However, drug testing is not the only way to head off drug abuse in our children and teens. Parents have a stronger influence over their own kids than they may think. Drug abuse statistics actually show that when parents express themselves against drug abuse, the statistics do go down.

Many parents may ask themselves what they can do to prevent or stop drug abuse particularly in their own family. Just as parents have various approaches to childrearing when their children are young, the question as to what will be appropriate for your family is your personal preference. Many parents will be pro-active and try to head off drug abuse with early drug education as to the harmful effects of drugs. Others are preoccupied with their own problems, cannot pay much attention to the issue of drug abuse, and may simply hope that their children will stay off drugs. Some will not see the problem at all – until their children are already too far down the road of drug abuse.

One may wonder if the route of drug education is best, or should one simply administer frequent drug testing, as some school districts are now doing particularly for students involved in any kind of extracurricular sports activities.

In Florida, there is a continuing discussion about the appropriateness of drug testing welfare recipients as a requirement to receive their welfare benefits.

The question about drug education is whether it is effective. Certainly if it is, then it would divert more kids away from ever starting to take drugs. What else can parents do to help discourage their kids from starting to take drugs if the education measures do not effectively do this?

To find out more about this topic, there have been studies at the National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) as to methods parents may use to prevent drug abuse by their children. Findings of their studies are so simple that some may not think it effective.

Simply having family dinners together five or more nights per week could be a very effective deterrent to your teenage children becoming involved in drug use. When those families were compared to those who ate family dinners together three or fewer times per week, it was found that there were significant differences in their teens’ drug-related behaviors:

Teenagers who ate family dinners together less often were:

• more likely to smoke tobacco by a factor of almost four times;
• twice as likely to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana;
• nearly four times as likely to say that they would expect to use drugs in the future

CASA studies also show that it is important for parents to agree on their message whether it is concerning drug or alcohol use. When parents present a united front on these topics, their children are much more likely to stay away from alcohol or drugs than the children of parents who disagreed with each other. When parents agreed about drug use, their children are 3.5 times less likely to use drugs; and when parents agreed about an anti-alcohol message, their children are twice as likely not to drink alcohol.

In addition to providing effective drug rehabilitation in more than fifty centers on six different continents of the world, Narconon also provides effective drug education that delivers a completely acceptable anti-drug message to youth in many schools, clubs and community centers. Staffs from Narconon centers go into the community to teach children of all ages the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. Where this curriculum has been presented, schools have found that their drug problems lessen. This was documented in a peer-reviewed study reporting on the lowering of drug abuse among students who had studied the full curriculum from Narconon. It is available on the web at: www.substanceabusepolicy.com.

The good news shown in CASA reports is that youth who don’t go down the road of drug or alcohol early (before the age of 21) are much more likely to never abuse drugs or alcohol.

The best way to prevent alcohol or drug abuse is accurate education as to the problems these substances create for users, sincere and communicated parents’ concerns, and paying close attention to your children and teenagers.

Call the Narconon International office today to find out where a Narconon drug education center is near you.

http://monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2011.pdf

http://www.casacolumbia.org/templates/publications_reports.aspx: The Importance of Family Dinners VII and National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVI: Teens and Parents

http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/3/1/8

http://www.bcrnews.com/2012/01/24/ohio-looks-at-drug-testing-options/ac9ga6f/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/25/florida-primary-candidates-drug-policy?newsfeed=true

It is a fact that peer pressure is a tremendous force in determining individual behavior. At Narconon we learned early on that peer training would go a long way to solving problems of drug abuse long before it starts. Peer leaders are a tremendous resource, and with the proper training are very effective in educating their peers on substance abuse and other subjects.

In order to take advantage of this fact the Narconon Peer Leader Training Program has been developed and refined over many years. Students are trained on the skills which enable them to become competent leaders amongst their peers. They are, additionally, trained in the methods of drug abuse prevention. Combining these skills they are then encouraged to take an active role in working with their peers to combat substance abuse. The first, and most important thing which is accomplished in this program is the instillation of a true desire to help their fellows. Once this is accomplished the peer trainee is taught how to show that life is better without drugs. This is accomplished through a series of exercises and lessons in communication and listening skills. Training in the nurturing of interpersonal relationships and means of relaying information on alcohol and other drugs to other children in such a way as to have that information absorbed and inspected is stressed.

