As a father of two teens, I know it’s impossible to shield our kids from messages that promote underage drinking. That said, it’s always nice to be given a heads-up so we know just who and what in pop culture may be negatively influencing our kids – and right now in particular, I think you’ll be surprised to find out some of the sources sending pro-drinking messages to our teenagers. Here’s a quick round-up of where our kids have been seeing and hearing “cool” alcohol-related messages lately:

Tweens and younger teens: The latest Harry Potter movie. If you think I’m kidding, check out this article from the New York Times, which cites a number of scenes in which our favorite young wizards, only about 16, drink “butterbeer” and appear to get drunk.

(More…)

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 6 Comment(s)
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It’s occurred to me lately that my 3-year-old son has developed a somewhat alarmingly unhealthy relationship with cherry-flavored children’s Tylenol. He asks for it when his nose is stuffy or when he has a sore throat. Other times he will claim that more unusual body parts are giving him trouble. His bellybutton say, or occasionally his hair. I’ve always just chalked it up to the fact that he loves the flavor, a sickeningly sweet concoction containing enough sugar and brilliant red dye to send any child into momentary raptures of hyperactive joy. 

Lately, however, I’ve become a bit concerned because his preoccupation with treating ailments with medications has begun to expand beyond the aforementioned red goop. If I complain that I have a headache, he’ll immediately ask if I plan to take something for it. When his back was itching the other night, he called out from his bed to ask if I had any medicine that would “scratch it” for him. It’s obvious that he’s already made a strong connection between physical ailments and chemical solutions and what’s even more upsetting to me, is tha this is completely my fault.

I’ve been clean and sober for eight years now but I’m the first to admit that even though I haven’t ingested anything stronger than Benadryl in all that time, I still have the mind of an addict. If something hurts, I take something. I’ve never fooled myself about this and there are times when I pop an Advil, that I am perfectly aware that my reasons for doing it are just as much psychological as they are physical. I never dwelled on it much, however, as I always figured that in terms of important issues to deal with, I had bigger fish to fry. If it makes me feel better to take an antihistamine after a couple sneezes, well it’s certainly the lesser of a bazillion other lurking evils.

Now that I’m pregnant and the only medicine remaining on the shelf is a bottle of Tylenol (which trust me, I have not neglected), this dependence has become even more glaringly obvious to me. Last month I had a nasty cold and spent many a waking hour lamenting the lack of Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus in my life. The crazy thing being, that even as I pined for the fizzy remedy, I admitted to myself that it had never really helped that much to begin with. I just wanted to take something.

It is now clear to me that my son has noticed this and that my attitude toward medicine is making a quick descent down the branches of the family tree. I realized the other day that although I’m always quick to appear with the noxious red syrup and a teaspoon at the first sign of any complaint on his part, I have never really sat down and talked with him about the purposes of medicine, and that while it can be very helpful, it can also be very harmful. I suppose that I always thought he was still too young but now I’m not so sure. I freak out if a man sits down next to us at the bus stop while smoking a cigarette but don’t think twice about running to the medicine cabinet at the first sign of a stuffy nose (and this, despite the fact that I’m well aware that there is not even any real evidence to show that these medicines work in young children). Something’s wrong with this picture.

Despite the fact that there are plenty of guidelines about how to talk to young children about smoking, drinking and illegal drugs, there is very little information out there about how to talk to young children about OTC (over-the-counter) medications. I find this surprising as it seems doubly important to talk to them about the substances that they see and are in some cases, already ingesting on a regular basis.

This is especially crucial in light of the fact that adolescent abuse of both prescription and OTC medications (such as cough syrup) has been on the rise in recent years. What’s more, studies show that although more parents are discussing the risks of alcohol and illegal drugs, for the most part, they are still not talking about the very real dangers of OTC and prescription drug abuse.

My son is only 3 but it is now clear to me that I am setting a dangerous precedent for him and that something needs to change in my whole approach towards medication. Any suggestions are welcome!

