Testing It Up

Last week, we wrote about a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that says fewer teens are getting substance abuse prevention messages from media.

Indeed, the media has become quite powerful in educating people about substance abuse, but we also know that the media isn’t supposed to be what is responsible in teaching our kids about the dangers of drugs. That would be parents, who have a major role in talking to children about the health risks associated with drug abuse, as well as empowering them to make sound choices in life. But what if parents themselves use drugs? How reliable can they be when preaching to their kids the negative effects of substance abuse if they are dealing with their own drug issues?

“The worst mixed message kids get today is for mom and dad to smoke it and tell the kid not to,” says Joe Hewitt, referring to marijuana.

Hewitt shares his opinion about marijuana legalization in an exclusive interview with TestCountry.

Like other people, Hewitt believes it isn’t logical to tell kids not to use drugs, smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol when they openly see their own parents indulging in banned or unhealthy substances. Similarly, kids could get confused by the seemingly contradictory laws —  federal laws versus state laws — pertaining to marijuana.

“If marijuana is legalized, we are publically saying, ‘It’s okay.’ Then we have to spend tax money we get from the legal sale of marijuana to educate people and say ‘Hey, too much of this stuff is not okay,’” Hewitt added.

Though Hewitt acknowledged that marijuana legalization would ease the burden on the country’s justice system, he also believes that the more marijuana becomes available the more it will be abused.

“…I believe that if it were legal more people will use it,” Hewitt added. He stressed that those who presently use marijuana would end up using more of the drug without fear of being arrested, especially once the supply “greatly increased, the price went down, and it was readily available to purchase.”

To read the full text of the interview, visit Exclusive Interview with Joe Hewitt.

The 2012 Arizona Youth Survey revealed two very interesting findings: first, the number of teens using marijuana has dropped; second, some students were found to obtain their pot from medical marijuana cardholders, the Phoenix News Times reports.

According to the survey, which was conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission and participated by more than 60,000 Arizona students, the combined percentage of 8th, 10th and 12th graders who reported using marijuana at least once in their lives went down from 29.9 percent before Arizona’s medical-pot law came into effect to 28.7 percent in 2012. Reported marijuana use in the last 30 days also dropped from 14.8 percent in 2010 to 14.3 percent this year.

On the other hand, the survey also found that about 11 percent of the students were getting marijuana from people who are legally allowed to use the drug under the 2010 Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The survey did not determine if the teens getting the pot from cardholders also got pot from other sources, or if the cardholder had sold the teens pot prior to becoming a cardholder, the article notes.

Arizona Rep. John Kavanagh has reportedly filed a bill on Jan. 3 in an attempt to put the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act back to the ballot in November 2014. He told The Arizona Republic that voters should rethink whether the law, approved by voters in 2010, should have passed in the first place.

An annual report from the governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy disclosed painkiller medication abuse as the biggest drug threat for Iowans, killing more than sixty last year due to overdoses.

An article on Indystar.com cited the drug report’s key findings, one of them stating that sixty-two Iowans died last year from overdoses of prescription pain relievers like oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone. The figure showed a 59 percent increase from the previous year and an almost eight-fold increase from a decade ago. Some physicians were accused of prescribing large amounts of narcotic painkillers to patients who were abusing the drugs.

The report also identified the rising abuse in heroin by Iowa residents. In 2011, the state recorded 10 heroin overdose deaths, making it the highest in Iowa’s recent history. Additionally, marijuana manufacturing and distribution had significantly increased, with the number of busted marijuana plants reaching 5,813 for this fiscal year.

State officials suspect that one reason for the increase is more marijuana shipments from states such as Colorado, where it’s legal to grow marijuana for medical reasons. Another potential factor is in-state manufacturing by foreigners. In September, investigators nabbed a man after they pulled 550 marijuana plants out of a house in Johnston that featured sophisticated lighting, ventilation and watering systems.

“One of the concerns with the increased frequency of the grows is that it isn’t just Iowans necessarily growing, especially with these large-scale operations,” said Steven Lukan, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy.

