Drug dealers could face homicide charges under new legislation

by Scott Wartman

Kentucky--Drug dealers whose customers overdose on heroin could face homicide charges if a bill proposed by Sen. Katie Stine, R-Southgate, becomes law.

Stine’s bill comes amid pleas from lawmakers, businesses and community leaders around the state to combat the state’s growing heroin problem.

The successful measures against prescription drug abuse in recent years has led to addicts turning toward the cheaper and more available heroin in the past two years, law enforcement and drug treatment center officials have said.

Some call for tougher penalties on dealers. Some call for more funding for drug treatment. Many call for both.

Stine said she will introduce her bill next week when the General Assembly reconvenes Feb. 5 and said several states have similar laws.

“It is hoped that this will operate as a deterrent to traffickers right now, ” Stine said. “Heroin in particular comes from Mexico and Detroit to Northern Kentucky. It goes down I-71 to Louisville, Route 9 to Ashland. We’ve noticed this increase for some time and it’s become even greater lately due to the difficulty in obtaining Oxycodone. The pills are harder to get and more expensive. Heroin is very common and cheap. I think the high number of overdoses being seen by the medical community, that’s alarming.”

Her bill would allow prosecutors to charge a drug dealer with criminal homicide if the prosecutor can prove the person who died from an overdose obtained the drug from the dealer. The penalty applies to any drug deemed by the Controlled Substances Act as a schedule I, which includes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

It would  also increase the imprisonment for dealers who have 4 grams or more of heroin from from five to 10 years to 10 to 20 years. The bill would increase the time period for police find enough of the drug on a suspect to warrant a felony trafficking charge.

Stop the flow of dealers

Many in Covington hope the increased penalties will stop the flow of drug dealers from Ohio and Indiana across the Ohio River.

Covington Police began seeing more heroin addicts in the community, particularly along the I-75 corridor, a little more than 2 year ago, said Covington Police Chief Spike Jones. The proposed bill would hold dealers accountable, but education and better treatment is also needed, he said.

“The folks we’re seeing are not like the 1970s public service announcements with some disheveled addict in an alley with a needle,” Jones said. “These people are from the suburbs, middle America.”

Dealers feel safer in Kentucky after the General Assembly reduced the penalties in 2011 for some drug dealing offenses, said Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders. After that, he saw a spike in heroin cases, which now make up a bulk of the drug caseload he prosecutes. He said he hopes Stine’s bill gets passed and reverses the trend.

“I can’t blame it all on the reduction in punishment,” Sanders said. “What we’re seeing is the perfect storm in terms of the reduction in punishment, rise in prescription narcotic addiction and cuts in law enforcement funding all at the same time.”

Tougher penalties only go so far without treatment

Increased penalties, however, will only go so far, said Jared Rowe. Treatment for addicts needs to be a part of the equation as well, he said.

Rowe, 28, of Louisville, has battled substance abuse since his teens and eventually started using heroin. It started with drinking at the age of 13 and then progressed to pot smoking, he said. Then a doctor prescribed narcotic painkiller Oxycodone when he had a car accident at the age of 16. The narcotic hooked him quickly, and, by his 20s he started doing heroin.

Rowe’s addiction took him through an ordeal that involved him moving to Texas and back, losing his jobs, home and reputation until in April when he checked into the residential treatment facility The Healing Place in Louisville.

Sober and with a new lease on life, Rowe said increased criminal penalties will deter some dealers and addicts but not all.

“A lot deal drugs so they can get the next one so they can use,” Rowe said. “There are people that deal that don’t use. They should have stronger consequences for their actions. They’re selling poison.”

But the state should also focus on more treatment, he said.

“A lot of times when I would get arrested, I’d get a slap on the hand and no one would say anything about recovery,” Rowe said. “I truly believe I would have been receptive about going into a recovery program before I got to where I was at. It was pretty much, “Today, you pay us more money and then go about your way.”

