Unsupervised Teens Have More Sex

Unsupervised Teens Have More Sex

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The less after-school supervision teens have, the more likely they are to have sex, new research says. And that sexual activity is likely to happen at the home of one of the teens, claims a new study in the December issue of Pediatrics.

Dr. Deborah Cohen, a researcher at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif., and her colleagues evaluated more than 2,000 students in grades 9 through 12 in six public high schools. They found that 56 percent were home without an adult present at least four hours each day after school.

Then they compared supervision with sexual activity and found a strong relationship between the number of unsupervised hours and sexual activity. Those who were unsupervised for at least 30 hours a week, or roughly six hours each weekday, were more likely to be sexually active compared with those left alone for no more than five hours a week. Those who were unsupervised for more than five hours weekly also reported more sexually transmitted diseases.

They also found that among those who had intercourse, 91 percent said the last time occurred at their home, their partner's home, or a friend's home -- usually after school.

The students who were evaluated were 98 percent black, many from low-income families and more than half from single-parent homes. While the study results may not be applicable to all populations, Cohen says, it "should raise red flags."

She adds there were no differences between single parent and two-parent families, further lending credence that it was indeed the lack of supervision, not the family structure, that was associated with the sexual activity.

She also points to a report done earlier this year by Child Trends, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, in which those researchers found that more than half of boys and girls aged 16 to 18 had sex for the first time in their own home or that of their partner's -- presumably when parents were not around, although the researchers didn't ask that question. In the current study, the most surprising finding to Cohen was the amount of unsupervised time. "These are high school kids," she says. "People expect them to be more responsible."

While teens are physically more able to take care of themselves than younger children, she says teens would still "be better off if adults were around more."

If that's impossible because of work schedules, parents might investigate after-school activities that are supervised, she suggests.

The findings of the latest study don't surprise Julia Davis, a senior program officer at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "You can only assume the less time parents spend with the kids, the less opportunity [they have] to talk about sex." Even though teens are uncomfortable talking to their parents about sex, says Davis, citing her own research on teen sexuality, they still look to their parents for guidance.

Spending more time with teens will present more opportunities to open that dialogue about sex, Davis says. "Make it clear what your opinion is of being sexually active, what they need to know about protection, risks and consequences," she adds. "The key issue is to communicate to your teen there can be a dialogue. It isn't just one talk, but ongoing dialogue."

The dialogue, she adds, must change as your teen's needs change. A 15-year-old, for instance, probably needs very different information than an 18-year-old about to go off to college.

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Study: Random Drug Testing Is Effective

Study: Random Drug Testing Is Effective

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December, 2002

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Student-athletes subject to random drug testing at an Oregon high school were almost four times less likely to use drugs than their counterparts at a similar school who were not tested, a study shows.

The one-year pilot study by researchers at Oregon Health & Sciences University compared Wahtonka High School in The Dalles, where all student-athletes were subject to random testing, and Warrenton High School, a demographically similar school near Astoria, where they were not.

Of the 135 athletes subject to the random testing at Wahtonka, only 5.3 percent said they were using illicit drugs by the end of the school year, versus 19.4 percent of the 141 athletes at Warrenton.

They also were three times less likely to use performance-enhancing substances like steroids, according to the survey responses, which were confidential.

The study, conducted during the 1999-2000 school year, was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an arm of the National Institutes of Health. The results are published in next month's Journal of Adolescent Health.

The differences between the schools were dramatic,'' said Dr. Linn Goldberg, a lead researcher in the study. ``And the differences between the non-athletes (who were not tested at either school but who filled out questionnaires about drug use) were not significantly there'' - 32.2 percent at Warrenton and 26.6 percent at Wahtonka.

The study comes six months after the issue was thrown into the spotlight by the U.S. Supreme Court. In June, the court ruled that children attending public schools can be required to participate in drug testing if they join any competitive after-school activity, from football to chess.

Merry Holland, principal at Wahtonka, said the school has continued to test athletes since the study ended. She said she believes the program has helped curb drug use. But, she said, the drug testing has also led some students to switch to substances that are more difficult to track, like beer.

"There are a lot of parties with alcohol,'' she said. "If they want to stay with sports, and participate, they might switch to something they think is harder to detect.''

Over the past few years, about 5 percent of schools nationwide have required that athletes be drug tested. About two percent have tested students in other activities.

The Oregon pilot study is the forerunner of a wider, three-year study at 13 Oregon high schools.

Dubbed SATURN, for Student Athlete Testing Using Random Notification, the wider study is meant to examine whether the threat of testing really keeps kids away from drugs. It was suspended in its third year after a federal agency expressed concerns about some of the methodology used in the study's latter two years.

The Office of Human Research Policy said the study violated a number of federal regulations by not properly obtaining informed consent from children or protecting research subjects from coercive environments. The survey results used in the published study were not affected.

