There is an easier, more convenient way to try out getting high. The teens don’t need to contact a friend or covertly obtain drugs. They don’t need to come up with exorbitant amounts of cash or try to cover the smell of marijuana in their clothing. The easiest place to find a way to get high may be in the master suite of their own home.

A report released by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign reveals that teens are abusing prescription drugs to get high in a trend away from street drugs like cocaine and marijuana. The report points out that millions of people find relief in the benefits of prescription drugs, but the drugs can be dangerous or even lethal when used recreationally.

Although the use of illicit drugs has been in steady decline, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is hoping that parents will grow in their awareness of this trend among teenagers to abuse prescription drugs.

According to the report, there are more new users of prescription drugs than any other illegal drug, including marijuana. In addition, teenagers are widely misusing pain relievers like OxyContin and Vicodin. In 2005, a third of all the new illegal users of prescriptions were between the ages of 12 and 17.

The report also revealed that girls are more likely than boys to abuse prescription drugs to get high. 57 percent of teens who abuse prescription drugs say that they are given the drugs from a relative or friend, or they take them from a relative or friend without asking. Another 10 percent buy pain relievers from a relative or friend.

The role of parents is critical in reducing the number of teens abusing prescription drugs. The report indicated that teens that are regularly supervised by their parents are less likely to use drugs. Parents must be encouraged to set clear expectations about their teens using absolutely no drugs and have regular check-in conversations with their teenagers about the risks associated with drug use.
 

The researchers specifically looked at whether parents knew where their children were and with whom (accountability), and the level of warmth they shared with their children.

They found that teens whose parents scored high on both accountability and warmth were less likely to drink heavily; those whose parents scored high on warmth but low on accountability were three times more likely to drink heavily; and those whose parents scored high on accountability but low on warmth were two times more likely to drink heavily.

Unlike prior research, this study distinguished between merely trying alcohol and drinking heavily. Stephen Bahr, a professor in BYU’s College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, and co-author John Hoffmann will publish their study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in July.

The study also found that religious teens were significantly less likely to drink any alcohol, which mirrors findings from the study they conducted in 2008 on teen marijuana use.

The researchers note that the teens in their new study were more likely to be friends with people who didn’t drink if their parents scored high on both warmth and accountability.
Bahr explained that because adolescents is a transitional period, parents sometimes have a hard time navigating through it. While peers are very important in influencing teens, parents also play an important role.

The researchers want parents to know that they need to have both accountability and support in their relationship with their teens. Don’t just try to control their behavior—combine knowing where they are with a loving relationship.

Source: Science Daily, Teens and Alcohol Study: After a Few Drinks, Parenting Style Kicks in, June 25, 2010

Sarah Olkon of the Chicago Tribune writes that Heather Reynolds, now 28, gave birth to her daughter Alyssa two years ago inside a maximum-security prison where Heather was serving time for selling drugs. Reynolds, who was addicted to crystal meth, was given just one day to bond with her baby before Alyssa was sent to live with a relative.

Today, Reynolds and her daughter are together again, building a new life at the Women’s Treatment Center, one of many organizations in the region supported by Chicago Tribune Holiday Giving, a campaign of Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund.

The facility is run in part with public funds, but relies on private donations to support many of its services, including parenting classes, day care, early-intervention programs for young kids, detoxification, rehabilitation, therapy, and a 24-hour crisis nursery.

"They show you how to live sober," said Reynolds, who credits the center for teaching her to better cope with everyday stress.

Cynthia Wessel, 28, had no intention of giving up crack cocaine until social workers from the Department of Children and Family Services gave her an ultimatum shortly after she gave birth to 6-month-old Kevina. At the hospital, Wessel said her infant tested positive for crack cocaine and marijuana exposure, which meant she risked losing both Kevina and another daughter, Keviona, 3, if she didn’t get off drugs.

Today, Wessel said, her life looks completely new. "I feel wonderful on the inside,” she said.