More funding sought

The growing number of addicts has prompted a cross section of people across the state to call for more funding for treatment.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has made funding for substance abuse treatment a top priority.

Many of the prescription drug abusers of a few years ago have become the heroin abusers of today, said Marla Highbaugh, spokeswoman for The Healing Place.

And many are young, between the ages of 18-25, because they started abusing prescription drugs as teenagers, Highbaugh said.

“It is bringing them in young, and they’re losing control quicker,” Highbaugh said.

When the General Assembly takes up the budget next year, many, including Highbaugh, hope it funds more facilities throughout the state like the Healing Place.

The state has 10 centers modeled after The Healing Place. The administration of Gov. Ernie Fletcher started in 2007 the Recovery Kentucky program that oversees the 10 residential facilities, which includes Transitions Grateful Life Center for Men in Erlanger and Brighton Center for Women in Florence. Two more facilities, one in Bowling Green and one in Hindman, will start construction next month.

The program houses addicts for six to nine months and has people who have gone through the program work at the facility to help keep costs down and support fellow addicts. The Kentucky Department of Corrections, Section 8 and Community Development provide a bulk of the $800,000 budget for each facility.

Funding for Recovery Kentucky, which doesn’t provide medical services, and medical drug treatment programs needs to increase to meet demand, said Mike Townsend, Recovery Kentucky program director.

“There’s a great need for outpatient treatment programs that are drug free,” Townsend said.  “One thing we’re seeing is a huge increase in Suboxone clinics to meet the demand. A result of doctors no longer prescribing narcotics is that people are going to doctors to get Suboxone. That‘’s a blessing and a curse. It’s a narcotic substitute. There needs to be a more drug-free approach.”

Gummi Bears Threaten Teen Sobriety

By Jeff Forester for The Fix

Vodka-infused "boozy bears" pack a powerful punch and are difficult for parents and teachers to detect.

Teenagers in the Detroit area—and many others—have recently found a new way to fool parents, teachers and even cops, enabling them to "drink" any time without arousing suspicion: "boozy bears." Gummi bears or worms—or even rats in honor of the Halloween season—are soaked overnight in vodka. The candy absorbs the booze remarkably well and becomes a high-octane treat. Just as vodka has always been favored by teens because it has relatively little tell-tale smell, these drunken Gummis are surging in popularity because only careful inspection—or tasting—will enable adults to discover that they contain anything more dangerous than sugar. Just a few handfuls can be enough to get drunk—and a major concern is that kids have no way of telling how much they have consumed. What's more, it's easy to consume a lot very quickly, posing serious health risks to kids. How-to sites are full of instructions for making boozy bears and YouTubeinstructional videos have also been popping up for at least the past few months. But the trend is on the rise, and earlier this week the story was featured on NBC in Detroit. However, a Detroit teenager, "TheNikbagtvZone," recently asked in a YouTube video whether all the publicity generated wouldn't simply power the problem further: "Why would y'all do a story on this? You know kids are like, 'Word? Gummi bears and vodka?  Never thought about that. We're doing that right now!'"

Teens Promote Sobriety With New Fashion Line

The young founders of "Party Sober" clothing hope to demonstrate that sobriety can be cool. 

By Bryan Le for The Fix

Drinking and drugging may seem "cool" thanks to movies like The Hangover, shows like Jersey Shore and good ol' fashioned peer pressure, but two teens are aiming to majorly amp up the appeal of sober living. Dominic Suazoand Feril Trevor Davis have seen how alcohol and drug use in the media can have a negative impact on young people—so they've founded a new clothing company called Party Sober to demonstrate that sobriety can be young, fun and hip.  "People just glamorize…but after going down that road and seeing how dark and scary addiction is we're trying to combat that message," Davis says, "It's cool to live life and party sober and not need a drink or drug to be yourself." Davis says the strict "drugs-are-bad" messages transmitted through PSA's and DARE can be alienating to teens, who are more likely to listen to their own peers. "The edge we have is not being an authority figure, it's on a peer basis and not an authority figure telling them what to do," he explains. "I was told drugs were wrong and that didn't stop me. I didn't have anyone telling me what it's really like out there." Instead of demonizing drugs and alcohol, Party Sober emphasizes the coolness of clean living, in a similar vein to the Demi Lovato-approved fashion line Sober is Sexy; the clothes also provide a counterpoint to fashion statements like Urban Outfitters' recent alcohol-touting tees. Suazo and Davis plan to donate a portion of their sales to helping addicted youths get back on their feet again. 

