Baltimore Sun Examines Debate Over Prosecuting, Jailing Women Who Use Illegal Drugs During Pregnancy

The Baltimore Sune on Thursday examined the debate over whether law enforcement officials should prosecute and jail women who use illegal drugs during pregnancy. The Sun profiled the case of Kelly Lynn Cruz, a Talbot County, Md., woman who was sent to prison after delivering an infant who had traces of cocaine in his blood. The American Civil Liberties Union is defending Cruz and has appealed her case to the Maryland Supreme Court. The group's central argument is that Maryland law defines reckless endangerment as conduct by one person that causes considerable risk of harm to another person but that the term "person" does not apply to a fetus under state statutes, according to the Sun. Law enforcement officials say they are simply prosecuting crimes and helping to protect children, but opponents say the women need treatment instead of punishment. Although the number of cases prosecuting women for using drugs while pregnant increased in the late 1980s and early 1990s, courts often have found the convictions to be unconstitutional or beyond the intent of legislators, the Sun reports (Green, Baltimore Sun, 8/18).


Baltimore Sun


"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

In Vulnerable People, OCD Can Be Triggered By Collectibles

Although collecting articles with moderation has good psychological effects on collectors, this habit can become a psychological disorder.



The massive marketing campaigns launched by publishing houses at the start of the academic year can cause people bound to suffer obsessive-compulsive disorder to develop this pathology before. The fact is that collecting articles without control is a symptom of this serious psychological disorder - one of which most known variants is Diogenes syndrom - and of shopping addiction. These are two mental disorders affecting approximately 12% of the population.



Porcelain dolls, precious stones, world thimbles, watches, fans, dinosaurs, language courses, and tanks and ships in parts are some of the articles that often crowd our stands. In principle, and "as long as this hobby is performed under control" collecting items is good from the psychological point of view, as it helps in developing positive skills and attitudes as perseverance, order, patience or memory - among other.



However, professor Francisca L??pez Torrecillas at the Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment of the University of Granada, and an expert on addictions, warns that in the recent years, "a very significant increase has been observed of cases where uncontrolled collecting has caused obsessive-compulsive disorder and shopping addiction".



Perfectionism and Meticulousness



The researcher points out that certain attitudes as the need of control, perfectionism, meticulousness and extreme order "are very frequent traits in people who likes collecting articles. However, they are also closely related to the psychological disorders mentioned above".



L??pez Torrecillas states that collecting can become an obsession, and so, a disorder "in individuals specially vulnerable", i.e. individuals with low self-esteem, poor social skills and difficulty in facing problems". When people have this feeling of personal inefficiency, "compulsive collecting helps them in feeling better".



The University of Granada professor affirms that "the excessive pressure and aggressive marketing that many publishing houses employ in certain months through the media may cause individuals bound to suffer this disorder to develop it".



Nonetheless, L??pez Torrecillas states that, as it occurs with other things in life "controlled collecting has numerous benefits from the psychological point of view", and she warns that "further study is needed in this field of research".



Source:

Francisca Lopez Torrecillas


University of Granada

Study Of Deviance Proneness In Marijuana Use

When national drug use trends among adolescents go up or down, the risk of marijuana use among deviance-prone male youth also goes up or down. Among deviance-prone female youth, it does not, according to a study in the March issue of Prevention Science.



The risk of marijuana use among deviance-prone boys is a reflection of the social acceptance of drug use among adolescents. The risk among deviance prone girls, however, does not change with shifts in the popularity of drug use. Deviance prone girls are just as likely to use marijuana during years of high and low national use.



The study, based on data collected from 44,751 students from the 12th grade from 1979 to 2004, also showed that deviance proneness is not only related to regular, more problematic use of marijuana, but is also related to occasional use of the drug.



Michelle Little, Ph.D., of the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, who is the lead author of the study, said the findings are important for prevention programs.



"Parents and teachers need to be aware that historically, even those teens that use marijuana occasionally have been more likely to show antisocial or risky behavior. Also it appears that adolescents' social rejection of marijuana use has been a powerful drug-use deterrent. Therefore, to prevent drug use, we need to drive down social acceptance of marijuana use among all adolescents through a variety of media campaigns and risk-focused prevention programs. We should also combine that with drug use prevention programs targeted for deviance prone male and female teens," Little said.



The study measured "deviance proneness" based on a variety of factors, including criminal behavior, such as shop lifting or property damage; truancy; low pro-social commitments to school and religion; and thrill seeking. Regular marijuana use was defined as weekly marijuana use; occasional use was defined as up to three times per month. Regular and occasional use cutoffs are based on current understanding of drug usage levels that are related to social, personal and family problems among teens.



While previous studies have shown the relationship between a deviance-prone profile and frequency of drug use, "this is the first study to establish this relationship across 26 years of national historical data for both male and female youth," according to Little.



The findings of her study are restricted to Caucasian or European-American youth. They do not extend to African-American or Latino students because those groups were not represented in the sample in sufficient numbers for statistical reliability.



Adolescent marijuana use declined significantly between 1979 and 1992 and then went up again by 1997-1999. Adolescent social approval of marijuana was at a contemporary low in 1992.



"During times of low population use of marijuana, male youth who are deviance prone are more likely to limit their use of marijuana than during historical peaks in adolescent marijuana use. This suggests that deviance-prone male youth respond to the social acceptance of marijuana use. By contrast, the data shows that deviance-prone girls do not necessarily respond in similar fashion. Deviance-prone female teens show similar risk for marijuana use during years of high and low national use," according to Little.



During the 26 years of the study, on average, 61.1% of high school seniors did not use marijuana, 29.9% used it occasionally or up to 3 times a month, and 9% were regular users.







The study was based on data from the Monitoring the Future, a prominent national survey of drug use conducted by the University of Michigan.



Prevention Science is a journal of the Society for Prevention Research, an international organization focused on the advancement of science-based prevention programs and policies through empirical research. The membership of the organization includes scientists, practitioners, advocates, administrators and policymakers who are concerned with the prevention of social, physical and mental health problems and the promotion of health, safety and well being.



11240 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030. preventionresearch/



Source: Prabhu Ponkshe


Society for Prevention Research

Lookatyourdrinking, First Online Alcohol Treatment Programme Launches In The UK

Tactus International, a Dutch addiction treatment organisation, launches the first online addiction treatment programme in the UK today for people concerned about their drinking habits. Clients will be able to access e-therapy, anonymously if they wish, using accredited therapists in an online environment. The launch of lookatyourdrinking comes 4 years after the successful launch in the Netherlands of alcoholdebaas.nl, the original Dutch language programme. The UK programme expects to reach more people with a drinking problem at an earlier stage in the UK, as it has done in the Netherlands.


Lookatyourdrinking has been created by a team of leading psychiatrists and psychologists from the UK arm of Tactus, one of Holland's largest treatment centres, together with their Dutch team of online treatment specialists. The original programme has been an incredible success since launching in the Netherlands 4?? years ago. Results have shown that clients who finished the programme decreased their alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems significantly. In the Netherlands, people have been much readier to engage with online programmes; have come from groups previously reticent about engaging in treatment; and are seeking help much earlier in the addiction cycle, when health problems are at an early stage, as evidenced by Tactus in the American Journal of Psychiatry*1.


Lookatyourdrinking expects to treat up to 150 people with an alcohol problem in the first year, and expects much larger numbers than that to use and visit the site more generally. In the Netherlands over 2500 clients have already been treated online since 2005.


Lookatyourdrinking - the website


Lookatyourdrinking comprises five constituent parts: Information, online contact, e-therapy, after-care and scientific research. The site provides information and also online contact for people concerned about their drinking habits where people can exchange experiences and garner support from others in similar situations. Visitors to the site will also be able to access a unique, clinically robust, online therapy programme to help them make positive changes in relation to their alcohol consumption. They receive bespoke therapy (not real time i.e. asynchronous, within three working days) written by an accredited therapist. Lookatyourdrinking is easy accessible and the anonymous online treatment gives clients the opportunity to work at their own pace and in their own time and home, everyday of the week. They will also be able to retain completed work files, exercises, and therapy histories for future use.


How big is the problem?


Alcohol misuse represents a major burden to the NHS and the wider health and social care systems. The Department of Health estimates that nationally, 6% of men and 2% of woman can be classified as alcohol dependent. This equates to 1.1 million people. Among them there is a large discrepancy between the number of those who need alcohol treatment and those who actually access services, with approximately only 1 in 18 (5.6%) of alcohol dependent drinkers entering specialist treatment nationally every year*2.


