According to a recent study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs, the earlier a young person begins drinking, the greater risk of drug-related car accidents. The researchers surveyed over 40,000 over 18 year old drivers and found that 22% also used drugs, 10% drove under the influence of drugs and 1% had been in drug-related car accidents. Extrapolation of these proportions to the national population would mean 1 million people had been in drug-related crashes.
The research also looked at early age of drinking. They found the the greatest predictor of a drug-related car crash is early onset of drinking. Their conclusion is that the best method for prevention of drug-related car accidents is to increase alcohol abuse prevention in young people.
Age of Drinking Onset, Alcohol Dependence and their Relation to Drug Use and Dependence, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, and Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement Because of Drugs. Volume 69, Issue 2 March 2008
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
MA Among States with Higher Drug Death Rate than Car Accident Deaths
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) concluded that in more than 16 states, more people were killed by drugs than by auto accidents. The study, which was reported by the Associated Press, found that the majority of drug-related deaths were caused by the abuse of painkillers.
The report, which analyzed data from the National Vital Statistics System Mortality File, found that in 2006, more than 90 percent of poisoning deaths involved drugs. In fact, from 1999 to 2006 drug-related poisonings accounted for the largest portion of poisoning deaths overall.
Opioid analgesics, which are usually prescribed to treat pain, were involved in almost 40 percent of all poisoning deaths in 2006, up from about 20 percent in 1999. According to the AP story, for decades traffic accidents have been the biggest cause of injury-related death in the U.S. While they are still number one nationally, drug overdoses are pulling ahead in one state after another.
The number of states in which drug-related deaths have overtaken traffic fatalities has gone from eight in 2003 to 12 in 2005, and 16 in 2006. They are: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
CDC’s data also show that among opioid analgesic-related deaths, those involving methadone increased the most during the period 1999-2006. Methadone is a long-acting opioid used to help people addicted to painkillers and other opioid-based drugs, and in some cases as a painkiller.
"People see a car accident as something that might happen to them," said Margaret Warner, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the AP article. But as for death from a drug overdose, "maybe they see it as something that's not going happen to them."
CDC researchers counted more than 45,000 U.S. deaths nationwide from traffic accidents in 2006, and about 39,000 from drug-induced causes. Nationally, the death rate from traffic accidents fell by about 6.5 percent from 1999 through 2006 - from 15.3 deaths per 100,000 people to 14.3 per 100,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The report, which analyzed data from the National Vital Statistics System Mortality File, found that in 2006, more than 90 percent of poisoning deaths involved drugs. In fact, from 1999 to 2006 drug-related poisonings accounted for the largest portion of poisoning deaths overall.
Opioid analgesics, which are usually prescribed to treat pain, were involved in almost 40 percent of all poisoning deaths in 2006, up from about 20 percent in 1999. According to the AP story, for decades traffic accidents have been the biggest cause of injury-related death in the U.S. While they are still number one nationally, drug overdoses are pulling ahead in one state after another.
The number of states in which drug-related deaths have overtaken traffic fatalities has gone from eight in 2003 to 12 in 2005, and 16 in 2006. They are: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
CDC’s data also show that among opioid analgesic-related deaths, those involving methadone increased the most during the period 1999-2006. Methadone is a long-acting opioid used to help people addicted to painkillers and other opioid-based drugs, and in some cases as a painkiller.
"People see a car accident as something that might happen to them," said Margaret Warner, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the AP article. But as for death from a drug overdose, "maybe they see it as something that's not going happen to them."
CDC researchers counted more than 45,000 U.S. deaths nationwide from traffic accidents in 2006, and about 39,000 from drug-induced causes. Nationally, the death rate from traffic accidents fell by about 6.5 percent from 1999 through 2006 - from 15.3 deaths per 100,000 people to 14.3 per 100,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Banning Straight DXM
March 12, 2009
Dextromethorphan Distribution Act Introduced in Congress
A bill that would help prevent over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine abuse was was introduced in Congress last week. H.R. 1259, the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act, was introduced by Representatives Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).
The bill, which passed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last Wednesday, seeks to limit the sale of raw dextromethorphan, an active ingredient commonly found in its finished form in OTC cough medicines, only to legitimate entities registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or state agencies. This bill comes after a number of instances of teenagers purchasing the potent raw ingredient online and abusing it with tragic consequences.
Dextromethorphan is a common cough medication ingredient that is widely abused by teens. In high doses it give you the feeling of being drunk with hallunications effects. If youth do not have access to alcohol, they will use the cough medications in our medicine cabinets to get a similar high.
DXM causes permanent scarring of the brain, liver damage, uncontrolled bleeding and coma.
Since the other active ingredients in these often "multi-symptom" medications also can cause serious problems but do not contribute to the high, people separate the DXM from the other ingredients. This clearly demonstrates intention of abuse, therefore it has been banned by the state of Illinois.
This is the third time the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives twice, but failed to move forward before the close of both the 109th and 110th Congresses. CADCA has supported the bill each time and will continue to monitor its progress.
Dextromethorphan Distribution Act Introduced in Congress
A bill that would help prevent over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine abuse was was introduced in Congress last week. H.R. 1259, the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act, was introduced by Representatives Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).