As with any other pursuit involving relationships with others, the development of excellent communication skills is paramount. Our students participate in training exercises aimed at increasing ability to capture and focus attention, face and address issues they might otherwise shy away from, develop and sharpen listening skills, relay communication accurately and effectively. All of this depends on one most important factor – the peer leader must have his own confidence level raised to one of complte certainty.
Before being designated a Peer Leader the student is required to demonstrate complete competence in the relay of information to their peers.

The second segment of the drug education training program involves gaining learning skills which enhance the student’s ability to work with people of different ages and literacy levels so that they can overcome the barriers to communicating information to them.
No two programs are identical in content. Each program is specifically tailored to the needs of the particular group, taking into consideration such factors as the group’s purpose, goals and activities. Emphasis is placed on creating a more functional group that will become, and remain more active in the school and community. The above skills are then applied to the specific theme of the program. Some of the specialized programs available are:

• Leadership skills and positive role models
• Conducting effective community projects
• Alcohol and drug education
• Violence prevention and mitigation
• Public speaking

Drug Educator Training Workshops

In addition to its peer training programs, Narconon also provides training programs for drug educators. Narconon objectives were developed to provide skills involving the primary methods and tools used in the Narconon program, so that professional educators can take advantage of the classroom setting in imparting proper, effective drug abuse education to their students.

More comprehensive training is also available at the Narconon International Drug Rehab Training Center, located in Canadian, Oklahoma.

In a recent article in the Bhutan Times, the writer discusses measures that have been taken by the Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency (BNCA) to curb drug use in their kingdom. Concerns about drug use are high because it primarily affects the country’s youth, and because of a rising trend of oral and injectable consumption of pharmaceuticals like dextro-propoxyphene based drugs, synthetic opioids.

So in this landlocked country in Southern Asia, bordering China, and approximately half the size of Indiana, how do drugs infiltrate the population, and moreover, how does one stop them from taking hold of the youth?

The author of this article in the Bhutan Times asks the BNCA director, Kinley Dorji, “What do you think are the main reasons for increasing drug use in Bhutan?”

His response points to the universal need for effective drug education. He says that it is difficult to comment on the reasons for drug use in Bhutan in the absence of scientific evidences. But he thinks the lack of drug education, drug free entertainment, and easy access to alcohol and marijuana, among other things are responsible. Additionally, the lack of education and options for self direction and self development are lacking he thinks. He points to parents and teachers and their roles and responsibilities in bringing up children with drug free ideologies.

Further, when asked about the roles that parents and teachers play a role in curbing drug abuse by young people in Bhutan, Director Dorji commented once again on the need for effective drug education.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently sponsors international efforts to educate people on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse so that there are fewer addicted people who need treatment. The WHO notes that more than 2.5 million people die each year just from alcohol-related causes. More than 300,000 of these people losing their lives are young people who died far before their time. The WHO states that alcohol abuse is one of the leading risk factors for poor health. Through the distribution of more information on the dangers of drug abuse and excessive alcohol abuse, the WHO follows a strategy of improving the health of the peoples of this world through education and prevention.

This is good advice for anyone trying to combat drug abuse, and reflects the philosophy of many drug prevention and rehabilitation programs. In particular, the Narconon program focuses on effective drug education as the primary tool for drug abuse prevention.

There are no Narconon meetings to attend, but Narconon has drug education and prevention centers in more than 120 locations around the world that are prepared to deliver effective presentations, and over 50 drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers on six continents of the world.

Please read the following article to see how effective drug education from Narconon differs from many other drug education programs: http://www.narconon-news.org/program/narconon-drug-education-program.html.

# # #

http://www.bhutantimes.bt/index.php?option=com_content

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/gsrhua/en/index.html

When the woman feels sick or dizzy after fifteen or 20 minutes, the rapist can then help her to her car or offer to take her home, where he then completes the rape. The young woman wakes up the next morning, knowing something is very wrong, feeling sick, but not being sure what occurred. According to one estimate by the Department of Justice, there are 375,000 drug or alcohol-facilitated rapes just among women on American colleges.

“A rape of this kind is just one of the many things that can go wrong in an environment of substance abuse,” warned Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for Narconon. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “Especially among college students, there are also much higher rates of accident, injury, failures in school and even death among those drinking or using drugs.”

Drugs that are Used

Some of the drugs used to make women unable to defend themselves against rape include: Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), a benzodiazepine, but much stronger than the more common Xanax: In American states along the southern border, Rohypnol is easy to get as it is sold across the counter in Mexico. In other areas, it sold by prescription for sleeplessness.

Alcohol: Its big advantage is that it is legal and considered an “excuse” for unacceptable behavior, particularly on college campuses.

GHB: This drug is often used by body builders to burn fat. It may be stored in a small dropper bottle for easy addition to someone’s drink.

Ketamine, a veterinary anesthetic: This drug acts as a dissociative, meaning that it can cause hallucinations or a dreamlike or detached state.

Ecstasy and methamphetamine may also be used to facilitate rapes. In a circular fashion, drug-facilitated rapes may themselves engender more substance abuse. Women who have been raped are thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol and 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.

“While some women are slipped a drug without their knowledge and then raped when they are unable to resist, far more women experience sexual assaults after they have willingly consumed drugs or alcohol,” advised Wiggins. “By far the best way to prevent assault is to avoid drug or alcohol abuse entirely. This keeps a young woman safe from addiction, drug or alcohol-related health problems, assault and unwanted pregnancy.”

For more information on the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, call and speak to one of drug rehabilitation counselors.

Resources

• http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/club/index.html
• http://www.library.northwestern.edu/news/2010/march/drug-facilitated-incapacitated-and-forcible-rape
• http://www.pcar.org/about-sexual-violence/stats
• http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/drugrape.htm
• http://www.rainn.org/statistics

It’s a completely legal drug, found in thousands of stores across the country. It can be used almost under a parent’s nose without their being suspicious in the least. After all, there’s no needles, bent spoons, tiny baggies or roaches left behind. One police officer with a canine partner trained to detect drugs told the story of how his son died from inhalant abuse shortly before his fifteenth birthday, abusing the one drug his dog could never detect.

All a young person needs is a can of the electronic device cleaner known as Dust-Off or a can of spray paint that may even be found on garage shelves. Or any one of hundreds of other common items, from correction fluid to rubber cement, markers, solvents, whipped cream dispensers or hair spray. Substances may be sprayed into a bag and then the gases are inhaled, or they may be sprayed on clothes or rags for inhaling. Dust-Off and similar products may be sprayed directly into the mouth or nose.

The dizzy high from inhalants usually lasts just a few minutes. But any inhalant use, any time, can have unpredictable and fatal effects.

Inhalants Take a Serious Toll on an Abuser’s Health

An inhalant abuser can expect to do serious harm not only to his brain, but also his heart, kidneys and liver, all sensitive to toxins. Some inhalants cause a form of anemia and others can cause permanent damage to peripheral nerves.

Sniffing some gases can cause a sudden and severe irregular heartbeat that can cause death within minutes. This type of death is particularly connected with butane, propane and aerosol inhalation.

Suffocation can also cause death. Some inhalant vapors, like Dust-Off, are heavier than air and replace air in the lungs, suffocating the abuser. When an abuser inhales gases from a paper or plastic bag, this also increases the probability of suffocation. If abusers vomit while they are high on inhalants, some have been known to choke on their own vomit, causing death.

There may be no warning signs that death is just around the corner. There are no signs of who will tolerate the day’s inhalant abuse and who will not. Repeated inhalant abuse greatly increases the likelihood of organ and brain damage.

Statistics on inhalant deaths are hard to determine as the cause of death when inhalants are involved is very hard to determine. Coroners may not be trained to look for the right signs, leading to what some experts claim is severe underreporting of the damage being done. The death may be reported as suffocation or heart problems.

Young People Without Education of Dangers are at Risk

Possibly because of their easy availability compared to drugs like marijuana, cocaine and others, young people are the primary abusers of this substance. Those children in seventh to ninth grade are most likely to abuse inhalants of all ages. It’s a very bad sign that in 2009, a national survey showed that 42 percent of eighth graders did not consider regular use of inhalants to be harmful, and 66 percent didn’t think that trying inhalants once or twice was risky. The wrong way to learn about the dangers is by watching a friend die or risking death oneself just for the sake of a few minutes of “buzz.”

Resources

• http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs4/4770/index.htm
• http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_inhale2.php
• http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/d/dustoff.htm
• http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_inhale1.php
• http://www.enotes.com/drugs-alcohol-encyclopedia/inhalants-extent-use-complications

In Placerville in the California foothills, parents of students at the area’s high schools can buy a $40 drug test for just $10. The test screens for ten drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy. These tests were offered after a survey of one of the high schools in the area showed that half of the students were using marijuana.

