By ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI

Published: May 10, 2012

WARSAW — In the year 2000, as the president of Poland, I signed one of Europe’s most conservative laws on drug possession. Any amount of illicit substances a person possessed meant they were eligible for up to three years in prison. Our hope was that this would help to liberate Poland, and especially its youths, from drugs that not only have a potential to ruin the lives of the people who abuse them but also have been propelling the spread of H.I.V. among people who inject them.

We assumed that giving the criminal justice system the power to arrest, prosecute and jail people caught with even minuscule amounts of drugs, including marijuana, would improve police effectiveness in bringing to justice persons responsible for supplying illicit drugs. We also expected that the prospect of being put behind bars would deter people from abusing illegal drugs, and thus dampen demand.

Psych Central – By Janice WoodAssociate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 13, 2012

Children between the ages of 10 and 12 are ambivalent toward cigarettes and alcohol, making this an important time to prevent substance abuse, according to new research.

“We need to be concerned when kids are ambivalent because this is when they may be more easily swayed by social influences,” said Dr. Roisin O’Connor of Concordia University.

The new research, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, co-led by psychologists O’Connor and Dr. Craig Colder of State University of New York at Buffalo, found that these youngsters have both positive and negative associations with cigarettes and alcohol and have yet to decide one way or the other.

Because they are especially susceptible to social influences, media portrayals of drug use and peer pressure can become deciding factors during these formative years on whether to smoke or drink.

“Initiation and escalation of alcohol and cigarette use occurring during late childhood and adolescence makes this an important developmental period to examine precursors of substance use,” said O’Connor. “We conducted this study to have a better understanding of what puts this group at risk for initiating substance use so we can be more proactive with prevention.”

The study showed that at the impulsive, automatic level, these kids thought these substances were bad but they were easily able to overcome these biases and think of them as good when asked to place them with positive words.

According to O’Connor, drinking and smoking among this age group is influenced by both impulsive (acting without thinking) and controlled (weighing the pros against the cons) decision-making. The study examined both decision-making processes to try to understand the risks for beginning to smoke or drink.

About 400 children between the ages of 10 and 12 participated in a computer-based test that involved targeted tasks. The tweens were asked to place pictures of cigarettes and alcohol with negative or positive words. The correct categorization of some trials, for example, involved placing pictures of alcohol with a positive word in one category and placing pictures of alcohol with negative words in another category.

“From this we saw how well the participants were able to categorize the pictures in the way that was asked. Using a mathematical formula of probabilities, we were able to identify how often responses were answered with impulsive and thoughtful processes as they related to drinking and smoking,” said O’Connor.

The next step is to look at kids over a longer period of time, she said. The hypothesis is that as tweens begin to use these substances, there will be an apparent weakening in their negative biases toward drinking and smoking.

The desire will eventually outweigh the costs, O’Connor said. It is also expected that they will continue to outweigh the pros relative to the cons related to substance use.

“We would like to track kids before they use substances and follow them out into their first few years of use and see how these processes play out,” she said. “Ultimately, we would like to help kids with that thoughtful piece.

“There is such a big focus now on telling kids substances are bad, but from our study we are seeing that they already know they are bad, therefore that is not the problem,” O’Connor said. “The problem is the likelihood of external pressures that are pushing them past their ambivalence so that they use. In a school curriculum format, I see helping kids deal with their ambivalence in the moment when faced with the choice to use or not use substances.”

Source: Concordia University

By Join Together Staff | May 7, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Marketing And Media, Prevention & Youth

Most states do not address youth exposure to alcohol marketing, according to a new report. Researchers at the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore say this represents a missed opportunity to improve public health.

Only 11 states use more than one of eight recommended strategies to reduce youth exposure to alcohol, the report found. These strategies include prohibiting false or misleading advertising; banning alcohol ads that target minors; restricting alcohol ads on alcohol retail outlet windows and outside areas, and restricting alcohol sponsorship of civic events.

Other strategies including prohibiting alcohol ads on college campuses, restricting outdoor alcohol ads in areas where children are likely to be present, and establishing jurisdiction over in-state TV and radio ads, UPI reports.

No states used more than five of these strategies, the report found.

“We know quite a bit about how to reduce youth exposure to alcohol marketing and advertising,” CAMY Director David Jernigan said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this report shows states have a long way to go towards using that knowledge to reduce youth exposure.”

By Join Together Staff | May 3, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

About 15 percent of health care providers in New York City wrote more than 80 percent of all opioid painkiller prescriptions in 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The findings come from the Mayor’s Task Force on Prescription Painkiller Abuse. The task force proposed strengthening the state’s drug monitoring system so that it contains more timely and complete information, requires physicians and pharmacists to consult the database to prevent overprescribing or misuse, and allows information in the database to be shared with local agencies working to fight prescription drug abuse.

The task force found 31 percent of the city’s opioid prescriptions in 2010 were written by about 530 health care providers, or 1 percent of those who prescribe these drugs. Among this group of prescribers, oxycodone prescriptions jumped 86 percent between 2008 and 2010.

