Fighting Drug Abuse

Do Genes Predispose Some Teenage Addictions?

admin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:33:55 +0000

According to a recent study by University of Utah and University of Wisconsin scientists, genes may determine which teen smokers get hooked for life. White smokers with certain mutations in their genes who pick up the habit by age 17 are five times more likely to struggle with a life long addiction than their peers who do not have the DNA variants.

People who started smoking after the age of 17 who had the same gene variants did not have increased risks of later addiction, researchers found.

This study stresses the importance of focusing on nicotine treatment and educations on teens before they start smoking cigarettes. Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said “About 10 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds used cigarettes in the past month, according to 2006 data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.”

The study shows that if you can delay smoking you may actually be able to prevent nicotine addiction” said Volkow.

The researchers studied 2,827 whites identified as long-term smokers. A greater percentage of whites (31.4 percent), use tobacco than Hispanics, Asians or African-Americans according to the Department of Health & Human Services. Also whites have smoked twice as much as blacks between the ages of 12-17 in the last month according to DHHS.

Other factors can lead to addiction beyond genetics, such as environment and the age at which someone begins to smoke. An estimated 62 million Americans ages 12 or older smoked cigarettes in the last month, according to the DHHS data. More than 6 million of those who start smoking younger than 18 will die from a smoking related disease, according to the agency.

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, based in Bethesda, Maryland.

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For complete in-home drug testing kits to deter your kids from using cigarettes and other drugs, visit In Home Drug Testing.

US Drug Czar Awards 24.4 Million To Youth Drug Prevention Programs

admin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:00:35 +0000

On August 27^th, John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy announced that 24.4 million dollars will be granted to community drug free programs across the country.

This is in addition to the 55 million that was awarded in July to keep current programs in force. These grants will support all 50 states, The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and Palau.

Additionally, there will be 14 new grants totaling nearly 1 million dollars to support mentoring programs. This will help develop more self-supporting anti drug communities in the US.

Director Waters said, “Youth drug use has dropped 24% since 2001, due in large part to the active and effective engagement of strong community anti-drug coalitions, and we are proud to support their efforts.”

“The Drug-Free Communities program helps communities get the hard work of prevention done,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. “By connecting local programs, systems, and funding streams through these new grants, the full force of the community will be brought to bear on preventing drug abuse and promoting healthy, productive lives.”

The Drug-Free Communities program was created under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997. The program has earned strong bipartisan support from the President and Congress. Because of this the program has also earned major funding priorities. In December 2006, President Bush and Congress passed a five-year extension of the Drug-Free Communities Act.

The program is administered in conjunction with SAMHSA. You can find out more about SAMHSA and the government programs by visiting http://www.samhsa.gov.

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Find more about drug prevention programs here.

Drug Testing to Keep Kids Off Drugs

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:15:46 +0000

Should you drug test your teen? Will this cause your teens to feel like you are disrespecting them on their “home” turf? Are you ignoring the fact that your teens can get drugs even easier today then ever before?

It’s time as a parent to step up to the plate and confront your teens!!!

Drug use and prevention is one of the most frightening discussions you will ever have as a parent with your teen. According to one recent study, teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t. As difficult as it is to bring up the issue of drug use with your teen, simply talking about drug use may not be enough to fully protect your child from experimenting with and using drugs.

How can this be solved? The answer is simple. In-home drug testing! If your teen knows you have the ability to perform a drug test at home on a moments notice, they are going to be even less likely to experiment with drugs. In-home drug testing can be an extremely powerful deterrent tool in preventing drug use! It becomes an “easy out” to peer pressure as well. Your teen can tell their friends, “No, my parents may drug test me when I get home and I have to be clean or they will ground me… take away my car… wont let me go out…” Isn’t this worth providing piece of mind as a parent knowing that your teen is held accountable for their actions?

Drug Free Network is a great resource to buy in-home drug testing kits. The drug test kits come with a 10 panel urine drug test, an alcohol test, and a nicotine detection test. These tests are affordable, simple to use, and give accurate results within 5 minutes! One of the best tools in the kit is the contract that parents and the teens sign stating that they live in a “Drug Free” household. Also included in the kit are lists of local resources for counseling and treatment centers as well as a guide to parents which discusses the signs and symptoms of drug use, the many types of illegal drugs, and dangers associated with them.

In addition to using these simple to use drug tests as a deterrent, you could actually save your child’s life by identifying a problem with drugs before law enforcement or school personnel intervention or even death!

Home drug testing is easier than every before. Home drug test kits are reliable and readily available.

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Find more drug testing solutions and news on the Fighting Drug Abuse blog.

School Bound For Drug Testing

admin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:31:05 +0000

On July 22nd the US Deputy Drug Czar, Dr. Bertha Madras spoke about random student drug testing in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. There was an all-day summit on student drug testing at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. The topic- Random Student Drug Testing.

Drug usage in schools can turn into abuse, then addiction. This traps kids in a vicious cycle that will ruin their lives along with destroying their families. The most effective tool we have is Random Drug Testing in schools! Not necessarily for the fact that we will catch the occasional drug user, but more importantly, prevent new ones from using! If kids know they may have a chance to be tested, they will think twice before trying drugs.

Our US Deputy Drug Czar was not able to enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian islands, as she was put to work from the moment she got off the plane. Dr. Madras also believes that random testing is the best form of prevention. Privacy of the kids was the main issue that was brought up to Dr. Madras. Madras replied with, “Under the influence of drugs an intoxicated kid can get into accidents, can fail at school, can get into violence and delinquency, and do a whole shopping list of terrible things to themselves. And they could also become addicted. The adolescent brain is not formed, drugs can make them addicted at a much higher rate than other people using. We have to protect our kids. Weigh privacy against the rights of a child to have a healthy development!”

In 2002 the Supreme Court ruled that testing is legal for kids engaged in extra-curricular activities. The Supreme Court is behind protecting our kids. We live in an era where we know drugs are easy to obtain, and we know kids are willing to try new things- especially if their friends are trying it as well. Drugs have become a problematic part of society, especially in schools where peer pressure and other factors have helped fuel the fire. As a result, sales of home drug testing kits has, in fact, been more common as drug experimentation becomes more rampant among students.

The purpose of the meeting in Hawaii was to give parents, educators, and the general public info on how to implement a program and what the legal issues are that surround it. It was also to verify that help is out there, and the US Government is willing to help with grants and funding to schools to implement a program. The parents need to encourage schools to implement a program to protect their kids!

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