OHSU issued a response this month offering to better ensure student confidentiality, to stop using principals and coaches to solicit participation in some schools and to end financial incentives for participating schools. Goldberg said researchers are awaiting word on whether the study will be reinstated. Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Survey: Parents Underestimate Ecstasy Use

Survey: Parents Underestimate Ecstasy Use

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NEW YORK (CNN) — A survey released Monday found a major gap between the number of teenagers who admit having used the psychoactive drug Ecstasy and the number of parents who think their kids have tried it.

Only 1 percent of the more than 1,200 parents surveyed nationwide by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America said they believe their children may have tried the club drug Ecstasy.

By contrast, the February study found that 12 percent of teens said they had tried the drug.

The survey of parents also found that 92 percent said they had heard of Ecstasy, but 49 percent did not know what effect the drug has on users.

And 41 percent felt it is difficult for children to obtain; only 26 percent of the kids interviewed agreed with that sentiment.

The drug has been largely perceived as harmless by teens, a mistake once made with cocaine, said Stephen Pasierb, the partnership's president and CEO.

“We're at the front end on Ecstasy,” Pasierb told a news conference. “We've got the example of cocaine. And if parents take this information, if kids think about this drug differently, we can avert a problem five years, 10 years, 20 years down the road.”

The partnership also released a new series of public service announcements to inform people about the harmful effects of Ecstasy, known scientifically as 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is a broad coalition of media companies dedicated to helping kids reject substance abuse.

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Mixing Sex, Drugs and Alcohol Puts Many Teens at Risk

Mixing Sex, Drugs and Alcohol Puts Many Teens at Risk

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Experts say adolescents should be made aware of how using drugs and alcohol can lead to sexual activities that may change their lives forever. While drinking and having sex may be unofficially authorized milestones in the typical American teen's coming of age, a new study reveals that more and more adolescents are experimenting with both, leaving themselves susceptible to pregnancy, disease and violence.

In a random survey of 1,200 adolescents and young adults ages 13 to 24 throughout the United States, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 81 percent reported that they have had intercourse, and 50 percent agreed that "people their age" mix alcohol and drugs "a lot."

Experts say these findings, to be presented today at a substance abuse and sexual behavior conference at Columbia University in New York, are so disturbing because drugs and alcohol can significantly compromise one's judgment and put teens into high-risk situations.

“We knew that teenagers were doing this, but frankly it is a bit shocking that the numbers were so high,” said Dr. Timothy Johnson, ABCNEWS' medical editor.

Unintended and Unprotected Sex

Drinking and doing drugs often leads young people to engage in more sexual activity than they intended to partake in, and more importantly, to unprotected sex, says Joseph Califano, former U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare and president of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia.

Overall, 29 percent of sexually active 15- to 24-year-olds surveyed say that they have “done more” sexually than they had planned while drinking or using drugs, and 74 percent say their peers "often do not use condoms when they are drinking or using drugs."

Considering the high rate of alcohol use among high-schoolers, it is no wonder the Centers for Disease Control reports that almost 1 million unwanted teenage pregnancies occur every year, and one in every three sexually active people in the United States will contract a sexually transmitted disease by the age of 24. This includes everything from genital warts to the life-threatening HIV.

In addition, drinking has been shown to play a predominant role in sexual violence, with more than half of college campus rapes including alcohol use by either the victim, the attacker, or both. Experts believe alcohol causes people to both misread and missend sexual signals, and also can create situations where people are vulnerable to attack.

Mix Your Messages

So what can concerned parents do to help their teens avoid these hazards? Califano says the best thing you can do is get involved.

“Parental engagement is probably the most effective way to reduce the risk of smoking, drinking, and doing drugs, and the overwhelming majority of research studies show that teens who are close to their parents are more likely to remain sexually abstinent and postpone intercourse, more likely to use contraceptives if they are sexually active, more likely to have fewer sexual partners, and less likely to become pregnant,” says Califano.

And whether you believe that abstinence is a moral imperative, or if you think that sexual activity is simply a rite of passage for all teens, Califano emphasizes that “everyone must drive home the very real dangers of mixing alcohol, drugs, and sex — pregnancy, HIV, STDs, and rape.”

He also strongly recommends that when having the “big talks” with your kids, emphasize the connection between drinking and sex. Because even though your teen may feel strongly about “how far they will go,” morals and intentions can be easily led astray after a couple of beers at a party.

“Make sure that every time you talk to your kids about sex, you also talk about drugs and alcohol, and every time you talk to them about drugs and alcohol, you talk to them about sex,” Califano advises. He says kids should learn how the topics are connected, so they are better equipped to deal with challenging situations when they arise.

Experts also suggest keeping an eye on the television shows your children watch, the music they listen to, and the Web sites they visit, because staying aware of outside influences helps parents become better equipped, as well.

