Prescription Drug Addiction: Rise Endangers Celebrities, Teens, and Us

Would it surprise you to learn that prescription drug overdoses now kill more people than car accidents? Somehow that message doesn’t seem to be getting out, says the CDC, which now calls prescription drug abuse an epidemic.

Over the past 20 years, the death rate from drug overdoses has tripled, CDC data show, with prescription painkillers the reason for much of that rise. In 2008 there were 36,000 overdose deaths, almost all of which were from prescription painkillers.

The growth rate is pretty shocking; in 2010 (the last year the CDC has data for), 2 million people reported that they had begun to use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes within the past year. That, says the CDC, comes out to 5,500 a day. The number of people seeking treatment for prescription painkillers rose 400 percent between 2004 and 2008.

Because they can so handily be “borrowed” from friends and family, and because — being technically legal – they seem innocent, prescription drugs are becoming frighteningly popular with teens, experts say. According to the FDA, one in seven teenagers admits to abusing prescription drugs to get high in the past year, and prescription painkillers are now teenagers’ top choice after alcohol and pot.  The problem is, teenagers are unlikely to understand how highly addictive these drugs are. After all, if mom takes them for her knee injury, they can’t be that big a deal, right?

 The “Heath Ledger Effect” – Death from Multi-Drug Abuse

“Abuse of prescription medications” was the final conclusion of the New York Medical Examiner based on Heath Ledger’s autopsy and toxicological analysis. What was found in his system? An entire drugstore of downers: oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine. While swallowing half the contents of the medicine cabinet may be rare, the overall phenomena  — mixing several central nervous system depressants — is becoming more and more common.

What’s particularly scary is that while some folks are certainly doing it on purpose, many others are endangering themselves unknowingly. The list of prescription medicines that depress the central nervous system is long. By far the worst offenders are the opioid painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone (Oxycontin and Vicodin). But there are many others that are commonly prescribed including sleep aids, both prescription and OTC, anti-anxiety drugs, even antihistamines. (Diphenhydramine, commonly known as Benadryl, for example).

Why Celebrity Oxycontin and Vicodin Charges Disappear

Ask a lawyer, and you’ll hear that because prescription drugs are indeed legal if you have a prescription, it’s much more challenging to make possession charges stick. A case in point was actor Gary Lourdan, formerly of CSI, who was arrested for Oxycontin possession last winter after a car accident. The charges were later dropped, as they often are when authorities can’t prove the possessor didn’t have a valid prescription.

Lindsay Lohan’s battles have received so much attention it’s hard to sort fact from exaggeration. But while alcohol has played the largest role in her many busts and trips to rehab, prescription painkillers have been mentioned too. In 2007, her father – himself a recovering alcoholic -  spoke to national media, pleading with Lohan to get help for Oxycontin addiction. Another former child starlet, Amanda Bynes, has recently begun having her own troubles withdriving and the law, swideswiping a police car. It was her second accident in quick succession. Bynes refused to take a breathalyzer or drug test at the scene so it’s hard to draw conclusions at this point.

Teen pot use linked to later declines in IQ

By MALCOLM RITTER and NICK PERRY

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  Associated Press/Longmont Daily Times-Call, Richard M. Hackett, File - FILE - In an April 20, 2005 file photo, a University of Colorado freshman, who did not want to be identified, joins a crowd smoking marijuana …more 

NEW YORK (AP) — Teens who routinely smoke marijuana risk a long-term drop in their IQ, a new study suggests.

The researchers didn't find the same IQ dip for people who became frequent users of pot after 18. Although experts said the new findings are not definitive, they do fit in with earlier signs that the drug is especially harmful to the developing brain.

"Parents should understand that their adolescents are particularly vulnerable,'" said lead researcher Madeline Meier of Duke University.

Study participants from New Zealand were tested for IQ at age 13, likely before any significant marijuana use, and again at age 38. The mental decline between those two ages was seen only in those who started regularly smoking pot before age 18.

Richie Poulton, a study co-author and professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, said the message of the research is to stay away from marijuana until adulthood if possible. "For some it's a legal issue," he said, "but for me it's a health issue."

Pot is the most popular illegal drug in the world, with somewhere between 119 million and 224 million users between the ages of 15 and 64 as of 2010, the United Nations reported. Within the United States, 23 percent of high school students said they'd recently smoked marijuana, making it more popular than cigarettes, the federal government reported in June.

