Posted by fredjoiners on June 20, 2008
Action for Parents
Despite all of your efforts to keep your kids drug-free, one day you might suspect that your son or daughter is using drugs or alcohol. Perhaps you have found an odd-looking pipe in his room, cans and bottles in the car or rolling papers in her laundry. Or you overheard a conversation not meant for you. Whatever the signal, your gut instinct has been activated. How do you know if you need to do anything? What do you do now? Where do you turn for help?
Every day, approximately 4,700 American youth under age 18 try marijuana for the first time. That is about equal to the enrollment of six average-sized U.S. high schools. In 2003, nearly nine out of 10 twelfth graders reported marijuana as being accessible.
By the time they finish the eighth grade, approximately 50 percent of adolescents have had at least one drink, and more than 20 percent report having been “drunk.”
Drug and alcohol use by teens increases the risk of addiction and can change the developing brain for life.
Despite these statistics, one thing remains true:
Parents are the most important influence in a teen’s decisions about drug use. You can and do make a difference. If you suspect or know that your child is using drugs, take action now, because the longer you wait, the harder it will be to deal with your child’s drug use.
Especially for Parents
- www.TheAntiDrug.com is an online service of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign that offers resources, information and facts for parents.
- www.laantidroga.com is the Spanish online service of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and offers resources, information and facts for parents.
- www.drugfreeamerica.org/Parents_Caregivers is an online service of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America that offers tips and information for parents and caregivers.
Posted in Cannabis, Drugs, Families, Health, Smoking, Youth, addiction, alcohol | Tagged: adolescent, daughter, drinking, drunk, kids, parents, son, twelfth grade | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on May 28, 2008
Focus on recovery for Scottish drug addicts
SCOTLAND’S new drug strategy will focus on helping addicts into recovery rather than treatment programmes.
Community safety minister Fergus Ewing is expected to unveil the Scottish Government’s drug abuse plan to Holyrood later this week.
And the key theme will be for treatment services to go beyond harm reduction and to help addicts to become drug-free.
Ewing said that drug users had “the right to the same care and treatment as the rest of us and shouldn’t be treated as second class citizens”.
Full story at Scotland on Sunday
See also;
Posted in Cannabis, Drugs, Harm Reduction, Health, Opiates, Recovery, addiction, disease | Tagged: abuse, drug-free, Scotland, treatment | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on April 26, 2008
Pot Plus Alcohol Kills Young Rats Brain Cells
A mix of THC, the main mood changing drug in marijuana / cannabis, and mildly intoxicating doses of alcohol caused widespread nerve cell death in the brains of young rats, a German study finds.
Rats were used as they have similar biology to humans. Thus, this finding may also occur in people who drink and use marijuana.
Researchers in Berlin, administered THC, a synthetic form of THC, alcohol, an anticonvulsant, and a sedative to rats between one and 14 days old.
A previous study by the same team found that ethanol and drugs such as sedatives, anesthetics and anticonvulsants caused extensive nerve cell death in the brains of young rodents. The new study was conducted to determine if THC caused similar harm.
The researchers found that THC and synthetic THC did not cause nerve cell death when administered alone. But, did cause cell death when given with mildly intoxicating amounts of alcohol. The combined effect increased according to the dose of THC and was strongest when the rats were seven days old.
More studies are needed to examine how THC boosts alcohol’s harmful effects on the developing brain, the researchers said.
- The German group noted that marijuana is among the most commonly used illicit drugs by women during their childbearing years. There’s growing concern that use of marijuana, either alone or in combination with other drugs, during pregnancy may harm fetal brain development.
The study was published in the journal Annals of Neurology, from a news release, April 2008
See also;
Posted in Brain, Cannabis, Drugs, Marijuana, Research reports, alcohol, women | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on April 11, 2008
Lead Poisoning Due to Adulterated Marijuana
The 10 April 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine describes that during a period of 3 to 4 months in Leipzig, Germany (population 650,000), 29 patients were admitted to hospital with lead poisoning, and it emerged that they were all regular users of marijuana.
A further 95 people were found to have elevated lead levels on testing offered following detection of this problem.
Analysis of home supplies of marijuana detected high lead levels, and lead particles were visible in one sample. The patients had consumed only 2 to 9 joints per week.
Symptoms included;
- Nausea,
- Vomiting,
- Weight Loss,
- Fatigue
- A blue line along the gums (Burton’s Line)
- Polyneuropathy (Many nerves malfunctioning at once)
- Headache
- Insomnia
- Altered Hemoglobin levels, and
- Elevated blood levels of lead
The authors of the letter hypothesise that lead particles were added to increase the weight of the samples sold by weight. Lead in the samples examined constituted 10% of the weight, translating into a profit of US$1,500 per kilogram of ‘marijuana’.
Lead particles smoked in a joint, which has a core temperature of 1200 degrees C, are effectively absorbed in the respiratory tract.
This just shows what some people will do to make a profit!
See also;
Posted in Cannabis, Drugs, Marijuana | Tagged: Germany, Lead, lead poisoning, New England, symptoms | No Comments »