• 	Posted by: Johanna Bailey | 11 Comment(s)
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• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 0 Comment(s)
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Did anyone else notice there were quite a few more drug and alcohol references at Sunday night’s Golden Globes than in years past? Here are a few I picked up on:

* Former party boy Colin Farrell while presenting an award, sniffed a few times and said, “I have a cold. It’s not the other thing. It used to be.”

* Ricky Gervais from “The Office” drank a beer on stage while presenting “Happy-Go-Lucky.”

* Presenter Sandra Bullock, when listing James Franco for his performance in “Pineapple Express” as a nominee for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, mentioned how fun it must have been to rehearse for this stoner film.

* While presenting, “Pineapple Express” star Seth Rogen continued with the drug references by commenting, “I wish I got to do this a long time ago, in a different era in Hollywood. Maybe in the ’80s. That way instead of being drunk with Mickey Rourke tonight I’d be doing cocaine with Mickey Rourke tonight.”

* In the acceptance speech for best picture for “Slumdog Millionaire,” Producer Christian Colson mentioned he’d drunk three martinis.

* And it doesn’t stop there. From stumbling over lines, slurred speech and wobbly walking, many of the night’s presenters looked like they had knocked back a few too many.

* Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor in a Film for his role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight” — the year’s biggest success at the box office. And while it wasn’t said outright, it is important to remember that Heath Ledger died just about a year ago from overdosing on a mix of prescription drugs.

As parents, how do you feel about the way these celebrities handled themselves at this year’s award ceremony?

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 25 Comment(s)
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While many people still don’t see the intentional abuse of prescription drugs as a serious problem, one mom I’ve come to know well, Misty Fetko, can tell you just how serious a problem it is.

On the morning of July 16, 2003, two days before her son Carl was supposed to leave for college she found him unconscious and not breathing. As an emergency room nurse, Misty immediately jumped into action trying CPR to save her son’s life – but there was nothing she could do. Carl had died of a lethal mix of Fentanyl (a prescription narcotic) marijuana, and an over-the-counter cough product.

I wish I could tell you that Carl’s story was an anomaly, but our research shows that 1 in 5 teens have abused medicines and most don’t understand the risks. More than half of teens who try this dangerous behavior believe it’s safer than using street drugs, and don’t see anything wrong with abusing them once in a while. These teens are dangerously mistaken.

From 1995 to 2004, the number of deaths involving prescription opiod painkillers increased 160 percent according the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By 2004, the CDC reports deaths from abuse of prescription pain medicines surpassed both heroin and cocaine overdoses as the leading cause of poisoning deaths.

The Partnership was the first organization to identify this alarming trend in prescription drug abuse thanks to research funded by our kind contributors. With a proven track record in helping to reduce the use of illegal street drugs, we are working across the nation to curb the illicit use of prescription drugs. Please let us help you right now with this fantastic new website of ways you can safeguard your home and stop medicine abuse.

This effort can be successful!  Between 1998 and 2001, teen use of the club drug Ecstasy jumped 71%, peaking in 2001. The Partnership began a research-based public education campaign about the dangers of Ecstasy in late 2000, and by 2003, use had plunged as teen’s perception of the risks of using Ecstasy increased over 20% according to the Monitoring The Future study.   (Here’s a dowloadable brochure about “X” if you want to know more.)

We have succeeded in the past and we can succeed again even on a challenge this close to home – so I’m closing by asking for your vital support this holiday season.

I understand these are challenging economic times, and we appreciate your donation more than ever.  Your contribution of $15, $25, or even $50 will enable us to continue our work combating prescription drug abuse so that more young lives aren’t damaged and more parents aren’t confronted with  the death of their child.

Please make a donation today to the Partnership to help us educate parents and teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Thank you.  Happy Holidays!

• 	Posted by: Steve Pasierb | 8 Comment(s)
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Have you checked your spam folder lately? 