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Kids Overdosing on Cold Medicine to Get High

Kids Overdosing on Cold Medicine to Get High

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Parents concerned about whether their children are abusing drugs might also want to keep their medicine cabinets under lock and key.

Across the country, children and teens are intentionally overdosing on cold medicine or “robotripping” in order to get a hallucinogenic high. Robotripping,is the slang term for intentionally overdosing on over-the-counter cold medication such as the cough medicine
Robitussin. Although cough syrup abuse is nothing new — it dates to more than 30 years ago — it seems to be undergoing a revival lately, with cases of teens overdosing on the medicine popping up across the country.

Robitussin, NyQuil, Benadryl and Coricidin are among the favorites. Tom, a 16-year-old boy whose last name is being withheld, told Good Morning America that some school friends told him about robotripping and he got high off a bottle of Robitussin. He then began experimenting with other over-the-counter medicines, taking eight to 16 Coricidin tablets at a time, he said.

“I started out with Robitussin, I drank an eight-ounce bottle,” Tom said. “The Robitussin was more like a high off of marijuana, and with Coricidin you can't sit still, you keep talking,” he said.

Ian, 17, said he used Coricidin, Nyquil and Benadryl to get high.

“It kind of got all concentrated into your head, and you really got kind of hyper and are all over the place and acting real stupid,” Ian said.

DXM Is Trouble Ingredient

The culprit ingredient is dextromethorphan, a common additive in cough suppressants that can cause hallucinations when used in large amounts, according to Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction expert.

“There's Web sites out there that tell these kids how to do this, how to get the pills, how to take enough pills,” Pinsky said.

Users can suffer psychosis, brain damage, and seizures. Overdoses can be fatal. Fourteen people died last year from intentional overdoses of cold medicines, and several hundred were hospitalized, Pinsky said.

“These are legal drugs, so only the worst cases of overdose make it into the records,” Pinsky said.

More than 80 over-the-counter cold medicines contain DXM, or dextromethorphan, a chemical that serves as a powerful cough suppressant when taken properly, but produces psychedelic effects when taken in large doses. DXM abuse is hard to track because it is legal and most abusers are under 18.

Ian and Tom say they're off Coricidin and Robitussin now, after getting help.

“I never got caught with it, but I got caught in school for being drunk and high, and they sent me to a drug counseling program and that covered everything,” Ian said. “I've been clean off of that stuff for about two months now,” he said.

Tom, who says he used Coricidin and Robitussin from late last year until October of this year, said he had managed to keep up a normal appearance in front of his teachers and parents, even when he was hallucinating, but away from home or school, he sometimes became uncontrollable. He would sleepwalk, talk in his sleep and have blackouts.

Tom says he's clean today and in an outpatient rehabilitation program while attending narcotic anonymous meetings.

Pee Wee Drug Dealers

There is also concern about the age at which children are abusing drugs, which seems to be getting younger.

In Port St. Lucie, Fla. last week, two 9-year-old children were found with 15 small bags of marijuana, reportedly while riding the school bus to their elementary school. One boy was passing the baggies to the other. The two boys are both in the third grade.
Police are investigating whether the boys intended to sell the drugs.

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Twins Study Bolsters Pot “Gateway Theory”

Twins Study Bolsters Pot “Gateway Theory”

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Study of Twins, Marijuana Bolsters “Gateway Theory” That Pot Can Lead to Hard Drugs

CHICAGO (AP) — A study of Australian twins and marijuana bolsters the fiercely debated “gateway theory” that pot can lead to harder drugs.

The researchers located 311 sets of same-sex twins in which only one twin had smoked marijuana before age 17. Early marijuana smokers were found to be up to five times more likely than their twins to move on to harder drugs.

They were about twice as likely to use opiates, which include heroin, and five times more likely to use hallucinogens, which include LSD.

Earlier studies on whether marijuana is a gateway drug reached conflicting conclusions. The impasse has complicated the debate over medical marijuana and decriminalization of pot.

Because this study involved twins, the findings would suggest that genetics play a subordinate role in drug use.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association and was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

It does not answer how marijuana, or cannabis, might lead to harder drugs.

“It is often implicitly assumed that using cannabis changes your brain or makes you crave other drugs,” said lead researcher Michael Lynskey, “but there are a number of other potential mechanisms, including access to drugs, willingness to break the law and likelihood of engaging in risk-taking behavior.”

Lynskey is a senior research fellow at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane and a visiting assistant psychiatry professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where some of the research was done.

Lynskey and colleagues acknowledged the study has several limitations, including relying on participants' reporting of their own experiences.

In an accompanying editorial, Denise Kandel of Columbia University's psychiatry department said the study does not explain “whether or not a true causal link exists” between marijuana and hard drugs.

“An argument can be made that even identical twins do not share the same environment during adolescence,” she said.

Study participants were age 30 on average when they were asked about their teenage drug use. They included 136 sets of identical twins, who share the same genetic makeup.

