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Health Tips

Drugs

• 36 % less likely to smoke marijuana;
• 50 % less likely to use inhalants;
• 56 % less likely to use cocaine;
• 65 % percent less likely to use LSD;
• Teens who learn anti-drug messages at home are 42 % less likely to use drugs.

• Know what your children are doing-their activities and how they spend their time.
  
  
• Set limits with clear rules and consequences for breaking them.
  
  
• Make it a point to ask WHO, WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE.

• Know where your child is when they are away from home.
  
  
• Have your kids check in with you regularly. Give them coins, a phone card or a beeper with clear usage rules. For example "when I beep you, I expect a call back within five minutes."
  
  
• If your child does not have a beeper or cell phone, get the numbers of where he/she will be after school so that you can check in.
  
  
• Know your child's friends. Have a small party at your house and invite the parents of his/her friends.
  
  
• Have his/her friends stay for dinner. Ask them about their parents. Make a point of meeting your child's friends parents-find them at a PTA meeting, soccer practice, dance rehearsal, or wherever your kids hang out.
  
  
• Work with other parents to get a list of everyone's addresses, e-mails, and phone numbers so you can keep in touch with your child.
  
  
• Show up a little early to pick up your child so you can observe his/her behavior.
  
  
• Occasionally check to see that your kids are where they say they are going to be.
  
  
• Be aware of your child's activities-especially in the hours immediately following the end of the school day as this is the time of the day that most children engage in delinquent behavior.
  
  
• Make sure your child is doing something positive in those hours after school, e.g., sports, jobs, clubs, volunteer work.

• Ask open-ended questions that encourage conversation. Avoid questions that kids can answer with a simple yes or no.
  
  
• Make it clear that you are listening and trying to understand your child's point of view. When you child describes events, repeat what you think you child has just told you.

• "Sounds like you are saying…"
  
  
• "Do you mean that…"
  
  
• "When that happens to me, I feel like… Is it like that for you too?"
  
  
• "Are you saying…"
  
  
• "I'm having a hard time understanding what you're saying, what do you mean?"

• "I like you, but I don't like drugs."
  
  
• "I'd be happy to help you (got to a teacher, parent or other adult), but I can't be around you when you use drugs."
  
  
• "I'd will get kicked off the team if I use or get caught around drugs."

• "I'm up for a scholarship and don't want to blow it."
  
  
• "No thanks, it's not for me."
  
  
• "I tried drinking and got really sick."
  
  
• "I can't use drugs, I have a big test/game/family event tomorrow."

• "Let's talk about how you got these drugs and the impact of what you've done."
  
  
• "I'm really disappointed. You know I don't approve of drug use."
  
  
• "I'm going to stand by you and always love you and guide you, but I do not want you taking drugs. I don't want you to making the wrong choice and then having to face bad things happening in your life."

• "I'm glad you told me, but let me remind you that alcohol and drugs get in the way of your being healthy and happy."
  
  
• "Using alcohol and drugs is illegal, so juvenile detention could be a result if you continue."
  
  
• "You can lose your drivers license or learners permit, lose your scholarship, or get kicked off the team."

Facts on Marijuana, MDMA (Ecstasy), and OxyContin

• Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). Cannabis is a term that refers to marijuana and other drugs made from the same plant. Other forms of cannabis include sinsemilla, hashish, and hash oil. All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and the potency of THC is much stronger than in previous years.
  
  
• Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint) or in a pipe or bong. Marijuana has also appeared in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, sometimes in combination with another drug, such as crack. It can also be mixed into foods or used to brew a tea.

• According to the 2001 NHSDA, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. 76% of illicit drug users reported using using marijuana.
  
  
• In 2000, an estimated 2.4 million Americans used marijuana for the first time.
  
  
• The upswing in marijuana use affects the young most directly. More than a quarter of first-time marijuana users are under 15; nearly three-quarters are under 18.
  
  
• The measure of perceived risk in the use of marijuana among youth is an important predictor of later drug use, particularly among youths. Recent trends in usage show that as the perceived risk of using marijuana decreased, rates of marijuana tend to increase.
  
  
• Most teens that use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana do so by the time they are 15. Among teens that admit to smoking, drinking or having tried marijuana, the average age of first use is 12 or 13 years old.
  
