function once they leave college, because taking a pill won’t reduce the life stressors brought on by the workplace and other conditions.

Controlling Adderall can be tricky, because students with ADHD who need the medication should not be refused – yet at the same time, prescriptions should not be given to students who will abuse the drug for purposes such as a study aid or even for weight loss. Not only can many Adderall users manage for long periods without sleeping, some also report a greatly reduced appetite – making it even more appealing among college-aged girls who want to lose weight.

As abuse of the stimulant drug Adderall becomes more widely-known among university officials and health experts, it may encourage more research into teaching college students healthy ways to focus and manage stress, rather than resorting to dangerous prescription drug abuse.
 

Adderall Becoming Abused Drug on College Campuses, With Dangerous Side Effects is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Jean-Sébastien Fallu, lead researcher of the study and professor at the Université de Montréal’s School of Psychoeducation, said that the teenagers they studied were sensitive to social codes, well accepted by their peers, and understood the compromises of being popular.

The researchers examined more than 500 French-speaking students at different times in their lives: at ages 10 to 11, 12 to 13, and 14 to 15. The researchers considered the popularity of the child and their friends and tracked their use of alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine.

They found that as the child got older consumption increased, regardless of popularity level. But the more popular the child, the more they used alcohol and drugs. Kids with very popular friends were two times more likely to abuse substances between ages 10 and 15, whereas kids whose friends were not as popular didn’t see an increase in consumption.

The study also suggests that kids are more at risk if they have popular friends. Fallu said that many teens use substances to maintain their popularity level and status. While those who aren’t considered popular are also at risk of substance abuse, other studies have shown that they are more prone to violent behavior than substance abuse.

Source: Science Daily, The Price of Popularity: Drug and Alcohol Consumption, September 28, 2010

Link Discovered Between Popularity and Substance Abuse is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

However, today’s youth are different than when I was in school. Back then, drinking started primarily in high school and drugs were not really present. Now, some kids start drinking before they hit puberty and I would need several hands to count the number of recent overdoses of young people from my town of only 20,000 people. Not only is alcoholism and illicit drug use on the rise in the United States, but prescription drug addiction has become the single biggest issue in the area of substance abuse. When it comes to prescription drug addiction, teens are an especially vulnerable population; unfettered access to their parents’ medicine cabinets can quickly turn well-adjusted kids into bona fide junkies.

At last count there were approximately 25,000 fatal drug poisonings or overdoses each year in the U.S., making drug overdose second only to car crashes for the cause of accidental death. It is estimated that every day approximately 2,500 teenagers try prescription drugs for the first time as a way to get high. Sixty percent of teens who currently abuse prescription drugs started the habit before age 15, with the average age at first use of just 12 ½ years old. Sadly, almost half of them will develop a substance addiction later on in life.

Are we doomed? NOPE…there is hope! Narcotic Overdose Prevention and Education (NOPE) is a task force made up of local law enforcement officials, members of the judiciary, addiction and parenting specialists, and parents and family members who have lost loved ones to substance-related tragedies, including accidental drug overdoses. NOPE currently has chapters all across Florida, and in California and Indiana.

NOPE uses blunt personal presentations to underscore just how deadly drug addiction can be. Members of the task force also work with lawmakers on passing legislation aimed at combating drug abuse. Most important, the group offers teens, young adults, and the people who love them information about how to get help for substance abuse issues.

Like DARE, NOPE uses the educational setting to capture the attention of middle and high school students via high-impact multi-media presentations that pull no punches and illicit intense emotional responses. For college-age kids, NOPE focuses on teaching about the risks associated with mixing some of the most commonly abused drugs in social settings. Presenters offer overdose intervention and overdose prevention strategies and incorporate information about that particular college’s efforts to reduce unlawful alcohol and drug use on campus. NOPE also offers presentations for parents, and others responsible for the welfare of teens, that focus on the blunt truth about today’s substance abuse and overdose issues.
 

Are We Powerless to Fight Drug Addiction in our Communities? NOPE. There’s Hope. is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The availability of over-the-counter medications that contain DXM is a major problem that parents need to pay attention to. Many families have cough syrup in the medicine cabinet, ready to be abused. Experts say that many parents are in the dark about the dangers of using DXM to get high.