About 46 percent of the early marijuana users reported that they later abused or became dependent on marijuana, and 43 percent had become dependent on alcohol.

Cocaine and other stimulants were the most commonly used harder drugs, tried by 48 percent of the early marijuana users, compared with 26 percent of the non-early marijuana users. Hallucinogens were the second most common, used by 35 percent of the early marijuana twins versus 18 percent of the others.

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Study: 1 in 5 Young People Drink and Drive

Study: 1 in 5 Young People Drink and Drive

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December 30, 2004WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than four million people younger under age 21 drove under the influence of drugs or alcohol last year, according to a government report released Wednesday. That's one in five of all Americans aged 16 to 20.

"That's an awful lot of kids if you think about it," said Charlene Lewis, acting director of the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which produced the report.

The report, based on a large household survey of drug use, found a small drop in driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol between 2002 and 2003. In 2002, 22 percent drove under the influence; last year, it was 20 percent. Just four percent of these young people reported being arrested and booked for driving under the influence in the year before they were interviewed.

The report was released Wednesday in advance of New Year's Eve in hopes of raising consciousness of the issue on a night when the risk of drinking and driving is high, federal officials said. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among young people. The data come from face-to-face interviews in the homes of people ages 12 and up, part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. People were asked to define for themselves what driving "under the influence" of drugs or alcohol means. Young people were most likely to drink alcohol and then drive, with 17 percent admitting this. Fourteen percent said they had driven under the influence of illicit drugs, and eight percent reported driving after consuming a combination of alcohol and drugs.

The rates were highest among people who lived in the Midwest and among those who lived outside of metro areas. Researchers did not have data to compare the 2002-03 rates to earlier years. But a similar survey of teen behavior found that drunken driving fell steadily between 1984 and the early 1990s, as media campaigns pleaded "friends don't let friends drive drunk" and urged partygoers to choose a designated driver.

The rates remained level from 1992 to 1995 before jumping a bit in the late 1990s and then declining a little in 2003, said Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator for the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey of students. "It's not nearly as serious a problem as it was in the mid '80s but it's still a serious problem," he said. He said that his survey also found that a substantial number of teens rode in cars where drivers had been drinking, adding to the number of young people at risk.

Johnston added that while teens growing up in the 1980s were exposed to heavy media campaigns against drunken driving, that's not true for today's teens. He warned of "generational forgetting."

"Each generation has to be reeducated about the dangers of any of these behaviors," he said.

“Make sure that every time you talk to your kids about sex, you also talk about drugs and alcohol, and every time you talk to them about drugs and alcohol, you talk to them about sex,” Califano advises. He says kids should learn how the topics are connected, so they are better equipped to deal with challenging situations when they arise.

Experts also suggest keeping an eye on the television shows your children watch, the music they listen to, and the Web sites they visit, because staying aware of outside influences helps parents become better equipped, as well.

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Harmful Drugs in Your Medicine Cabinet

Harmful Drugs in Your Medicine Cabinet

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Caroline Stanley

The number of teens abusing illegal drugs dropped 11 percent in the past two years, according to reports from the U.S. Department of Health, but the celebration may be premature. Many kids are getting high on legal medications -- from over-the-counter cough medicines containing DXM (dextromethoxpan) to painkillers such as Vicodin. (In another survey, 8 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds used prescription medicines for nonmedical use.) Scariest of all: "A parent's prescription is the most likely source," says M. David Lewis, MD, medical director of Visions Teen Treatment Program in Malibu, California. Dr. Lewis recommends that parents throw out outdated prescriptions and hide current ones, carefully monitoring the amounts. Symptoms to watch for in your teen: insomnia, weight loss, irritability, agitation, and mood swings. "Dumping an intensely psychoactive drug into a teenager's developing brain is like a chemistry experiment," says Dr. Lewis. "The damage can be devastating."

Originally published in Ladies' Home Journal magazine, April 2004.

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Stoned on Cold Medicine: Teens Are Abusing Over-the Counter Cold Pills to Get High

Stoned on Cold Medicine:
Teens Are Abusing Over-the Counter Cold Pills to Get High

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By John Stossel, ABCNEWS.com

Parents have their hands full trying to keep kids away from alcohol, smoking and drugs. Now there's yet another substance that teens are using to get high - legally. They're taking big doses of ordinary cold medicine.

A group of kids who spoke to ABCNEWS said they were using Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold Pills to get stoned. The ingredient that gives kids a high is dextromethorphan, or DXM. It suppresses coughs safely, but in large amounts it produces a chemical imbalance in the brain that allows the kids to get high.

Dextromethorphan is in more than 100 cold medicines, not just Coricidin, but one type of Coricidin has the particular cocktail of ingredients that the kids prefer. This week, the American Association of Poison Control reported teen abuse of these types of over-the-counter cold medications has doubled in the last four years.