The bill, which passed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last Wednesday, seeks to limit the sale of raw dextromethorphan, an active ingredient commonly found in its finished form in OTC cough medicines, only to legitimate entities registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or state agencies. This bill comes after a number of instances of teenagers purchasing the potent raw ingredient online and abusing it with tragic consequences.
Dextromethorphan is a common cough medication ingredient that is widely abused by teens. In high doses it give you the feeling of being drunk with hallunications effects. If youth do not have access to alcohol, they will use the cough medications in our medicine cabinets to get a similar high.
DXM causes permanent scarring of the brain, liver damage, uncontrolled bleeding and coma.
Since the other active ingredients in these often "multi-symptom" medications also can cause serious problems but do not contribute to the high, people separate the DXM from the other ingredients. This clearly demonstrates intention of abuse, therefore it has been banned by the state of Illinois.
This is the third time the Dextromethorphan Distribution Act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives twice, but failed to move forward before the close of both the 109th and 110th Congresses. CADCA has supported the bill each time and will continue to monitor its progress.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Teen Drinking Parties in MA
Two deaths, 1 close call stir fears of teen parties
Keith O'Brien, Boston Globe
2/22/2009
On New Year's Eve, with winds howling, snow swirling, and temperatures hovering near zero, a 16-year-old high school student, drunk on rum, left an unsupervised party at a friend's house, wandered out into the night, and went missing in Marblehead.
Friends initially lied about the events that preceded Ben Barber's disappearance, according to the police report, and Barber himself later admitted that he hid from searchers' lights, not wanting to get in trouble. Those decisions - along with the excessive drinking - nearly killed him. When firefighters finally found the teenager near a snowdrift behind a house more than six hours after his friends last saw him, Barber was missing a shoe and a sock, and was unre sponsive. He was suffering from frostbite and severe hypothermia, and his core temperature had fallen to 88 degrees.
But Barber was alive.
"How he survived that, I have no idea," said the boy's father, Dave Barber, who did not know that night his son was drinking. "I can't stop saying how lucky we are that he's here."
The recent deaths of two Massachusetts teenagers - 17-year-old Taylor Meyer last October in Norfolk and 16-year-old Elizabeth Mun last weekend in Andover, who each wandered away from unsupervised parties and died in cold, shallow bodies of water - have shocked parents and teenagers alike. But Ben Barber's story, hauntingly similar to the two girls' deaths in many ways, reveals an unsettling truth: that these episodes, while rare, are perhaps not as unlikely as parents and children would like to believe, especially when teenagers are left to supervise other teenagers.
Between 2001 and 2005, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 125 people, age 16 to 20, drowned annually in cases involving alcohol. An estimated 37 young people died per year in alcohol-related falls, according to the data, and another 41 died per year in fires.
Those are small figures, at least in comparison with the number of young drivers who drank, got behind the wheel and died in car crashes in 2007 - nearly 1,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's why most parents tell their children not to drink and drive - a simple message, easily delivered, on a serious issue. But as recent events in Massachusetts have shown, the messages parents need to be delivering are a lot more complicated than that.
"Parents may feel safe with their children being in the safety of their own home or someone else's home - and not on the road," said Toben Nelson, assistant director of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which examines the impact of drinking on young people. "But I think that's a false sense of security. When someone's intoxicated, particularly someone underage, they're very vulnerable to a range of bad consequences."
It's not known if Mun, whose funeral was held yesterday, or her friends were drinking alcohol prior to her death. Investigators aren't saying. But Essex County authorities have confirmed that there were no parents home the night of the party when Mun wandered off, just as there were no parents around last fall when Meyer, celebrating homecoming, attended a drinking party in a wooded section of Norfolk. The two episodes, taken together, offer a window into the teenage party culture, where parents are often oblivious, or gone for the night, binge drinking is prevalent, and tragedies like these are all too likely, unfolding many times right in someone's living room or basement.
"I often encourage parents not to allow kids to have sleepovers," said Jim McCauley, director of youth and family services at Riverside Community Care, a Needham-based nonprofit that provides substance abuse counseling among other services. "Teenagers don't need to have sleepovers. Sleepover is just another way of saying they're going to go someplace and drink."
Even though Massachusetts' rates of underage drinking have fallen in recent years, the state still has one of the highest rates of underage binge drinking in the country, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
In 2006, more than 11 percent of Massachusetts youths ages 12 to 17 reported binge drinking - defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting - during the prior month, according to the survey. For drinkers age 12 to 20, the rate was more than double: 23 percent. And the number of high school students reporting any drinking in the previous month, according to 2007 state data, is even higher: 46 percent.
Inevitably, said Steve Wing, SAMHSA's associate administrator for alcohol policy, such behavior is going to lead to tragedies. Teenagers who have been drinking will die in car accidents, he said, in drownings, and in alcohol-fueled violence.
"And from time to time," Wing said, "one of them will have too much alcohol on board, wander off and die of alcohol poisoning. It is a rare event on the spectrum," he added, noting that there are no numbers tracking these deaths.
Well aware of that now, given the recent incidents, parents scrambled last week to remind their children of the dangers of underage drinking. In Wellesley, Janet Forte sat down with her 13-year-old daughter, Anna, to talk about the recent deaths. In Andover, not far from where Mun died, Andrea Zaimes had a similar discussion with her 15-year-old son. And in Needham, Susan Ishige, who's strict with her two teenaged boys and proud of it, said the deaths reminded her why she doesn't allow her boys to be at houses when parents are not home.