Among teenagers in treatment, two-thirds said marijuana was their drug of choice and more than one-fourth of Iowans who underwent drug tests or admitted for treatment last year named marijuana their primary drug.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused banned substance in the United States. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that in 2009 more than 28 million Americans, age 12 and older, had abused the drug at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. Past studies have reflected the adverse effects of marijuana to its users, but still, the problem of abuse is far from being resolved.

In one of our previous posts, we cited a Duke University study that says people who frequently use marijuana are at risk of  slowing down their IQ. The finding may not be the scariest to date in terms of marijuana side effects, but it’s still worrisome. If you’re a parent, you’re aware how challenging it is to never be able to keep an eye on your children, especially the moment they go out of the house. If you’re raising an adolescent it’s even more difficult because it’s that time when peer pressure is at its strongest and experimenting with drugs may not be far from happening.

Aside from marijuana’s effects on intelligence, it could also wreak havoc on the user’s mental capacities. An Australian study involving 14- and 15-year-olds found that those who used marijuana weekly as teenagers were twice as likely to have depression as a young adult than women who did not use the drug.

Another study which assessed the participants for signs of marijuana abuse and symptoms of depression found that people who initially did not have depressive symptoms but abused marijuana were more than four times as likely to have depressive symptoms.

Marijuana use could also have some negative effects on hormonal system and reproduction. Similarly, it can cause physical problems, ranging from dry mouth and red eyes to increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Teens are increasingly becoming less concerned about the possible dangers presented by the abuse of marijuana, according to a study commissioned by Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The study analyzed data provided by nearly 2,300 11th and 12th graders nationwide. The researchers determined that the number of teens who said that marijuana use is “very” or “extremely” distracting to their driving went down to 70 percent, from 78 percent in 2009. In addition, it was found that of the teens who admitted to driving after using pot, 36 percent say that it was not a distraction to their driving. Nineteen percent, on the other hand, say that alcohol was not a distraction to their driving.

Stephen Wallace, senior adviser for Policy, Research, and Education at SADD, said that the findings reflect “a dangerous trend toward the acceptance of marijuana and other substances compared to our study of teens conducted just two years ago.”

Wallace shared further that they “hear from young people who believe that marijuana actually makes them a safer driver, that they concentrate harder, drive slower.” He warns, however, that these are all misconceptions, saying that pot “affects memory, judgment, and perception,” as well as lead a driver to make bad decisions.

Tom Hedrick, founding member of The Partnership at Drugfree.org, shared that the study points out the need to spread more awareness about the dangers associated with marijuana impairment, and serves as “a wake-up call for parents about the importance” of talking to teens about the dangers of pot.

The drug-related arrests made at Texas Christian University (TCU) lent further credence to a problem that is certainly becoming apparent in college sports: pot use.

Andrea Wickerham, vice president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, said that the drug bust is “symbolic” of the rising problem of pot use in college athletics. She said: “I hope they don’t see this event at TCU as an isolated incident. It’s not… The question is, what does TCU do about it? And what do other college administrators do?”

A report from the NCAA, released a month prior to the arrests, indicated that 22.6 percent of 20,474 student athletes who participated in an anonymous survey in 2009 admitted to using pot in the past 12 months.

For academic year 2009-10, 72 of the 1,645, or 4.3 percent, of the student athletes who were tested were positive for marijuana.

Former Fresno State player Chris Herren shared that his marijuana use in high school led to problems later on. Herren struggled with cocaine and marijuana in college, as well as during his brief stint at the NBA.

Nowadays, Herren spends his time travelling across the country, giving lectures to high school and college athletes about the dangers of drug abuse; he has been clean since 2008. He said: “We can sit here and say marijuana is no big deal… But in (athletes’) situations, it is a big deal. If they’re willing to throw away $200,000 of their education because of a blunt or a bong, let’s be honest, something’s not right there.”

The findings of a research, which consisted of a review of studies from around the globe, indicated that around 200 million people a year use illegal drugs worldwide, with marijuana and hashish topping the list of drugs being used.

Based on the results of the research, 1 in 20 people aged 15 to 64 are taking an illegal drug worldwide. The researchers warned, though, that this figure may underestimate the actual number of users, given the fact that there may be people who would rather not admit to illegal drug use, and that there is limited data from the poorest countries.

