substance abuse
Binge drinking isn't healthy, no matter who you are. But new research suggests it's particularly damaging to teens. According to the research from the University of California San Diego, binge drinking damages the white matter (formerly known as gray matter) in our brains. Scientist have known for some time that binge drinking does damage the brain, but researchers weren't expecting to see the amount of decay they saw in the brains of binge-drinking teens. "It could be that episodes of binge drinking during the teenage years, when the brain is still developing, could have adversely influenced the brain's white matter development," says lead researcher Susan F. Tapert. [forbes.com, 4/21/09 - Plugged In Online 5/15/09] The Dove Self-Esteem Fund recently commissioned a study titled Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem. It examined 8- to 17-year-olds' attitudes toward themselves and found that 70% of those surveyed felt that they do not measure up when it comes to looks, scholastic performance and/or relationships. The study also found significant correlations between low self-esteem and a variety of harmful behaviors. Of those who felt badly about themselves, 25% said that they practiced self-injury, such as cutting (compared to just 4% of those who reported high self-esteem). Likewise, 25% of girls with a low estimate of themselves suffered eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating (compared to 7% of those with high self-esteem). Those struggling with their self-image were also more likely to engage in smoking, drinking and bullying. [PRNewswire, 10/7/08 stats - Plugged In Online 10/16/08] The nation's largest substance abuse survey, the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, shows an overall decline in illicit drug use—including marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, LSD, and Ecstasy—among youth ages 12-17. The decline began in 2002 and continued through 2007, dropping from 11.6% to 9.5%. [AP, 9/4/08 stats - Plugged In Online 9/18/08] A new report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy indicates that teens who are depressed are more than twice as likely to have used marijuana in the last year (25%) than those who have not reported being depressed (12%). In addition, depressed teens are more than twice as likely (8%) as their happier peers (3%) to become dependent upon marijuana. Researchers also found that marijuana use corresponds with a 40% increase in mental disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Teens who smoked marijuana at least once a month for a year, for example, are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts. (The ONDCP report synthesized data from about a dozen other federal studies on marijuana use.) [whitehousedrugpolicy.gov, 5/9/08; AP, 5/9/08 stats, c&e - Plugged In Online 6/4/08] A new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine) has quantified just how frequently references to drugs, alcohol and tobacco turn up in popular music. A team led by Dr. Brian Primack analyzed the lyrics of the top 279 songs of 2005. Their findings? Nearly 80% of rap songs contained references to illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco—followed by country (37%), R&B (20%), rock (14%) and pop (9%). When these genres were combined, 42% of all songs had some reference to substance abuse. Significantly, about two-thirds of the references portrayed these substances in a positive way by associating them with sex, partying and/or humor. Just four songs mentioned any kind of anti-substance abuse message. The researchers calculated that Americans ages 15 to 18 listen to 2.4 hours of music each day, which translates to 84 references to substance abuse daily and about 30,000 annually. Commenting on how parents might respond. Primack said, "It's not going to be feasible or even desirable to censor these messages. Probably a more empowering approach is to teach kids to analyze and evaluate the messages for themselves." [Reuters, 2/4/08; timesonline.co.uk, 2/3/08; nytimes.com 2/6/08 stats - Plugged In Online 2/13/08] According to the a government report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 3.1 million people between the ages of 12 and 25 have gotten high using cough and cold medicine—about the same amount who have used LSD and far more than have used methamphetamines. And that's not the only common substance being used improperly. Mouthwash, which can be nearly 27% alcohol, has become such a popular "beverage" in Alaska that some supermarkets have moved Listerine and Scope behind the counter. "Especially this summer, you'd see a lot more empty mouthwash bottles laying around on the ground than you would actual liquor bottles," said David Path, who volunteers at an Anchorage homeless shelter. [AP, 1/10-14/08 stats - Plugged In Online 2/13/08] Yet another a survey of 48,025 students conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, finds that illicit drug use among teens overall is decreasing, though abuse of prescription painkillers in particular has increased slightly. Marijuana was the most widely used drug in 2007, with 10% of 8th graders, 25% of 10th graders and nearly one in three students in 12th grade using it in the last year. These three groups of students combined also abused the prescription painkiller OxyContin slightly more frequently in 2007 than in 2006, 5.2% vs. 4.3%, respectively. [usatoday.com 12/11/07; time.com, 12/11/07; news.yahoo.com, 12/11/07 stats - Plugged In Online 2/13/08]Tobacco, meanwhile, will kill perhaps as many as 1 billion people by the year 2100, according to a study by the World Health Organization. The organization added that governments take in more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes each year, but spend just a miniscule fraction of that on tobacco control. [Time, 2/7/08 - Plugged In Online 2/13/08] Information from the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that 6.1% of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 need treatment for alcohol addiction and 5.4% need treatment for illicit drug abuse. [newsweek.com, 11/15/07 stats - Plugged In Online 11/21/07] A new Mental Health Services Administration report states that on any given day, nearly 1.2 million U.S. teenagers smoke cigarettes, 631,000 drink alcohol and 586,000 smoke marijuana. The report also says that on an average day nearly 8,000 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 drink alcohol for the first time and 4,300 adolescents use an illicit drug for the first time. Trying to counter this trend, many high schools are testing students for alcohol consumption at extracurricular school events. Orders for breathalyzers