In Litchfield Park, Arizona, parents can get the tests for free. And they are going to need them. In February 2011, six boys at a middle school in Litchfield Park shared a handful of prescription pills on the basketball court during lunch. Since no one knew exactly what they had taken of how much, they were sent to a local hospital as a precaution.

On Long Island, drug sniffing dogs have been searching schools for contraband for two years. Before they started their randomly-scheduled rounds, about one student was found with marijuana each month. Since the dogs went on duty, none have.

Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins stated, “If the only way we can keep drugs out of schools is to distribute free drug tests, ban student lockers and have dogs patrol the halls, this is a tragic statement about our ability to provide adequate drug education.” Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education. “Our students need to be given straight information about drug use that enables them to make their own wise decision when they are offered drugs. And there are very few children who will not be offered drugs.”

Narconon centers around the world provide drug education classes that have been proven to lower substance abuse rates in monitored delivery situations in Hawaii and Oklahoma. “Some parents might be appalled to learn that some drug education courses measure their success by how many students remember what was taught,” said Wiggins. “At Narconon, the only criteria that count are ‘Are fewer kids using drugs? Have some of the students made the decision to stay drug-free and are they succeeding?’ We are successfully teaching kids how and why to make the drug-free choice when faced with drugs being used around them or offered to them.”

For more information about the Narconon drug education classes, visit www.narconon-news.org

From 1998 through 2007, the statistics of children killed from neglect or abuse have risen from just over 3 per thousand to nearly 5 per thousand. Tragically, much of the neglect or abuse of children is related to the substance abuse problems of the parent.

It’s estimated that more than 60 percent of child maltreatment cases involve a parent with a substance abuse problem. In 2008, more than 1,700 children died from abuse or neglect. Alcohol was frequently related to physical abuse and cocaine use was often connected to sexual abuse of children.

Saving children’s lives ranks very high as a good reason to help an addict overcome their addiction. As more than five million children live in a home where illicit drugs are used and nearly ten million live with someone who abuses alcohol, eliminating addiction could save a thousand young lives each year.

One of the major problems with helping addicts with children overcome addiction is the fact that many drug rehabilitation centers see the same addicts for treatment, over and over again. Some rehab facilities will state a sobriety rate of 10 percent to 20 percent and then explain that “relapse is simply part of recovery. This is not the way addiction treatment has to be.

At Narconon drug and alcohol recovery centers around the world, seven out of ten graduates stay clean and sober for at least two years after they go home. This is the way drug treatment should work. This is the kind of substance abuse treatment that saves young lives.

In more than 100 centers across the United States, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, addicts find the help they need to achieve a productive, enjoyable and sober life, and students learn the truth about drug and alcohol abuse. For more information on Narconon, visit www.narconon.org

It’s marijuana use for most of them. More than six million youth start using marijuana each year. But for 171,000, it’s cocaine and another 375,000, it’s Ecstasy. Half a million find inhalants, probably somewhere around the house, and try that.

And these figures don’t even include the nearly four million underage drinkers who get started consuming alcohol each year.

“A recent study tried to make the point that marijuana use does not lead to harder drugs,” advised Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for the Narconon® drug education and drug rehabilitation program. “But the kids themselves feel differently. According to our youth, 78 percent feel that the use of marijuana increases the likelihood of using other drugs. And they should know. They are seeing it every day, in their friends or even themselves.”

The national survey of teens on attitudes about drugs, executed by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), added more insight. While you think your child is doing homework or at the mall, are they actually finding or using drugs? Nearly half the children (ages 12 to 17) surveyed thought it would be “fairly easy” or “very easy” to acquire marijuana if they wanted to. About 13 percent considered it easy to lay their hands on LSD or heroin.

But what about legal drugs? More than 900,000 youth start abusing prescription medication each year. That means that every hour of every day, all year round, more than 100 teens dip into a purse, steal a few pills out of a medicine cabinet or get some pills from a friend and give a pain reliever or a sedative or an other prescription drug a try.

“Parents are really the best drug prevention program out here,” added Bobby. “They are with the child the most hours and know their habits the best. They can perceive the changes in habits, schedule or activities that are a tipoff for drug use. And by their constant willingness to speak out against any kind of drug use, they can influence youth to stay away from drugs. By survey, those children whose parents were adamantly against drug use and talked to their children about the subject were less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.”