Lookatyourdrinking provides a cost effective alternative to this problem. "We will be working hard to make this treatment available to NHS clients and talks are already taking place with selected Primary Care Trusts", says Marco Martinez, Managing Director of Tactus International.


Martinez continued: "The website, including forums, chat rooms and general information is free to all but in the first instance, the e-therapy treatment programme is for clients paying ??1,250 for part 1 and ??1,025 for part 2 of the 16 week programme; significantly less than many residential or day care programmes."


*1 Postel, M.G., de Jong, C. A. J., & de Haan, H. A. (2005).
Does e-therapy for problem drinking reach hidden populations?
The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(12), 2393.


*2 Source for all figures: All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse (Alcohol Concern May 2009)

Source
Tactus International

Meth Promotes Spread Of Virus In HIV-infected Users

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have presented the first evidence that the addictive drug methamphetamine, or meth, also commonly known as "speed" or "crystal," increases production of a docking protein that promotes the spread of the HIV-1 virus in infected users.



The investigators found that meth increases expression of a receptor called DC-SIGN, a "virus-attachment factor," allowing more of the virus to invade the immune system.



"This finding shows that using meth is doubly dangerous," said Madhavan P.N. Nair, Ph.D., first author on the study, published in the online version of the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology. The study will appear in print in the September issue of the journal.



"Meth reduces inhibitions, thus increasing the likelihood of risky sexual behavior and the potential to introduce the virus into the body, and at the same time allows more virus to get into the cell," said Nair, professor of medicine and a specialist in immunology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.



His research centers on dendritic cells, which serve as the first line of defense again pathogens, and two receptors on these cells -- HIV binding/attachment receptors (DC-SIGN) and the meth-specific dopamine receptor. Dendritic cells overloaded with virus due to the action of methamphetamine can overwhelm the T cells, the major target of HIV, and disrupt the immune response, promoting HIV infection.



"Now that we have identified the target receptor, we can develop ways to block that receptor and decrease the viral spread," said Nair. "We have to approach this disease from as many different perspectives as possible.



"If we could prevent the upregulation of the meth-specific dopamine receptor by blocking it, we may be able to prevent the interaction of meth with its specific receptors, thereby inhibiting the virus attachment receptor," said Nair.



"Right now, we don't know how the virus-attachment receptor and meth-specific receptors interact with each other, leading to the progression of HIV disease in meth-using HIV-infected subjects. That is the next question we want to answer.



"Since meth mediates its effects through interacting with dopamine receptors present on the cells, and meth increases DC-SIGN, which are the HIV attachment receptors, use of dopamine receptor blockers during HIV infection in meth users could be beneficial therapeutically to reduce HIV infection in these high-risk populations," Nair said.







Additional researchers on the publication, all from the UB Department of Medicine, are Supriya Mahajan, Ph.D., research assistant professor; Donald Sykes, Ph.D., research associate professor; Meghana V. Bapardekar, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate, and Jessica L. Reynolds, Ph.D., research assistant professor.



The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is one of five schools that constitute UB's Academic Health Center.



Contact: Lois Baker

University at Buffalo

Youth More Susceptible To Social Drinking

Men, extrovert people and those with positive expectations regarding alcohol use drink more than others, says Dutch psychologist Sander Bot. The amount a young person drinks is largely determined by how much others in the group drink. Friendly young people in particular, people who score high on the personality dimension friendliness, are sensitive to the influence of others on their alcohol use.



Besides genetic disposition, drinking behaviour is affected by culture, upbringing and the immediate social environment. Among young people alcohol use is a form of social behaviour. They drink in groups: in private bars, at parties, in clubhouses or at discos. Social alcohol use is strongly dependent on the behaviour and influence of others. This applies to men in particular. Among young people, alcohol addiction is not yet an issue but excessive alcohol use is directly related to, for example, aggression, vandalism and traffic accidents. Hence, it is important to gain a better understanding of the processes that determine how much alcohol a person consumes in the presence of peers.


Father as role model


The research was carried out under young adults aged 18 to 25 years, most of whom did not live at home. Nevertheless, upbringing and the role of the parents still exert a small effect on the amount drunk. For example, a high level of parental support is generally associated with less antisocial behaviour and is correlated with less alcohol consumption in the presence of peers. The drinking behaviour of the father affects that of the young person: if he drinks regularly then the children readily do the same. If, however, he is more reserved then the same response is observed in the child. It is, however, not clear whether this is the result of genetic predisposition or imitation.



Group roles and friendships play no role within a drinking situation

The results of this study showed that 12 to 14 year olds are most influenced by classmates with a higher status and those with whom they want to be friends. These differences in influence were, however, not found in the observations of young adults. Here, a high degree of imitation was also found yet no distinction in influence was seen between either best friends or participants with high status, the so-called leader figures. Although these factors may play a role in the decision to actually go on a night out or indeed to leave the drinking situation, but within the situation they make no difference whatsoever.



Men determine the drinking behaviour

Sex ratio in the group is a major determinant for alcohol use: the more men present, the greater the amount drunk by both men and women. Possibly a process might be initiated in male groups which ensures that men drink more than usual because participants challenge each other or because no one wants to be surpassed. The observations revealed that men adjust their alcohol use to that of other group members far more than women do. Men also drank more, whereas women stopped drinking earlier in the presence of men who expect that alcohol use leads to sexual excitement.



Bar games

Previous research had established that people drink less if they are actively involved in a game such as billiards, darts or a card game. However this study reveals that the lower consumption is made up for as soon as the game is over. This means that the total alcohol consumption is not influenced by what people do when they socialise.







Sander Bot was one of the first to observe the drinking behaviour in groups of young adults and combine this with questionnaire data concerning the individual group members. His research was supervised by the Behavioural Science Institute.



Source: Dr. Sander Bot


Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Texas Senate Committee Approves Bill To Protect Needle-Exchange Programs

The Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would protect needle-exchange programs run by local health departments, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. Under the legislation, district attorneys would be prohibited from prosecuting state-approved health programs that allow for needle exchanges. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

According to state Sen. Robert Deuell (R), the bill's sponsor, evidence from other states with needle-exchange programs shows that the programs do not contribute to increased drug use. "There has been much critical evidence to show that it decreases HIV and hepatitis in those communities," he said, adding, "Which alleviates a lot of human suffering, but it also saves states money because the people who contract HIV and hepatitis, more often than not, end up having state programs or services."

Some law enforcement and health officials on Tuesday in written and vocal support said that the bill would prevent the spread of diseases among injection drug users and their families, as well as children and others who find and could be stuck by used needles. Retired Bexar County Constable Jimmy Wilborn said that the bill would help lower the risk of police officers contracting diseases from used needles. "My partners were stuck with needles when we were executing search warrants," he said, adding, "As a constable in Precinct 2, two of my people were stuck with needles. The fact of the matter is, if these people are distributing these needles, it's going to be better for the police officers because of one reason -- because they are going to be exchanging these things."

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 100 new HIV cases could be prevented in the first year of a needle-exchange program. Texas is the only state that does not permit needle exchanges of any kind (Stone, AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/3). In 2007, the Texas Legislature authorized Bexar County to establish a pilot needle-exchange program. State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D) said lawmakers hoped to use the pilot program to consider passing a statewide program during the 2009 legislative session. However, District Attorney Susan Reed in August 2007 challenged the legislation, saying that anyone in possession of drug paraphernalia would be breaking the law, regardless of their intentions. State Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) last year backed Reed, saying people who possess drug paraphernalia could be prosecuted because the law does not specifically exempt them. Abbott's opinion meant that Bexar County officials did not move forward with the planned needle-exchange program, which would have been the first in Texas (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/11/08).


Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Methamphetamine Abuse Linked To Underage Sex, Smoking And Drinking

Children and adolescents who abuse alcohol or are sexually active are more likely to take methamphetamines (MA), also known as 'meth' or 'speed'. Research published in the open access journal BMC Pediatrics reveals the risk factors associated with MA use, in both low-risk children (those who don't take drugs) and high-risk children (those who have taken other drugs or who have ever attended juvenile detention centres).



MA is a stimulant, usually smoked, snorted or injected. It produces sensations of euphoria, lowered inhibitions, feelings of invincibility, increased wakefulness, heightened sexual experiences, and hyperactivity resulting from increased energy for extended periods of time. According to the lead author of this study, Terry P. Klassen of the University of Alberta, Canada, "MA is produced, or 'cooked', quickly, reasonably simply, and cheaply by using legal and readily available ingredients with recipes that can be found on the internet".