Young people "don't think it's risky," said Staci Gruber, a researcher at the Harvard-affiliated MacLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Gruber, who didn't participate in the new work, said the idea that marijuana harms the adolescent brain is "something we believe is very likely," and the new finding of IQ declines warrants further investigation.

Experts said the new research is an advance because its methods avoid criticisms of some earlier work, which generally did not measure mental performance before marijuana use began.

"I think this is the cleanest study I've ever read" that looks for long-term harm from marijuana use, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which helped fund the research.

Ken Winters, a psychiatry professor at the University of Minnesota and senior scientist at the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia, said the new findings aren't definitive, but they underscore the importance of studying how marijuana may harm young people. He had no role in the work.

Meier and colleagues reported their work online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was funded with governmental grants from the United States and Britain, and a foundation in Zurich.

The study drew on survey data from more than 1,000 people in New Zealand, everybody born in the town of Dunedin during a year-long span ending in 1973. In addition to IQ tests, they were interviewed five times between ages 18 and 38, including questions related to their marijuana use.

At age 18, 52 participants indicated they had become dependent on marijuana, meaning that they continued to use it despite its causing significant health, social or legal problems. Ninety-two others reported dependence starting at a later age.

Researchers compared their IQ scores at age 13 to the score at age 38 and found a drop only in those who had become dependent by 18.

Those deemed dependent in three or more surveys had a drop averaging 8 points. For a person of average intelligence, an 8-point drop would mean ranking higher than only 29 percent of the population rather than 50 percent, the researchers said.

Among participants who'd been dependent at 18 and in at least one later survey, quitting didn't remove the problem. IQ declines showed up even if they'd largely or entirely quit using pot at age 38, analysis showed.

The researchers got similar overall results for IQ decline when they compared participants who reported having used marijuana at least once a week on average for the past year. The researchers had no data on how much was used on each occasion or how potent it was.

Dr. Duncan Clark, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, said he's not convinced that mental decline is only in those who become dependent by age 18. He said the main lesson he sees in the overall study results is that to preserve one's IQ, it's best to avoid marijuana entirely, no matter what your age.

The researchers also surveyed people who knew the study participants well at age 38. They found that the more often participants were rated as marijuana-dependent in the surveys over their lifetimes, the more memory and attention problems were noticed by their acquaintances over the previous year.

Urban Outfitter’s T-Shirts Glorify Drinking: Just in Time for School

By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger 

Urban Outfitters T-Shirt

The clothing chain Urban Outfitters is promoting a provocative new line of t-shirts with slogans such as "I Vote For Vodka" and "USA Drinking Team." A version modeled by a young woman, who appears to be a teen, is emblazoned with blurred letters reading, "I Drink You're Cute." Sadly, what's apparently meant to be a joke isn't far from the truth: alcohol use is associated with increased rates of sexual activity for teens as well as decreased condom use.

A recent survey reported that one out of five teens is drinking, using drugs, or smoking during school hours. For parents already rattled about kids and booze, it's a jolt to discover these items while fall clothes shopping with one's teen or 'tween. The majority of customers at Urban Outfitters (whose representatives did not respond to our calls and emails) are between 18 and 24 and the second largest demographic is under 18. "Kids shouldn't be wearing these t-shirts," Jan Withers, National President of MADD (Mother's Against Drunk Driving), tells Shine. She explains that while MADD does not directly oppose drinking for people over the age of 21 or merchandising to adults: "Marketing [alcohol-related products] to teens is not in any way acceptable." Withers' own daughter, Alisa Joy, was killed in a car crash by an underage drinker when she was 15 years old.

Janet Evans, spokesperson for dontserveteens.gov, the Federal Trade Commission's program to prevent underage drinking, says she is disturbed by the shirts, but tells Shine, "You can't pull them from outlets." They are protected under laws that allow the promotion of branded merchandise. Evans' particular concern when it comes to underage alcohol use is graduation rates. "We need more research on drop out rates associated with teens and drinking," she tells Shine. "The numbers are appalling."

Withers thinks that t-shirts such as the ones sold by Urban Outfitters are a form of silent peer pressure but also sees a silver lining. "It's a perfect opportunity to talk to kids about the dangers of alcohol use for teens," she tells Shine. "Part of our mission at MADD is to prevent underage drinking and the research shows that the best way to combat this is to have an ongoing dialogue with our children." She points out that while studies show that as many as one out of five kids is binge drinking, that means, "four out of five aren't. We can remind our kids that not everybody is drinking. Parents have much more influence over kids and alcohol use than we think."

