Signs of Pot Use in Teens, From Breath Mints to Burns
Drug paraphernalia in the bedroom is an obvious indicator of marijuana use. But what are the more subtle signs that a teenager is smoking pot?
Tag Archives: Teen Substance Abuse
Teens Can Quickly Succumb to Alcohol Poisoning
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled underage drinking a major health concern. There are nearly 5,000 kids aged 12 to 20 who die every year from alcohol poisoning. The year 2010 saw 189,060 emergency room visits tied to underage drinking, with almost 77,000 of those kids being 12 to 17 years old. […]
Teens Are Faking ADHD Symptoms to Get Adderall
When a medication is effective, we give thanks. Drugs that can alleviate problem symptoms help patients live normal lives and restore a positive and hopeful outlook that brings many other desired outcomes. But when good medications are misused, everyone suffers. Patients are greeted with more skepticism and eventually medications become harder to obtain. Doctors are […]
Youths Who Use Designer Drugs Can’t Stop After Just One
Designer drugs are man-made or synthetic drugs. They are chemical compounds created in a laboratory and sold on the street to users looking for intense or specific kinds of “highs.” They are sold under a slew of names, making them hard for parents to keep track of. Anti-drug agencies report that teens and young people […]
Use of Party Drug ‘Molly’ Increases With Summer Heat
Summertime and hard partying often go hand-in-hand. And across the country, Molly, a form of the drug ecstasy, is becoming popular among high school students and younger crowds. The warmer weather in particular seems to be a draw for Molly’s users who typically range in age from 16 to 21.
Parents Who Support Marijuana Legalization Want Strict Rules for Kids, Survey Finds
With the wave of public approval for the legalization of marijuana sweeping the country, a new study shows that even parents who were once pot smokers want tough restrictions in place to protect their kids from the dangers of the drug. Two key restrictions most parents favor are: Make 21 the legal age for using […]
How to Keep Teens Alcohol and Drug Free This Summer
Summertime is here – and so is the season when many teens with time on their hands turn to experimenting with alcohol and drugs. Rather than throw up your hands and say there’s nothing you can do, take a minute to reflect on just how important and influential parents’ roles are to their children. In […]
Multisystemic Therapy for Teen Substance Abuse Reduces Run-Ins With Law
Multisystemic therapy (MST) is a form of therapy that relies on interaction with the family unit and the larger community to curb the antisocial behaviors that sometimes occur in teenagers. Unlike some other forms of therapy, it’s specifically designed to deal with teens who have highly entrenched behavioral problems that typically result in problems with […]
New Drug Desmethyl Fentanyl 40 Times Stronger Than Heroin
A huge cache of a new lethal street drug was discovered in Montreal, making people aware of this dangerous substance. It’s called desmethyl fentanyl, and Montreal police seized over 300,000 tablets of it in April. Not only is this new drug deadly, like other very harmful street substances like crystal meth, it is made by […]
Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse Among Teens
Co-morbidity is a technical term which describes the event of two conditions which occur together. Co-occurring conditions are quite common in medicine. Knowing which conditions tend to go hand-in-hand gives doctors and other health care providers clues as to what illnesses they must be on guard against or watchful of.
Bullying Leads to Depression, Substance Abuse in Teenagers
Bullying is a term used to describe a wide range of aggressive actions intended to intimidate, manipulate, demean or socially stigmatize others. While these actions were once viewed as simply part of “growing up,” mental health professionals now understand that they can have a seriously negative short- and/or long-term impact on the mental, emotional or […]
Are You Raising An Alcoholic? Don’t Set the Stage for Addiction
The second in a two-part series. Part One: How Your Behavior Influences Your Child You child’s future relationship with alcohol is cultivated in the home. You may be unwittingly setting the stage for future alcohol problems with these behaviors. Drunkenness and irresponsibility with alcohol. We’re all human, we all have a little too much at […]
Are You Raising An Alcoholic? How Your Behavior Influences Your Child
Part One in a two-part series. Ask any parents if they are concerned about keeping their kids safe from the ravages of alcoholism and they’ll surely say yes. But many parents, perhaps unwittingly, are laying the groundwork for alcohol misuse and abuse among their children. As a parent, you play a more important role in […]
Teens With ADHD at Risk of Substance Abuse
ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a fairly common condition characterized by varying degrees of hyperactivity, lack of impulse control and an inability to maintain focus or attention. The disorder typically arises in childhood and may or may not continue into adolescence or adulthood. In early 2013, a multi-university research team released the results of a […]
Beyond Peer Pressure: Girls Say They Drink Because They Want To
Teenagers often cite peer pressure for their decision to start drinking alcohol or for choosing to binge drink in a social situation. In prevention and education programs, young people are taught strategies for resisting peer pressure and often take part in role play to get more comfortable with saying no to that pressure.
First-Time Drug Use Showing Up in Pre-Teens
Most parents consider drug use to be a topic appropriate for kids in their mid-to-late teenage years, not to their pubescent daughters and sons barely out of middle school. However, research by the American Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) suggests that children as young as 12 are using drugs such as hallucinogens […]
The Best Things Parents Can Do to Prevent Teenage Drinking
If it seems like teenagers today are being bombarded with advertising and subliminal messages that encourage drinking, it isn’t a figment of your imagination. Messages promoting the social benefits of alcohol consumption seem to be everywhere.
Lil Wayne Sizzurp Binge a Cautionary Tale, Dr. Sack Tells Fox News
Last week, 30-year-old rapper Lil Wayne was hospitalized after suffering seizures. While details are still unconfirmed, it is suspected that his condition resulted from an overdose of a drug called “sizzurp.”
Experiment on Twins Finds Pre-Teen Years Key in Preventing Drug Abuse
Researchers have known for some time that people who display impulsive behaviors and focus on short-term rewards have significantly higher chances of becoming substance abusers than those who control their short-term impulses and focus on long-term rewards. Teenagers exhibit this tendency just as much as adults, if not more so. Current evidence indicates that both […]
“Smiles” – Derivatives of Designer Drug to be Outlawed in Michigan
The legal side of “designer drugs” is a little bit like an arms race. On one side, the government brings in new regulations to ban specific compounds or entire classes of chemicals, whilst on the other side clandestine chemists tweak their existing molecular structures to circumvent the current laws. One drug caught up in this […]
Most Teens who Abuse Prescription Medicines Get them for Free
The 2012 “Monitoring the Future” study, which looks at the rates of drug use, ease of availability, and perceived risk amongst teens, revealed that the vast majority of teens who abuse prescription medicines get them for free from friends and family. Although the overall use of the drugs has decreased, their use is still at […]
Is Adderall the New Xanax? Why So Much Buzz About Adderall?
Eighty-eight percent of the world’s legal amphetamine supply is produced in US, and over-worked college students, celebrities, and sports stars seem to be taking to the drug with increasing regularity. It doesn’t seem like too long ago that Xanax was the nation’s drug of choice, but it looks like a new prescription drug has entered […]
Synthetic Marijuana: Danger in a Pretty Package
Called K2, Spice, Incense, or Mr. Smiley among many others, synthetic cannabis is actually a collection of dry herbs and plant pieces sprayed with a chemical that is up to 100 times stronger than natural marijuana. It sounds so innocuous, yet on the back of the colorful packaging is printed a warning – “Not for […]
How Drug Courts Can Help Youth Get Into Treatment Instead of Going to Jail
With all the talk about drug use skyrocketing and engagement rates of youths with marijuana as a gateway drug, it may prompt some parents to give up hope if their son or daughter gets into trouble with the law because of substance abuse.