Because of the low cost, ready availability and legal status of the drug, long-term use can be a serious problem. In order to assess the risk factors that are associated with people using MA, Klassen and his team carried out an analysis of twelve different medical studies, combining their results to get a bigger picture of the MA problem. They said, "Within the low-risk group, there were some clear patterns of risk factors associated with MA use. A history of engaging in behaviors such as sexual activity, alcohol consumption and smoking was significantly associated with MA use among low-risk youth. Engaging in these kinds of behaviors may be a gateway for MA use or vice versa. A homosexual or bisexual lifestyle is also a risk factor."



Amongst high-risk youth, the risk factors the authors identified were, "growing up in an unstable family environment (e.g., family history of crime, alcohol use and drug use) and having received treatment for psychiatric conditions. Among high-risk youth, being female was also a risk factor".







Notes:



1. Risk Factors for Methamphetamine Use in Youth: A Systematic Review

Kelly Russell, Donna M Dryden, Yuanyuan Liang, Carol Friesen, Kathleen O'Gorman, Tamara Durec, T Cameron Wild and Terry P Klassen

BMC Pediatrics (in press)


Article available at journal website: biomedcentral/bmcpediatr/


All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.



2. BMC Pediatrics is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of health care in neonates, children and adolescents, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology. BMC Pediatrics (ISSN 1471-2431) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE and Google Scholar.



3. BioMed Central (biomedcentral/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.



Source: Graeme Baldwin


BioMed Central

Depressed Young Adults More Likely To Start Cigarette Smoking And Other Substance Use

A new report indicates that young adults who have suffered from depression within the past year are at a higher risk of initiating substance use including cigarette smoking and use of alcohol or illicit drugs. The findings, based on the largest national survey on substance use and health, were reported today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).


The release of this report coincides with the Great American Smokeout - a national observance in support of being free of tobacco use and addiction. The data from the report highlight the relationship between depression and the impulse to begin smoking in young adults.


Depression and the Initiation of Cigarette, Alcohol, and Other Drug Use among Young Adults indicates that 9.4 percent of people aged 18 to 25, or approximately 3 million young adults in the United States experienced one or more major depressive episodes in the past year.


The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the source for this report, defines a major depressive episode as a period of two weeks or longer during which there is depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure and the presence of at least four other symptoms that reflect a change in functioning. These include problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image. This definition is consistent with the one used by the American Psychiatric Association.


"Today is the Great American Smokeout - a day when we pause to recognize ongoing efforts to draw attention to the health benefits of avoiding cigarettes,'' said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. "This study clearly reveals that too often people turn to cigarettes or other substances to try to deal with depression, creating a double jeopardy for their health and well-being."


Among the report's notable findings were that young adults experiencing major depressive episodes within the past year were:


- Approximately 60 percent more likely to have initiated cigarette use than those in their age group who had not experienced depression in the past year (12.7 versus 7.8 percent, respectively).


- Approximately 35 percent more likely to have initiated alcohol use than those in their age group who had not experienced depression in the past year (33.7 versus 24.8 percent).


- Twice as likely to have initiated use of an illicit drug as those in their age group who had not experienced depression in the past year (12.0 versus 5.8 percent).



- Twice as likely to start abusing pain relief medication than were their contemporaries who had not experienced recent depression (7.1 versus 2.8 percent).


The report is also notable because of the size of the database -- nearly 135,000 interviews with persons aged 12 or older, including almost 45,000 young adults - and it was conducted during the course of the 2005 and 2006 NSDUH surveys. This database is one of the largest and most detailed of its kind.


Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

TheraQuest's IND For Abuse Deterrent Strong Opioid (TQ-1015) Accepted By FDA

TheraQuest Biosciences, Inc. a
development stage pain management company announced that the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its Investigational New
Drug ("IND") application for TQ-1015, its abuse deterrent extended release
strong opioid. TQ-1015 is being developed using SECUREL(R), TheraQuest's
proprietary abuse deterrent technology.



Najib Babul, PharmD, Chief Executive Officer of TheraQuest stated,
"Sustained release opioids are the standard of care for the management of
chronic pain. Unfortunately, it is easy to defeat the sustained release
mechanim of such dosage forms, making them subject to drug diversion and
drug abuse. The TQ-1015 dosage form is highly tamper resistant, when
compared to OxyContin(R), thereby minimizing abuse by recreational drug
users and drug addicts."



About TQ-1015



TQ-1015 is a once-a-day extended release opioid analgesic for the
treatment of chronic pain. It has been developed using TheraQuest's
proprietary abuse deterrent extended release drug delivery system
(SECUREL(R)). TQ-1015 is significantly more potent than many current oral
therapies, including morphine and oxycodone. It shows robust efficacy in
various animal models of acute pain, inflammatory pain and neuropathic
pain. TQ-1015 will compete in the $8.3 billion U.S. opioid market.
What are Opioids?
For more information on what opioids are, and opioid-induced constipation (OIC), please see:
All About Opioids and Opioid-Induced Constipation (OIC)



About SECUREL(R)



Recent experience with extended release opioid pain relievers has shown
that intentional crushing or extraction of the active ingredient from the
dosage form by addicts and recreational drug users can destroy the
timed-release mechanism and result in a rapid surge of drug into the
bloodstream. Serious side-effects and death have been reported from such
misuse.



SECUREL(R) is TheraQuest's proprietary abuse deterrent extended release
technology for oral abusable drugs. SECUREL(R) dosage forms cannot be
easily crushed for inhalation or to obtain rapid euphoria from high blood
levels when swallowed. It is also exceedingly difficult for I.V. abusers to
extract the active drug from the dosage form using common solvents,
including alcohol.



About TheraQuest



TheraQuest Biosciences, Inc. (theraquestinc) is a
private, development-stage pain management company building a diversified
portfolio of pharmaceutical products to address a critical area of unmet
medical need. Despite their limitations, current treatments for acute and
chronic pain yield worldwide sales in excess of $30 billion. The TheraQuest
team has contributed to the development of numerous analgesics approved in
the U.S. over the past 20 years. TheraQuest's strategy is to use its
expertise to identify, develop and commercialize product candidates with
strong market potential that have lower development costs and reduced
regulatory risk than new chemical entities. TheraQuest is headquartered in
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.



TheraQuest is funded in part by BioAdvance, the Biotechnology
Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Ben Franklin Technology
Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.



SECUREL(R) and OxyContin(R) are registered trademarks of TheraQuest
Biosciences, Inc., and Purdue Pharma LP., respectively.


TheraQuest Biosciences, Inc.

theraquestinc



View drug information on Oxycodone and Aspirin.

Study Elicits "child's Eye" View Of Methamphetamine Abuse And Its Effects

The children's stories are distressing: They had been left alone and hungry for days, were physically abused, forced to get high, told to steal from loved ones and to lie to authorities, and they had seen their parents "hyper" and delusional.



They had been traumatized, many of them, but they had also been resourceful and resilient. All had been taken from their rural homes and were now in foster care, with some struggling to adjust and some doing remarkably well.



They are the children of methamphetamine users, and they were the subject of a study, apparently the first, to get a child's-eye view of what happens in these families and how it affects the children.



"We're not aware of other studies that look at the effects of being reared in a methamphetamine-involved family on children's psychological development," said Wendy Haight, a professor of social work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the lead researcher.



The study will be published in the journal Children and Youth Services Review (CYSR) and is available online at childwelfare/kids/cysr.htm.



The aim of the study was to gather information that could help these children and others like them in the often-difficult adjustment to foster care and beyond, Haight said.



"We want to help foster parents understand more about what the child has gone through," said study co-author Teresa Ostler, a social work professor at Illinois who specializes in clinical psychology. "A lot of it involves experiences of trauma, where the child needs huge help in putting things together and in making sense, in knowing that their feelings have reasons."



The study involved 18 children, ages 7-14, from 12 families. All were involved with the child-welfare system because of their parents' methamphetamine abuse. At the time of their interviews, they had been in foster care anywhere from five to 39 months, with 15.6 months the average.



The central focus of the study were semi-structured interviews with each child, conducted by a psychiatrist or child clinical psychologist, which lasted about 30 minutes and were audiotaped. The interviews were then transcribed and coded by other researchers to produce specific data.



Methamphetamine can have profound effects on the user, Haight said, including extreme irritability, paranoia and heightened sexual arousal. Users can go on days-long highs, followed by days of sleep. "These are adults behaving in very unpredictable, dangerous ways, and the child is there too," she said.