When combined with other stimulant drugs like caffeinated beverages, energy drinks, and prescription drugs to treat ADHD, the effects can be fatal.

According to a 2006 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) survey, more than three million people ages 12 to 25 abused cough medications. About 48 percent of the people who were taken to the emergency room for DXM abuse were between the ages of 12 and 20, according to the survey.

Signs of DXM abuse include a medicinal smell on your child’s breath, empty or missing cough syrup bottles, and changes in attitude and sleeping habits.

Parents should talk to their children about the dangers of abusing cough syrup and be aware of the websites he or she visits, as there are a number of web sites that give information on how much cough syrup to take, how to extract DXM from cough medications, and even how to buy a powdered form of DXM for snorting.

Sources: CNN Health, Parents Be Warned: Your Kids May Be "Robo Tripping," July 8, 2010

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Teen Cough Syrup Abuse

The Dangers of DXM is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

This study – the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control – found that just over one in five high school students in the United States admits to having taken a prescription drug without a prescription from a physician.

Within the survey, the CDC found that 20.2 percent of high school students report having taken a drug such as Ritalin, Xanax or OxyContin without a prescription. In addition, prescription abuse was most common among white students at 23 percent, followed by Hispanics at 17 percent and African-Americans at 12 percent.

Drug abuse proved to be the most common among high school seniors at 26 percent and least common among freshman at 15 percent. There appeared to be no difference in prescription drug abuse by gender as it was 20 percent for both male and female students.

“We are concerned to learn that so many high school students are taking prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them,” Howell Wechsler, EdD, MPH, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, saidin a news release. “Some people may falsely believe that prescription drugs are safer than illegal drugs, yet their misuse can cause serious adverse health effects, including addiction and death.”

Teen Drug Abuse Increasingly Focused on Prescription Drugs is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Dextromethorphan is included in a number of different brand name medications, including Benylin, Delsym, Hold DM, Percussion CS Children, Percussion ES, Robitussin Cough Calmers, Robitussin Maximum Strength, Robitussin Pediatric Cough Suppressant, Scot-Tussin Diabetic, St. Joseph Cough Suppressant, Tussin Pediatric, Vicks 44 Cough Medicine and Vicks Formula 44.

Abuse of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers

Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers present a high potential for abuse simply due to its ease of acquisition and low cost. The greatest concern for abuse is among teenagers and young adults. The Internet also contributes to this abuse as it has becoming increasingly home to “how to” abuse information on a number of different websites. The powered form of dextromethorphan is also marketed illegally over the Internet.

Those users who are taking Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers for recreational purposes tend to report a heightened sense of perceptual awareness, altered time perception and visual hallucinations. Abusers may also display hyper-excitability, lethargy, ataxia, slurred speech, sweating, hypertension, and/or nystagmus.

Effects of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers

Taking Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers can induce feelings of drowsiness and relaxation, which many report is very similar to the effects marijuana can create. When taking Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers, the body will slow and feel more at ease while the brain acts at a reduced capacity. When large amounts are taken, Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers become the equivalent of a hallucinogenic drug such as LSD.

The side effects of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers can occur as allergic reactions that include: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. More serious side effects include severe dizziness, anxiety, restless feeling, or nervousness; confusion, hallucinations; or slow, shallow breathing.

Withdrawal of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers

Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers can act much like that of narcotic drugs or prescription medications. If an individual develops a dependence on dextromethorphan, problems arise in cessation, especially if it is abrupt. An individual who stops taking the drug can experience withdrawal symptoms.

Any and all of the following symptoms can occur in the Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers withdrawal stage:

• Restlessness
• Muscle aches
• Bone aches
• Insomnia
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Cold flashes

Treatment of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers Addiction

Dependence and an addiction can easily arise if Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers is taken too long or in too high of doses. The withdrawal process has the ability to be life-threatening if not monitored in a treatment facility. It is important that those with an addiction seek the help they need to stop taking the drug and to learn how to function normally without it.

The person should go through a detoxification process to cleanse the body of Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers and it should be done under the care of a board-certified physician and a board-certified psychiatrist. A quality treatment center will suggest comfortable detox using withdrawal medications specific to Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers abuse.

Robo-Tripping with Scot-Tussin DM Cough Chasers is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment