July 2017

July 23, 2017

Marijuana: What You Need to Know

During the past year, many concerns have been expressed with the use of marijuana and the vulnerability of the teen brain. One of the concerns that substance abuse prevention professionals have about marijuana is that among students the perception of harm is declining in regards to this drug. “Perception of harm” is the benchmark for drug use and a decline predicts the probability of future drug use.

Professionals feel that the approval of marijuana for medical conditions in New York State and the legalization of marijuana in some states have been contributing factors to the decline of the perception of harm by teens.
However, the ongoing research into this drug shows a very different picture regarding marijuana’s harmful effects. As was previously reported, there is an association between marijuana and psychosis and depression. Researchers are learning more about the negative impact of marijuana on the cognitive skills of memory and attention. Marijuana also decreases motivation and there are short and longer term effects of marijuana on the ability to learn.

One can go to the website www.powertotheparent.org to read more about the negative impact that marijuana can have on the teen brain.

Source: Patricia Murphy Warble, LMSW, CPP, Parenting for Prevention June 2017

in Conversation Starters
July 17, 2017

E-Cigarettes, Nicotine, & Vaping

Nationally, teen cigarette smoking has been decreasing for many years and after a dramatic rise in e-cigarette use between 2011 and 2015, ecigarettes use by teens fell from 16% in 2015 to 11.3% in 2016 according to a report by the OOC. The decline is believed to be due to a combination of tobacco restrictions, public education, and taxes. An ecigarette sometimes called an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), e-cig, hookah pen, hookah stick or vaping device is designed to mimic smoking a cigarette.

In NY State cigarette smoking by high school students fell to a record low of 4.3% in 2016, down from 27.1% in 2000. But e-cigarette use nearly doubled in the last two years from 10.5% in 2014 to 20.6% in 2016 according to the NYS Department of Health. This underscores the need for New York parents to reinforce the harmfulness of these products. The device can resemble a real cigarette or look more like a pen or marker. The device delivers nicotine or non nicotine “ejuice” or other substances to the smoker in a vapor form. A battery powers a heating element that vaporizes the liquid nicotine contained within a cartridge in the e-cigarette so that what’s inhaled and then exhaled looks like smoke, but is usually odorless. They often come in colorful packaging and have flavors marketed to young people such as strawberry, apple, bubblegum, or watermelon. For some teens the appeal is being able to compete with peers on who can “blow” the best smoke rings.

It is hard for parents to identify all forms of ENDs but currently a popular brand of e-cigarettes is Juul. The device is usually filled with a flavored nicotine, however, it can also be used for marijuana. The device can be plugged into a USB charger in order to work to vaporize the nicotine or other substances a teen chooses to put into the device. There is usually no odor when one chooses to use this device so if a parent is not aware of what this device is, they may think it is a flash drive. The reality is that it is delivering a harmful substance into the lungs. Previous studies have identified some troubling trends. In the first analysis of the relationship between e cigarette use and smoking among adolescents in the United States, University of California at San Francisco researchers found that adolescents who used the devices were more likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to quit smoking.

The 2015 report on ENDS in New York State found the following:

  • The prevalence of ENDS use among high school students (10.5%) and young adults (12.7%) is about twice as high as the prevalence of ENDS use among adults (5.7%).
  • There is no evidence that youth are substituting ENDS for cigarettes. In fact, more than half of high school students and young adults who smoke cigarettes also use ENDS, making dual use of cigarettes and ENDS the norm.
  • Among the 7.3% of high school students who are current smokers, 56.5% also use ENDS.
  • Among the 14.2% of young adult smokers (age 18-24 years), 54.9% use ENDS.
  • Among the 17.3% of adult smokers (age 25 and older), ENDS use is significantly lower, at 24.0%.

E-cigarettes can contain various levels of nicotine a highly addictive drug. People who regularly use nicotine and then suddenly stop experience withdrawal symptoms, which may include cravings, anxiety, depression, moodiness, irritability, and inattentiveness.

The American Heart Association says that nicotine from smoking is one of the hardest substances to quit. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tests of e-cigarette samples found that they
contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in car antifreeze. The potential harm from exposure to secondhand vapor from e-cigarettes is unknown. Two initial studies have found formaldehyde and cancer causing substances coming from secondhand vapors (American Lung Association, 2011).

Source: Patricia Murphy Warble, LMSW, CPP, Parenting for Prevention June 2017

in iASK-CAB Notes
July 9, 2017

It’s Time to Rethink Prevention

By Robert DuPont

A recent national survey shows that among young people age 12 to 20 underage drinking and binge drinking
have declined significantly over the past decade.(1) While the survey report does not speculate about the reason for this trend, it is the result of decades of cumulative widespread prevention messages coupled with concerns about alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, alcohol poisoning, and sexual assault, and as well as increased alcohol taxes.(2)

In the last decade tobacco use has also declined among youth. This reflects the lasting national impact of the
1964 Surgeon General’s report Smoking and Health(3)that was widely publicized and resulted in a law mandating warning labeling on all tobacco products. The report brought to the public’s attention the devastating
impact of tobacco use on health. The national anti-smoking campaign has been strident in labeling nicotine
as “addicting” and smokers as “addicted.”