"They're good kids," she said. "But good kids make mistakes."
It is a lesson that Leslie Walker said she learned recently with her 14-year-old son in Belmont when he went over to a friend's house on New Year's Eve. "The father was there. Adults were there. Everyone knew about it. They got dropped off by parents. Everything you're supposed to do with a 14-year-old," Walker said. And still, there were problems, she said, when one friend, who had been drinking beforehand, began to vomit in the basement and the children did not tell the parents upstairs about it.
"There are dozens of these incidents in every town that don't make it to the level of a death," Walker said. But they're scary nonetheless. "This kid is vomiting, passed out. They take his vomit-laden clothes off. But they don't tell anybody."
On the same night, up in Marblehead, Ben Barber's friends used similar tactics to keep parents from knowing the truth, according to the police report documenting the search for the 16-year-old. After Barber's parents called police around 3 a.m., concerned about his whereabouts, the youngsters initially told officers "several versions of the night's events," attempting to conceal the party they had held while Barber's friend's parents were having dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The lies impeded the search, police said, forcing them to chase down false leads in the middle of the cold, blustery night, where winds in town reached gusts of 52 miles per hour. But ultimately, with the help of thermal imaging devices, firefighters found Barber in the snow. "It was a close call. No question about it," said his father, Dave Barber. And for the Barber family, the ordeal still isn't over. Last week, Dave Barber said, doctors were forced to amputate half of his son's big toe due to frostbite damage. It was traumatic for his son, Barber said. "For any kid," he said, "it would be upsetting." But Dave Barber knows that it could have been so much worse.
"Our hearts go out to the parents who weren't so lucky," he said. "You just wish that kids will learn from these things, and maybe they will."
Keith O'Brien, Boston Globe
2/22/2009
On New Year's Eve, with winds howling, snow swirling, and temperatures hovering near zero, a 16-year-old high school student, drunk on rum, left an unsupervised party at a friend's house, wandered out into the night, and went missing in Marblehead.
Friends initially lied about the events that preceded Ben Barber's disappearance, according to the police report, and Barber himself later admitted that he hid from searchers' lights, not wanting to get in trouble. Those decisions - along with the excessive drinking - nearly killed him. When firefighters finally found the teenager near a snowdrift behind a house more than six hours after his friends last saw him, Barber was missing a shoe and a sock, and was unre sponsive. He was suffering from frostbite and severe hypothermia, and his core temperature had fallen to 88 degrees.
But Barber was alive.
"How he survived that, I have no idea," said the boy's father, Dave Barber, who did not know that night his son was drinking. "I can't stop saying how lucky we are that he's here."
The recent deaths of two Massachusetts teenagers - 17-year-old Taylor Meyer last October in Norfolk and 16-year-old Elizabeth Mun last weekend in Andover, who each wandered away from unsupervised parties and died in cold, shallow bodies of water - have shocked parents and teenagers alike. But Ben Barber's story, hauntingly similar to the two girls' deaths in many ways, reveals an unsettling truth: that these episodes, while rare, are perhaps not as unlikely as parents and children would like to believe, especially when teenagers are left to supervise other teenagers.
Between 2001 and 2005, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 125 people, age 16 to 20, drowned annually in cases involving alcohol. An estimated 37 young people died per year in alcohol-related falls, according to the data, and another 41 died per year in fires.
Those are small figures, at least in comparison with the number of young drivers who drank, got behind the wheel and died in car crashes in 2007 - nearly 1,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's why most parents tell their children not to drink and drive - a simple message, easily delivered, on a serious issue. But as recent events in Massachusetts have shown, the messages parents need to be delivering are a lot more complicated than that.
"Parents may feel safe with their children being in the safety of their own home or someone else's home - and not on the road," said Toben Nelson, assistant director of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which examines the impact of drinking on young people. "But I think that's a false sense of security. When someone's intoxicated, particularly someone underage, they're very vulnerable to a range of bad consequences."
It's not known if Mun, whose funeral was held yesterday, or her friends were drinking alcohol prior to her death. Investigators aren't saying. But Essex County authorities have confirmed that there were no parents home the night of the party when Mun wandered off, just as there were no parents around last fall when Meyer, celebrating homecoming, attended a drinking party in a wooded section of Norfolk. The two episodes, taken together, offer a window into the teenage party culture, where parents are often oblivious, or gone for the night, binge drinking is prevalent, and tragedies like these are all too likely, unfolding many times right in someone's living room or basement.
"I often encourage parents not to allow kids to have sleepovers," said Jim McCauley, director of youth and family services at Riverside Community Care, a Needham-based nonprofit that provides substance abuse counseling among other services. "Teenagers don't need to have sleepovers. Sleepover is just another way of saying they're going to go someplace and drink."
Even though Massachusetts' rates of underage drinking have fallen in recent years, the state still has one of the highest rates of underage binge drinking in the country, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
In 2006, more than 11 percent of Massachusetts youths ages 12 to 17 reported binge drinking - defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting - during the prior month, according to the survey. For drinkers age 12 to 20, the rate was more than double: 23 percent. And the number of high school students reporting any drinking in the previous month, according to 2007 state data, is even higher: 46 percent.