In most of these families, parents also were making the drug, sometimes involving their children in criminal behavior, and possibly exposing some to toxic fumes and the danger of explosions or fires.



"Meth has such a rapid effect that you see parenting just break down literally," Ostler said. "Families change rapidly in that time and I think that's very terrifying for children," she said.
















Yet despite those conditions, the researchers found that when the children were asked about "sad or scary times," they talked first or most often about the experience of losing their parents, even months later, Haight said. "Most want desperately to be with their families and feel a great deal of pain and grief over being separated from their parents."



Another complication is that some of these children had taken on the role of caring for their parents, as well as younger siblings, when their parents were under the influence. One child asked who would watch over her mother when she was "sick," Haight said. They also experience emotional harm from the stigma of being the children of methamphetamine users, many of whom face years in prison.



The children often also carry a strong distrust of authority figures, passed on from their parents as a result of the criminal activity involved, sometimes reinforced by a meth-induced paranoia. Some have been actively socialized into a rural drug culture. "It becomes a huge blockage" to intervention in some cases, Ostler said.



For children raised from an early age with their parents using methamphetamine, even routine aspects of family life, like regular meal and bed times, may represent "culture shock," the authors say.



The researchers are using what they've learned from this study and previous research to develop materials for use not only by foster parents, but also by child-welfare workers and other professionals. "We get more requests than we can accommodate from people just desperate for some information," Haight said.



They also are conducting weekly sessions, or interventions, in the foster homes of the children who took part in the study, with support from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. They are working to develop a model in which local professionals are the ones directly involved with the families, but with supervision from university psychologists and psychiatrists.



As a result of the study, the researchers suggest that additional resources and services, in particular mental health services, need to be more accessible for these children and their foster parents.



Haight also pointed out that teachers in rural schools are often the first to know and get involved when methamphetamine abuse comes into a family, giving children everything from extra attention to food and clothes. With additional funding, the schools could play a larger role, she said.



Even with what many of these children have dealt with, Haight stressed that they are not just passive victims. "Not only have they experienced these horrible situations, but they survived, and you can't help having some respect for that," she said. They responded in a variety of ways, and were often very resourceful in the process, she said.



The CYSR article, titled "A Child's-Eye View of Parent Methamphetamine Abuse: Implications for Helping Foster Families to Succeed," can be found at childwelfare/kids/cysr.htm, through the link, "Articles in Press." The research was funded by an Arnold O. Beckman Award from the University Research Board at Illinois.



The study is part of an ongoing U. of I. research project, also led by Haight, in seven Central Illinois counties (Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie and Shelby). The counties are served by the Charleston field office of DCFS, which is collaborating on the project.



Other co-authors of the study were James Black, a psychiatrist with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield; Linda Kingery, a child-welfare worker in the Charleston field office of DCFS; and Kathryn Sheridan, a graduate student in social work.



An earlier study from the project, "In These Bleak Days: Parent Methamphetamine Abuse and Child Welfare in the Rural Midwest," was published in the August 2005 issue of CYSR and can be found at sciencedirect/science/journal/01907409







Contact: Craig Chamberlain, News Editor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Wine after carb-heavy meal causes drop in insulin

Kicking back with a few glasses of wine after dinner may be relaxing, but it might not be so good for your health, say Australian researchers.



In a study in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers found drinking the equivalent of three glasses of white wine after eating a carbohydrate-laden meal caused insulin levels to drop.



Insulin is a hormone necessary for the body to process sugar (glucose) and starches. Without enough insulin, the body's cells don't get the energy they need, the researchers say.

People with diabetes either don't produce any insulin or don't produce sufficient levels of the hormone. A lack of insulin is one cause of diabetes. Normally, when you consume food, your blood glucose levels immediately rise and, in response to that rise, the body produces insulin to process the glucose.



'[Our findings] suggest that drinking white wine on its own after a meal may alter glucose metabolism and produce a pseudo-diabetic condition,' says study author Anna Kokavec, a research psychologist affiliated with La Trobe University in Bundoora, Australia.

'There is possibly no safe level of white wine consumption and this may extend to other commercially available alcohol products. Furthermore, white wine is probably not a product that should be recommended for consumption by diabetics.'



Others aren't convinced, however.



'There is nothing in this study that is relevant to advice that physicians should give their patients about the consumption of white wine,' says Dr. Kenneth Hupart, chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y.



Kokavec and her colleagues recruited eight nondiabetic males between the ages of 19 and 22 years for this study. All were admitted binge drinkers. None were obese.



The researchers had the volunteers eat non-vegetarian pizza -- the study does not specify how much pizza each person consumed -- and drink a nonalcoholic soft drink. Then they were asked to drink three average-sized glasses of wine slowly over 90 minutes.



Blood glucose and insulin levels were measured before the study participants ate and then again at 45 minutes, 90 minutes and 135 minutes after eating.



Insulin levels dropped quickly after the consumption of wine, in some cases to a very low level, Kokavec says. Glucose levels also dropped.



Hupart points out that insulin and glucose levels normally drop off as a meal is processed by the body. He suggests a better measure of how alcohol affects insulin and glucose levels would be to compare these levels in people who drink wine after a meal to people who don't.



'This study does not show any effect that is medically relevant,' he adds.



Kokavec, however, says that 'any disruption in energy metabolism or utilization could have serious consequences to the health of the individual. The efficient regulation of insulin is vital in meeting the energy needs of cells located largely outside the brain and any disregulation in insulin could lead to some cells being starved of energy, which could cause serious disease.'



Hupart does say it's wise for people with diabetes to limit their alcohol consumption, especially people who are taking medications to control their diabetes. Hupart suggests discussing your alcohol consumption with your doctor.



More information



To learn more about how alcohol affects people with diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association or the Joslin Diabetes Center.



SOURCES: Anna Kokavec, Ph.D., research psychologist, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia; Kenneth Hupart, M.D., chief, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, N.Y.; November 2003 Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

Less Than Half Of All Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Perform On-Site Infectious Disease Screening

Fewer than half of all substance abuse treatment facilities surveyed nationwide reported that they conduct on-site infectious disease screening, according to a new study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).


Rates of HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis, and hepatitis C are high among drug users. Injection drug users, in particular, are at increased risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. These diseases, if not identified and treated, can pose a significant health threat to both the individual with the disease and to the community.


"Arranging for screenings for infectious diseases should be a routine part of substance abuse treatment services," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. "People enter treatment for different needs and screening provides an opportunity to identify additional healthcare needs as part of the recovery process."


This study was based on data from the 2007 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), an annual census of all known facilities in the United States, both public and private, that provide substance abuse treatment. The survey solicits information regarding the provision of on-site screening for the following infectious diseases: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. Key findings include:


The facilities that were most likely to provide infectious disease screening were operated by the federal government, followed by a state government.


More than half of the approximately 1,100 opioid treatment programs provided on-site screening for hepatitis B (62.1 percent), hepatitis C (64.1 percent), HIV (69.8 percent), sexually transmitted diseases (67.8 percent), or tuberculosis (93.3 percent).


Facilities that provided hospital inpatient treatment were more likely than facilities providing outpatient or non-hospital residential treatment to offer screening for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or tuberculosis


Where available, the most common types of on-site screening were for tuberculosis, (34.3 percent), and HIV (29.7 percent).


SAMHSA is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment and mental health services delivery system.


Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

'End Ridiculous Pricing Of Alcohol' Says Doctors' Leader

The BMA has welcomed the publication of a new action plan to tackle alcohol problems in Scotland. Dr Peter Terry, chairman of the BMA in Scotland said:



"We welcome the concerted efforts of the Scottish Executive to tackle Scotland's drinking problem. Alcohol costs our economy around ??1 billion every year, but the human cost is much higher. Around one in 30 of all deaths in Scotland are caused by alcohol related illness.



"It is clear that alcohol misuse doesn't just have an impact on our health, but it affects society as a whole and we must do what we can to change the culture where Scots believe they can drink to excess without any thought to the consequences for their health.



"Doctors in Scotland welcome the extension of the test purchasing scheme. In a survey last year, 97% of doctors said that tougher enforcement of age restrictions for purchasing alcohol was one of the most important measures that government could take to tackle underage drinking in Scotland, as well as tougher measures for shopkeepers who sell alcohol to children.



"Doctors also want to see an end to the ridiculous pricing of alcohol for off sales. When alcohol is cheaper than bottled water, we have to worry about what message we are sending our children."



