Is the disease of addiction something to be ashamed of?

Did you listen to  Clancy Martin discuss his views on AA with KCUR’s Steve Kraske? He thinks the group needs to open up to ideas like talking about and recognizing mental health therapies. How do you feel about him breaking his anonymity and talking openly about his alcohol problems and suggesting that it’s time for people to talk about the disease and lose their shame?   Go to : http://www.kcur.org/PreviouslyOnUTD.html

Exposure to Anti-Drug Messages Among Teens Drops Dramatically by Two-Thirds as Drug Use Goes Up

According to the Partnership of Drug Free America...newsroom, Jan 12th, 2011

Slashed Prevention Funding and Drastic Reductions in Federal Media Campaign Add Pressure on Parents

New York, NY – January 12, 2011 –The University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future study (MTF) – the largest survey on teen drug abuse tracking over 46,000 8th, 10th and 12th graders – found a huge falloff in teens’ recalled exposure to drug abuse prevention messages over the past seven years. The new data from the MTF study have been released at a time when teens themselves report finding the drug-prevention messages to be effective.

Comparing 2003, the year in which kids and teens’ recalled exposure to drug prevention messages from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) ‘s National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (NYADMC) peaked, to today, the proportion of 8th graders that reported daily/or more often exposure dropped from 54 percent to 18 percent, a dramatic decrease of two-thirds among the youngest group surveyed. Similar declines occurred among 10th graders (50 percent in 2003 to 17 percent in 2010) and 12th graders (32 percent to 10 percent). According to Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the study, the rates of teens’ recalled exposure of drug abuse prevention messages are lower in 2010 than they have been since his research team began tracking all three grades nearly two decades ago. 

“At a time when teen drug use is at relatively low levels, historically, and children are not learning as much through the news media about the health consequences of using many dangerous drugs, it is important that we get that information to them by other means – through prevention ads, in schools and through their families,” said Johnston. “If they don’t get those messages, teens will come to view drug use as less dangerous than their predecessors did and that misconception will leave them vulnerable to having their own epidemics of drug abuse. In fact, we are already seeing these signs beginning to happen now for teen use of drugs like marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD.”

Support for prevention programs like the state grants portion of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program, which was zeroed out in the 2011 budget, and the federal NYADMC, has dwindled significantly over the past decade. In fiscal year 2003, which marked the peak year for recalled exposure of drug abuse prevention messages among teens, federal support of the NYADMC was $145 million, compared to only $45 million for fiscal year 2010. The kinds of extracurricular activities – programs in sports, civics and the arts – that states and localities have funded to engage kids’ positive energies and help prevent substance abuse continue to collapse under relentless budgetary pressure.

“There is evidence of a correlation between decreased drug use among teens and their exposure to drug abuse prevention messages,” said Pasierb. The alarming drops in the number of messages teens are seeing or hearing today is especially disturbing because the kids themselves report these messages are effective in keeping them from using drugs.”

Increases in Teen Use of Illicit Drugs Correlate with Decreased Support for Anti-Drug Messages
The MTF survey also measures teen attitudes about drug and alcohol use, including perceived harmfulness and disapproval, factors that can predict future substance abuse. The perception among teens that regular marijuana use is harmful decreased among 10th and 12th graders, but declined the most among the youngest group of 8th graders. The study also confirmed a new uptick in teen Ecstasy use, especially, among 8th and 10th graders, following drastic declines of this drug of abuse over the past decade. As teen anti-drug attitudes erode and move in the wrong direction, increases in drug use are sure to follow.

First Call has Fourteen Community 2000 alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention coalitions providing grassroots activities in four Missouri Counties.