What's your opinion? Is merchandise such as these t-shirts simply funny or a dangerous influence? Please let us know in the comments below.

You Can Help Save Lives! Seeking Families to Tell Medicine Abuse Stories

At The Partnership at Drugfree.org, we know that the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications is one of the biggest public health problems in the United States today. In fact, every day, 2,000 teens use a prescription drug to get high for the first time.

This year, we are introducing “The Medicine Abuse Project,” a multi-year effort to raise awareness and curb the abuse of medicine by teens and young adults. Launching the week of September 23-29, 2012, the campaign will encourage and help parents and the public-at-large to help manage this problem, working toward the common goal of preventing 500,000 teens from abusing medicine within the next five years.

We need your help. Has your family been affected by prescription and over-the-counter medicine abuse? Has your teenager or another relative struggled with the misuse or abuse of medication? We want to hear from you.

Email us your story so that we can share it, potentially on our website and in the media, as part of the awareness campaign. By sharing your experience with others, you could help us take a substantial step toward stopping this deadly epidemic.

Visit The Medicine Abuse Project online to learn more about the campaign and other ways you can get involved.

Recovery Act: Teen addict is off drugs, on right path

NORTH HAVEN — For the first time in four years, Barbara Hoffman is clean.

A drug user since 14, the 18-year-old said, “All my energy is back. My head is a lot clearer. I don’t need to lie, cheat or steal from my parents.”  Barbara estimates she stole money and goods from her parents worth $20,000 from the time she started drinking and using marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Xanax.

Her parents, Adam and Joanne Hoffman of North Haven, knew their daughter smoked pot, but were shocked to learn she was addicted to prescription drugs. Now that she’s in rehabilitation, they’re coming forward because they don’t want another family to suffer their pain.

Their world blew apart when they learned a week before Barbara Hoffman was to leave for college in September that she was on a downward spiral, addicted to OxyContin.

“I want to save another parent, another kid, from going through what our family has gone through,” Joanne Hoffman said. “Drugs should not be a secret. That’s how they thrive.”

FROM A GOOD HOME

Married for 25 years, Adam Hoffman owns Godfrey-Hoffman Associates, an engineering and surveying firm. Joanne Hoffman is a nutritionist who runs her business in her husband’s building on Broadway. Joanne Hoffman was a room mother when her daughter was in elementary school. She belonged to the PTA, she was a Girl Scout leader, and Adam Hoffman never missed a soccer game.

“I never thought my kid would be involved” with drugs, said Joanne Hoffman.

Barbara Hoffman, 18, graduated from North Haven High School in June. She earned almost straight A’s, took Advanced Placement psychology, was a CAPT scholar, a varsity soccer player for four years and was in the Latin Club. She was planning to major in business.

But a week before she was to leave for Bryant University in Rhode Island, her parents found out she had an OxyContin problem. They had been aware, previously, that she smoked pot, and asked her to stop.

Barbara Hoffman said that starting at 14, she smoked pot about five times a day, every day. It wasn’t that hard to get. Drinking was more of a weekend thing, when friends would steal liquor from their parents’ homes or liquor stores would sell to underage youths.

Barbara Hoffman said her parents didn’t know what she was doing, but some kids had parents who didn’t care that they drank.

When she was 16, she started to experiment with other drugs, OxyContin being the first. She was addicted immediately. 

“We were just bored. We thought it would be fun. We thought it would be a good idea,” she said of the people she used to hang out with. She tried cocaine a couple of times and didn’t like it, but she liked Ecstasy. When her friends stopped doing it, she continued. When her parents saw the pills, she convinced them they didn’t belong to her.

“I’m a good talker,” she said.

Her parents forbade her to smoke pot, and they started testing her for drugs. So, she stopped smoking and picked up OxyContin, which the tests didn’t pick up.

“During this time, I was breaking up with my boyfriend of three years. I started doing Oxys every day,” going from a few 40-milligram pills to 10 80-milligram pills a day.

She had a job so she had her own money.

“I stole from my parents a lot. ... I pawned all my gold, my parents’ gold. At the time I didn’t think it was a big deal because it seemed like everyone was doing it. Now I feel terrible. They worked hard for that stuff and I just took it and sold it like it was mine. I can’t even go by a pawn shop any more,” she said.

INTERVENTION

The moment of truth was Aug. 27, 2009.

“We confronted her with it. ... Her new boyfriend, from Hamden, was the dealer,” Adam Hoffman said.

