April 29, 2018
Both parents and educators are often challenged with determining whether a teen is using drugs. With the widespread availability and abuse of prescription drugs and now heroin, today it is more critical than ever to know if a young person is involved in substance abuse. Intervening is sometimes a matter of life or death. […]
Read MoreApril 10, 2018
There have been many debates as to whether marijuana is a gateway drug. Proponents of marijuana legalization will say no, there is no evidence of this. It may be true that there are plenty of people who smoke marijuana and never go on to using other drugs. But the fact remains that marijuana itself […]
Read MoreMarch 28, 2018
It doesn’t strike people down like pills or heroin does. It doesn’t make the heart explode like cocaine or methamphetamine can. A person in withdrawal from marijuana isn’t screaming in pain. So what makes weed the most dangerous? Simply because so many people believe that it is harmless. As Richard Adamski, a 30-year […]
Read MoreMarch 3, 2018
The following are five of the most important actions parents can take to keep kids safe from underage alcohol use. 1. You should clearly express your position on alcohol abuse. There must be no question that you have a 100% expectation that your children will stay alcohol-free until they are 21 years of age. […]
Read MoreFebruary 26, 2018
The drugs you see in the headlines are heroin, painkillers, and marijuana but ecstasy (MDMA) is still harming and even killing our teens and young adults, making it vital to remind active and mobile youth of the damage this strong stimulant can cause. Ecstasy is a popular party and music event drug. The […]
Read MoreOctober 4, 2017
Raising awareness to look for signs of drug use No one wants to believe their child will become a drug addict. For many parents, it may seem like a remote possibility, their son or daughter does well in school, participates in extra curricular activities, and aside from the usual teenage rebellion appears to be headed […]
Read MoreSeptember 15, 2017
This year Red Ribbon Week runs October 23rd through the 31st. An annual event since it’s inception in 1985, this week provides an opportunity for schools and groups throughout the nation to participate in drug awareness activities and show their support for being drug-free. The Red Ribbon campaign began in honor of DEA Agent […]
Read MoreSeptember 4, 2017
Our youth have been hearing anti-drug messages from the time they are old enough to know what drugs are. They have heard extensively about how drugs are bad for them, drugs are dangerous, how they can kill you. Kids are also not sheltered from the news of drug overdoses or hearing about this happening […]
Read MoreAugust 28, 2017
Energy drinks have become popular with young people in recent years and aside from the effects of the high caffeine content they may seem harmless, but are they? A study published by the Journal of Addiction Medicine conducted with college students showed a direct association between energy drink consumption and subsequent nonmedical use of […]
Read MoreAugust 20, 2017
Does advertising work to influence the use of drugs, alcohol or tobacco? Let’s look at how cigarette use has dwindled over the last several decades. Starting in the 1960s, advertising began to be used to reduce tobacco use and thereby save lives. In response, teen use between 1997 and 2013 dropped from 37% to […]
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August 2, 2017
Encouraging Teens to Look out for Their Peers We all know that youth are dealing with a lot of peer pressure. Few kids are immune to this invisible force that can be subtle in its manifestations but brutal in its effects. The simple desire to be liked or fit in with a group of […]
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July 25, 2017
Just fifteen or twenty years ago, it would have been unheard of for a high school student to use or be addicted to heroin. That was a drug seemingly reserved for those “degraded, marginal characters” – the ones dubbed “junkies.” For middle-class families in cities or suburbs, heroin was a subject that seemed a […]
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July 17, 2017
Millions of young people are now growing up surrounded by the fact of legal marijuana. Maybe it’s medical dispensaries in their state. Maybe they routinely smell pot smoke drifting through their backyards. Maybe their parents have used the drug for as long as they can remember. Though it’s not a topic of much discussion, it’s […]
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