If the cost of her addiction to crack were measured, it would be her children who suffered the most, Wessel said. "I was focusing on the high instead of my kids," she said.

Wessel is now taking classes to learn parenting skills, something she said she didn’t learn growing up. "I don’t have to ‘whup’ them," she said. "Instead, I count to five, or have them stand in a corner."

Jewell Oates, executive director of the center, said staff members understand that many of the mothers were raised in environments marked by violence, abuse, and neglect.

"Just because the women get sober, doesn’t mean the women know how to parent," Oates said.

For Tasha Green, 38, it wasn’t until she examined her own troubled childhood that she began to understand the reasons she turned to crack cocaine and heroin. She has been enrolled at the center since August, and her goal is to regain custody of her 7-year-old son. With that in mind, she is learning to better understand the needs of the boy, who she said suffers from attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder.

"Being a parent wasn’t part of the addiction process," Green said. This "really gave me a second chance."

A GfK Roper Youth Report showed that 74% of kids (age 8-17) said their parents are the leading influence on their decisions about drinking. Data also shows that a zero-tolerance message from parents to teens is the most effective in deterring underage drinking.

The website includes everything from conversation tools, an "ask the expert" section, and parenting tips to help parents deal with the issue of underage drinking. The site also offers tips for communicating at home and information on identifying warning signs of teen alcohol abuse. Parents will also find suggestions for answering tough questions such as, "Should I drink in front of my teen?" or "How do I address my own underage alcohol experiences?"

"It makes a big difference when you can talk to your teen equipped with the best information and the understanding that drinking alcohol underage can lead to binge drinking, sexual assault, homicide, suicide, driving drunk, and dependency," said MADD National President Laura Dean-Mooney. "I have an 18-year-old daughter and understand the difficulties of talking to teens about alcohol in a culture that often condones underage drinking."

Bill Windsor, Associate Vice President of Safety at Nationwide Insurance, added, "The website is an excellent resource for parents like me to learn what works and doesn’t work to keep our children alcohol free. And working for an insurance company, I see the human costs of underage drinking all the time, and the financial and emotional impact it has on the family."

According to numerous studies, teens who drink are more likely to die in a car crash, get pregnant, flunk school, be sexually assaulted, have problems with alcohol later in life, and take their own life through suicide.

Some parents actively sanction alcohol use in controlled settings, not knowing that this tends to lead to heavier drinking by teens. Others want to keep their children alcohol-free, but don’t know the most effective ways to answer common questions teens have about drinking.

In addition to thepowerofparents.org, MADD is also working with Dr. Robert Turrisi of Pennsylvania State University to provide a handbook to parents about instigating these conversations. The handbook will be available next month and interested parents can sign up to receive the handbook on the website. The handbook has been shown to reduce drinking significantly among college students, and Dr. Turrisi has adapted it for use among parents of high school students.

Dr. Turrisi said, "As a parent and a scientist, I am proud to be a partner with MADD and completely support the work being done on thepowerofparents.org. MADD’s goals of improving the lives of children and families are noble and their efforts to achieve these goals draw on the best of what prevention science has to offer. I strongly believe that MADD’s efforts will tip the balance of the scales in the favor of families in the fight against underage drinking and drunk driving."

MSNBC reports that in a survey of more than 17,000 adults, researchers found that individuals who had been exposed to six or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before the age of 18 were twice as likely to die prematurely as those who hadn’t suffered those experiences.

The results, which will be published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, arrive shortly after a recent study linked childhood spanking with lower IQs.

"Our hope is that, as a result of this research, child maltreatment and exposure to childhood traumatic stress in its various forms will be more widely recognized as a public health problem," said study researcher David Brown, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "It is important to understand that consequences to childhood trauma can extend over an individual’s life."

