Being Adept Blog: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Underage drinking: When parents don’t agree with the law

By Janice D'Arcy
Wednesday’s Post story about WUSA reporter Andrea McCarren pulling her name from her reports on underage drinking in the area is disturbing on many levels.

The story, by Paul Farhi, examines the bullying she — and her children — received as a result of her reports on a liquor store that allegedly sells alcohol to teenagers and a Bethesda party where teens were arrested for drinking. In that story, some parents expressed anger at the police for arresting their kids.

Apparently insults and threats were spewed on her Facebook account and her children were harassed at school.

One of the surprising elements of the case is that among her critics were parents. Farhi quotes one Facebook post: “You can’t try and take away something that teens love without retaliation. Haven’t you ever heard of teenage rebellion? Teens love to drink and I’m sure they’ll be laughing it up about your report while they party tonight.”

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Underage Drinking Hospitalizations Cost $755 Million in the U.S. Each Year

By Join Together Staff

Hospitalization for underage drinking costs an estimated $755 million in the United States each year, according to a new study by the Mayo Clinic.

Approximately 40,000 youth ages 15 to 20 were hospitalized in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, according to Science Daily.

The study found that among U.S. teens, about 18 of every 10,000 teenage males and 12 of every 10,000 teenage females were hospitalized after drinking alcohol in the year studied. The average age of those hospitalized was 18, and 61 percent were male. Hospitalizations due to alcohol were highest in the Northeast and Midwest.

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7.5 Million Children in U.S. Live With Alcoholic Parent

By Join Together Staff

A new government report finds 7.5 million children in the United States—10.5 percent—live with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 6.1 million of these children live with two parents, one or both of whom have experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

The other 1.4 million children live in a single-parent home, with a parent who has had an alcohol use disorder in the same time period,Reuters reports. Of these children, 1.1 million lived in households headed by a female.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Deadly Alcohol Needs Global Regulation, Health Expert Says

By Christopher Wanjek and LiveScience Bad Science Columnist
When considering the world's worst killers,alcohol likely doesn't come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.

For middle-income people, who constitute half the world's population, alcohol is the top health risk factor, greater than obesity, inactivity and even tobacco.

The World Health Organization has meticulously documented the extent of alcohol abuse in recent years and has published solid recommendations on how to reduce alcohol-related deaths, but this doesn't go far enough, according to Devi Sridhar, a health-policy expert at the University of Cambridge.

Continue reading HERE!

Study: Alcohol in Movies May Lead to Underage Drinking

By Join Together Staff
Watching movies with scenes that feature alcohol consumption doubles the likelihood that teens will start drinking alcohol, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ Open. The two-year study of more than 6,500 American kids, ages 10 to 14, also found that teens who are exposed to alcohol-fueled movies are more likely to progress to binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row) HealthDay reports.

Study findings show that the proportion of kids who started drinking alcohol more than doubled from 11 percent to 25 percent, and the proportion of those who started binge drinking tripled from 4 percent to 13 percent.

Teens being exposed to movies that feature alcohol use led to 28 percent of kids drinking alcohol and of those teens, 20 percent moved on to binge drinking, noted the survey.

Continue Reading HERE!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Former NBA player recounts struggle with drug addiction

By Kevin Conlon, CNN
Boston (CNN) -- In the 14 years he lived as a drug addict, former NBA player Chris Herren had no shortage of moments that could have been his "rock bottom."

The earliest may have come when he was only 18, shortly afterSports Illustrated hyped the local star's matriculation to Boston College. Herren -- then one of the most highly anticipated freshmen basketball players in the country -- left BC after only one game after a positive test for cocaine.

Maybe it could have come a few years later, after he had transferred to Fresno State. Just days after one of the most brilliant games of his college career, he announced to a national audience at a news conference that he had once again failed a drug test.

Continue reading HERE

Saturday, February 25, 2012

New Study on Cocaine and the Teen Brain

New findings by a Yale team of scientists may help explain why the risk of drug abuse and addiction increase significantly when cocaine use begins in adolescence.
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