'It Tastes Just Like Candy'

Molly, 17, described how taking a large dose of the pills made her feel, "You turn your head and everything went in slow motion. It was like you were in The Matrix or something."

The abuse of Coricidin is so appealing, kids say, because it's easy to get, it's legal, and parents and teachers usually don't have any idea they're taking it. "

As far as drugs go, you don't need to know a dealer, you know. If you can find a Walgreen's or a grocery store, you're set," said Jeff Helgeson, a 20-year-old from Minneapolis. Helgeson says he's been getting high on Coricidin for four years.

Some kids call the habit "skittling," because the pills look like the popular candy Skittles. "It's just like pot, except it's better and it tastes just like candy and your parents won't know if you get high cause your eyes won't be red," said Ashley, 16.

Jason, a 15-year-old from Seattle, said he liked the feeling so much he took the pills every day for five months. Another teen, Kevin, said he took Coricidin for a year and a half.

Parents, Teachers Often Unaware of Abuse

When parents see that their kids have cold pills, they don't think twice. It's just cold medicine, after all; it seems innocent enough.

School principal Judi Hanson says she's finding that Coricidin is becoming kids' drug of choice. It's easier to conceal. There's no smell, there's no dealing with a dealer. It makes it hard to detect.

But Jason's father, Pat, noticed his son seemed stoned when he came home with friends and he confronted him. Jason finally admitted to abusing the medicine. Like many parents, Pat didn't know kids could get high on cold pills.

Often the kids don't even buy the Coricidin - they steal it. Helgeson said he stole it. "I'd wear my coat in there or stuff it in my underwear."

The shoplifting has led some stores to move that type of Coricidin behind the counter. James Holm, a pharmacist at a Hopkins, Minn., store, said they had no choice."

These kids just seem to find it, zero in on it, and believe me, if you have it on the shelf, it's going to be gone," he said. "They'll steal it right out from underneath your nose. … They just grab it and go."

As the kids talked about getting stoned, there was a lot of laughter, even when they talked about accidents and injuries they suffered while taking the pills. Helgeson laughed as he talked about breaking his elbow and ankle while snowboarding and skateboarding when he was high on Coricidin.

Sometimes they laughed about not getting caught. Helgeson said he drag-raced a police car, and thought it was funny the officers couldn't tell he was high when they pulled him over. "They gave me a Breathalyzer. I hadn't been drinking. I didn't have any drugs on me. So they didn't know," he said.

Helgeson was the oldest among the group of young people who talked with ABCNEWS about their experiences. As the younger kids continued to laugh about their experiences, we noticed that Helgeson seemed sort of separate from them. Helgeson says it's still fun when he takes Coricidin, but he says it's wrecked his life. His mom has to drive him places because he'll lose his license if he gets another ticket. He dropped out of school and now lives at home, spending most of his time playing his guitar or just sitting."

Living in the household with Jeff the past few years has been like living with somebody who's sick and they never get well," said his mom, Merrilly Helgeson.

Jeff Helgeson has a twin brother, John, a junior at the University of Wisconsin, whose life is good. His mom says Jeff "always has a reminder right in front of him of where he would be right now if he were not doing Coricidin."

And Jeff doesn't seem happy with himself. "My brain has gone and I'm just wasted. It took all my friends away from me. I threw my life away." Yet he keeps using.

Abuse on the Rise

Failing grades or a trip to the hospital is sometimes what it takes to alert kids and their parents to the danger. Doctors say they're seeing more and more kids in emergency rooms who've taken too much Coricidin.

Over the last three years, there's been approximately a 300 percent increase in calls to poison control centers about dextramethorphan, said Dr. Edward Boyer, an emergency room physician in Massachusetts.

Boyer says the kids who come in to the emergency room are agitated, difficult to control, sweating and unresponsive when you try to speak to them.

Molly and Ashley had a recent close call.

They told Ashley's mom they were going to bed. Instead they took Coricidin, sneaked out of their house, and went to a party where they took more Coricidin."

My fingers were so numb that I couldn't open the package. So me and Molly were literally trying to rip the package open with our teeth," Ashley said.

They went to a boy's house where Ashley may have had sex, but she doesn't know.

"He took me in a bedroom and I guess he tried to have sex with me. … He was on top of me. But I fell asleep."

Later, a hospital test revealed she and the boy had not had sex. She and Molly did get home and later went to sleep. But by morning, they were still very high. The Coricidin high can last a day. Ashley's mom called the poison control center and was told to get the girls to the hospital.

Sometimes Deadly Consequences

At least five people have died after taking Coricidin, but even death doesn't seem to scare the kids. Jason had heard about a boy who died, but said he knows that the boy took the type of Coricidin that contains acetaminophen. And he knows not to take that type. "It tends to cause you to die," he said.

He's right, because acetaminophen can cause liver damage or death when taken in large doses.