Brown and his colleagues reviewed data from individuals who had visited a Kaiser Permanente clinic in San Diego between 1995 and 1997 and had completed a questionnaire about their childhood. The team followed participants through 2006, using the National Death Index to determine who had died.

In the survey questions, participants had to indicate which, if any, adverse experiences they had endured, including: undergoing verbal or physical abuse, having a battered mother and witnessing domestic violence, living in a household with substance abuse or mental illness, having an incarcerated household member, or having parents who separated or divorced.

The researchers found that two-thirds of study participants reported at least one such adverse childhood experience. And on average, those reporting six or more ACEs died at age 60, compared with low-risk children (no ACEs) who lived to age 79.

The researchers linked some of this increased risk of premature death to conditions (and behaviors) that have been associated with ACEs in past research, including heart disease and stroke, smoking and alcohol abuse, depression, and general health and social problems, among others.

Brown notes that he can’t say whether the childhood stressors actually cause premature deaths, as causation is always difficult to establish with a single study. However, as prior research has linked ACEs and health problems, he thinks the new results suggest that an accumulation of ACEs can cause premature death (compared with individuals with no ACEs).

"The central message of the publications from the ACE study is that our children are confronted with a terrible burden of stressors that negatively affects their neurodevelopment, which leads to health problems and diseases throughout the lifespan," Brown told MSNBC’s LiveScience. "As a consequence, these stressors may cause them to die younger."

•Feelings of intense happiness and euphoria while using the Internet, and feelings of depression, anxiety or irritability if away from the computer
•Cravings for the Internet—never having enough time with it
•Neglecting family and friends—spending more time with the computer and less time doing activities previously enjoyed
•Getting behind on homework or school activities
•Lying about what they are doing while online
•Complains of dry eyes
•Complains of headaches
•Complains of backaches
•Changes in eating habits such as skipping meals or over-eating
•Neglect of personal hygiene
•Problems with sleep

If your child exhibits several of these characteristics, it’s imperative to seek help from a certified professional. It’s also important observe your own Internet habits. Do you spend too much time in front of the screen? Our behaviors impact our children, so it’s important that we set a good example.

She also suggests keeping the computer in a common area of the home where it can be monitored by you instead of allowing your child to have a computer in his or her room. Scheff writes that it’s very important to NOT ban the Internet; instead, work with your child on a time schedule that is fair for both of you.

In addition, encourage social activity outside of the Internet. Because chatting, emails, and other online social media make it easy for teens to stay at home it’s important to plan events with friends and family and give your child opportunities to socialize face to face.

For example, when younger adults have drug or alcohol problems, they often have to face certain consequences that are related to addiction such as:

• Being charged with drunk driving
• Job loss
• Failing grades or other problems at school
• Alienation of friends or family members
• Marital problems
• Financial difficulties

Directly confronting an older parent is often not the best approach, as this can cause your parent to feel as though he or she is being personally attacked. If your parent feels this way, he or she will be much less likely to discuss the problem with you (or anyone else).

If you want to talk to your parent about an addiction problem, the best approach is to begin a conversation that gently introduces the topic so that you can let your parent know that you are not being judgmental. You want your parent to know that you are concerned about his or her welfare and that you want to help in any way you can.

During this conversation, make sure that you make your parent feel comfortable, and encourage him or her to really talk to you about what is going on in his or her life socially, professionally, or otherwise. It is important that you encourage open conversation to make your parent feel more at ease with the topic at hand.

It is also important to keep in mind that the process of going through withdrawal is usually harder on older adults than on younger people. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the presence of multiple medical problems, memory difficulties, and a decrease in mobility. Because the treatment and withdrawal processes can be so difficult for older adults, it is highly recommended that individuals who are over the age of 55 enter a treatment facility for drug and alcohol problems.

Even though the entire treatment and recovery process tends to take much longer with older adults, the end results are generally quite successful. For the most part, the probability of success depends on the type of treatment that is chosen for your parent, and his or her own commitment to overcoming addiction.