Blog Entries tagged 'alcohol addiction'

Too Few Parents Talking to Teens About Drugs

aotate1@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

A recent survey by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy found that the majority of parents have difficulty engaging in meaningful conversations about drug use with their teens."'This poll reinforces a disconcerting trend we're seeing with parents today. Too many parents are avoiding tough conversations - or tough stances - because they're afraid of jeopardizing their relationship with their teens,' said John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Pol [...]

One Isn't Enough for Teen Drinkers

aotate1@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The Baltimore Sun reported on a new study in Pediatrics that shows teenagers who drink often do so solely to get drunk. Of the 15,000 teens surveyed, 64% admitted to regular binging.
"Those rates are 'unacceptably high,' said Susan Foster, director of policy at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. 'We're seeing an increase in rates of drinking to get drunk, and we're seeing that most who drink in college began drinking in hig [...]

Teen Dies of Apparent Overdose

aotate1@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

A West Vancouver (Canada) teenager who left her home after telling her mother that she was going to the movies was found dead later that night at the Edmonds SkyTrain station. The cause of death appeared to be a drug overdose. "Jenni was the second teenager to die suddenly within the past month in circumstances that suggest illegal drugs might have been involved."Though autopsy reports haven't returned yet, police suspect Ecstasy is to blame for the teen's death. Authorities ho [...]

Illinois Mom Thinks Drug Testing is Good for all Students

aotate1@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Tammy East has a son in junior high, and she thinks the random drug testing that he and other students will be subjected to throughout the year is good. She only has one objection:"I think they should have drug testing for everyone, not just those in sports or other extracurricular activities..."The drug testing policy, which has been in place at the high school level since the 1997-98 school year, has previously applied only to athletes. This year, however, testing will be expanded to [...]

Officials Attempt to Outlaw an Herbal High

aotate1@gmail.com — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Salvia is an herb that can produce short, intense, hallucinogenic trips when it's smoked. For years, the substance went relatively unnoticed by law enforcement personnel - but it has recently garnered the attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as several local governments that are trying to ban it. "A dozen states have outlawed or begun regulating salvia since 2005, including Delaware, whose law was pushed by a mother who believes salvia contributed to her son's suic [...]

Teens Give Advice

aotate1@gmail.com — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Talk about teen substance abuse typically centers on extreme behavior - getting drunk at parties, habitual drug use, and so on. But even occasional use can create a dangerous habit. "Most teenagers will tell you gulping down an occasional glass of beer along with a cigarette at a bar is fun, not substance abuse. That's where they are wrong. One glass of beer may not be addictive, but can lead to a chain of behavior that can leave you a physical and mental wreck. It can become a habit.&q [...]

New Tool May Help You Spot Drug Abuse

aotate1@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) of New York has created tool it hopes will help parents spot drug abuse problems in the home. "The state Office... created the tool to help New Yorkers track prescription and over-the-counter medicines in their home. It's intended to be filled out weekly." The PDF tool is downloadable off the OASAS website and is a grid-like worksheet that can be used to track: a medication's dose amount, when the prescription [...]

New "Gimmick" Markets Meth to Younger Crowd

aotate1@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Police and substance abuse officials in western states are beginning to report the appearance of candy-flavored methamphetamine. Strawberry, chocolate, and cola are among the flavors being marketed to younger people."They [meth dealers] are having a tough time selling this product, especially to younger people. What do people in marketing do when they have a tough time selling a product? They have to come up with some sort of gimmick."It's believed that meth dealers hope to increas [...]

Texas Judge Launches Program for At-Risk Youth

aotate1@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Judge and lawyer Belinda Loveland has created a program called ROCK - Reaching Our Community's Kids. The goal is to give every student in the community the necessary resources to complete their education, provide mentors, and advocate clean living."'I chose to step outside the traditional dictates of a judge and an attorney in order to become more involved with the social issues facing our community,' Judge Loveland said."The program has been running for two years. Many par [...]