Boyer said, "If you talk to kids, they know they should take the stuff that doesn't have acetaminophen in it." It's hard to believe the kids know which type of medicine is going to hurt them less.

But Boyer says he believes they do, and he says they can get a lot of information from an online drug encyclopedia called Erowid. While Erowid warns that high doses of acetaminophen can be fatal, the Web site appears to have been written by drug users. They describe first-time experiences, and suggest dosages - and in the case of Coricidin, warn of its dangers. In fact, you can get more information from these than you get from the government's drug-abuse Web site, Boyer said. "If I need information on a drug of abuse, I go to this Web site," he said.

Easy Access Makes Drug a Greater Threat

Some parents say Coricidin, because it's so accessible, is worse than other drugs. They want it taken off store shelves. But the company that makes Coricidin, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, said removing it from the shelves would deny cold sufferers access to a helpful medication.

"We want to minimize abuse by warning people and changing the package so it's harder to shoplift, but Coricidin HBP is a valuable cold medicine, the safest and most effective product for patients with high blood pressure," the company said in a statement.

It also said putting it behind the counter would deprive those who need it. Wal-Mart's policy is to sell it only to customers 18 or older, and the chain limits the number of boxes people can buy to three.

Still, kids who want to abuse the medicine can still find it in stores or buy it over the Internet. Ultimately, making the decision not to abuse the medicine will be up to the kids.

Ashley said it's difficult to stop taking it once you get started. "It's addictive," she said. "here's some ingredient in those pills that makes you want to take it again no matter what."

That's not correct. Dextromethorphan is not physically addictive. Ashley and Molly have now stopped taking it. People do quit. Jason has been clean since June, and Kevin for almost a year. But Jeff Helgeson still uses."

I know that the right answer is for me to never do it again. Or drugs in general," he said. "But once you've been down that road, it's really difficult to get on a different path and stay on that path."

Poison Control Information

1-800-222-1222 is the 24-hour emergency number to call to find a poison control center your area. Poison control centers have additional information concerning abuse and misuse of cold medicines containing dextromethorphan.

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Study Links Early Alcohol Use and Behavior Problems in Young Adulthood

Study Links Early Alcohol Use and Behavior Problems in Young Adulthood

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Press Release: RAND - www.rand.org

Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to suffer employment problems, abuse other drugs, and commit criminal and violent acts once they reach young adulthood, according to a RAND Health study released today.

Following a group of young people from 7th grade through age 23, researchers found that youthful drinking was not only associated with an increased likelihood of people having academic and social problems during their teenage years, but was associated with a heightened risk of behavior problems at least through their early 20s.

"Early drinkers do not necessarily mature out of this problematic lifestyle once they become young adults," said Phyllis Ellickson, a RAND researcher and the study's lead author. "Early alcohol use is a signal that someone is likely to have more problems as they transition into adulthood."

Researchers say the findings suggest that adolescents who drink are at high risk and should be targeted early with intervention programs that focus not only on alcohol, but also cigarette smoking, use of illicit drugs, and perhaps other problem behaviors. The study appears in the May issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.

Underage drinking is a major national problem, with estimates suggesting that by the 8th grade one-fourth of all adolescents have consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication. In addition, adolescent drinking plays a key role in the four leading causes of death among teens--car accidents, accidental injuries, homicides and suicides.

The RAND findings are from a study that followed about 3,400 youths who were recruited in 1985 from 30 socially and economically diverse schools in California and Oregon when they were enrolled in 7th grade. Participants were surveyed during the 7th grade, 12th grade and at age 23 about their current use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and about a number of behavioral issues.

At the outset of the study, about three-quarters of the 7th graders had used alcohol. Researchers labeled 46 percent as "experimenters" (had consumed alcohol, but fewer than three times in the past year and not within the past month) and 31 percent as "drinkers" (three or more alcoholic drinks within the past year or any drinking in the past month). Nondrinkers (those who had never drunk alcohol) accounted for 23 percent of the 7th graders.

Students who used alcohol by the 7th grade were far more likely than nondrinkers to report using other substances, stealing and having school problems. For example, the drinkers were 19 times more likely to be weekly smokers or hard drug users, and 4.5 times more likely to have stolen items in the past year when compared with nondrinkers. Experimenters reported fewer problems, but were still 2.5 times more likely to have used hard drugs and twice as likely to have stolen when compared with nondrinkers.

The differences remained at the 12th grade, although they were less pronounced. Compared with nondrinkers, drinkers were 5 times more likely to be weekly marijuana users, 3 times more likely to use hard drugs or experience several drug-related problems in the past year, twice as likely to have been suspended or dropped out of school, and about twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year.

Experimenters were about twice as likely to be weekly marijuana users, use hard drugs, and have multiple drug problems, 1.2 to 1.7 times more likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior, and 1.5 times more likely to commit a felony or be suspended from school.