During the past 20 years, New York City has experienced a 10-fold jump in the use of prescription opioids. The number of opioid-related emergency rooms visits jumped 40 percent between 2004 and 2009.

“In the face of opioid abuse, it is critical that we educate providers, pharmacists and patients on the potential dangers of painkiller misuse or overuse,” Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs said in a news release. “Strengthening our drug monitoring system will help us work together to ensure that well-intentioned providers don’t inadvertently overprescribe these pills – with potentially dangerous consequences –and that we have the information we need to investigate those who are actively engaging in criminal behavior.”

John Feinblatt, Co-Chairman of the task force, said the report shows that some physicians are prescribing painkillers at an alarming rate. “With access to data on the prescribing of painkillers, local public health and law enforcement agencies would be able to play a key role in preventing overprescribing, identifying suspicious prescription patterns and keeping criminals from preying on those who are fighting addiction,” he said.

By Join Together Staff | May 1, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Addiction, Drugs, Healthcare, Parenting, Research, Treatment & Youth

Every hour, a baby is born in the United States with symptoms of opioid withdrawal, according to a study in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found the number of pregnant women who are addicted to opioids, and the number of infants born with opioid withdrawal symptoms, has jumped in the past decade.

An estimated 13,500 babies are born with withdrawal symptoms each year in the United States, The New York Times reports. Many babies who experience these symptoms must be hospitalized for weeks, the article notes. Babies going through opioid withdrawal can have seizures, dehydration, breathing problems, tremors, difficulty feeding and irritability.

“The incidence has gone crazy and I think it has the potential to become a national or international issue,” Marie J. Hayes of the University of Maine, who co-authored an editorial accompanying the study, told the newspaper. “People who previously might not have used heroin or the needle are more likely to use prescription opiates.”

It is not known whether infants exposed to opioids in the womb will suffer long-term consequences, according to the article.

The researchers found the number of pregnant women using opioids increased fivefold from 2000 to 2009, while the number of infants with withdrawal symptoms almost tripled. Babies in the study were hospitalized for an average of 16 days, generally in the neonatal intensive care unit. The amount of time these babies spend in the hospital has not decreased since 2000, study co-author Dr. Stephen Patrick pointed out. He said this suggests that doctors have not yet learned how to improve treatment for these infants.

Visit DEA.gov and Join DEA for the Next National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Saturday, April 28

The Rhinebeck Coalition is facilitating a drug take back at the Northern Dutchess Hospital this Saturday 10-2 — bring your prescription or over the counter drugs for disposal.

Prescription drug abuse is perhaps our nation’s most significant drug problem, and trends over the past decade indicate this problem will only worsen, particularly among young adults and teens. While the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and law enforcement represent an important dimension in this fight, we are not the only ones. It will take our combined efforts to combat this problem, and the more we can do together to both educate our children early and make drugs more difficult to get, the more successful we will be.

Far too often legitimately prescribed drugs sit in our medicine cabinets and junk drawers, unused and forgotten. But to our children and young adults who don’t understand the dangers of these legal, yet powerful prescription drugs, experimentation and abuse have grave consequences.

So how do you rid your home of these medicines? In the past, we’ve simply flushed them down the toilet or thrown them in the trash. However, we’ve learned more about the negative effects these drugs can have on our environment, as well as their potential for theft and abuse.

Recognizing these problems, DEA has taken action. On September 25, 2010, we held our first National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The turnout for this event demonstrated that we had identified a pressing need, with an astounding 121 tons of unwanted, unused or expired medication brought in for proper disposal. Since then, we have held a Take-Back event every six months, and so far, we’ve taken nearly 500 tons of pills out of America’s medicine cabinets.

We are also working toward a permanent solution to this problem. DEA continues to prepare the final rules and procedures for the rollout of the Safe and Secure Drug Disposal Act. This will allow people to dispose of their drugs in a safe manner every day, not only during our Take-Back events, and we hope to have these regulations in place by the end of the year. But until then, we remain committed to giving parents, grandparents, caregivers—everyone—a safe way to discard potentially harmful drugs, and will sponsor these events until the final disposal procedures are in place.

Our next Take-Back Day event is April 28th and with your continued assistance, I’m sure it will be another success. Information about the event and drop-off locations are available on www.DEA.gov -simply click on the Got Drugs banner and enter your zip code, and the locations nearest to you will come up.

Thank you for all you do, and for being a partner of DEA!

Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration

By Join Together Staff | April 17, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs, Prescription Drugs & Youth

Poisoning deaths among teenagers rose 91 percent between 2000 and 2009, primarily due to prescription drug abuse, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Prescription drug abuse appears to be replacing marijuana as a “gateway drug” that leads to the abuse of harder drugs, said Dr. Julie Gilchrist of the CDC’s Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention.

Overall, death rates from unintentional injuries of children and teenagers decreased by almost 30 percent between 2000 and 2009, in large part because of a 41 percent drop in motor vehicle deaths, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Drug poisoning deaths among teens could be reduced by appropriate prescribing, proper storage and disposal, discouraging sharing of medication, and state-based prescription drug monitoring programs, the CDC stated in a press release.