Inevitably, said Steve Wing, SAMHSA's associate administrator for alcohol policy, such behavior is going to lead to tragedies. Teenagers who have been drinking will die in car accidents, he said, in drownings, and in alcohol-fueled violence.
"And from time to time," Wing said, "one of them will have too much alcohol on board, wander off and die of alcohol poisoning. It is a rare event on the spectrum," he added, noting that there are no numbers tracking these deaths.
Well aware of that now, given the recent incidents, parents scrambled last week to remind their children of the dangers of underage drinking. In Wellesley, Janet Forte sat down with her 13-year-old daughter, Anna, to talk about the recent deaths. In Andover, not far from where Mun died, Andrea Zaimes had a similar discussion with her 15-year-old son. And in Needham, Susan Ishige, who's strict with her two teenaged boys and proud of it, said the deaths reminded her why she doesn't allow her boys to be at houses when parents are not home.
"They're good kids," she said. "But good kids make mistakes."
It is a lesson that Leslie Walker said she learned recently with her 14-year-old son in Belmont when he went over to a friend's house on New Year's Eve. "The father was there. Adults were there. Everyone knew about it. They got dropped off by parents. Everything you're supposed to do with a 14-year-old," Walker said. And still, there were problems, she said, when one friend, who had been drinking beforehand, began to vomit in the basement and the children did not tell the parents upstairs about it.
"There are dozens of these incidents in every town that don't make it to the level of a death," Walker said. But they're scary nonetheless. "This kid is vomiting, passed out. They take his vomit-laden clothes off. But they don't tell anybody."
On the same night, up in Marblehead, Ben Barber's friends used similar tactics to keep parents from knowing the truth, according to the police report documenting the search for the 16-year-old. After Barber's parents called police around 3 a.m., concerned about his whereabouts, the youngsters initially told officers "several versions of the night's events," attempting to conceal the party they had held while Barber's friend's parents were having dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The lies impeded the search, police said, forcing them to chase down false leads in the middle of the cold, blustery night, where winds in town reached gusts of 52 miles per hour. But ultimately, with the help of thermal imaging devices, firefighters found Barber in the snow. "It was a close call. No question about it," said his father, Dave Barber. And for the Barber family, the ordeal still isn't over. Last week, Dave Barber said, doctors were forced to amputate half of his son's big toe due to frostbite damage. It was traumatic for his son, Barber said. "For any kid," he said, "it would be upsetting." But Dave Barber knows that it could have been so much worse.
"Our hearts go out to the parents who weren't so lucky," he said. "You just wish that kids will learn from these things, and maybe they will."
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Docs Lose Ability to Prescribe Certain Narcotics
New FDA Rules Could Cut Narcotics Prescriptions
February 10, 2009
New restrictions will be placed on prescription of two dozen powerful Schedule II narcotic drugs including OxyContin, methadone and morphine, the New York Times reported Feb. 10.
The new rules could lead to many doctors losing their prescribing rights of extended-release opioids that are addictive and have high potential for overdose and death if misused.
"What we're talking about is putting in place a program to try to ensure that physicians prescribing these products are properly trained in their safe use, and that only those physicians are prescribing those products," said John K. Jenkins, director of the drug center at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "This is going to be a massive program."
Jenkins said current FDA regulations have failed to prevent inappropriate prescriptions, overaggressive marketing, and drug misuse that have led to deaths and overdoses. On the other hand, Jenkins noted that the drugs are highly effective in reducing pain. Federal officials will meet with drug makers, consumer advocates and others in March to discuss policy changes.
The announcement may signal a more assertive role in regulating physician prescribing by the FDA, which traditionally has issued warnings but left control over the practice of medicine to state medical boards.
February 10, 2009
New restrictions will be placed on prescription of two dozen powerful Schedule II narcotic drugs including OxyContin, methadone and morphine, the New York Times reported Feb. 10.
The new rules could lead to many doctors losing their prescribing rights of extended-release opioids that are addictive and have high potential for overdose and death if misused.
"What we're talking about is putting in place a program to try to ensure that physicians prescribing these products are properly trained in their safe use, and that only those physicians are prescribing those products," said John K. Jenkins, director of the drug center at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "This is going to be a massive program."
Jenkins said current FDA regulations have failed to prevent inappropriate prescriptions, overaggressive marketing, and drug misuse that have led to deaths and overdoses. On the other hand, Jenkins noted that the drugs are highly effective in reducing pain. Federal officials will meet with drug makers, consumer advocates and others in March to discuss policy changes.
The announcement may signal a more assertive role in regulating physician prescribing by the FDA, which traditionally has issued warnings but left control over the practice of medicine to state medical boards.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Role Model Apolgizes
Phelps Disciplined Over Marijuana Pipe Incident
The Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps, who was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe, has lost a major sponsorship deal and has been suspended from competition for three months.
Kellogg, the food company, said Thursday that it would not renew its contract with Phelps when their deal expires at the end of February. It would not disclose the value of its contract.
Later Thursday, USA Swimming suspended Phelps for three months.
“Michael’s most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg,” Susanne Norwitz, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement.
USA Swimming publicly reprimanded Phelps, who won eight medals at the Beijing Games, temporarily withdrawing its financial support to him and barring him from competition through early May. Phelps receives a monthly stipend of $1,750 from the organization. The national and world championships will be held in the summer.
“We decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and hero,” the organization said in a statement.