National Drug Facts Week January 31 - February 3rd

What is National Drug Facts Week?

National Drug Facts Week (NDFW) is a health observance week for teens that aims to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse. Through community-based events and activities on the Web, on TV, and through contests, NIDA is working to encourage teens to get factual answers from scientific experts about drugs and drug abuse.

How To Talk To Your Kids About Teenage Binge Drinking (From An Ex-Teen Binge Drinker)

 by Samantha Escobar

For some parents, it’s difficult to talk to their kids about drinking. For others, the thought of their children even picking up a wine cooler or shot glass that they didn’t get permission to drink is unthinkable, so they don’t even bother. Unfortunately, teenage binge drinking, particularly among females, is on the rise and without some interference, it’ll continue to go up.

As a teenager, I drank once in a long while. But like many teens, I saw each rare opportunity as a time to “live it up” and experience high school the way my peers and I thought we were supposed to — via partying. When you’re doing extra-curricular activities, trying to get good grades, constantly worried about college, probably have a parttime job of some sort and still have the high school social life to contend with, the pressure can lead to a lot of kids trying to release tension in an unhealthy way by drinking too much.

Considering the CDC says that 13 percent of American women go on three or more drinking binges per month and a full 20 percent of high school girls do the same, there’s a need to talk to your kids about the issue. While my friends and I were lucky to never have gotten into any serious trouble apart from with our parents, there are so many kids who find themselves in dangerous situations or are affected by the poor decisions of others.

It’s imperative to discuss teenage binge drinking with your kids, whether it’s uncomfortable and difficult or not. Here are some tips I have to offer any parents looking to get through to their kids from the perspective of somebody who was in their daughters’ position not too long ago.

Read more: http://www.blisstree.com/2013/01/13/sex-relationships/teenage-binge-drinking/#ixzz2IvYi5Pn9

Study: Do Energy Drinks Lead to Alcohol Abuse?

By Meredith Melnick

Most news headlines are focusing on the safety of alcoholic energy drinks like Four Loko, the maker of which announced on Tuesday, in the face of several statewide bans and the threat of a federal crackdown, that it would remove caffeine and other stimulants from its products. But it turns out, plain old booze-free energy drinks — like Red Bull and Monster — may also increase the risk of alcohol abuse among teens and college students, at least according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins.

For the study, researchers examined the energy drink consumption and alcohol-drinking habits of 1,097 fourth-year students at a large public university that remains unnamed in the study. The data was collected as part of a four-year longitudinal study that the school conducted via anonymous computer survey to monitor student life. (More on Time.com: A Man Dies After Overdosing on Caffeine)

Researchers found that 10% of students reported being high-frequency energy drink consumers — downing energy drinks at least 52 days per year, and in some cases every day. About half were low-frequency drinkers, using energy drinks less than 52 days in the past year. The rest did not consume energy drinks at all.

Compared with the low-frequency group, those who consumed more energy drinks also drank alcohol more often — on 142 days versus 103 days in the past year. And when they drank, they drank more overall — 6.2 drinks a day versus 4.6 drinks.

These high-frequency energy drink consumers were also more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol dependence, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Compared with students who abstained from using energy drinks, the high-frequency users were 2.4 times more likely to be considered alcohol dependent; compared with the low-frequency group, they were 86% more likely.