The BMA also welcomed plans to develop a new schools education programme. There has been a 60% increase in reported drinking by 15 year olds and more than a 100% rise in drinking by 13 year olds in recent years.



"Education on the dangers of alcohol misuse should begin at primary school, before children are tempted to drink," added Dr Terry.



The BMA also called for action to be taken to make Scotland's roads safer as part of the alcohol action plan with changes to drink driving limits.



Dr Terry said:



"As part of an action plan we would call on the Scottish Executive to insist that the Westminster government introduce legislation to reduce drink drive limits to the European norm (from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml)."







Notes:



In a survey of BMA Scotland members, doctors said that to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland, the following measures should be taken:



* Apply stricter enforcement of age restrictions, particularly for off sales. 97% of doctors say this is an important measure to deter young people from purchasing alcohol.



* Implement stricter measures, such as immediate loss of license to sell alcohol, to prevent shopkeepers from selling alcohol to under age children. 96% of doctors support this measure.



* Develop improved alcohol awareness education campaigns for schools, starting at primary school level. 91% of doctors support such a campaign.



* Introduce a law that requires alcohol products to carry a label listing alcohol content, recommended daily units and warnings of excessive drinking. Products that do not comply should be withdrawn. 83% of doctors back labelling.



* The price of alcohol should be increased to discourage excessive drinking. 70% of doctors agree.



More information on the BMA's views on alcohol misuse and other important public health issues are included in our election manifesto Priorities for Health. This is available online at bma/scottishelections.



For further information please go to:
BMA Scotland
Source:
BMA News, the membership magazine of the British Medical Association

Circadian System Suffers And Protects From Prenatal Cocaine Exposure

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that prenatal cocaine exposure in zebrafish (which share the
majority of the same genes with humans) can alter neuronal development and acutely dysregulate the expression of circadian genes and those affecting
melatonin signaling, growth and neurotransmission. The circadian factors, including the principal circadian hormone melatonin, can attenuate the
prenatal effects of cocaine. These findings appear in the July 11th issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.



Tens of thousands of babies that have been exposed to cocaine in utero are born in the United States each year. Multiple human studies suggest there
are significant changes in brain development and subsequent brain function of children of drug-addicted parents. However, the extent of the damage and
whether it is in part due to confounding environmental, genetic or physiological factors remains controversial.



Using a specifically developed zebrafish, the researchers, Drs. Eva Shang and Irina Zhdanova, found that prenatal exposure to cocaine, in
concentrations comparable to those experienced by human embryos, altered the neuronal development in zebrafish and acutely changed embryonic
expression of genes regulating growth, neurotransmission and circadian system.



"Moreover, we found that the effects of the cocaine exposure were dependent on time of exposure, being more robust in the day, and were blocked or
attenuated by the principal circadian hormone, melatonin, produced exclusively at night," said lead author Irina Zhdanova, MD, PhD, an associate
professor in the department of anatomy and neurobiology at BUSM. "Thus the circadian system might be at the core of the developmental effects of
cocaine and their inter-individual variability," she added.



According to Zhdanova, circadian factors, including melatonin, could provide new therapeutic strategies to counteract the developmental effects of
prenatal cocaine exposure.



This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).



"The Circadian System Is a Target and Modulator of Prenatal Cocaine Effects"

Shang EH, Zhdanova IV (2007) .

PLoS ONE 2(7): e587. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000587

Click here to see article



Public Library of Science

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Researcher Receives National Award Of Excellence In Research On Drug Abuse

The National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse awarded the National Award of Excellence in Research by a New Investigator to Alice Cepeda, sociology professor and associate director of the Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston. Cepeda will be honored Sept. 30 at the organization's annual conference in New Orleans.



The National Award of Excellence in Research by a New Investigator is presented for outstanding research and/or publication in the field of Hispanic drug abuse. The candidate must be a postdoctoral student (within five years of completing doctorate). Cepeda received the award based on her scientific contributions to the field of drug use among Hispanic populations.



"Dr. Cepeda's cutting-edge epidemiological research has substantively added to the knowledge base regarding social context and high risk behavior associated to drug use and abuse among Latinos," said Nalini Negi, assistant professor, University of Maryland School of Social Work. "Among her many research accomplishments, Dr. Cepeda obtained $4 million in external research funding (along with Drs. Avelardo Valdez and Charles D. Kaplan, also at the University of Houston) in 2008 as principal investigator for 'At Risk Hispanic Gangs: Long Term Consequences for HIV, Hepatitis and STI.' There is no doubt that her work will continue to have important policy and public health implications aimed to improve the lives of Latinos."



Cepeda's work has been funded through external support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Her research has focused on the social epidemiology of drug use among disadvantaged populations including undocumented Latino day laborers, Hurricane Katrina evacuees, and sex workers on the U.S./Mexico border. Recently, her research has expanded to understand risk behaviors associated with drug use that have been linked to social and health consequences including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. She is currently working on a NIDA-funded research study focused on the influence of social networks among aging Mexican American injecting heroin users.



Cepeda received a Ph.D. in sociology from City University of New York in 2004. She graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with a M.S. in sociology in 1999 and a B.A. in sociology in 1995.



Earlier this year she received the 2010 Junior Scholar Award from the Drinking and Drugs Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.



Source:

Melissa Carroll


University of Houston

Sodas And Energy Drinks Can Supply A Surprising Caffeine Jolt

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Some carbonated sodas and energy drinks are loaded with caffeine and can give an unhealthy pick-me-up to unsuspecting consumers, University of Florida researchers warn.



Because caffeine can pose health risks for people with certain medical conditions, beverages containing the additive should clearly list the amount they contain, a UF toxicologist recommends in a report assessing caffeine levels of cold beverages published this month in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.



Bruce Goldberger, director of UF's William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine, said the surprisingly high caffeine content in some beverages could present problems for pregnant women and children, and for adults with hypertension, heart disease or mental health ailments such as anxiety.



"We weren't surprised that there was caffeine in the sodas and some of the other beverages," said Goldberger, who is also director of toxicology and a professor of pathology and psychiatry at UF's College of Medicine. The surprise, he said, was the high concentration of caffeine in some of the energy drinks, which exceeded the government's recommendations for cold beverages.



The Food and Drug Administration recommends a maximum caffeine concentration of 65 milligrams per 12-ounce serving of cola beverages, though it does not regulate caffeine content of these drinks. And although the agency requires the presence of caffeine be disclosed, it does not mandate that caffeine quantity be specified on labeling for energy drinks and cold coffee beverages.



The UF team tested 10 energy drinks, 19 sodas and seven other beverages and found some energy drinks have up to 141 milligrams in a single serving - more than twice the content of some espresso coffee drinks.



The sodas tested, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi products, ranged from 0 to 48 milligrams a serving, well below the maximum recommended amount. A&W Root Beer, Sprite, 7-Up and Seagram's Ginger Ale were among the caffeine-free drinks. However, the caffeine content of most energy drinks exceeded the maximum recommended limit. One energy drink with the highest caffeine content had a whopping 141 milligrams per serving, more than a double-shot cold espresso drink.



These drinks are often marketed as enhancing performance and stimulating metabolism and are sometimes described as being "highly vitalizing." Yet in certain people, consumption of caffeine causes serious health effects, such as anxiety, palpitations, irritability, difficulty sleeping and stomach complaints, Goldberger said. Because the amount of caffeine is not labeled on the drinks' packaging, pregnant women, children, infants or people with certain psychiatric diseases or anxiety conditions may unknowingly ingest too much, he added.
















The American Dietetic Association suggests women avoid caffeine while pregnant or breastfeeding, citing findings from studies linking caffeine consumption to miscarriage and low-birth weight babies.



"There are many consequences that are relatively unknown to the general public because they consider the consumption of sodas and other beverages to be relatively safe," Goldberger said. "People with psychiatric diseases could have manifestations of anxiety when they consume too much caffeine, people with hypertension could increase their heart rate if they consume caffeine."



Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology in the Solomon H. Snyder department of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said caffeine is the most widely used mood-altering drug in the world. Although caffeine is not considered highly toxic, physicians often recommend cutting back or eliminating caffeine consumption for patients who are pregnant or who have anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia or some kinds of stomach and heart conditions.



"Daily use of even relatively low doses of caffeine (about 100 milligrams a day) results in physical dependence, with abstinence characterized by withdrawal symptoms such as headache, fatigue, depressed mood and difficulty concentrating," Griffiths said. "People should then make informed decisions about their caffeine use. Obviously, knowing how much caffeine a given product contains is critical to making an informed decision about use."