Phelps’s agent, Drew Johnson, also released a statement, saying that Phelps accepted and understood the decisions. “He feels bad he let anyone down,” the statement said. “He’s also encouraged by the thousands of comments he’s received from his fans and the support from his many sponsors. He intends to work hard to regain everyone’s trust.”
Phelps, 23, admitted that the photo, taken at a student party at the University of South Carolina, was authentic. He subsequently apologized, calling his behavior “inappropriate.” When asked by WBAL-TV in Baltimore what he could have been thinking at the time smoking from a marijuana pipe, he responded: “Obviously not much. It’s a bad judgment. I can learn from it.”
The Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps, who was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe, has lost a major sponsorship deal and has been suspended from competition for three months.
Kellogg, the food company, said Thursday that it would not renew its contract with Phelps when their deal expires at the end of February. It would not disclose the value of its contract.
Later Thursday, USA Swimming suspended Phelps for three months.
“Michael’s most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg,” Susanne Norwitz, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement.
USA Swimming publicly reprimanded Phelps, who won eight medals at the Beijing Games, temporarily withdrawing its financial support to him and barring him from competition through early May. Phelps receives a monthly stipend of $1,750 from the organization. The national and world championships will be held in the summer.
“We decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and hero,” the organization said in a statement.
Phelps’s agent, Drew Johnson, also released a statement, saying that Phelps accepted and understood the decisions. “He feels bad he let anyone down,” the statement said. “He’s also encouraged by the thousands of comments he’s received from his fans and the support from his many sponsors. He intends to work hard to regain everyone’s trust.”
Phelps, 23, admitted that the photo, taken at a student party at the University of South Carolina, was authentic. He subsequently apologized, calling his behavior “inappropriate.” When asked by WBAL-TV in Baltimore what he could have been thinking at the time smoking from a marijuana pipe, he responded: “Obviously not much. It’s a bad judgment. I can learn from it.”
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Schools Remain Strict on Pot
Despite decriminalization, schools keep strict drug possession policies
January 29, 2009
Connie Paige, Boston Globe
Area school superintendents surveyed recently said they have no plans to reverse their zero-tolerance policies concerning students found with drugs.
While school rules put students in a different category than other users in the wake of a new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, the superintendents maintain that the rules are for the students' own good.
Nashoba Valley Technical High School Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz pointed out the rules help protect students' health and safety - especially in a school like hers where students often wield heavy and sharp-edged equipment and work with toxic and heated substances.
"The issue of drugs for a student who is high behind a desk in a math class is brutally different than for a student behind a lathe saw," she said. "That presents a clear and obvious danger."
Klimkiewicz said she is taking a lead from Mitchell D. Chester, the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education. Chester issued an advisory that the new law does not alter the authority of school officials to impose discipline, including suspension or expulsion, on students who possess 1 ounce of marijuana or less on school property or at school-sponsored or school-related functions. Under the law, the advisory noted, possession is defined as not only holding marijuana but also having it inside one's body.
Tewksbury Superintendent Christine L. McGrath said officials at that town's schools all agreed on maintaining existing rules. She said they are listening to advice from Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.
Leone is among many law enforcement officials - notably Attorney General Martha Coakley, other district attorneys, and police around the state - who have lobbied against the new law.
"We remain focused on continuing to send a clear message to our children that marijuana remains unhealthy, dangerous, and illegal in Massachusetts," Leone said in a statement about the new law, passed by voters at the ballot box in November.
Despite health and safety aims, the school rules can wreak havoc on students' lives, as Groton-Dunstable high schooler Cody Manley recently discovered the hard way. The 16-year-old was suspended for four months and barred from playing interscholastic football after he was caught on school grounds last October with three friends possessing a small amount of pot.
"I think it's unfair," said Manley, whose parents have taken the issue before the Groton-Dunstable School Committee for redress.
Manley was scheduled to return to school on Monday. Now he must receive counseling with a drug and alcohol specialist, submit to monthly drug testing, remain on probation for the rest of the school year, and cannot leave the building while school is in session.
After hearing Manley's case, Groton-Dunstable School Committee chairman Paul G. Funch said he believes that penalties under the marijuana rules can sometimes be too harsh. For example, he said he believes there should be reconsideration of the rule allowing a report of first-time marijuana possession to remain permanently on a student's transcript.
"I think that's really beyond the pale," Funch said. "You should get their attention, but I don't think their lives should be so severely impacted."
But Groton-Dunstable Principal Shelley Marcus Cohen said the policy must be maintained for the students' protection.
"Drugs are not going to be allowed on this campus," she said.
January 29, 2009
Connie Paige, Boston Globe
Area school superintendents surveyed recently said they have no plans to reverse their zero-tolerance policies concerning students found with drugs.
While school rules put students in a different category than other users in the wake of a new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, the superintendents maintain that the rules are for the students' own good.
Nashoba Valley Technical High School Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz pointed out the rules help protect students' health and safety - especially in a school like hers where students often wield heavy and sharp-edged equipment and work with toxic and heated substances.
"The issue of drugs for a student who is high behind a desk in a math class is brutally different than for a student behind a lathe saw," she said. "That presents a clear and obvious danger."