“It was right out of a movie. She acted like a caged animal and said she wasn’t an addict. It was horrifying,” Joanne Hoffman said.

Barbara Hoffman said she hit rock bottom on the night of Oct. 30, when she totaled her car on Interstate 91 after snorting crushed Xanax pills. She was arrested.

Her parents made the decision to send Barbara to out-of-state rehab.

“She tried it and had no reason to stop. It made her feel good,” Joanne Hoffman said.  “Now she’s seeking a job.” Joanne Hoffman said. “She’ll start college in the fall.”

Meth Replacing Marijuana as Teens Drug of Choice

They sit at a cafeteria table, gossiping and snacking during a school field trip. "Have you seen him? Has he gained the weight back?" one girl asks. 

"Yeah, he looked so good," replies another from across the table. "His cheeks filled in."

It's no casual lunchtime conversation. The teen they're talking about is a recovering methamphetamine addict. So are several of the teens at the table.  

In Minnesota, like most of America, is home to a new trend: many young people and experts who monitor drug use agree that meth is steadily replacing marijuana as the teenage drug of choice.

"Meth is the thing -- it's what everybody wants to do," says Anthony, 17, a student at Sobriety High School in St. Paul who first tried meth at age 13 and has been in recovery since he overdosed last summer. He and other students  were allowed to speak on condition that their last names not be used.

While statistics show that meth use among teens and middle-school students has been level for the last few years, experts caution that the numbers can be deceiving, because meth seems to spread in pockets, leaving some regions or populations relatively untouched while others are devastated.

"Meth is an oddball in that way," says Caleb Banta-Green, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington's Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute. "You never know where it's going to hit."

But when it does, it often hits hard -- with few states evading meth's reach.

In Nebraska, two 20-year-olds who were high on meth froze to death after getting lost in a snowstorm in January. In Oregon, officials recently reported that meth is second only to marijuana -- surpassing alcohol -- as the drug that sends the most teens to treatment there.

Nebraska and Oregon are among the nearly two dozen states that have entrenched meth problems, most of them in the West and Midwest, according to state-by-state advisories that the Drug Enforcement Administration released this year.

"It's here and it's ravaging our kids," says Dave Ettesvold, a drug counselor at two high schools in the St. Paul area.

In Minnesota, one-fifth of addicts who entered treatment for meth use last year were younger than 18, according to Carol Falkowski, a researcher at the nonprofit Hazelden Foundation, who tracks the state's drug trends for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Another recent state survey found that about one-fourth of girls and one-fifth of boys  had used meth at least once in the last year. Ten percent had used it 10 times or more.

The problem, according to many experts, is  pervasive and often evading  parent's scrutiny.  

National Study: Teen “Heavy” Marijuana Use Up 80 Percent Since 2008, One in Ten Teens Reports Using Marijuana at Least 20 Times a Month

By Cassie Goldberg  

Only Half of Teens, 51 Percent, Now Say They See “Great Risk” in Using Marijuana Regularly

~Teen Abuse of Rx and Over-The-Counter Medicines Remain at Dangerous Levels~

New York, NY – May 2, 2012 – New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org andMetLife Foundation found that past-month marijuana use – particularly heavy use – has increased significantly among U.S. high school students since 2008. [READ FULL REPORT HERE]

The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, sponsored by MetLife Foundation, found that 9 percent of teens (nearly 1.5 million) smoked marijuana heavily (at least 20 times) in the past month. Overall, past-month heavy marijuana use is up 80 percent among U.S. teens since 2008.

Concerning Trends in Teen Marijuana Use According to the New PATS Data (2008-2011)

• Past-month use is up 42 percent (up from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent in 2011, which translates to about 4 million teens).
• Past-year use is up 26 percent (up from 31 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2011, which translates to about 6 million teens).
• Lifetime use is up 21 percent (up from 39 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011, which translates to nearly 8 million teens).

This marks an upward trend in teen marijuana use over the past three years. The last time marijuana use was this widespread among teens was in 1998 when past month use of marijuana was at 27 percent.

“These findings are deeply disturbing as the increases we’re seeing in heavy, regular marijuana use among high school students can spell real trouble for these teens later on,” said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org. “Heavy use of marijuana – particularly beginning in adolescence – brings the risk of serious problems and our data show it is linked to involvement with alcohol and other drugs as well. Kids who begin using drugs or alcohol as teenagers are more likely to struggle with substance use disorders when compared to those who start using after the teenage years.”