According to the agency, the percentage of poisoning deaths among teens ages 15 to 19 with prescription drugs as a contributing cause rose from 30 percent in 2000, to 57 percent in 2009.

Our Coalition is participating in the National Drug Take Back Event April 28th,    10-2:00, at Northern Dutchess Hospital.  Please dispose of your unwanted prescription or over the counter medications safely at this time, lest they end up in the wrong hands.

By Joition Together Staff | March 30, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Legislation & Prevention

New York state has banned the sale of synthetic marijuana, which is sold under brand names such as “Spice,” “K2” and “Mr. Nice Guy,” the Associated Press reports.

The order calls for sales and distribution of the products to stop immediately, the article notes. They are sold as a “legal alternative” to marijuana in convenience stores, smoke shops and tobacco stores, according to a news release from the New York State Department of Health.

Violators of the new law can face civil penalties.

Signs of synthetic marijuana abuse include agitation, excessive sweating, inability to speak, restlessness and aggression. The drugs also cause euphoric and psychoactive effects similar to those caused by marijuana. The New York law states that synthetic marijuana has been linked to severe adverse reactions, including death and kidney failure.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported 4,500 calls involving synthetic marijuana toxicity from 2010 to 2011. Synthetic drugs are difficult to detect with commercially available drug tests, which make them more popular with teens, according to a new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently announced it is extending its ban on synthetic marijuana for another six months. In March 2011, the DEA temporarily banned five chemicals whose effects mimic marijuana. The DEA said it was outlawing the chemicals to protect public health and safety.

Emotional support from middle school teachers may reduce the risk their students will engage in early use of alcohol and other illicit substances, a new study suggests.

The study included 521 middle school students in Seattle. Students who felt more emotional support from teachers reported a delay in starting to use alcohol and other illicit substances, PsychCentral reports. The students defined teacher support as feeling close to a teacher, or being able to talk about their problems with a teacher.

Middle school students who had higher levels of separation anxiety from their parents were also less likely to start using alcohol early, the study found.

“Our results were surprising,” lead researcher Dr. Carolyn McCarty, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute, said in a news release. “We have known that middle school teachers are important in the lives of young people, but this is the first data-driven study which shows that teacher support is associated with lower levels of early alcohol use.”

Dr. McCarty said students who have separation anxiety may be less susceptible to negative influences from their peers, including experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

The study also found students who started drinking or using drugs before sixth grade had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. Students who had experienced recent stressful life events in sixth grade were significantly more likely to start using an illicit substance by eighth grade, the researchers found.

“We need to be aware of and monitor early adolescent stress levels, and parents, teachers and adults need to tune into kids’ mental health,” Dr. McCarty said. “We know that youth who initiate substance abuse before age 14 are at a high risk of long-term substance abuse problems and myriad health complications.”

From a study of rats, University of Pittsburgh researchers conclude that teens face a greater risk of suffering from depression and addiction than adults.

The researchers compared the brain activity of adolescent and adult rats as they worked on a task in which they anticipated a reward.  Brain cell activity increased in the adolescent rats’ brains in an unusual area: the dorsal striatum (DS) — a region generally associated with habit formation, decision-making, and motivated learning. On the other hand, the adult rats’ DS areas were not triggered by an anticipated reward.

“The brain region traditionally associated with reward and motivation, called the nucleus accumbens, was activated similarly in adults and adolescents,” said study leader Bita Moghaddam, Ph.D., co-author of the paper and a professor of neuroscience in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

“But the unique sensitivity of adolescent DS to reward anticipation indicates that, in this age group, reward can tap directly into a brain region that is critical for learning and habit formation.”

Researchers usually investigate the association between different behaviors of adolescents and adults. This team, however, used a method they call “behavioral clamping” to see if an adolescent brain would process the same behavior differently.

To do this, they implanted electrodes into various parts of adolescent and adult rat brains, so the researchers could analyze the responses of both individual neurons and the sum of the neurons, or “population,” activity.

The teams’ hypothesis proved correct. Although the behavior was the same for both adult and adolescent rats, there was a dramatic difference in the age-related neural response in the DS during reward anticipation. This reveals that not only is reward anticipation processed differently in an adolescent brain, but that it also affects brain regions directly responsible for decision-making and action selection.

“Adolescence is a time when the symptoms of most mental illnesses — such as schizophrenia and bipolar and eating disorders — are first manifested, so we believe that this is a critical period for preventing these illnesses,” Moghaddam said.

“A better understanding of how the adolescent brain processes reward and decision-making is critical for understanding the basis of these vulnerabilities and designing prevention strategies.”

The research team will further investigate the differences between adolescent and adult behavior, especially as it relates to stimulants — such as amphetamines — and how they influence brain activity.

David Sturman, an M.D./Ph.D. student in Pitt’s Medical Scientist Training Program, was also a co-author.  The National Institute of Mental Health funded this project.

The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Source:  University of Pittsburgh