"Early drinking clearly is associated with other problems that develop in school and in many other settings," said Joan S. Tucker, a RAND psychologist and another author of the report. "Differences between drinkers and nondrinkers show up early and persist over time."

At age 23, those identified in 7th grade as drinkers still showed significantly more behavior problems than those who had been nondrinkers. The drinkers were 2 to 3 times more likely to use hard drugs, experience multiple drug problems, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, 3 times more likely to have been arrested for drunk driving, twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year, and nearly 1.5 times more likely to report missing work for no reason.

The differences were smaller for the group identified as experimenters in 7th grade. Compared with nondrinkers, experimenters were twice as likely to have multiple drug problems, 1.6 times as likely to engage in criminal behavior, use hard drugs, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, and nearly twice as likely to have been arrested for drunk driving.

"These results suggest that drinking in early adolescence may be among the most important risk factors for a wide variety of behavior problems during the transition to young adulthood," Tucker said. "Preventing drinking initiation before Grade 7 may help reduce these later problems."

Researchers say it is not clear what mechanisms link early alcohol use to behavior problems later in life. It may be that alcohol disrupts the development of adequate social and academic skills that are needed to succeed later in life. Or early alcohol use may signal that an individual is predisposed to use drugs and develop other behavioral problems. The research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The project also included RAND researcher David J. Klein.

RAND Health is the nation's largest independent health policy research organization, with a broad research portfolio that focuses on medical quality, health care costs and delivery of health care, among other topics.

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Teens Report Peer Pressure To Have Sex

Teens Report Peer Pressure To Have Sex

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Waiting to have sex is a nice idea, teenagers say, but they believe hardly anyone does it. Many teens, particularly boys, feel pressure to have sex, and they say drugs and alcohol often lead to sex -- often without condoms. The teen survey, released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, paints a comprehensive portrait of youth attitudes about sex and the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Teen pregnancy and birth rates have been falling for a decade -- a trend that other surveys have attributed to a drop in sexual activity and an increased use of condoms and other forms of birth control.

Still, the Kaiser survey spotlights areas of concern: Four in 10 sexually active teenagers have taken a pregnancy test or had a partner who did so. A significant minority of young people -- about one in six -- say having sex without a condom occasionally is not a big deal. And one in five say they have had unprotected sex after drinking or using drugs. Other surveys have found that nearly two in three teens will have had sex by the time they graduate from high school. The Kaiser survey shows that many have intimate relationships before that, with more than half of 15-to-17-year-olds saying they have been with someone in a sexual way. Among teens who have not yet had sex, nearly a third say they have been "intimate" with a partner.

"Changing social norms and cultural expectations as well as delayed marriage means many young people have multiple sexual relationships in their lifetimes and need the information and tools to make healthy decisions and communicate with their partners," the report said.

About one in three teens said they had been in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually. Separately, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was releasing its own study Tuesday examining sex among younger teens. It found that about one in five teens report having sex before they turn 15 years old. That report, a compilation of data from earlier surveys, also found that younger teen girls who are sexually experienced were more likely than older teens to say they wish they had waited to have sex.

"Parents, program leaders, school officials, community leaders and others need to recognize that sex and dating are important issues for middle school age youth that cannot be ignored," the campaign said.

The Kaiser survey found that boys face particular pressure to have sex, often from male friends -- in contrast to the typical portrait of boys pressuring girls.

"There are a lot of expectations for boys to be sexually active," said Julia Davis, senior program officer at the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent group that studies health issues.

One in three boys ages 15-17 say they feel pressure to have sex, compared with 23 percent of girls. The pressure to drink alcohol was greater for both boys and girls; pressure to use drugs was about even with pressure to have sex. Overall, 63 percent of all 15-17-year-olds agreed either strongly or somewhat that "waiting to have sex is a nice idea but nobody really does it," with boys 6 percentage points more likely to say so.

The survey also found:

-More than eight in 10 teens say that a lot or some people their age drink or use drugs before having sex. Seven in 10 said their peers don't use condoms when they are drinking or using drugs. -About a quarter said that alcohol or drugs had influenced their decision to do something sexual at least once. -More than half of teens believe oral sex is not as big a deal as sexual intercourse, with boys more likely to believe this. Four in 10 consider oral sex "safer sex," although some diseases can be transmitted this way.