Goldberger said many people are aware of their food's nutritional content but most know little about the ingredients of their beverage, just whether it is sugar-free or regular. A few energy drinks have labels warning that the product is not recommended for children and pregnant women, but they do not specify the caffeine content.



"This study gives us some enlightenment on the caffeine content of beverages, and the importance of appropriate labeling," Goldberger said.







Contact: Denise Trunk

dtrunkufl

University of Florida

Early Alcohol Exposure, Observing Impairments Of Neuronal Migration And Synaptic Plasticity

This week, two groups look at impairments of neuronal migration and synaptic plasticity, respectively, in animal models of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).


Both studies implicate cAMP signaling but in different ways. Kumada et al. examined granule cell migration in a brain slice preparation of neonatal mouse cerebellum.


The authors report that acute alcohol exposure slowed the migration of granule cells.


Medina et al. used a ferret model of FAS in which alcohol was injected every other day between postnatal days 10 and 30. Subsequently, ocular dominance plasticity was impaired in FAS animals, an effect that was restored by a phosphodiesterase I inhibitor.


Tatsuro Kumada, Madepalli K.Lakshmana, and Hitoshi Komuroand and Alexandre E. Medina, Thomas E. Krahe, and Ary S. Ramoa


Sara Harris

sharrissfn

Society for Neuroscience

sfn

News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience

New Survey Finds Youth Smoking Declines Have Slowed, Shows Need For States, Congress To Step Up Tobacco Prevention Efforts

The following is a
statement by William V. Corr, Executive Director of Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids:



Like other recent surveys, the 2006 Monitoring the Future Survey
released today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that the
nation's progress in reducing youth smoking has stalled or slowed to a
crawl. There is no question that we know how to significantly reduce youth
smoking, as evidenced by the fact that smoking has declined by more than
half among 8th and 10th graders and by more than 40 percent among 12th
graders over the past decade. However, for the third year in a row, the
survey finds no statistically significant change in smoking rates for any
of the three age groups (although there was a small, statistically
significant decline for all three age groups combined).



This survey is another clear warning that the nation's progress in
reducing smoking is at risk unless elected officials at all levels redouble
efforts to implement proven measures to reduce tobacco use. At the state
level, these solutions include higher tobacco taxes, increased funding for
tobacco prevention programs, and laws requiring smoke-free workplaces and
public places.



At the federal level, this survey is a timely reminder to the incoming
Congress that one of its early priorities should be to pass long-overdue
legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority
over tobacco products, including the authority to crack down on tobacco
marketing and sales to kids. Congress first debated this issue almost a
decade ago, but has failed to act despite the fact that tobacco use remains
the nation's leading preventable cause of death, killing more than 400,000
Americans every year, and despite evidence that the tobacco companies
continue to target our children. The public overwhelmingly supports
granting the FDA authority over tobacco, and the Senate in 2004 voted 78 to
15 to pass this legislation, but House leaders blocked its passage. By
finally granting the FDA authority over tobacco, the new Congress can take
a truly historic step to protect our children and the nation's health.



The evidence that tobacco marketing influences kids to smoke is
powerful and growing all the time. A study published in the December 2006
issue of the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine found that exposure to tobacco marketing and to pro-tobacco
depictions in films, television and videos more than doubles the odds that
children under 18 will become tobacco users. In an August 2006 ruling that
the tobacco companies have violated civil racketeering laws, U.S. District
Judge Gladys Kessler found that "Defendants' marketing is a substantial
contributing factor to youth smoking initiation" and that "Defendants
continue to engage in many practices which target youth." Since the 1998
state tobacco settlement, total tobacco marketing has more than doubled to
at least $15.4 billion a year -- more than $41 million each day --
according to the latest tobacco marketing reports of the Federal Trade
Commission.
















The CDC has attributed the stalling or slowing of youth smoking
declines to this dramatic increase in tobacco marketing at the same time
that states have cut funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and
help smokers quit. States cut funding for tobacco prevention and cessation
programs by 28 percent between 2002 and 2005, from $749.7 million to $538.2
million. While total funding has increased to $597.5 million in the current
2007 budget year, only three states -- Maine, Delaware and Colorado --
currently fund such programs at minimum levels recommended by the CDC,
while 33 states and DC spend less than half the CDC minimum or provide no
funding. The states lack excuses for their failure to do more. There is
conclusive evidence that these programs work, and given the record $21.7
billion that the states will collect in tobacco tax and tobacco settlement
revenues this year, there is no lack of resources to implement them. At the
national level, the American Legacy Foundation has also had to reduce its
successful truth(R) anti-smoking media campaign because most of its funding
under the 1998 state tobacco settlement ended after 2003.



Other recent surveys, including the CDC's 2004 National Youth Tobacco
Survey and 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, have also found that youth
smoking declines have stalled or slowed. Similarly, the CDC's most recent
survey of adult smoking found that 20.9 percent of U.S. adults smoked in
2005, the same rate as in 2004. This is the first time the adult smoking
rate has not declined since 1997, when 24.7 percent of adults smoked.



The good news in today's survey is that youth smoking rates have
declined dramatically from peak levels in the mid-1990s. Smoking rates
(those reporting having smoked in the past month) have declined by 58.6
percent among 8th graders (from 21 percent in 1996 to 8.7 percent in 2006),
by 52.3 percent among 10th graders (from 30.4 percent in 1996 to 14.5
percent in 2006), and by 40.8 percent among 12th graders (from 36.5 percent
in 1997 to 21.6 percent in 2006). The percentage of 12th graders who have
ever smoked a cigarette has declined from a high of 65.4 percent in 1997 to
47.1 percent in 2006, the first time in this survey that the number has
fallen below 50 percent.



These declines in youth smoking represent a truly remarkable public
health success story that will deliver benefits to the nation's health for
generations to come. But the battle is far from won. Too many of our
children still become addicted to a product that will sicken and
prematurely kill many of them, and the tobacco companies' aggressive
marketing could cause a reversal of progress unless we redouble efforts to
implement proven measures to reduce smoking. Our challenge today is to
resist complacency and summon the political will to combat the tobacco
epidemic as aggressively as the tobacco companies continue to market their
deadly and addictive products.



More information on the Monitoring the Future survey is available at
monitoringthefuture.


Tobacco Free Kids Action Fund

monitoringthefuture

Most Alcohol-Impaired Driving On American Roads Caused By Binge Drinkers

* Self-reported alcohol-impaired (AI) driving has increased in the United States during the last decade.


* New findings show that most AI driving is due to binge drinkers rather than heavy or alcohol-dependent drinkers.


* Researchers say effective strategies must address both excessive drinking as well as impaired driving.



Motor-vehicle crashes that are alcohol-related in nature kill approximately 17,000 Americans per year and, in the year 2000, cost more than $51 billion in related damages. A new study of the drinking patterns of alcohol-impaired (AI) drivers in the United States has found that most AI driving is performed by binge drinkers.



Results are published in the April issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.



"Previous research had found the number of self-reported AI driving episodes was increasing over the last eight years, especially among binge drinkers," said Nicole T. Flowers, medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and corresponding author for the study. "Many current policies have focused on discouraging people from operating a vehicle while intoxicated instead of trying to prevent people from becoming intoxicated. Furthermore, when people are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol the punitive measures frequently involve alcohol-treatment programs suitable for alcoholics but not necessarily suitable for non-alcohol dependent binge drinkers."



"Although AI driving fatalities - as one measure of AI driving - have declined in the United States over the past 30 years, the reduction has been far less in the United States than in other highly motorized Western countries such as Canada, Australia, Japan, or Germany," added David E. Nelson, senior scientific advisor with the Alcohol Team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



Flowers and her colleagues analyzed data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the largest telephone health survey in the world with more than 350,000 adults interviewed each year. Established in 1984, BRFSS data is collected monthly from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, and used to track tobacco use, cardiovascular disease, dietary habits, weight changes, immunization status, and screening for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer.



For this study, alcohol-consumption patterns of self-reported AI-drivers among U.S. adults 18 years and older for all states were divided into four categories: non-binge/non-heavy, non-binge/heavy, binge/non-heavy, and binge/heavy. (Binge drinking was defined as 5+ drinks for men or 4+ drinks for women on one or more occasions in the previous month; heavy drinking was defined as more than two drinks per day for men or more than one drink per day for women.)
