The risk persisted even when the researchers controlled for factors that could independently increase drinking problems, such as having a “sensation-seeking” personality type, a family history of addiction, depression or involvement in fraternities and sororities. (More on Time.com: ‘Blackout in a Can’: Alcoholic Energy Drinks Keep Wreaking Havoc)

The relationship between energy-drink use and increased risk of alcohol abuse is not entirely clear, and the researchers acknowledge that causality may go in either direction:

The possibility cannot be ruled out that heavy drinkers rely on energy drinks to help them function normally throughout the day, as a way of compensating for alcohol-related hangover effects. For example, a college student might use energy drinks to get through classes on the day after a drinking binge, and if chronic partying interferes with their study habits they might consume energy drinks to pull “all-nighters” before exams.

But given that young people tend to enjoy mixing energy drinks and alcohol together, the authors noted that additional studies into the personality profiles or other motivators of those who do might help prevent or reduce disordered behavior in college students. (More on Time.com: Will the FDA Ban Sales of Four Loko?)

The new study was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/17/study-kids-who-use-energy-drinks-have-a-higher-risk-of-alcohol-abuse/#ixzz2IvWWGLbH

Essay Competition: on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse

The Alert Scholarship

You can help others become more alert by speaking out against the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. All eligible high school seniors (see requirements below) may enter the Alertcollege scholarship essay contest. With each edition of Alert magazine, Golden West Publications awards a $500 college scholarship to the writer of the best drug and/or alcohol abuse-related essay that we receive for that state/region.

Eligibility:

1. You must currently be a senior in high school.
2. Your high school must be located in one of the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington or Wyoming.
3. You must have a grade point average of 2.5 or better.
4. You must have plans to attend college after graduation (the college you will attend can be located in any state).

Requirements:

• Write an essay about a personal encounter you or someone you know has had with drug and/or alcohol abuse. In your essay explain how the situation was dealt with, what you learned from it, what others can learn from the experience, and what was right or wrong (in your opinion) about the way the incident or problem was handled. Scholarship essays are judged in the same way that essays written for a high school English class would be: thesis statement, supporting content, grammar, punctuation, etc.


• Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and 650–800 words in length.


• Essays must include an official copy of your high school transcripts.


• Essays must also include a recent photo. Scholarship winners will have their picture reprinted in our magazine along with their winning essay, so please send a good quality color photo (no blurry printouts).


• No application is needed and there is no deadline, but you must meet the eligibility requirements and include all of the items listed above to be considered.

How to Apply:

Mail your essay, transcripts, photo, school name, and contact info (phone number, address,
and e-mail) to:

Alert Magazine
Attn: Scholarship
P.O. Box 4833
Boise, Idaho 83711

Note: All essays submitted are the sole property of Golden West Publications, LLC and are subject to editing for length and/or content. The writer of the winning essay will receive the $500 Alert Scholarship and have his or her essay and photo published in Alert magazine. Winning essays are also published on our website.

Still have questions? Check out the FAQs.

10 over-the-counter medicines abused by teens

Is your medicine cabinet a source for a teen’s legal “high?” Because a doctor’s prescription is not needed, many mistakenly believe that over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are safer than prescription medicines and illegal street drugs. They are in fact safe and effective when taken as directed, but even OTC medicines—including herbals—can cause serious and potentially fatal side effects when abused.  

Abuse of OTC medicines is most common among teens between the ages of 13 and 16. They know they might find a cheap high right in their family’s medicine cabinet, often without being caught. But young adults have also abused OTC medicines, particularly in combination with other medicines, alcohol, and illegal drugs, which increases the risks. The list that follows includes the top 10 medicines currently abused by teens and adults.

