The Teen Brain Explained

This week, I've heard about a two teenagers, different families, with behavior that's left their parents baffled. So when I came across "A Parent's Guide to the Teen Brain" from the Partnership for a Drug Free America, I promptly sent it along. Here's the intro:

You’ve come to the right place if you’re one of the millions of parents who have ever wondered:

• “Who is this kid?”
• “Why does my teen do that?”
• ”What can I do?”

If you find you're living with "Miss Impulsive", "The Mood Swinger", "The BFF" or any of the other easy-to-recognize teen behaviors, you have to check out this site. (Add this to your bookmark/favorites right below PreventionWorksinSeattle.org )

Red Ribbon Week at Eckstien Middle School

The Red Ribbon Campaign is now the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation reaching millions of young people during Red Ribbon Week, October 23-October 31 each year. By participating in community anti-drug events, young people pledge to live a drug-free life and pay tribute to DEA Special Agent Enriqué “Kiki” Camarena. Special Agent Camarena was an 11-year veteran of the DEA assigned to the Guadalajara, Mexico, office where he was on the trail of the country’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers. In 1985, he was extremely close to unlocking a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline. On February 7, 1985, he was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers. His tragic death opened the eyes of many Americans to the dangers of drugs. In 1988, Red Ribbon Week was recognized nationally with President Ronald and First Lady Nancy Reagan serving as the Honorary Chairs.This year, we recognized Red Ribbon Week at Eckstein by challenging the students to wear red t-shirts on November 7th to show that they are drug free. At lunchtime, the students wearing red t’s were given lollipops with a drug free message on them. We also put up a ‘prevention’ table where Danielle Bock from Partners in Prevention had the Wheel of Misfortune and Lisa Sharp, Seattle Schools Tobacco Specialist brought pigs lungs to show the dangers of smoking as well as drug/alcohol informational brochures and giveaways for the students. The table was packed with students all three lunches. Christine Talianis, Prevention Specialist also put up a bulletin board to advertise Red Ribbon Week. All in all, it was a fun activity.

Great American Smokeout

In 1977, the American Cancer Society launched the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday in November. On this day every year, smokers across the country try to do what feels impossible — give up their cigarettes for 24 hours. The idea is that many will quit puffing away altogether.

I’d like to share some interesting facts from the CDC about adolescents, smoking and tobacco products:

• Each day in the United States, approximately 4,000 adolescents aged 12-17 try their first cigarette.
  
• Each year cigarette smoking accounts for approximately 1 of every 5 deaths, or about 438,000 people. Cigarette smoking results in 5.5 million years of potential life lost in the United States annually.


• Although the percentage of high school students who smoke has declined in recent years, rates remain high: 20% of high school students report current cigarette use.


• The younger people begin smoking cigarettes, the more likely they are to become strongly addicted to nicotine. Young people who try to quit suffer the same nicotine withdrawal symptoms as adults who try to quit.


• Several studies have found nicotine to be addictive in ways similar to heroin, cocaine, and alcohol. Of all addictive behaviors, cigarette smoking is the one most likely to become established during adolescence.


• Eighty-three percent of young smokers (aged 12-17) choose the three most heavily advertised brands.

It’s important that we do everything we can to prevent adolescents in our community from smoking. To address this issue at Nathan Hale High school, the prevention group, led by Amy Briggs and Christine Talianis, put up anti-tobacco posters and banners around the school. On November 20th the group members wore t-shirts with anti-tobacco messages on them as well as gave out anti-tobacco buttons and cards with the tobacco quit line phone number (1-800-QUIT NOW) to other students around the school. At lunch, Amy and Christine, armed with giant cigarettes, headed to the spot where students congregate at lunch and spread their anti-smoking message. The students were receptive and open to talking about quitting. At the moment, Christine and Lisa Sharp, Seattle Schools Tobacco Specialist, are facilitating a 6-week smoking cessation class for students who are ready to quit now. Looks like this lunch time activity might have brought in a few potential students for the next group.

At Eckstein Middle School, Christine also put up an anti-smoking bulletin board.

December 11 Legislative Forum

Mark your calendars . . .

