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.

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

High school students who acknowledge texting while driving are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as riding with a driver who has been drinking alcohol; not wearing a seat belt; or drinking and driving themselves, according to a new study.

“This suggests there is a subgroup of students who may place themselves, their passengers and others on the road at elevated risk for a crash-related injury or fatality by engaging in multiple risky MV (motor vehicle) behaviors,” wrote the authors of the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

The study

Researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which asked high school students whether they had texted while driving in the 30 days previous. Nearly half of the 8,505 students aged 16 or older who answered that question reported doing so. The survey also queried participants on behaviors such as wearing a seat belt or riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking.

Full story of teens taking risks at CNN Health

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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 California veterinarian is advocating using medical marijuana to help improve the quality of life for some pets with untreatable conditions, according to ABC News.

Doug Kramer of the Vet Guru animal veterinary center says treating pets with medical marijuana could help pet owners put off the decision to euthanize their animals while treating the pets’ pain.

Ingrid Newkirk, President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told ABC News, “Our position is that anything that can help animals – if it’s truly, properly administered in the right amount [and] can relieve a dog’s pain – then they should be given the same consideration that humans in pain are given.”

Newkirk cautioned about the potential for abuse when people who use marijuana are around pets. “People amuse themselves by blowing smoke in a dog’s face to get him high or getting the cat drunk, and so, you know, that’s something that one has to guard against,” she said. “It has to be a genuine medical need, and if that is the best course of treatment then we are in favor of it.”

Full story of medical marijuana for pets at DrugFree.org

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Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education

A drug that contains the active ingredient of marijuana may be more effective for pain relief than the smoked form of the drug, a new study suggests. Researchers at Columbia University in New York also found the pill, dronabinol, created less of a high than smoked marijuana.

Dronabinol, which contains THC, appeared to provide longer-lasting pain relief, HealthDay reports. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat nausea and appetite loss associated with cancer and AIDS.

The study included 30 marijuana smokers who did not have pain. The researchers compared two strengths of smoked marijuana against two strengths of dronabinol and a placebo. For each of five sessions, the participants took dronabinol and then 45 minutes later smoked marijuana.

Full story of marijuana in pill form at DrugFree.org

Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/

Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education