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Parents may try their best to educate their kids to avoid drug use, but if they then send them to a school where drugs or alcohol use or trafficking is common, their efforts are more likely to fail. This is according to a 2008 survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
According to this survey, one-third of parents surveyed felt that the presence of drugs in the child’s school would not increase his or her risk of drug or alcohol use. But in a 2007 report, CASA stated that eighty percent of America’s high school students and 44 percent of middle schools students have personally witnessed drunk or high students or illegal drug use, dealing or possession on school grounds. And that on average, students who go to schools with higher rates of drug abuse themselves manifest higher rates of illegal drug or alcohol use.
This year, for the first time, teens reported that it is easier to get prescription drugs to abuse than it is to obtain beer. And 43 percent said that they knew where to buy marijuana within a day.
“Drugs are out there and our kids know it very well,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma.
“It helps to keep out our kids safe to educate them on the true dangers of drug abuse and to stay fully involved in their lives by sharing experiences with them and having family dinners,” added Mr. Hallmark.
To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drugs in Schools or visit the Narconon website.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Prescription Drugs in the Home are the Key to Abuse by Teens
While figures for some kinds of drug use among teens have dropped slightly over the last several years, prescription drug abuse shows no signs of letting up. Supporting this abuse is the ease with which our young people can lay their hands on prescription drugs to abuse, particularly prescription pain relievers.
A recent report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that one-third of teens who know prescription drug abusers say that these kids get their drugs from home. Another third say they can get these drugs from a friend or classmate.
The annual survey of teen attitudes on substance abuse drew the conclusion that probably half of all prescription drugs being abused by teens are coming from someone’s home medicine chest.
And this ease of acquisition showed in the statistics on prescription drug abuse. By 2007, one in every twenty high school seniors had found and tried OxyContin, a powerful narcotic painkiller with a high, when abused, similar to heroin. While this is bad enough, the statistic of seniors who had abused Vicodin, a painkiller containing hydrocodone, was almost twice as high.
“Prescription pain relievers are addictive, whether it’s teens or adults abusing them,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “We help people of all ages, from eighteen to seventy-five and up, recover the drug-free life they lost. Seventy percent of our graduates remain drug-free after graduation, as a result of our holistic program that addresses the three main barriers to recovery: the cravings, guilt and depression experienced by every addict.”
To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drugs in the Home or visit the Narconon website.
A recent report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that one-third of teens who know prescription drug abusers say that these kids get their drugs from home. Another third say they can get these drugs from a friend or classmate.
The annual survey of teen attitudes on substance abuse drew the conclusion that probably half of all prescription drugs being abused by teens are coming from someone’s home medicine chest.
And this ease of acquisition showed in the statistics on prescription drug abuse. By 2007, one in every twenty high school seniors had found and tried OxyContin, a powerful narcotic painkiller with a high, when abused, similar to heroin. While this is bad enough, the statistic of seniors who had abused Vicodin, a painkiller containing hydrocodone, was almost twice as high.
“Prescription pain relievers are addictive, whether it’s teens or adults abusing them,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “We help people of all ages, from eighteen to seventy-five and up, recover the drug-free life they lost. Seventy percent of our graduates remain drug-free after graduation, as a result of our holistic program that addresses the three main barriers to recovery: the cravings, guilt and depression experienced by every addict.”
To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drugs in the Home or visit the Narconon website.
Drug Abuse by Teens: Parents Are Both Part of the Problem and Part of the Solution
A recent study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) shows that many parents fail to take essential actions that prevent drug use or drinking by their teenaged children. At the same time, the study shows that parents who do take these actions have children with lower rates of drug or alcohol use, meaning that they can be part of the solution. The study is the annual Back to School Survey, published each year in August 2008.
The factors found to discourage substance abuse by teens were:
• Being engaged in the teens’ day-to-day life
• Relaxing with them
• Frequent family dinners
• Supervision, especially of time spent with friends on weeknights
• Setting positive examples of healthy behavior.
On the other hand, neglect of these factors was found to coincide with greater drug use.
The study found that 46 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds typically leave home to hang out with friends on school nights, but only 14 percent of parents say their kids usually leave home on these nights. The later that teens are out, the more likely it is that they will be around alcohol and drug use while they are out and the more likely it is that they will join in. Apparently, many parents miss the fact that their teens are leaving home at night.
A startling new result in this report was the increase in the percentage of kids who could quickly obtain marijuana. Twenty-three percent of teens can get it in an hour or less, the highest figure yet. Forty-two percent could get it in a day or less. Of those who could get it in an hour or less, nearly half of the teens surveyed had used the drug.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reports that almost two and a half million people initiate use of marijuana each year, more than half of them 12- to 17-year-old children. And many of these people will go on to use other addictive drugs. The director of CASA, Joseph Califano, reports that “Twelve- to seventeen-year-old children who used marijuana were eighty-five times more likely to use cocaine” than those who did not.
“A certain number of young people who start abusing drugs early will wind up addicted and in need of rehabilitation,” commented Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead.
To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drug Abuse by Teens or visit the Narconon website.
The factors found to discourage substance abuse by teens were:
• Being engaged in the teens’ day-to-day life
• Relaxing with them
• Frequent family dinners
• Supervision, especially of time spent with friends on weeknights
• Setting positive examples of healthy behavior.
On the other hand, neglect of these factors was found to coincide with greater drug use.
The study found that 46 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds typically leave home to hang out with friends on school nights, but only 14 percent of parents say their kids usually leave home on these nights. The later that teens are out, the more likely it is that they will be around alcohol and drug use while they are out and the more likely it is that they will join in. Apparently, many parents miss the fact that their teens are leaving home at night.
A startling new result in this report was the increase in the percentage of kids who could quickly obtain marijuana. Twenty-three percent of teens can get it in an hour or less, the highest figure yet. Forty-two percent could get it in a day or less. Of those who could get it in an hour or less, nearly half of the teens surveyed had used the drug.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reports that almost two and a half million people initiate use of marijuana each year, more than half of them 12- to 17-year-old children. And many of these people will go on to use other addictive drugs. The director of CASA, Joseph Califano, reports that “Twelve- to seventeen-year-old children who used marijuana were eighty-five times more likely to use cocaine” than those who did not.
“A certain number of young people who start abusing drugs early will wind up addicted and in need of rehabilitation,” commented Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead.
To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drug Abuse by Teens or visit the Narconon website.
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