1. Dextromethorphan: This is the active ingredient in more than 100 OTC cough and cold medicines such as Robitussin and NyQuil. One teen in every 10 has reported abuse of cough medicine to get high. Large doses can cause euphoria, distortions of color and sound, and “out of body” hallucinations that last up to 6 hours. Other dangerous side effects including impaired judgment, vomiting, loss of muscle movement, seizures, blurred vision, drowsiness, shallow breathing, and a fast heart rate. When combined with alcohol or other drugs, a large dose can lead to death. For example, Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold includes both dextromethorphan to treat a cough and chlorpheniramine to treat a runny nose. But chlorpheniramine alone abuse by itself has led to numerous deaths and hospitalizations. Dextromethorphan is also addictive and can cause withdrawal symptoms, including depression and difficulty processing thoughts, when the abuse stops. Not much is known about long-term abuse, but cases of bone marrow and nerve cell damage, high blood pressure, heart damage, and permanent brain damage have been reported. 
2. Pain relievers: Adults and teens have taken pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen in doses higher then recommended because they want the medicine to work faster.  They don’t think of the side effects. They don’t know that liver failure can happen with large doses of acetaminophen, and that stomach bleeding, kidney failure, and cardiac risks are heightened when taking large doses of ibuprofen.
3. Caffeine medicines and energy drinks: OTC caffeine pills like NoDoz or energy drinks like “5 Hour Energy,” or pain relievers with caffeine have all been abused for the buzz or “jolt of energy” they seem to impart. Large doses of caffeine can cause serious dehydration, gastric reflux, panic attacks, and heart irregularities that have occasionally been linked to accidental deaths, particularly in those with an underlying heart condition. Taking too much of a pain reliever can also cause serious side effects as noted above.
4. Diet pills: In large doses, diet pills can create a mild buzz. But misuse of diet pills can also signal a serious eating disorder. Abuse of diet pills often starts with trying just a few in order to lose weight. But these OTC medicines can be highly addictive.  Although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned several of the most dangerous stimulants commonly found in OTC diet pills—phenylpropanolamine, ephedrine, and ephedra—other ingredients in these OTC products can be dangerous. To cite an example, bitter orange is a common ingredient that acts much like ephedrine in the body.  It can cause nervousness and tremor, rapid and irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, and death. Many other diet pill ingredients cause digestive problems, hair loss, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, extreme paranoia, blurred vision, kidney problems, and dehydration. Furthermore, even the most “natural” diet preparations can have serious side effects when misused, particularly those containing ma huang (ephedra). An earlier FDA ban on ephedra pertained only to diet pills considered dietary supplements, not herbal remedies such as teas and Chinese preparations. 
5. Laxatives and herbal diuretics: Like diet pills, some teens and young adults also abuse OTC laxatives and herbal diuretics (water pills), including uva-ursa, golden seal, dandelion root, rose hips, and others, to lose weight. Laxatives and herbal diuretics can cause serious dehydration and life-threatening loss of important minerals and salts that regulate the amount of water in the body, acidity of the blood, and muscle function. 
6. Motion sickness pills: Motion sickness pills that contain dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) or diphenhydramine (Benadryl) taken in large doses can cause one to feel high and have hallucinations similar to street drugs. The dose needed to cause these symptoms varies widely according to body weight and tolerance. Some teens and adults may take as many as 40 pills of Dramamine, for example, to experience the desired high. Extremely high doses of Dramamine have caused dangerous irregular heartbeats, coma, heart attacks, and death. Long-term abuse can cause depression, liver and kidney damage, memory loss, eye pain, itchy skin, urine retention, and abdominal pain.
7. Sexual performance medicines: OTC sexual performance medicines, often purchased via the Internet, are sometimes abused by teens and adults who are drinking to counteract the negative effects of alcohol on sexual performance.  These medicines can cause heart problems, especially when combined with alcohol or when taken in large doses.
8. Pseudoephedrine: This nasal decongestant and stimulant is found in many cold medicines. Its similarity to amphetamines has made it sought out to make the illegal drug methamphetamine. The medicine has also been taken as a stimulant to cause an excitable, hyperactive feeling. Abuse may be less common with pseudoephedrine than with other OTC medicines due to a federal law requiring it to be kept behind the pharmacy counter, limiting the purchase quantity, and requiring photo identification prior to purchase. However, people have taken pseudoephedrine to lose weight, and athletes have misused the medicine to increase their state of awareness and to get them “pumped up” before a competition. Dangerous side effects include heart palpitations, irregular heartbeats, and heart attacks. When combined with other drugs, such as narcotics, pseudoephedrine may trigger episodes of paranoid psychosis.
9. Herbal ecstasy: This is a combination of inexpensive herbs that are legally sold in pill form and swallowed, snorted, or smoked to produce euphoria, increased awareness, and enhanced sexual sensations. Marketed as a “natural” high, the main ingredient is ma huang (ephedra), an herb banned in the US but only in dietary supplements. The product can be purchased in gas stations, health food stores, drug stores, music stores, nightclubs, and online. It is easy to overdose on the product because the dose needed for desirable effects varies widely. The adverse effects can be severe, including muscle spasms, increased blood pressure, seizures, heart attacks, strokes, and death.
10. Other herbals: Other herbal products are increasingly being abused for their stimulant, hallucinogenic, and euphoric effects. Besides being legal, another draw is that many herbals are not detected during routine urine drug screens. One example is salvia, which is ingested or smoked to experience a short-lived distortion of reality and profound hallucinations. Users can experience severe anxiety, loss of body control, extreme psychosis, and violent behavior. They are also at risk for accidents and injuries that may result from an altered mental state. Some states have regulated the sale of salvia. Another example is nutmeg, which is eaten as a paste to experience giddiness, euphoria, and hallucinations.  Nausea and vomiting set in within an hour and hallucinations begin within 3 hours and can last for 24 hours or more. Effects such as blurred vision, dizziness, numbness, palpitations, low blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat may occur.