The results showed that approximately 84 percent of AI drivers were binge drinkers, and 88 percent of AI-driving episodes involved binge drinkers.



"We were surprised that binge drinkers who were not heavy drinkers made up 50 percent of all the self-reported AI drivers," said Flowers. "We thought it would be a large percentage but didn't know it would be that high."



Both Flowers and Nelson noted that these findings demonstrate the need for effective interventions to change their focus.



"AI driving is both a drinking problem and a driving problem," said Flowers. "A large number of AI drivers are probably not alcohol dependent, and the population of people who sit down once a month and have four or five drinks at one time must be taken into account when developing interventions to decrease the prevalence of impaired driving. Policies should deter both driving intoxicated and the behavior of becoming intoxicated."



Both Flowers and Nelson recommended strategies that include sobriety checkpoints, lowering blood alcohol concentrations, license-revocation laws to reduce AI driving, as well as policies to reduce excessive drinking, such as an increase in alcohol-excise taxes, enforcement of the minimal legal drinking age, a reduction in alcohol-outlet density and business hours, and restriction of happy hours. "Both kinds of efforts should be widely distributed to decrease the excessive drinking behavior that is strongly associated with impaired driving," said Flowers.



The bottom line, added Flowers, is that drinking to get drunk is a risky behavior. "Although 2.6 million Americans may not identify themselves as problem drinkers, drinking more than four or five drinks at a time is contributing to over 56 million episodes of AI driving per year. Binge drinking is a wide-spread and dangerous behavior." She and her colleagues have plans to continue using BRFSS data to examine the demographics of people who drink certain types and quantities of alcohol, as well as the association between intimate partner violence and binge drinking.







Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Impaired Driving in the United States," were: Timothy S. Naimi and Robert D. Brewer at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Adult and Community Health, Emerging Investigations and Analytic Methods Branch; Ruth Jiles of the Behavioral Surveillance Branch; Randy W. Elder at the National Center for Health Marketing , Division of Health Communications and Marketing Strategy, Community Guide Branch; Ruth A. Shults at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention; ??¦ all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention



Source: Timothy Naimi, M.D., M.P.H.

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention


Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Adventure Trial Successfully Lowers Drinking Rates In At Risk Children

The coming weeks mark the return to school for many of our youngest citizens. Sadly the satisfaction of making new friends and obtaining good test scores may be overshadowed by the prospect of substance abuse for some school-aged adolescents. The previous decade has witnessed a two-fold increase in both alcohol consumption and intoxication by adolescents age 12 to 17.(see note 1,2) In an effort to combat these startling findings, researchers at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry describe a successful personality-based intervention for substance abuse delivered by teachers in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.(see note 3



In the article titled "Personality-Targeted Interventions Delay Uptake of Drinking and Decrease Risk of Alcohol-Related Problems When Delivered by Teachers," Principal Investigator Dr. Patricia Conrod and colleagues evaluated 2,506 adolescents, with a mean age of 13.7, using the Substance Use Risk Profile scale; a 23-item questionnaire which assesses personality risk for substance abuse along four dimensions including sensation-seeking, impulsivity, anxiety-sensitivity, and hopelessness.



Of the 1,159 students identified by researchers as being at high risk for substance abuse, 624 received intervention as part of the Adventure Trial and a matched high risk group of 384 received no intervention. School based interventions consisted of two 90 minute group sessions conducted by a trained educational professional. In order to adequately evaluate the students, the teachers attended a 3-day rigorous workshop, followed by 4 hour supervision and feedback session. An 18 point checklist was used to determine whether the teachers demonstrated a good understanding of the aims and components of the programs.



Although the trial is designed to evaluate mental health symptoms, academic achievement, and substance use uptake over a 2 year period, the authors have focused their findings on the six month outcomes of drinking and binge-drinking rates, quantity by frequency of alcohol use, and drinking-related problems.



Reporting on the efficacy of the intervention at six months, author and Trial Coordinator Maeve O'Leary-Barrett writes, "Receiving an intervention significantly decreased the likelihood of reporting drinking alcohol at follow-up, with the control group 1.7 times more likely to report alcohol use than the intervention group (odds ratio, 0.6)." Furthermore, receiving an intervention also predicted significantly lower binge-drinking rates in students who reported alcohol use at baseline (odds ratio, 0.45), indicating a 55% decreased risk of binge-drinking in this group compared with controls. In addition, high-risk intervention-school students reported lower quantity by frequency of alcohol use and drinking-related problems compared with the non-treatment group at follow-up.



The Adventure Trial is the first to evaluate the success of the personality-targeted interventions as delivered by teachers. The findings at six months suggest that this approach may provide a sustainable school-base prevention program for youth at risk for substance abuse.



In the JAACAP article, Principal Investigator Dr. Patricia Conrod and colleagues comment on the success of their program by stating, "In-house personality-targeted interventions allow schools to implement early prevention strategies with youth most at risk for developing future alcohol-related problems and provide the potential for follow-up of the neediest individuals."



Notes:


1. Office of National Statistics. Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking Among Young People in England in 2007. NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre; 2008.


2. Crome IB, Ghodse H, Gilvarry E, et al, eds. Young People and Substance Misuse. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists; 2004.


3. O'Leary-Barrett M, Mackie CJ, Castellanos-Ryan N, Al-Khudhairy N, Conrod PJ. Personality-Targeted Interventions Delay Uptake of Drinking and Decrease Risk of Alcohol-Related Problems When Delivered by Teachers. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc.Psychiatry, 2010;49(9):954


This investigation was supported by a research grant and fellowship (2003-2008) from Action on Addiction (registered charity number 1007308).


The findings in this article were part of a registered clinical trial: Personality-Targeted Interventions for Adolescent Alcohol Misuse, click here, unique identifier NCT00344474.



Source:

Rebecca Jensen


Elsevier

Youth Binge Drinking Culture Must End, Australian Medical Association

The AMA is calling for a partnership between Government, industry, health professionals and the community to end the binge drinking culture that is damaging the health of young Australians.


A report by the Australian National Council on Drugs has revealed that one in ten high school students had been binge drinking in the past week.


AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said urgent action was needed to end the binge drinking culture and change young Australians' attitudes towards alcohol.


"Our teenagers and young people are putting themselves at serious risk by engaging in bouts of binge drinking and harmful alcohol abuse," Dr Capolingua said.


"It is clear that messages about responsible drinking aren't getting through to them.


"We need to examine how we communicate with young people about alcohol abuse on all levels - from Federal Government campaigns to talking with a doctor or family members."


Dr Capolingua said the new national guidelines for 'low risk' drinking being developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) needed to include information on the risks of consuming high levels of alcohol in a single drinking session.


"It's easy for kids to think that because they don't drink very often that one big night isn't going to do them any harm, but in fact they are putting themselves at risk of injury or death.


"According to the NHMRC, one Australian teenager dies and 60 are hospitalised each week from alcohol-related causes."


Dr Capolingua said the alcohol industry is equally responsible.


"Alcohol manufacturers need to include clearly visible and easy to understand information about responsible drinking levels on all product labels.


"Figures from the NHMRC show the number of school students consuming pre-mixed spirits has doubled since 2001.


"These are strong alcoholic drinks and young people need to be aware of the risks of consuming a lot of these in one night or one drinking session.


"Binge drinking affects the whole community, so the whole community needs to be involved in putting an end to the binge drinking culture that is seriously harming our young people," Dr Capolingua said.

Australian Medical Association

Athletic Care Network Crucial For Athletes Behaving Badly - Team Physicians Address Athletes' Negative Social And Mental Behaviors

An athletic care network should provide the guidance and medical care to intervene and help prevent negative social behaviors among athletes, like alcohol or drug use, sexual promiscuity, gambling, violence or criminal activity. In a presentation today at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), team physicians from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst outlined strategies to handle athletes behaving badly.


The athletic care network should include team physician, certified athletic trainer, nutritionist, sports psychologist and possibly other team personnel, according to the panel. Pierre Rouzier, M.D., head team physician at UMASS, recommends the committee meet as often as monthly to identify and mentor at-risk athletes.


"When the Duke lacrosse incident broke last year, sexual behavior and alcohol use among athletes was quickly thrown under the microscope," said Rouzier. "Athletes are often highly scrutinized anyway - from their class schedule to their workout schedule to their practice schedule - so their care network can help identify at-risk athletes or issues before there are major consequences."