Klimkiewicz said she is taking a lead from Mitchell D. Chester, the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education. Chester issued an advisory that the new law does not alter the authority of school officials to impose discipline, including suspension or expulsion, on students who possess 1 ounce of marijuana or less on school property or at school-sponsored or school-related functions. Under the law, the advisory noted, possession is defined as not only holding marijuana but also having it inside one's body.
Tewksbury Superintendent Christine L. McGrath said officials at that town's schools all agreed on maintaining existing rules. She said they are listening to advice from Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.
Leone is among many law enforcement officials - notably Attorney General Martha Coakley, other district attorneys, and police around the state - who have lobbied against the new law.
"We remain focused on continuing to send a clear message to our children that marijuana remains unhealthy, dangerous, and illegal in Massachusetts," Leone said in a statement about the new law, passed by voters at the ballot box in November.
Despite health and safety aims, the school rules can wreak havoc on students' lives, as Groton-Dunstable high schooler Cody Manley recently discovered the hard way. The 16-year-old was suspended for four months and barred from playing interscholastic football after he was caught on school grounds last October with three friends possessing a small amount of pot.
"I think it's unfair," said Manley, whose parents have taken the issue before the Groton-Dunstable School Committee for redress.
Manley was scheduled to return to school on Monday. Now he must receive counseling with a drug and alcohol specialist, submit to monthly drug testing, remain on probation for the rest of the school year, and cannot leave the building while school is in session.
After hearing Manley's case, Groton-Dunstable School Committee chairman Paul G. Funch said he believes that penalties under the marijuana rules can sometimes be too harsh. For example, he said he believes there should be reconsideration of the rule allowing a report of first-time marijuana possession to remain permanently on a student's transcript.
"I think that's really beyond the pale," Funch said. "You should get their attention, but I don't think their lives should be so severely impacted."
But Groton-Dunstable Principal Shelley Marcus Cohen said the policy must be maintained for the students' protection.
"Drugs are not going to be allowed on this campus," she said.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Flask for "Tweens
Advocates Call on 'Tween Stores to Stop Selling Flasks
January 27, 2009
Underage drinking advocates are calling on the teen accessory store chain, Icing by Claire's, to stop selling girl-friendly flasks.
Flasks decorated with charms and designed to hold 5 ounces of liquor are available for $12.50, and one-shot keychain flasks with room for the individual's initials are available for $8.50 each.
The flasks show disclaimers that the product is not meant for minors, and warns that the flasks are designed to carry alcoholic beverages and should not be used for beverages with acidic contents like fruit juices.
Advocates are concerned that Icing by Claire's is encouraging underage drinking by selling flasks, while targeting its products to girls as young as 17. Icing by Claire's is a subsidiary of Claire's, Inc., which operates approximately 3,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Recent studies show that girls are drinking earlier and increasing their alcohol intake. For example, the rate of 14-year-old girls using alcohol escalated from one in ten to almost one-third over the last 40 years. "In many cases, the girls are outdrinking the boys, putting themselves at greater risks," said Janet Williams, co-chairman of the Illinois Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking, which wrote a letter to parent-company Claire's.
It appears that youth are gravitating towards hard liquor like rum and tequila in an effort to get drunk faster, according to Elizabeth Nelson, a community health specialist at the Lake County Health Department.
"Anything that promotes the perception that alcohol use is acceptable with young people is really disturbing," Nelson said.
Oregon Partnership announced that Icing by Claire's said it will continue selling the flasks at its 3,000 stores, but will post signs at store counters supporting "responsible" alcohol consumption. -->
January 27, 2009
Underage drinking advocates are calling on the teen accessory store chain, Icing by Claire's, to stop selling girl-friendly flasks.
Flasks decorated with charms and designed to hold 5 ounces of liquor are available for $12.50, and one-shot keychain flasks with room for the individual's initials are available for $8.50 each.
The flasks show disclaimers that the product is not meant for minors, and warns that the flasks are designed to carry alcoholic beverages and should not be used for beverages with acidic contents like fruit juices.
Advocates are concerned that Icing by Claire's is encouraging underage drinking by selling flasks, while targeting its products to girls as young as 17. Icing by Claire's is a subsidiary of Claire's, Inc., which operates approximately 3,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Recent studies show that girls are drinking earlier and increasing their alcohol intake. For example, the rate of 14-year-old girls using alcohol escalated from one in ten to almost one-third over the last 40 years. "In many cases, the girls are outdrinking the boys, putting themselves at greater risks," said Janet Williams, co-chairman of the Illinois Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking, which wrote a letter to parent-company Claire's.
It appears that youth are gravitating towards hard liquor like rum and tequila in an effort to get drunk faster, according to Elizabeth Nelson, a community health specialist at the Lake County Health Department.
"Anything that promotes the perception that alcohol use is acceptable with young people is really disturbing," Nelson said.
Oregon Partnership announced that Icing by Claire's said it will continue selling the flasks at its 3,000 stores, but will post signs at store counters supporting "responsible" alcohol consumption. -->
Friday, January 23, 2009
Drug Testing
Plans to Drug-Test Teachers Face Opposition
January 22, 2009
Join Together News Summary
A number of schools across the U.S. want to administer random drug tests to teachers, but the proposals are hitting strong opposition from educators and teachers' unions.
USA Today reported Jan. 18 that schools in North Carolina, West Virginia and Hawaii have sought to join at least four school districts in Kentucky that require teachers to submit to random alcohol and other drug testing.