One of the greatest difficulties with preventing OTC drug use is that few teens and adults realize the danger. Unlike the risks associated with illegal street drugs like cocaine and heroin, the risks associated with OTC drug abuse are given little thought and attention. Teens and young adults who learn about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50% less likely to abuse drugs.

- By Michael R. Cohen, R.Ph.

The Facts About Teen Drug Abuse

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD 

Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR 

Teen drug abuse facts

• There are many stages of drug abuse, ultimately leading to difficulty in managing one's life as a result of using drugs.
• Individuals who begin using drugs as juveniles are at greater risk of becoming addicted compared to those who begin drug use as an adult due to the immaturity of the teenage brain, particularly of that part of the brain that controls impulses.
• The symptoms of drug abuse include tolerance to a substance, withdrawal episodes, using more drugs for longer periods of time, and problems managing life issues due to the use of a drug.
• Substance abuse is caused by a number of individual, family, genetic, and social factors rather than by any one cause.
• Although a number of genes play a role in the development of substance abuse, this is a disease in which other factors more strongly influence its occurrence.
• Substance-abuse treatment is usually treated based on the stage of the addiction, ranging from management of risk factors and education to intensive residential treatment followed by long-term outpatient care and support.

What drugs are abused by teenagers?

Virtually every drug that is abused by adults is also abused by adolescents. In addition to alcohol, common categories of drugs of abuse include the following:

• Tobacco products (for example, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco)
• Cannabinoids (for example, marijuana, hashish), sometimes called "pot, weed, Mary Jane, or herb" and is smoked in a "joint," "blunt," "bong," "backwood," or pipe
• Cold medications (for example, chlorpheniramine and pseudoephedrine [Sudafed], diphenhydramine [Benadryl]
• Inhalants (for example, gasoline, ammonia), the use of which is often referred to as "huffing"
• Depressants (for example, barbiturates, benzodiazepines), sometimes called "reds, yellows, yellow jackets, downers or roofies"
• Stimulants (for example, amphetamines, cocaine, methamphetamine), sometimes called "bennies, black beauties, speed, uppers, blow, crack, rock, toot, crank, crystal, or skippy"
• Narcotics (for example, morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone[Oxycontin], hydrocodone/acetaminophen [Vicodin], sometimes called cody, schoolboy, dope, Tango and Cash, or monkey"
• Hallucinogens (for example LSD, "mushrooms"), sometimes called "acid, yellow sunshines, buttons, or shrooms"
• Dissociative anesthetics (for example, phencyclidine/PCP, ketamine), sometimes called "lovely, boat, Love Boat, angel dust, K, vitamin K, or cat" and whose use is often referred to as "getting wet"
• Club drugs (for example, Ecstasy), sometimes called "X"
• Others (for example, anabolic steroids), sometimes called "juice or roids"

• What are some adolescent drug use statistics?