Preventing youth from starting to use drugs is the goal of the Narconon drug prevention curriculum that is taught around the world. By actual test, the eight-part curriculum lowers substance abuse. While the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program can bring an addict out of their addiction into a productive, enjoyable life, it’s far better to teach youth to avoid drugs in the first place.

For more information about Narconon, visit www.narconon.org

In this case scientists were looking for residues from cocaine methamphetamine and the party and dance club drug Ecstasy. And they found residues everywhere they tested.

For one day March 4 2008 scientists tested samples of wastewater from 96 different municipal wastewater systems in urban suburban and rural areas. These 96 systems represent 65 percent of the population of Oregon. Cocaine metabolites were found mostly in urban areas but methamphetamine residues were found everywhere. Ecstasy was not present at all in more than half the areas tested and the areas that did show Ecstasy residues were mostly urban.

The director of Narconon used this information to stress the need for effective drug education and rehab programs. Despite the limited nature of this analysis it clearly illustrates the need for improved services in this area.  Narconon is an international organization that is dedicated to preventing drugs abuse and addiction and rehabilitation of those who have become addicted. This is an objective analysis unlike a telephone survey that asks people about their drug use. This evidence is really a wake-up call for those who think that drug use and addiction in America are not too bad or not too widespread.

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program offers an example of drug rehab that creates a positive effect. The Narconon program is a long-term residential program that uses no drugs of any kind during the rehab process. They learn new life skills that enable them to make drug-free decisions for the rest of their lives. Seven out of ten Narconon graduates go home to live drug-free lives.

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehab program is offered in cities across the United States and in forty other countries around the world. Since 1966 Narconon has been saving lives from drug and alcohol addiction. Many Narconon centers also offer drug education courses that have proven effective in changing the patterns of drug use among the students receiving the curriculum.

For more information on Narconon visit www.narconon.org

This has certainly been true in Midwestern America. Shortly after the new millennium, Midwestern states like rural Illinois and Missouri and adjacent states Oklahoma and Arkansas witnessed large increases in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Any small group of people willing to risk suspicion by purchasing such diverse ingredients as cold medicine, driveway cleaner and iodine plus some glassware used in labs could cook up several ounces of methamphetamine in a couple of days. Recipes were available on the Internet. Many of these labs were set up in rural houses or barns where the stink wouldn’t bother anyone. A more enterprising individual could establish a bigger lab and turn out more product.

And of course, where there are drugs being made, there are drugs being sold and consumed and there are drugs causing addiction. Methamphetamine addiction is a particularly bad one. As Bobby Wiggins, Narconon® Drug Prevention Specialist, explained, “Not only does methamphetamine act quickly to addict a user, it is terribly damaging to a person’s physical and mental health.

“Addicts become malnourished because all they care about is their next fix. They may go a week without sleeping or longer without eating anything healthful. Their skin and hair become rough and may show sores where the addicts has picked at themselves. Some addicts experience severe damage to their teeth and many become paranoid, experiencing hallucinations as well.”

As state after state felt the burden of methamphetamine addiction in their Social Services departments, they began to crack down on the availability of ingredients and equipment. Special teams of law enforcement personnel began to arrest meth “cooks” and put the small labs out of business. The number of labs being found plummeted in most states.

So what happened then? Mexican drug traffickers added methamphetamine production to their list of accomplishments and meth became another one of the drugs that these traffickers started bringing over the border. More shipments of precursor drugs started finding their way to Superlabs (as manufacturing facilities making ten or more pounds a day are called) in Mexico or the remote labs run by these cartels in the Central Valley of California.

By 2010, fifty-seven percent of Midwest law enforcement offices cited Mexican methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat in their areas.

“We can’t stop trying to eliminate drugs coming into our communities,” explained Wiggins. “This action just holds the fort while we get those who are addicted through rehabilitation. True rehabilitation means that an individual can enjoy a productive life and not experience relentless cravings every hour of every day.”

Mr. Wiggins stressed that effective rehabilitation must be emphasized for the more than twenty million Americans addicted to drugs or alcohol. He also pointed out that seven out of ten graduates of the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs stay clean and sober after they get home. “When they complete a drug rehabilitation program that truly gives them back their life, they win, the family wins and society wins.”

For more information on the Narconon drug rehab and prevention programs, visit www.narconon-news.org.