Interestingly, use of illegal substances by adolescents has also declined. These three trend lines showing
broad declines are significant. They cannot be explained on a substance-by-substance basis because the trend
lines for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are so similar. Instead this broad positive trend can be understood
as part of a shared cultural learning initiated by the epidemic of substance abuse that exploded in the late
1960s and early 1970s. In the 50 years since the 1964 report on Smoking and Heath, there has been a growing
awareness of the negative health and safety effects of addicting drug use. One of the contributors to this
cultural learning has been the definition of alcohol and nicotine as “addicting” drugs. This connection has
been reinforced by the federal government’s descriptive terminology that linked alcohol to illegal drugs under
the mantra-like phrase “alcohol and other drugs.”(4 )

New analysis of longitudinal data from the nationally representative annual Monitoring the Future study on
substance use by high school students shows a remarkably strong and sustained trend of abstinence from the
use of all addicting substances. These data have been there all along but the analysis resulting in this finding
is completely new. Among 12th graders, the percentage of students who never used alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other drugs in their lifetimes rose from 2.9% in 1983 to 25% in 2013. The percentage of 12th graders who did not use any alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other drugs in the prior 30 days rose from 16.1% in 1982 to 49.6% in 2013. Similar sizeable positive changes are reported for 8th and 10th graders who were first surveyed in 1991.

Problems with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs remain gravely serious. However, this new evidence of an increasing percentage of American youth who choose not to use any of these addicting substances gives new hope for the future. This finding has the potential to reshape all prevention strategies away from substance-specific health-promoting campaigns to a single focus that promotes no use by adolescents of any addicting substances. The use of any and all of these substances is unhealthy for youth and the use of all of these drugs is illegal. (The legal age for tobacco is 18, for alcohol 21, and in the states with legal marijuana, 21). Since nearly all substance use, and addiction, begins during the teenage years, prevention of any use during this time is singularly important. Lowering the substance use rates of youth today will be reflected tomorrow in lowering the adult rates of addicting drug use.

The new focus on one decision by youth not to use any addicting substances, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, holds great promise of a stronger, clearer and more effective goal for public education and prevention.

Written By Robert DuPont, MD
1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2015, June 11).
2 Kauffman, G. (2015, June 16). Underage drinking is down: Are teens partying less? Christian Science Monitor
3 US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1964).
4 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (1993). The Alcohol and Other Drug Thesaurus: A Guide to Concepts and Terminology in Substance
Abuse and Addiction.
in iASK-CAB Notes
July 2, 2017

Alcohol

In 2016, the US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, MD released the first report dedicated to substance misuse and related disorders entitled, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health. “Although substance misuse problems and use disorders may occur at any age, adolescence and young adulthood are particularly critical at-risk periods,” Dr. Murthy said.

“Preventing or even simply delaying young people from trying substances is important to reducing the likelihood of a use disorder later in life.” He went on to point out that people who use alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder later in life compared to those who have their first drink
at age 20 or older. It is not surprising to find that teens who use alcohol are more likely to engage in risky behaviors. Using alcohol or other drugs can lower a teen’s inhibitions and impact their judgement by influencing their ability to assess that a situation is dangerous or even deadly.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s, Division of Adolescent and School Health collects data every year for their Youth Risk Surveillance System which monitors six categories of priority health-risk among adolescents at the national, state, territorial, tribal, and local levels. Their 2016 data showed that 22% of teens who are already sexually active, drank alcohol or used drugs before engaging in sexual intercourse which in turn put the teens at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Using alcohol or other drugs can lead to serious problems for teens including poor performance at school, loss of friends and becoming alienated from their family. Substance abuse is also related to car crashes, suicides and injuries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2010 excessive drinking was responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among underage youth and there were approximately 189,000 emergency department visits by persons under 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.

Source: Patricia Murphy Warble, LMSW, CPP, Parenting for Prevention June 2017
in iASK-CAB Notes
July 1, 2017

Molly just makes you feel happy. Whats wrong with that?

Molly just makes you feel happy. Whats wrong with that? 

“Molly,” a popular drug at music festivals, is the powder or crystal form of MDMA, which is the chemical used in Ecstasy. The use of Molly — a stimulant drug — comes with serious health risks. The DEA notes that it can cause confusion, anxiety, depression, paranoia, sleep problems and drug craving. Learn more.

in Conversation Starters