  • In the U.S., about 3,000 teens smoke their first tobacco cigarette each day. About one-third of those adolescents become daily smokers. However, teen tobacco use generally continues has been declining since 2002.
  • Facts regarding underage drinking in the United States indicate that in 2008, 16% of eighth graders and 29% of 10th graders engaged in that behavior.
  • In 2008, the percentage of 12th-grade adolescents who have used any illicit drug except marijuana in the past month was about 25%, a decrease since 1997, when it was 30%.
  • As of 2010, about 30% of 10th-graders used marijuana in the past year. More than two-thirds of 10th graders said they could easily gain access to that drug.
  • In 2010, almost 3% of 12th graders had used cocaine in the past year, 8% had used the opiate Vicodin, 5% had used inhalants, nearly 5% had used "Ecstasy," and about 1.5% had used anabolic steroids.

  What are the dangerous effects of drug use in teens?

  Here are just a few of the many dangerous effects of drug use in adolescents:
  • Drugs of any kind decreases teens' ability to pay attention.
  • The younger a person is when they begin using drugs the more likely they are to develop a substance-abuse problem and the more likely they are to relapse into drug abuse when trying to quit.
  • Juveniles who use drugs are more likely to have unprotected sex, sex with a stranger, as well as to engage in sexual activity at all. This, in turn, puts them at risk for pregnancy, rape commission or victimization, and for sexually transmitted diseases.
  • Substance use can cause or mask other emotional problems, likeanxiety, depression, mood swings, or hallucinations (for example, hearing or seeing things). Either of those illnesses can result in death by suicide or homicide.
  • Anabolic steroids have been associated with impotence in boys and men, clitoral enlargement in girls and women, as well as baldness, stunted growth, heart attacks, strokes, liver disease, cancer, acne and infections, including HIV/AIDS in both sexes.
  • Depending on how the body takes in and processes each kind of drug, substances of abuse can affect virtually every one of the body's systems. Examples of this include permanent brain damage associated with inhalants, heart attack or stroke from stimulants, halted breathing from sedatives. Any of these problems can result in death.

    
    

    How can parents prevent drug use?

    Clear communication by parents about the negative physical, emotional, and functional effects of drugs, as well as about their expectations regarding drug use have been found to significantly decrease substance abuse in teens. Adequate parental supervision has also been found to be a deterrent to drug use in youth. Specifically, parents knowing how, where, and with whom adolescents socialize, as well as limiting their children's access to substances that can be abused have been associated with less teenage drug use. Limiting the amount of alcohol, cleaning solutions (inhalants), prescription, and over-the-counter medications that are kept in the home to amounts that can be closely monitored and accounted for has also been found to decrease substance abuse by teens.
    Family focused abuse-prevention programs have produced reductions in adolescent drug abuse. Among ethnic minorities in the United States (for example African Americans, Hispanic, Native and Asian Americans), those who strongly identify with their communities and cultures have been found to be less likely to experience risk factors for using drugs compared to their peers who are less connected to their communities and cultures. Therefore, incorporation of a cultural component to drug-abuse prevention programs may enhance the effectiveness of those programs. Moreover, teens 15 to 16 years old who use religion to cope with stress tend to use drugs significantly less often than their peers who do not use religion to cope.
    Alcohol and other drug use has been found to occur most often between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., immediately after school and prior to parents coming home from work. Teen participation in extracurricular activities has therefore been revealed as an important measure in preventing substance abuse in this age group.