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Unsupervised Teens Have More Sex

Unsupervised Teens Have More Sex
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The less after-school supervision teens have, the more likely they are to have sex, new research says. And that sexual activity is likely to happen at the home of one of the teens, claims a new study in the December issue of Pediatrics.Dr. Deborah Cohen, a researcher at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif., and her colleagues evaluated more than 2,000 students in grades 9 through 12 in six public high schools. They found that 56 percent were home without an adult present at least four hours each day after school.Then they compared supervision with sexual activity and found a strong relationship between the number of unsupervised hours and sexual activity. Those who were unsupervised for at least 30 hours a week, or roughly six hours each weekday, were more likely to be sexually active compared with those left alone for no more than five hours a week. Those who were unsupervised for more than five hours weekly also reported more sexually transmitted diseases.They also found that among those who had intercourse, 91 percent said the last time occurred at their home, their partner's home, or a friend's home -- usually after school.The students who were evaluated were 98 percent black, many from low-income families and more than half from single-parent homes. While the study results may not be applicable to all populations, Cohen says, it "should raise red flags."She adds there were no differences between single parent and two-parent families, further lending credence that it was indeed the lack of supervision, not the family structure, that was associated with the sexual activity.She also points to a report done earlier this year by Child Trends, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, in which those researchers found that more than half of boys and girls aged 16 to 18 had sex for the first time in their own home or that of their partner's -- presumably when parents were not around, although the researchers didn't ask that question. In the current study, the most surprising finding to Cohen was the amount of unsupervised time. "These are high school kids," she says. "People expect them to be more responsible."While teens are physically more able to take care of themselves than younger children, she says teens would still "be better off if adults were around more."If that's impossible because of work schedules, parents might investigate after-school activities that are supervised, she suggests.The findings of the latest study don't surprise Julia Davis, a senior program officer at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "You can only assume the less time parents spend with the kids, the less opportunity [they have] to talk about sex." Even though teens are uncomfortable talking to their parents about sex, says Davis, citing her own research on teen sexuality, they still look to their parents for guidance.Spending more time with teens will present more opportunities to open that dialogue about sex, Davis says. "Make it clear what your opinion is of being sexually active, what they need to know about protection, risks and consequences," she adds. "The key issue is to communicate to your teen there can be a dialogue. It isn't just one talk, but ongoing dialogue."The dialogue, she adds, must change as your teen's needs change. A 15-year-old, for instance, probably needs very different information than an 18-year-old about to go off to college.
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WELCOME TO THE VISIONS ADOLESCENT TREATMENT CENTER BLOG

Adolescent substance abusers differ from adults in many ways. Their drug and alcohol use often stems from different causes, and they have even more trouble projecting the consequences of their use into the future. In addiction treatment, adolescents must be approached differently than adults because of their unique developmental issues, differences in their values and belief systems, and environmental considerations (e.g., strong peer influences). The use of substances may also compromise an adolescent's mental and emotional development from youth to adulthood because substance use interferes with how people approach and experience interactions.

It is the philosophy of Visions that the effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders involves a holistic approach that includes attention to the adolescent's emotional growth and development of physical health, psychological health, family relations, social supports, and cultural factors. Every person who enters our facility is an individual with varied needs and problems. We avoid "pigeon-holing" anyone. We see each resident as a whole being, thus all aspects of recovery are addressed including psychological, environmental and physical. While the primary focus is on the need to maintain sobriety, other issues such as eating disorders, cross-addictions, low self-esteem, anger management, and family dysfunction will be assessed and addressed for the greatest success of our residents.

Visions believes teen recovery from chemical dependency, addictive behaviors and psychological disorders is a life-long process. Visions teaches their residents the necessary skills required for on-going self-care and recovery including direct involvement in 12-step community based programs. Following the initial recovery/stabilization period, each individual is encouraged to integrate a series of new living skills which focus on the development and nurturing of one's mind, body and spirit and utilize the vast resources of adjunct therapies available. Such therapies include nutritional, meditation, yoga and experiential therapies.

The focus at Visions also accounts for age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, family structure, cognitive and social development, and readiness for change. Younger adolescents have different developmental needs than older adolescents, and teen addiction treatment approaches are developed appropriately for different age groups.

Teen Program Goals & Objectives:

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  Encourage and motivate the adolescent to achieve and sustain abstinence.
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  Assist the adolescent in identifying situations where drugs and alcohol were used to cope with life's problems and in understanding that using drugs and alcohol to cope with or solve problems does not work.
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  Help the adolescent to develop new, more effective problem-solving strategies.
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  Introduce the adolescent to the 12-step philosophy and strongly encourages participation in Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and/or Cocaine Anonymous (CA).
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  Assist the adolescent to recognize and acknowledge the existence of destructive behaviors and mental health issues in their lives and the impact they have on their family, friends and future.
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  Help the adolescent to recognize and change problematic attitudes and behaviors which that may that may stimulate a relapse.
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  Involve family and/or significant others in the rehabilitation process and reduce dysfunction within the family.
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  Assess and meet the psychological and psychiatric needs of the adolescent.
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  Assess and meet the medical needs of the resident, by referral.
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  Establish a referral network system for services not rendered in our program.
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  Assist the adolescent to resolve any legal issues, which may have involved criminal activity.
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  Teach the adolescent to seek out and actively become involved in community-based resources including healthy peer groups.

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