While many parents may think that allowing their teens and their teens’ friends to drink at home under adult supervision keeps kids safe and leads to healthier attitudes about drinking, the truth is that there are serious negative consequences for both parents and teens. The Partnership at Drugfree.org and The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) today announced the launch of a new, interactive web resource for parents and caregivers to help inform them about one of those negative consequences: parents’ legal liabilities if they serve alcohol to teens.
Recognizing the value, particularly at prom and graduation season, of giving parents and caregivers free access to this important information, “Underage Drinking In The Home,” provides a state-by-state outline of the legal liabilities for adults who serve alcohol to minors. This new resource was created as part of the Parents Translational Research Center, a collaboration between The Treatment Research Institute and The Partnership at Drugfree.org, and the first ever National Institutes of Health-funded initiative focused on developing research-based resources for parents around issues of adolescent substance use/abuse.
Unfortunately, many parents subscribe to common myths and misperceptions related to underage drinking:
Myth: Some parents think that providing alcohol to teens at home decreases the risk for continued drinking as teens get older, and subsequent drinking problems later in life. Truth: The opposite is true – parents should be aware that supplying alcohol to minors actually increases, rather than decreases the risk for continued drinking in the teenage years and leads to subsequent problem drinking later in life.
Full story of underage drinking at home at DrugFree.org
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Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
Addiction to drugs, alcohol and tobacco are the most common mental health problems in teenagers, a new government report concludes. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed problem overall in youth ages 3 to 17, NBC News reports.
The findings, from a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found almost 7 percent of children under 18 are diagnosed with ADHD, while 3.5 percent have behavioral problems and 1.1 percent have autism.
An estimated one million teenagers abuse drugs or alcohol, and more than 695,000 are addicted to tobacco, the CDC found. The agency found during 2010-2011, a total of 4.2 percent of teens were dependent on or abused alcohol in the past year. An estimated 4.7 percent of teens had an illicit drug use disorder in the past year.
Full story of teen addictions at DrugFree.org
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Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) second annual National Prevention Week begins on Sunday, May 12. This national health observance, which continues through May 18, aims to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year’s theme – Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference. – emphasizes that the choices we make each day are important and have a real effect on our health and the well-being of our families and communities. Each day of National Prevention Week 2013 has a unique focus to recognize states’ and communities’ prevention efforts and highlight multiple facets of behavioral health:
May 12: Prevention and Cessation of Tobacco Use
May 13: Prevention of Underage Drinking
May 14: Prevention of Prescription Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Use
May 15: Prevention of Alcohol Abuse
May 16: Suicide Prevention
May 17: Promotion of Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Well-being
May 18: (Communities identify an issue of their choice)
Our nation’s states and communities provide many evidence-based programs and strategies promoting mental and emotional well-being and preventing substance abuse. SAMHSA applauds their excellent work in showing that prevention works. As a result of states’ and communities’ concerted prevention efforts, important progress has been made in many areas, such as in the decline of underage binge and heavy drinking rates between 2002 and 20111. However, much work remains to be done.
Full story on national prevention week at DrugFree.org
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Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
A Duke University researcher is studying whether virtual reality can be used to reduce cravings in people who are addicted. The goal is to help them develop coping strategies that they can use in the real world, Popular Science reports.
A person using virtual reality for addiction treatment is hooked up to a simulator, and enters a virtual environment with one of their triggers, such as a crack pipe or bottle of alcohol. Someone in the scene offers them their drug of choice. Researchers slowly add cues to the virtual environment, or change the situation, based on the patient’s history.
A voice tells the person to put down the joystick and look around the room without speaking, to allow their craving to dissipate. The voice asks them to rate their cravings periodically.
The research is spearheaded by Zach Rosenthal, who receives funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Department of Defense. He uses virtual reality to trigger a reaction, and then teaches patients to cope with it. The method is called cue reactivity, which has long been used for treating phobias.
Full story of virtual reality for addiction at DrugFree.org
Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/
Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
Exercise may help protect the brains of people who drink heavily, a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder found exercise may help prevent damage to white matter in heavy drinkers. White matter is involved with learning, processing, thinking and communication between various regions of the brain.
Previous research found heavy alcohol exposure may have an adverse effect on white matter, U.S. News reports. The new study indicated that regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, running or bicycling, is associated with less damage to white matter in heavy drinkers.
The 60 participants, who were moderate or heavy drinkers, were asked about their drinking behaviors, their attempts to control their drinking, and their exercise routines. They also underwent brain scans that looked at white matter.
Full story of protecting the brain from alcohol at DrugFree.org
Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/
Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
While many parents may think that allowing their teens and their teens’ friends to drink at home under adult supervision keeps kids safe and leads to healthier attitudes about drinking, the truth is that there are serious negative consequences for both parents and teens. The Partnership at Drugfree.org and The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) today announced the launch of a new, interactive web resource for parents and caregivers to help inform them about one of those negative consequences: parents’ legal liabilities if they serve alcohol to teens.