Just a small fraction of districts around the country have considered or implemented drug testing for teachers, although testing of students -- and particularly student-athletes -- is more common.
In West Virginia, a proposed testing policy has been halted by a federal appeals court thanks to teacher opposition, and a similar policy in Hawaii is awaiting a review by a state board. Graham County, N.C., also has proposed testing of teachers, but that policy is currently being challenged in a state appeals court.
Drug testing "would be in our view a waste of money, because there is no problem that a drug-testing program can address," said Michael Simpson, an attorney with the National Education Association.
January 22, 2009
Join Together News Summary
A number of schools across the U.S. want to administer random drug tests to teachers, but the proposals are hitting strong opposition from educators and teachers' unions.
USA Today reported Jan. 18 that schools in North Carolina, West Virginia and Hawaii have sought to join at least four school districts in Kentucky that require teachers to submit to random alcohol and other drug testing.
Just a small fraction of districts around the country have considered or implemented drug testing for teachers, although testing of students -- and particularly student-athletes -- is more common.
In West Virginia, a proposed testing policy has been halted by a federal appeals court thanks to teacher opposition, and a similar policy in Hawaii is awaiting a review by a state board. Graham County, N.C., also has proposed testing of teachers, but that policy is currently being challenged in a state appeals court.
Drug testing "would be in our view a waste of money, because there is no problem that a drug-testing program can address," said Michael Simpson, an attorney with the National Education Association.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Cigarettes vs. Pot
U.S. High School Seniors Now As Likely to Be Smoking Cigarettes As Marijuana
High school seniors are as likely to smoke cigarettes in the past month as they are to use marijuana, according to the most recent data from the national Monitoring the Future survey. In 2008, 20.4% of 12thgraders reported smoking cigarettes in the past month, a substantial decline from the most recent high of 36.5% in 1997. Marijuana use was at its lowest in 1992 but has now elevated to 19.4%. This is the first time since the late 70s and early 80s that marijuana use and cigarette use is almost equal for high school seniors. Similar trends in cigarette and marijuana use have occurred among 8thand 10th graders.*
One one hand, cigarette smoking is at at an all-time low. 12th graders have a high perception of the hazards of tobacco use. Conversely, seniors have a low perception of the dangers of marijuana abuse. They are just as likely to smoke a joint as a cigarette. That is bad news.
But since we can reach teens about the risks with cigarette smoking, we should be able to do the same with marijuana. It will be very difficult here in MA with the new law. It will not happen overnight. Our efforts in substance abuse prevention must embrace the task of increasing the perception of harm with marijuana in order to reduce use.
*Source: "Trends in 30-day Prevelance of Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12", Monitoring the Future study 2008
High school seniors are as likely to smoke cigarettes in the past month as they are to use marijuana, according to the most recent data from the national Monitoring the Future survey. In 2008, 20.4% of 12thgraders reported smoking cigarettes in the past month, a substantial decline from the most recent high of 36.5% in 1997. Marijuana use was at its lowest in 1992 but has now elevated to 19.4%. This is the first time since the late 70s and early 80s that marijuana use and cigarette use is almost equal for high school seniors. Similar trends in cigarette and marijuana use have occurred among 8thand 10th graders.*
One one hand, cigarette smoking is at at an all-time low. 12th graders have a high perception of the hazards of tobacco use. Conversely, seniors have a low perception of the dangers of marijuana abuse. They are just as likely to smoke a joint as a cigarette. That is bad news.
But since we can reach teens about the risks with cigarette smoking, we should be able to do the same with marijuana. It will be very difficult here in MA with the new law. It will not happen overnight. Our efforts in substance abuse prevention must embrace the task of increasing the perception of harm with marijuana in order to reduce use.
*Source: "Trends in 30-day Prevelance of Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12", Monitoring the Future study 2008
Friday, January 16, 2009
Adisory Opinion to MA Schools on New Marijuana Law
The following is an excerpt from the "Advisory Opinion on Ballot Question 2: An act Establishing a Sensible State Marijuana Policy", authored by Mitchell D. Cgester, Ed.D., Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education in a letter to all MA School Superintendents and School Principals:
This advisory responds to questions the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has received about Ballot Question 2, An Act Establishing A Sensible State Marijuana Policy, and its impact on public schools. Question 2, a ballot initiative law that the voters passed on November 4, 2008, decriminalizes the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana. The Attorney General has advised that Question 2 goes into effect 30 days after the Secretary of State's presentation of the election results to the Governor and Governor's Council, and their official determination that Question 2 has passed. The Governor's Council met on December 3, 2008 and certified the election results, which means that the new law will take effect on January 2, 2009.
Question 2 replaces the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties to be enforced by issuing citations, and excludes information regarding this civil offense from the state's criminal record information system.
In our opinion, Question 2 does not affect the existing authority of school officials under state law and school committee policy to impose discipline, including suspension or expulsion, on students who possess one ounce or less of marijuana on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events.
State law authorizes but does not mandate school officials to suspend or expel students for possession of marijuana. We encourage school officials to use their authority under state law and school committee policy with discretion. Preferably, disciplinary measures should be coupled with drug awareness programs, and students should be given the opportunity to continue education in alternative settings when excluded from school for disciplinary reasons.