If it’s anything like mine the subjects look like:

Vi%gra cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rx %$*&^( pre$cr1pt1ons
cheap via9r@, d1et p1lls, etc.

Not to mention the “she’ll love your new member” and “I represent Mr. Nkoko, the Nigerian oil billionaire” e-mails.

This past school year, my daughter Freckles wrote a research paper on the lunar astronauts.  We went to the local library and checked out a couple of books, but the majority of her research was done online especially on the NASA.gov website.  (Interesting tidbit: the school doesn’t allow the kids to use Wikipedia.)

I thought back to when I did a research report in fifth grade - lots of time in the local library using whatever they happened to have there and only during library hours, searching through that card catalogue, Xeroxing photographs for the report on that smelly old machine that churned out shiny paper b&w copies that I had to physically cut and paste into my report.

Contrast that with Freckles’ access to thousands of sources whenever she wanted, ability to watch video interviews with actual astronauts, option to download thousands of pictures in the NASA database and intersperse them in her paper in the appropriate place.

While she was working on this paper, I couldn’t help but think how fantastic the internet can be.  Then I checked my spam folder.  I guess as with everything, there’s an upside and a downside.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

• 	Posted by: Sarit Catz | 0 Comment(s)
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With the wild success of the new box-office smash film Dark Knight, people have been asking me again about the untimely death of Heath Ledger.  While I’d rather talk about his greatness as an Oscar-nominated (and potential Oscar-winning) actor, I know as the “drug prevention guy” these are the questions I’ll receive.  This amazingly talented and accomplished man was taken from us in a tragedy that has unfortunately occurred too many times and in too many families. 

Here’s what we know.  In February of this year, the New York City Chief Medical Examiner issued a report that says, “Mr. Heath Ledger died as a result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine.  We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications.” 

That day, I wanted to know more about these individual medications and especially their effects when abused. What I learned about those effects and the combination of effects, will speak volumes to you too:

• Oxycodone…  Intended Use:  long-acting narcotic pain reliever use to treat moderate to severe chronic pain.  Effects if Abused:  Slowed breathing and heartbeat, dizziness and fainting, tremors, muscle weakness, drowsiness or loss of consciousness.
• Hydrocodone…  Intended Use:  narcotic pain reliever used to treat moderate pain, also acts as a cough suppressant.  Effects if Abused:  vomiting, slow breathing, slow heartbeat, unusual sweating, chills, loss of consciousness.
• Diazepam… Intended Use:  treat anxiety and seizures, relieve muscle spasms and as a sedative during certain medical procedures.  Effects if Abused:  severe drowsiness, slow reflexes, slow and shallow breathing, fainting.
• Temazepam… Intended Use:short-term treatment of insomnia.  Effects if Abused:  slow breathing, slurred speech, a deep sleep from which one cannot readily be awakened.
• Alprazolam… Intended Use:  treat anxiety and panic attacks.  Effects if Abused:  severe drowsiness, loss of consciousness.
• Doxylamine… Intended use:  over-the-counter antihistamine used to treat insomnia and relieve cough and cold symptoms.  Effects if Abused:  extreme drowsiness, loss of coordination, seizures, hallucinations. 

Health Ledger’s death was indeed an enormous tragedy.  This unfortunate combination of medications in anyone’s system could result in the same outcome.  We all have medications in our lives and in our homes.  That’s one of the reasons we at the Partnership have been advocating Education, Communication and Safeguarding.

Society needs to understand that these products, when abused, can lead to extraordinary damage.  We must communicate to our teens that this is not a safe way to get high or manage life’s pressures.  And, there are some medicines in our homes that simply don’t belong in the family medicine cabinet, rather under lock and key.

Have you taken inventory of the medicines in your home?  What are your thoughts on all of this?

• 	Posted by: Steve Pasierb | 7 Comment(s)
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According to the pile of paper on my desk, the latest research news confirms, ”at home” and “early” spell trouble for our kids.