Alcoholics need help to stop drinking too

christy_southerland@yahoo.com — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0100

With alcohol being everywhere, it is so easy to find that you are drinking too much; the help is out there for you, that is the good news. I had to have help to quit; what I did was to find a long term facility that addressed all my issues and I am so grateful that today I have now ben clean for 7 years! It is so easy to say that we will quit on our own, but the reality is that that is not true. If you have a problem and need help to quit, please get busy finding a way out; get on the internet o [...]

My story of drug and alcohol addiction.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I started smoking marijuana and drinking many years ago when I was a teenager. I thought that I needed to do this to be cool and fit in with the other kids at school. I never was a straight "A" student but I did OK. I was never involved in any of the school activities that were offered that so many of the other kids were involved with. I tended to go the wrong direction and hang out with the crowd that would rather party than involve themselves in academic thing [...]

Alcoholism is a major social, economic and public health problem.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Alcoholism does not just affect the alcoholic it affects everyone the individual is connected to. Alcoholism is a major social, economic and public health problem. A high percentage of suicides involve the use of alcohol in combination with other substances. Alcohol is involved in more than half of all accidental deaths and almost half of all traffic deaths. Other deaths are related to the long-team medical complications associated with alcoholism, all of there are very e [...]

Why can't you just use a little willpower?

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

"Why can't you just use a little willpower to stop drinking?" This question is often asked by individuals that have no understanding of alcohol and how it affects someone. Alcoholism has little to do with what kind of alcohol one drinks, or how long one has been drinking, or even how much alcohol has been consumed. It does have a great deal to do with a person's uncontrollable need for alcohol. The alcoholic is often in the grip of a powerful craving for [...]

Drinking affects more than just the alcoholic.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

There are many people involved in the life of the alcoholic. So often the alcoholic has the selfish attitude of "my drinking only affects me", but nothing could be further from the truth. Family, friends, employer, coworkers, neighbors and the community are all affected by alcoholism not just the alcoholic. They end up spending time covering up for them, punishing them, taking responsibility for them, trying to "fix" them. The alcohol really needs to t [...]

Be willing to reach out for help.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

The slide into alcohol abuse and alcoholism can take many forms and be gradual and subtle. Many use it to escape their daily problems, frustrations and feelings of inferiority. Some alcohol abusers have physical and emotional problems when they start drinking. It sometimes takes years for drinkers to develop into a more noticeable phase of alcoholism. Some people the alcohol pattern develops within weeks of their first use. Some alcoholics drink daily, others in epi [...]

When alcohol acts as a tool to aviod pain.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Almost anything can become an addiction, especially when it acts as a tool for the avoidance of our internal pain. Most addictions begin with the feel good factor, with things that make us feel better, and draw us up and out of our normal painful existence. We may begin doing something for pleasure or need. Soon we discover accidentally that the behavior has a pay off, it keeps our real pain away from our consciousness. Then we begin to do the behavior less for the desire and m [...]

Statistics involving alcohol.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Here are a few more statistics about alcohol and alcohol consumption: More than 100,000 deaths in the United States are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Alcohol kills 6 ½ times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined. Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use other drugs than those who never drink alcohol. Traffic accidents are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6-33. About 45% of these fatalities are [...]

Alcohol affects individuals differently.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

More money is spent every year promoting the use of alcohol than any other product. Through the use of elaborate and creative marketing, the most basic fact about alcohol is overlooked "alcohol is a drug". It is the most commonly used and widely abused psychoactive drug in the world. Alcohol interacts with the body's systems in predictable ways to lead to physiological addiction. Alcohol affects individuals differently. Your age, weight, gender, time o [...]

Don't cover for the alcoholic.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

If you're covering for a person with an alcohol problem you need to stop. Helping someone with an alcohol problem is hard, don't make excuses for them. Talk to the person in private, when they are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you can get their agreement to get help be willing to help them find a drug rehab that will address their alcohol addiction. Don't wait do it right then.

Don't be fooled by alcohol advertising.

dirincome@stopaddiction.com — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:00 +0100

There is always the advertising of alcohol during sporting events. When people see these commericals they believe that drinking is OK. The setting is always a beautiful spring day, or a group of friends having a few in a bar or someone enjoying a drink with a sexy man or women. Well that is not the reality of what alcohol can do to someones life. Alcohol contributes to violence and many injuries, including traffic crashes, drownings, burns, an [...]