This advisory responds to questions the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has received about Ballot Question 2, An Act Establishing A Sensible State Marijuana Policy, and its impact on public schools. Question 2, a ballot initiative law that the voters passed on November 4, 2008, decriminalizes the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana. The Attorney General has advised that Question 2 goes into effect 30 days after the Secretary of State's presentation of the election results to the Governor and Governor's Council, and their official determination that Question 2 has passed. The Governor's Council met on December 3, 2008 and certified the election results, which means that the new law will take effect on January 2, 2009.
Question 2 replaces the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties to be enforced by issuing citations, and excludes information regarding this civil offense from the state's criminal record information system.
In our opinion, Question 2 does not affect the existing authority of school officials under state law and school committee policy to impose discipline, including suspension or expulsion, on students who possess one ounce or less of marijuana on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events.
State law authorizes but does not mandate school officials to suspend or expel students for possession of marijuana. We encourage school officials to use their authority under state law and school committee policy with discretion. Preferably, disciplinary measures should be coupled with drug awareness programs, and students should be given the opportunity to continue education in alternative settings when excluded from school for disciplinary reasons.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Social Host Liability
Mother sent to prison for hosting son's underage drinking party
By Jill Harmacinski, Eagle Tribune (abidged)
January 08, 2009
LAWRENCE — Modesta Brito knew her teenage son was having a party on the night of Nov. 24, 2007. She was aware he and his friends were drinking beer in her home. And she knew they were playing the drinking game quarters, even giving them a plastic cup to bounce the coins into, a prosecutor said.
Allowing the underage drinking party in her Hampshire Street apartment was a risk Brito took. That risk became harsh reality when Ryan Bourque, 17, left the party and was killed in a car crash, prosecutor Jennifer Kunsch said.
Brito, a 42-year-old mother of three, will spend the next three months in prison after yesterday admitting to violating the state's Social Host Liability Law and allowing the party in her home.
After Bourque's death, both Brito and her son Edrian Brito Mendez, were charged with violating the state's Social Host Liability Law. It was the first time ever, in Essex County,
such alcohol charges were filed against both parent and child.
"You were the responsible adult. You were the one who should have been looking out for your son and the other kids," Judge Thomas Brennan said. "In this case, the consequences were tragic and for that, you bear some responsibility."
Mendez, 18, now a student at Northern Essex Community College, also was charged with two counts of providing alcohol to minors. All of his charges were continued without a finding for a year in a plea agreement reached and approved by Brennan earlier yesterday.
Brennan noted that the primary responsibility for supervising the household rested with Modesta Brito as her son was then 17. However, the teen is still "responsible for his actions."
A police investigation revealed that Mendez charged friends $5 to drink beer from a 30-pack he had in a refrigerator in the apartment.
Brito was formally sentenced to one year in jail with 90 days to be served and the balance suspended for two years. She also will have to serve 200 hours of community service and pay fines.
Mendez must undergo alcohol evaluation and treatment, attend alcohol education programs and perform 100 hours of community service. He also must speak to youth groups about the dangers of alcohol and pay fines.
Speaking generally about underage drinking, Blodgett said he hopes parents understand "there's no gray area. It's a black and white law."
"It's very important the public understands how serious these charges are," he said. "The Legislature amended the law to take into account parents who hold these parties."
By Jill Harmacinski, Eagle Tribune (abidged)
January 08, 2009
LAWRENCE — Modesta Brito knew her teenage son was having a party on the night of Nov. 24, 2007. She was aware he and his friends were drinking beer in her home. And she knew they were playing the drinking game quarters, even giving them a plastic cup to bounce the coins into, a prosecutor said.
Allowing the underage drinking party in her Hampshire Street apartment was a risk Brito took. That risk became harsh reality when Ryan Bourque, 17, left the party and was killed in a car crash, prosecutor Jennifer Kunsch said.
Brito, a 42-year-old mother of three, will spend the next three months in prison after yesterday admitting to violating the state's Social Host Liability Law and allowing the party in her home.
After Bourque's death, both Brito and her son Edrian Brito Mendez, were charged with violating the state's Social Host Liability Law. It was the first time ever, in Essex County,
such alcohol charges were filed against both parent and child.
"You were the responsible adult. You were the one who should have been looking out for your son and the other kids," Judge Thomas Brennan said. "In this case, the consequences were tragic and for that, you bear some responsibility."
Mendez, 18, now a student at Northern Essex Community College, also was charged with two counts of providing alcohol to minors. All of his charges were continued without a finding for a year in a plea agreement reached and approved by Brennan earlier yesterday.
Brennan noted that the primary responsibility for supervising the household rested with Modesta Brito as her son was then 17. However, the teen is still "responsible for his actions."
A police investigation revealed that Mendez charged friends $5 to drink beer from a 30-pack he had in a refrigerator in the apartment.
Brito was formally sentenced to one year in jail with 90 days to be served and the balance suspended for two years. She also will have to serve 200 hours of community service and pay fines.
Mendez must undergo alcohol evaluation and treatment, attend alcohol education programs and perform 100 hours of community service. He also must speak to youth groups about the dangers of alcohol and pay fines.
Speaking generally about underage drinking, Blodgett said he hopes parents understand "there's no gray area. It's a black and white law."
"It's very important the public understands how serious these charges are," he said. "The Legislature amended the law to take into account parents who hold these parties."
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