King County Legislative Forum: Issues for 2009 Related to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery

Thursday, December 11, 2008
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

St. Marks Cathedral, Bloedel Hall
1245 10th Avenue East, Seattle, Washington

Agenda:
Light refreshments followed by program to begin promptly at 7 p.m.
· Keynote from King County Executive Ron Sims (Invited)
· Presentations by Consumers and Family Members
· Legislative Priorities for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery
· Legislative Roundtable with King County Legislators and United States Congress Representatives (Invited)
· Moderated by Neil Scott, Recovery Coast to Coast

Jointly sponsored by:
King County Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Administrative Board
King County Mental Health Advisory Board
King County Community Organizing Program Advisory Board
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – Eastside
NAMI – Greater Seattle
NAMI – South King County
Spotlight On Recovery

News about other coalitions in Washington

Read about other Washington drug/alcohol programs in the fall edition of FOCUS from the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA). The NE Seattle Coalition is funded by a SPF-SIG grant through DASA.

On page 2 you may read about the College Coalition's response to the Amethyst Initiative.

On page 9 you may read about a "community champion" who works with the SPF-SIG coalition in Warden.

On page 10 you may read about the award-winning SADD club that is part of the Naches SPF-SIG project.

On page 12 you may see the list of groups and individuals who recently were awarded Exemplary Prevention Awards, including Jack Wilson, our coalition's former Technical Assistance Consultant.

December is . . .

. . . National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.

Hot Topic: Prescription Drug Abuse

You may have seen a recent article in the Seattle P-I entitled, "Prescription pill deaths soar". It starts by stating:

More people are dying from prescription painkillers than ever before in a national epidemic that's eclipsing past drug scourges, including heroin overdoses in the '70s and crack cocaine deaths in the early '90s.

The trend, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is more pronounced in Washington state, health officials said Thursday. Two years ago, local poisonings -- mostly drug overdoses -- surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death by unintentional injury.

The main reason: a skyrocketing number of overdoses by prescription opioids.

Later in the story it states:

Sabel (Jennifer Sabel, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health) said people need to lock up their medications, in light of a state survey that found that one in 10 teenagers had recently taken a painkiller to get high.

What can we do? Here are some resources:

CADCA's (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) guide "Strategies to Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse Among Teens in Your Community" provides communities with specific prevention ideas and examples.

Parents: The Anti-Drug website has information about teen prescription drug use and how to prevent it.

In January, the Office of National Drug Control Policy released "A Report on the Troubling Trend of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse Among the Nation's Teens".

Free trainings without leaving your desk

Participate in free trainings without leaving your workplace or home . . . through webinars and telecasts. Here are a few that are coming up.

CADCA is offering two webinars on environmental strategies -- the first one takes place November 20 at noon Pacific Standard Time. For more information visit http://www.coalitioninstitute.org/Coalition_Resources/WebinarSeriesHome.asp. The site also includes materials from previous webinars on topics such as social media; sustainability; and the difference between coalitions and programs.

The Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (UDETC) is hosting a webinar on coalition sustainability on November 20 starting at noon Pacific Standard Time. You may listen to previous webinars on the UDETC website. Topics include alcohol and the developing brain; the role of prosecutors; and preventing underage drinking during graduation events.

The Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force offers telecasts with a focus on enforcement-related topics such as access to legal drugs; partnerships between anti-drug groups and law enforcement; and environmental strategies.

Online Resources

Are there drug/alcohol prevention listserves and e-newsletters that you find helpful? Here are the ones I belong to that I find most useful:

Parenting Tips from the www.theantidrug.com. The latest one is about using technology to strengthen family ties. A previous one focused on helping teens deal with stress. It's easy to register . . . just go to the website and enter your email address where it says, "GET the PARENTING TIPS NEWSLETTER".

I get daily updates from Join Together that include summaries of recent research, policy issues, and news stories. Go to www.jointogether.org and enter your email address where it says, "Stay Informed".

CADCA offers regular updates about what coalitions around the nation are doing and new resources available. Visit www.cadca.org and sign up for "Coalitions Online" -- at the bottom left side of the home page.

In the comments section, please add online resources you find helpful!