have risen 120% in each of the last four years, according to Keith Nothacker, president of KHN Solutions, which sells the machines. [msnbc.com, 10/18/2007; usatoday.com 10/17/2007 stats - Plugged In Online 11/08/07] Today's teens believe drugs are a big problem in their schools. A new study by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse says that 61% of high school students believe they attend a school with drug problems, compared to 44% in 2002. Quite a few middle schoolers are dealing with the same issues, with 31% reporting their schools have drug problems as well. That's up from 19% just five years ago. Four of five teens say they've seen someone use, sell or possess alcohol or illegal drugs on campus. [AP, 8/16/07 stats - Plugged In Online 9/05/07] Researchers in England have found that even infrequent use of marijuana can increase some users' chances of becoming psychotic by 40%. For heavy users, the elevated risk of psychosis (the most common form of which is schizophrenia) jumped as much as 50% to 200%. Dr. Stanley Zammit, one of the study's authors and a lecturer in the department of psychological medicine at Cardiff University, said of the findings, "The available evidence now suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as many people think." The extensive English study (which was financed by the British Health Department and published in the medical journal The Lancet) synthesized data from 35 different studies that tracked tens of thousands of cannabis users over time spans ranging from one to 27 years. Dr. Robin Murray of King's College (who wasn't connected with the study), commented, "We've reached the end of the road with these kinds of studies. Experts are now agreed on the connection between cannabis and psychoses. What we need now is for 14-year-olds to know it." [AP, 7/26/07 stats, c&e - Plugged In Online 8/01/07] When it comes to abusing prescription drugs, teen girls are doing so more frequently than teen guys. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, nearly one in 10 teen girls reported using prescription medication to get high at least once in the last year. For boys, the figure is slightly lower at one in 13. With illicit drugs such as marijuana and cocaine, usage figures have traditionally been much higher for men than women. Federal officials parsing data on prescription drug abuse among women theorize that their motivation for doing so differs from men. Whereas men abuse drugs and alcohol for the sensations they produce, surveys referenced by government officials indicate women abuse drugs of all kinds to increase their confidence, reduce tension or to lose weight. [AP, 4/30/07 stats - Plugged In Online 5/08/07] A new study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that white U.S. teenagers who watch a lot of R-rated movies are seven times more likely to start smoking than peers with less exposure to such films. Even allowing for other influences—such as friends who smoke, poor performance in school and lack of parental guidance—young whites viewing more R-rated fare were still three times more likely to begin smoking. Researchers also found a link between unsupervised television consumption and picking up the habit. No such cause-and-effect relationship was observed among black adolescents, however. (The report was based on interviews with 735 children, ages 12 to 14, who were almost equally divided between black and white.) Researchers speculate that the disparity is because viewers identify most with movie characters like themselves. "Because the majority of contemporary screen actors are white," the study said, "it follows that experiencing identification and subsequent involvement in the narratives of popular movies and television programs is less likely among black adolescents than among white." The report also noted previous studies indicating that more than three-fourths of young people (from all races) between 10 and 14 report watching R-rated movies at home with no parental supervision. [Reuters, 3/5/07 stats, c&e - Plugged In Online 3/13/07] The acting U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, has urged alcohol marketers to voluntarily restrict advertising on outdoor billboards near schools and in college newspapers, citing increasing evidence of alcohol's damaging effects on brain development. "Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America's youth," Moritsugu said. "I have issued this [report] to focus national attention on this problem and on disturbing new research which indicates that the developing adolescent brain may be particularly susceptible to long-term negative consequences from alcohol use." Moritsugu also noted media's influence among young viewers, and he urged the entertainment industry to avoid "gratuitous portrayals of alcohol abuse in films and TV shows in which children are a major audience." [adage.com, 3/6/07 c&e - Plugged In Online 3/13/07] A Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse report indicates that 15- to 19-year-old Canadians who smoke are significantly more likely to use illegal drugs and abuse alcohol. Among these smoking teens, almost 98% consumed alcohol in the past year, while a whopping 91% smoked marijuana (compared to 75% and 29% for their nonsmoking peers, respectively). In addition, 31% of the smokers had used cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, ecstasy or hallucinogens over the past 12 months, as opposed to just 3.5% of nonsmoking teens. [cbc.ca, 12/6/06 - Plugged In Online 1/09/07] QUOTE: "You often hear that pot leads to harder drugs. But I think alcohol is what leads you to everything, because it takes away the fear. The worst drug experimentation I ever did was because I was drunk and didn't care." —Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell [Spin, 9/06 - Plugged In Online 1/09/07] For the third year in a row, fewer teens are using illicit drugs, according to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Among 12- to 17-year-olds, 9.9% are currently involved in illicit drug use—a decrease of almost 2% since 2002. Teen marijuana use has also fallen, from 8.2% to 6.8%. [PRNewswire, 9/7/06; usatoday.com, 9/7/06 - Plugged In Online 1/09/07] Drug use among teens has dropped from 2005-2006 according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research funded by NIDA. This study found a decrease in illicit drug use, marijuana, methamphetamines, prescription drugs, inhalants, cigarettes/nicotine, crack cocaine, heroin, MDMA (Ecstasy), anabolic steroids, and alcohol. Visit http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html for the full findings.
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