I get to see a lot of data that help us understand the health risks of youth substance abuse.  Sometimes it’s tough to make sense of all of the numbers and conclusions these studies put forth.  However, a few came across my desk in recent weeks that have a consistent theme for parents…

First, findings from right here at the Partnership that confirm both the fact prescription drug abuse is a serious problem among our teens today – one in five report having done it — and also that teens say the number one source of the products they are abusing is their own home medicine cabinet, the medicine cabinet of a family member, or a friends home.  

Second, an analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reporting that 45 percent of childhood drinkers ages 12 to 14 report getting their alcohol free from adult family members (30 percent) or take the alcohol from their own home (15 percent). Remember, we’re talking about 12-14 year-olds here! 

Then, another study that reports, “the earlier a person begins drinking alcohol, the more likely they are to have ever used other drugs illicitly.”  It’s called the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiological Survey.  Now while that name’s a mouthful, the finding that half of those who began drinking at age 14 or younger had also used illicit drugs in their lifetime, compared to just around one-tenth of those who began drinking at age 20 or older should make all us sit up in our seats and think about the kids in our lives!  All of the analysis done by the study authors boils down to the single fact that starting alcohol use at a younger age was the strongest independent predictor of ever using drugs illicitly. 

So you may see where am I going with this.  It comes back to my favorite theme, that parents have real power.  We have the unique ability to control access to these products in our own homes and to educate kids about the risks they pose to their health.  While we certainly can’t ourselves control drug trafficking over national borders, we sure as heck can control what’s accessible in the family medicine cabinet, the kitchen refrigerator or in the family room.  What’s more, parents have real power as once again we see helping your child avoid childhood drinking and drug use has benefits that last them throughout their lives.

Even the most dramatic of study findings defining a problem are not reasons for hopelessness, rather they offer hope and further emphasis that talking with our kids about drugs and alcohol, preventing their use and intervening when early use occurs can and does make a profound, positive impact.  It’s not always easy, but it makes a big difference. 

• 	Posted by: Steve Pasierb | 4 Comment(s)
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While it’s a new week, I find myself reflecting on the one just past. My wife and I were at a wedding on Saturday. During the course of dinner conversation and questions about my work, I was asked by one mom if childhood drinking and drug use weren’t just “inevitable” and isn’t there really not much parents can do but try their best and hope everything comes out okay? I’m always struck by this line of thinking because it’s far too common. We don’t think of other health risks facing our kids as something for “best tries” and “hope,” we take action. So, naturally, I’m a contrarian on the “inevitable” point and there is science to back me up – research shows that kids who learn a lot about drugs at home are half as likely to use as kids who don’t learn at home. Yet, less than a third of kids report learning “a lot” at home from mom, dad or the caring adult in their life. So, my message to parents is that you can do this, it’s not about the big scary drug talk, but rather a series of small, frequent conversations beginning before your child enters middle school and continuing right through high school and into college. Your child needs to know where you stand. We have some good information for you on the Partnership’s web site and will be putting a whole lot more there in the coming months.

The week past was also a sad reminder that this is a uniquely human issue. And, regretfully, sometimes our kid’s experimentation or use does become a tragedy. I had the honor of spending two days with Gary Neil. Gary is a remarkable father from Tulsa who has turned the pain of losing his 17 year-old son Harrison to prescription drug abuse into a quest to get truly useful information into the hands of other parents. Like many good parents, the issue of intentionally abusing prescription medicines wasn’t on the radar screen. Last week Gary put himself on the line doing dozens of media interviews with me to announce a new web site we’ve created called www.notinmyhouse.com. The site has all the essentials every parent should see and know about this dangerous form of abuse that can happen in our own homes. You can also view a video from Gary and his daughter, Jordan, plus some great advice from a collection of experts. It will help you have one of those small conversations with your kids that are so important!

• 	Posted by: Steve Pasierb | 0 Comment(s)
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