Teen Marijuana Use Has Become a Normalized Behavior

Teens now report seeing more of their peers smoking marijuana and only 26 percent agree with the statement, “in my school, most teens don’t smoke marijuana” (down from 37 percent in 2008). Also, 71 percent of teens say they have friends who use marijuana regularly (up from 64 percent in 2008).

Teen past-month “heavy” marijuana users are significantly more likely than teens who have not used marijuana in the past year to:

• use cocaine/crack (30 times more likely)
• use Ecstasy (20 times more likely)
• abuse prescription pain relievers (15 times more likely)
• abuse over-the-counter medicines  (14 times more likely)

Social disapproval of marijuana among teens remained the same, with 61 percent of teens saying they disapprove of their peers using marijuana. (About 41 percent say they ‘strongly disapprove’). The PATS data also found an erosion of anti-marijuana attitudes among teens, with only about half of teens (51 percent) saying they see “great risk” in using marijuana, down significantly from 61 percent in 2005.

“We have also seen a considerable decline over the past five years in the proportion of teens seeing great risk associated with marijuana use,” says Professor Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the nationwide Monitoring the Future study conducted at the University of Michigan. “We believe that this decline in perceived risk has played an important role in the increases in teen use of marijuana, as it has done in the past. The fact that perceived risk is still falling portends a further increase in use.”

As teen drug use takes a turn for the worse, a heavier burden is placed on the shoulders of parents to play a more active role in protecting their kids from the health risks posed by drug and alcohol abuse. The removal of critical pieces of our national prevention infrastructure across the country – The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which was highly focused on educating youth about the dangers of teen marijuana use, and the elimination of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program – left a gaping hole where drug and alcohol education resources should be.

“The latest findings showing an increase in marijuana use among teens is unsettling and should serve as a wake-up call to everyone in a position to prevent unhealthy behavior,” said Dennis White, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “While it may be difficult to clearly understand just how dangerous marijuana use can be for teens, it is imperative that we all pay attention to the warning signs and intervene anyway we can. Early intervention is critical to helping prevent teens from drug abuse and addiction.”

Teen Rx Medicine Abuse Remains High, but Relatively Unchanged, Parents Not Safeguarding Medicines at Home and Misusing Rx Medications Themselves

While the new PATS data did not show similar increases in teen abuse of medicines, prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) drug abuse remain at unacceptably high levels, which lead to considerable damage to young lives. The study showed teen lifetime abuse of medicines is holding steady at 17 percent for Rx drugs and 12 percent for OTC cough and cold medicines. Among teens, past year abuse of the prescription pain relievers Vicodin and OxyContin, for example, has plateaued at about 10 percent.

However, it’s important to note that parental action does not appear to be contributing to the relative flattening of teen abuse of medications, as fewer parents report safeguarding Rx medications at home. The number of parents who agree with the statement “anyone can access prescription medicines in the medicine cabinet” is up from 50 percent in 2010 to 64 percent 2011, meaning the medications are more readily available to anyone in their homes. Fewer parents also report communicating the risks of getting high, or any other reason for abuse, from prescription medicines with their children; down from 82 percent who said they communicated the risks of Rx drug abuse to their kids in 2009 to 69 percent in 2011. The number of parents who say they “keep alcohol locked in a cabinet at home” is also down from 32 percent in 2009 to 25 percent in 2011.

PATS also found that an increased number of parents report misusing or abusing prescription medications themselves. More than one in ten parents (15 percent) say they’ve used an Rx medication not prescribed for them at least once in the past year, a 25 percent increase from 2010 to 2011.

Teen Boys and Hispanic Teens Leading Marijuana Increases, Fewer Teen Girls Abusing Rx Medicines

The PATS survey confirms that teen boys are leading the overall increases in marijuana use. Past year use among teen boys is up 24 percent (from 34 percent in 2008 to 42 percent in 2011) and past month use among teen boys is up 38 percent (from 21 percent in 2008 to 29 percent in 2011). Additionally, boys’ heavy use – smoking marijuana at least 20 times a month – is higher than that of their female counterparts (11 percent for teen boys vs. 6 percent for teen girls) and boys’ heavy marijuana use is up an alarming 57 percent, from 7 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in 2011.

According to the new data, half of Hispanic teens (50 percent) report that they have used marijuana in the past year (versus 40 percent for African Americans and 35 percent for Caucasians). This means Hispanic teens are nearly twice as likely (43 percent) as Caucasian teens to have smoked marijuana in the past year (50 percent vs. 35 percent) and 25 percent more likely than African-American teens.