  
• Early marijuana use is linked to adult dependence. A recent report from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), "Initiation of Marijuana Use: Trends, Patterns and Implications," (http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/MJinitiation/toc.htm) found that 18 % of people age 26 and older that started using marijuana before age 15 met the criteria for either dependence or misuse of alcohol or illicit drugs, compared to 2.1 % of adults who never used marijuana.
  
  
• The report further found that children who start using marijuana at a young age are also more likely to use cocaine and heroin. According to the report, 62 % of adult's aged 26 or older who first used marijuana at age 15 said they had used cocaine in their lifetime. In addition, 9 % of the adults said they had used heroin, and 54 % used non-medical psychotherapeutics.

• problems with memory and learning;
• distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch);
• trouble with thinking and problem-solving;
• loss of coordination; and
• increased heart rate, anxiety.

• Cancer
  It's hard to know for sure whether regular marijuana use causes cancer. But it is known that marijuana contains some of the same, and sometimes even more, of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.
  
  
• Lungs and airways
  People who smoke marijuana often develop the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have: coughing and wheezing. They tend to have more chest colds than nonusers. They are also at greater risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia.
  
  
• Immune system
  Animal studies have found that THC can damage the cells and tissues in the body that help protect people from disease. When the immune cells are weakened, you are more likely to get sick.

• The number of persons who had ever tried Ecstasy increased from 6.5 million in 2000 to 8.1 million in 2001.
  
  
• In 2001, there were 786,000 current users. In 2000, an estimated 1.9 million persons used Ecstasy for the first time compared with 0.7 million in 1998. This change represents a tripling in incidence in just two years.
  
  
• Among high school students surveyed in the 2001 Monitoring the Future Study, 9.2% of 12th graders, 6.2% of 10th graders, and 3.5% of 8th graders stated that they had used Ecstasy in the past year.

• Psychological difficulties, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia - during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA;
  
  
• Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating;
  
  
• Increases in heart rate and blood pressure, a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease;
  
  
• Also, there is evidence that people who develop a rash that looks like acne after using MDMA may be risking severe side effects, including liver damage, if they continue to use the drug;
  
  
• Research links MDMA use to long-term damage to those parts of the brain critical to thought and memory. One study, in primates, showed that exposure to MDMA for four days caused brain damage that was evident six to years later.
  
  
• MDA, the parent drug of MDMA, is an amphetamine-like drug that has also been abused and is similar in chemical structure to MDMA. Research shows that MDA also destroys serotonin-producing neurons in the brain.
  
  
• MDMA also is related in its structure and effects to methamphetamine, which has been shown to cause degeneration of neurons containing the neurotransmitter dopamine. Damage to these neurons is the underlying cause of the motor disturbances seen in Parkinson's disease. Symptoms of this disease begin with lack of coordination and tremors and can eventually result in a form of paralysis.

• OxyContin is a prescription pain medicine that is used in the treatment of pain related to cancer and other debilitating conditions. OxyContin contains the drug oxycodone, which is a common drug used in pain relievers such as Percocet and Percodan. OxyContin abusers either crush the tablet and ingest or snort it or dilute it in water and inject it. Crushing or diluting the tablet disarms the timed-release action of the medication and causes a quick, powerful high. Abusers have compared this feeling to the euphoria they experience when taking heroin. In fact, in some areas, the use of heroin is overshadowed by the abuse of OxyContin.
  
  
• What sets OxyContin apart from other prescription is that OxyContin is a powerful drug that contains a much larger amount of the active ingredient, oxycodone, than other prescription pain relievers. Second, great profits are to be made in the illegal sale of OxyContin. A 40-milligram pill costs approximately $4 by prescription, yet it may sell for $20 to $40 on the street, depending on the area of the country in which the drug is sold.

• The 2001 NHSDA reports that the number of persons using OxyContin for nonmedical purposes at least once in their lifetime had increased fourfold from 1999 to 2001. In 1999, 221,000 person reported using the drug illegally compared to 956,000 in 2001.
  
  
• Diversion and abuse of the prescription pain reliever OxyContin is a major problem, particularly in the eastern United States.

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