The study, which was conducted by two Australian researchers and appears on The Lancet as the first in a three-part special series on addiction, is an attempt to determine the scope of illegal drug use by people aged 15 to 64 around the world, as well as understand its effect on the health of users.

According to the results, between 125 million and 203 million people used marijuana and hashish worldwide in 2009. The highest level of use, it was determined, was in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

On the other hand, between 14 million and 56 million people admitted to using amphetamine-type stimulants, such as speed and crystal meth, while 12 million to 21 million people used opioids, including heroin.

Between 14 million and 21 million people worldwide used cocaine, with the highest level of use observed in North America.

In addition, the researchers revealed that the highest level of illegal drug use was observed in the wealthiest countries or in areas closest to the production of the drugs.

The question of marijuana legalization is something that has been debated about by various groups for quite some time. These groups, however, are but a minute fraction of the population, and are upholding their own unique advocacies and ideologies. But what does the rest of America think?

According to the results of a recent survey conducted by Gallup, 50 percent of the respondents in a nationwide survey indicated that the time is right to legalize marijuana. Forty-six percent, on the other hand, was against legalization.

Gallup shared: “When Gallup first asked about legalizing marijuana, in 1969, 12 percent of Americans favored it, while 84 percent were opposed. Support remained in the mid-20s in Gallup measures from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but has crept up since, passing 30 percent in 2000 and 40 percent in 2009 before reaching the 50 percent level in this year’s Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey.”

Gallup shared further that support for the legalization of pot was strongest among the young, with legalization receiving 62 percent approval among respondents aged 18 to 29, and only 31 percent approval among those aged 65 and older.

In addition, it was observed that liberals were twice as likely to be in favor of pot legalization as opposed to conservatives.

In a poll conducted last year, Gallup revealed that 70 percent of Americans were in favor of the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Based on a report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the preferred illegal drug in America. In 2009, an estimated 28.5 million Americans, aged 12 and older, abused marijuana at least once during the previous year.

A new study found that those who use marijuana and then get behind the wheel are more than twice as likely to figure in a car crash; and if the driver complicates things further by also drinking alcohol, then the risk increases even further.

The authors of the study believe that their findings are especially significant, as an increasing number of states move towards the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Senior study author Dr. Guohua Li shared: “As more and more states consider medical use of marijuana, there could be health implications.”

Dr. Li, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, shared further that while consumption of alcohol has decreased over the past forty years, the use – and abuse – of such substances as marijuana has increased.

The study involved an analysis of data from nine prior studies in six countries, focusing on marijuana use and motor vehicle accidents. Based on their analysis, all studies, with the exception of one, indicated a higher risk of car crashes among drivers who used marijuana. The exception was a small study conducted in Thailand, where marijuana use was low.

All told, it was determined that drivers who use marijuana prior to getting behind the wheel are 2.7 times more likely to figure in a car crash. The response, it was found, was dose-specific. The more marijuana is smoked, in terms of frequency and potency, the more likely it is that the user will figure in a car crash.

The study was published online in Epidemiologic Reviews.

The results of a survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed conflicting trends.

While methamphetamine use among Americans is on a downward trend, the (presumably recreational) use of marijuana seems to be increasing. The survey results indicated that 8.9 percent of the US population, roughly 22.6 Americans, aged 12 years old and older, used illegal drugs in 2010. These figures were higher than statistics from previous years, which were 8.7 percent and 8 percent in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

This overall increase may have been triggered by an increase in marijuana use, with 6.9 percent of the population admitting to using pot in 2010; in 2007, 14.4 million, or 5.8 percent of the population, said that they used marijuana.

Methamphetamine use, however, showed a decline; the number of meth users was cut by about half from 2006 to 2010. The same downward trend was also found in cocaine use.

Among young Americans aged 12 to 17, rates of drinking went down to 13.6 percent in 2010 from 14.7 percent in 2009, while smoking rates went down to 10.7 percent in 2010 from 11.6 percent in 2009.

In a statement, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, indicated that the increases were prominent in states where the use of medical marijuana has been legalized: “Emerging research reveals potential links between permitting access to smoked medical marijuana and higher rates of marijuana use… this increase was also driven in large part by a rise in the rate of current marijuana use among its population.”