The study also found that fewer teen girls are abusing Rx medications. Teen girls’ abuse of a prescription drug “to get high or alter your mood” is down 30 percent since 2010 (from 23 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011) and is down a total of 24 percent since 2009 (21 percent in 2009). Rx drug abuse among teen boys has remained relatively flat over the same time period.

Teens are starting to view medicine abuse as less socially acceptable and the percentage of teens who “strongly disapprove” of peers using prescription drugs to get high has gone up significantly – from 52 percent in 2010 to 58 percent in 2011. Fewer also say it’s “very” or “fairly” easy for teens to get prescription pain relievers, down 25 percent from 57 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in 2011.

“These data set the scene for a ‘perfect storm’ that will threaten the health of a generation of American teens,” said Pasierb. “Science has shown that adolescent brains are still developing and are more easily harmed by drug and alcohol use than fully developed adult brains. Dramatic increases in teen marijuana use, coupled with entrenched behavior of abuse of Rx and OTC drugs, puts teens at greater risk for substance use disorders, academic decline and other problems. With government budgets slashing the national prevention infrastructure and many prevention programs already eliminated, parents must step up to fill those voids, to protect their children’s health and futures.”

Mixed Results on Teen Abuse of Cigarettes, Inhalants, Alcohol, Meth, Cocaine/Crack, Ecstasy

• Smoking rates have declined with 22 percent of teens reporting smoking cigarettes in the past month – this is down 19 percent from 27 percent last year.

• Past-year inhalant abuse dropped from 10 percent in 2010 to 7 percent in 2011, yet only 64 percent of teens strongly agree that “sniffing or huffing things to get high can kill you,” significantly less than the 70 percent of teens who said the same in 2008.

• Past-year alcohol use is holding steady at 56 percent and past month is at 38 percent. (since 2008)

• Past-year methamphetamine use is holding at 4 percent. (since 2008)

• Past-year cocaine/crack use remains at 7 percent. (since 2008)

• Past-year use of Ecstasy is up 50 percent since 2008 (from 6 percent in 2008 to 9 percent in 2011).

New Resource for Parents to Help Prevent Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Use in Their Families

The Partnership at Drugfree.org, in collaboration with the Philadelphia-based Treatment Research Institute (TRI), has released a new tool to help parents and caregivers possibly prevent adolescent drug and alcohol problems. The “Six Components of Effective Parenting,” based on scientific research, is the product of the new Parents Translational Research Center – a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded center involving The Partnership at Drugfree.org and TRI. The resource is comprised of “how-to” parenting tips organized around six principles specifically designed for parents, guardians and other caregivers who can play an active role in helping prevent substance abuse in their families.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org Announces New “Wake Up to Medicine Abuse” Initiative

The Partnership at Drugfree.org is launching a first-of-its-kind, week-long public education and mobilization campaign, “Wake Up to Medicine Abuse,” this fall. This initiative will bring the public and private sectors together in a national education effort and call to action to curb the abuse of medicine, one of the biggest drug problems in the United States today. “Wake Up to Medicine Abuse Week” will take place September 23-29, 2012, and will both encourage and help parents and the public-at-large to take action: first, by talking with the kids in their lives about the dangers of abusing Rx and OTC medicines, and second, by safeguarding and properly disposing of unused medications.

PATS Methodology

The 23rd annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) of 3,322 teens in grades 9-12 and 821 parents is nationally projectable with a +/- 3.0 percent margin of error for the teen sample and +/- 3.4 percent for the parent sample. Conducted for The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, the 2011 PATS teen survey was administered in private, public and parochial schools, while the parent survey was conducted through in-home interviews by deKadt Marketing and Research, Inc.

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About The Partnership at Drugfree.org

Ninety percent of addictions start in the teenage years. The Partnership at Drugfree.org is dedicated to solving the problem of teen substance abuse. Together with experts in science, parenting and communications, the nonprofit translates research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into useful and effective resources for both individuals and communities. Working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with parents and other influencers to help them prevent and get helpfor drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults. The organization depends on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and the public sector and is thankful to SAG/AFTRA and the advertising and media industries for their ongoing generosity.

About MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife’s longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Our commitment to building a secure future for individuals and communities worldwide is reflected in our dedication to empowering older adults, preparing young people and building livable communities. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $530 million in grants to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information visitwww.metlife.org