On the other hand, Rouzier recognizes some athletes who behave badly live by a sense of entitlement. "That's one of the major problems," he says. "From adolescence on, some are simply getting special treatment because they are athletically gifted. This is where the coach and athletic director come in to set the tone, handle discipline and teach kids how character plays into their program. But, just like some parents, there are coaches who do it right and coaches who just want to win."


Some common problems athletes may encounter involve off-field risk-taking behaviors, including gambling, violence and criminal activity. Group behavior, such as hazing, can also be prevalent among athletes. Alcohol use and sexual behavior leading to sexually transmitted diseases are also factors.


"There is no clear evidence whether off-field problems are due to a sense of entitlement or related to the individual characteristics that help athletes excel in sports, including obsessive traits, drive, focus and sense of immortality," said J. Herbert Stevenson, M.D., a physician on the panel. "Research does show a higher rate, particularly in males and in contact sports, of risk-taking behaviors among student-athletes compared with their peers."


Collegiate athletes may be apt to fall into risky behavior patterns because oftentimes, they are previously high school athletes who have encountered social, medical and mental health behavior problems. "Colleges inherit these kids with a dream. Their community has perpetuated it when they were the best kid in Pop Warner or All-State. When they get to college, it's like going to an ice cream shop. There are more perks, more girls or vice versa thrown at them," said Rouzier. "There needs to be a component of the athletic care network available to athletes so they can perform not only in their program, but with a schedule to have something in life after sports."


Rouzier and his team physicians emphasize most college athletes are like most other college students: kids in the four-year process of becoming adults.


"The effect of individual, institutional, and societal factors on negative off-field and risk behaviors by athletes needs to be the focus of future research," said Stevenson.



The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000 international, national, and regional members are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.


acsm

To Reduce Spread Of HIV/AIDS, IFRC Calls For More Focus On IDU Programs

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Smoking is all down to your genes

Dutch researcher Jacqueline Vink has discovered that the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the level of nicotine dependence is largely down
to a person's genes. She investigated the smoking behaviour of more than 16,000 twins and their relatives.


Whether or not a young person starts smoking largely depends on his or her environment. Smoking friends and family members increase the chance that
someone will take up smoking. Jacqueline Vink discovered that the variation between smokers in the number of cigarettes smoked per day is genetically
determined. The same is true for the degree of nicotine dependency.


However, a predisposition for nicotine addiction does not mean that somebody will also become addicted or remain addicted. Smokers who have a
genetic disposition can still stop smoking, even though they probably belong to the group who finds it hardest to quit.


Vink also investigated which genes play a role in smoking. She found that chromosomes 6 and 14 contain regions involved with taking up smoking. On
chromosome 3 there is a region involved in the number of cigarettes that somebody smokes per day. Chromosome 10 contains a region that plays a role
in both the number of cigarettes smoked per day as well as the chance that somebody takes up smoking. Further research is needed to determine exactly
which genes are involved.


For her research, the Ph.D. student used data from a large study of more than 16,000 twins (and their relatives) from the Dutch Twin Register. Some of
the people questioned also supplied DNA material for the study.


This study is part of the Addiction programme from NWO and ZonMw (Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development).


Contact: Jacqueline Vink

jm.vinkpsy.vu.nl

31-204-448-958

Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

AIDS 2010 Studies, Releases: Criminalization, Discrimination Of High-Risk Groups; Test-And-Treat; UNAIDS Launches HIV Prevention Commission

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Minister Wallace Launches New Stronger Codes Of Practice To Control Alcohol Marketing, Communications And Sponsorship, Ireland

Ms Mary Wallace T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for Health Promotion and Food Safety launched new strengthened Codes of Practice to control Alcohol Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship.


Speaking at the Launch the Minister said that the Government was extremely concerned about theimpact of alcohol advertising on young people in particular. The revised Codes are a move to control the content and volume of alcohol advertising across all media in Ireland.


A significant element of the new Codes will be the placing of an upper limit of 25% on the volume of all alcohol advertising. This means that for the first time alcohol advertising will be limited to no more than 25% of available space or time in all Irish media i.e. TV, Radio, Cinema, Outdoor Advertising and the Print Media. New controls will also deal with alcohol advertising or sponsorship during the broadcasting of sports programmes.


In tandem, the Minister also stated that the Department will commence a process to identify areas in relation to alcohol advertising, promotions and sponsorships where legislative measures might be necessary to afford greater protection to young people. This process would encompass areas outside of the scope of the existing codes on advertising, for example, sportswear bearing alcohol companies' logos.


"Adherence to and implementation of the revised codes on Alcohol Marketing and Sponsorship will be one of the important factors for Government to consider in deciding what further measures might be necessary"the Minister said.


The revised codes will have immediate effect for new contracts on 1st July, 2008 and for all existing contracts by 1st October, 2008.


The publication Alcohol Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship Codes of Practice can be found here.

Department of Health and Children, Ireland

Department Promoting Early Substance Use Screening Process

The Wyoming Department of Health is strengthening its promotion of early screening for substance use-related health issues by reimbursing Wyoming healthcare providers who participate through its EqualityCare (Medicaid) program.


Known as Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), the simple screening process involves just a few questions. Trained interviewers work with individuals to determine their risk level based upon behavior patterns. A brief educational intervention can significantly reduce or even end the person's use of harmful substances. For those whose screening indicates a severe problem or dependence, the next step is referral to Wyoming community mental health and substance abuse centers.


"Many people don't realize how their use of legal and illegal substances may impact their health," said Rodger McDaniel, Wyoming Department of Health deputy director for mental health and substance abuse services. "The goal is to educate before addiction sets in."


Research has shown that large numbers of individuals at risk of developing serious alcohol or other drug problems may be identified through primary care screening.


"We want to involve Wyoming healthcare providers because screening in a medical setting can be particularly successful. The focus is on a person's health rather than appearing as a judgment on behaviors, and the patient controls how much information they want to receive," McDaniel said.


McDaniel expects SBIRT to eventually save the state money. "When you are able to intervene early with nondependent users before dependence has taken hold, you can decrease expensive substance abuse treatment costs, reduce hospital stays and see fewer emergency department visits."


Last year the Wyoming Department of Health began encouraging the practice around Wyoming in medical settings in places such as the Cheyenne Free Clinic, certain public health nursing offices and the Laramie County public defender's office.


Participating EqualityCare (Medicaid) providers are being notified of the new SBIRT billing code opportunities. Teri Green, State Medicaid Agent, encourages providers to begin impementing SBIRT in their health care settings. "The SBIRT process supports prevention and wellness. This is an excellent tool for provider to use to promote quality outcomes to the citizens of Wyoming, " said Teri Green. EqualityCare will begin covering SBIRT HCPCS codes H0049 & H0050 with dates of service beginning January 1, 2009, with training planned around the state. Initial training opportunities are expected in Rawlins, Rock Springs, Lander, Jackson, Riverton, Cheyenne and Casper.


For more information about SBIRT, contact the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division at (307) 777-7071. Rembember, commit to your health and the health of others.


wdh.state.wy.us

Indonesian Schools Should Develop Innovative HIV/AIDS Education Programs For Youth, UNESCO Says

Schools in Indonesia should develop innovative approaches to teaching about HIV/AIDS to help prevent the spread of the disease among youth, executive chair of the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, Arief Rachman, said last week, the Jakarta Post reports. Rachman was speaking at the close of a workshop for secondary school teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention in Jakarta, Indonesia. Thirty-two schools, including religious institutions, from Jakarta and several other cities participated in the workshop, which featured discussions and presentations on various approaches to educating students about HIV/AIDS.

The approaches included a guidance and counseling program; a method based on an Islamic perspective; and a collaborative teaching approach that uses online learning through the International Education and Resource Network. The last method also engages nongovernmental organizations that specialize in HIV/AIDS work, the Post reports.

"Teachers are the spearheads of the prevention process," Mira Fajar Aviatri, national program officer for HIV/AIDS and school health at the commission, said, adding, "They are the ones facing the students on a day-to-day basis, so they know what exactly awaits them in the field." She noted that the workshop was a "good start to display the alternative methods available for implementing HIV prevention education, which can be accommodated with school's curricula." Mira said some faith-based schools might be reluctant to abandon their religious teachings and discuss HIV/AIDS in depth, but she applauded the participants' eagerness to share their experiences, the Post reports. Mira also said that the emphasis some school curricula place on cognitive learning poses a challenge to implementing effective HIV/AIDS prevention lessons. "Time is really a constraint for our teachers, particularly since schools are mainly focused on the output -- on how many students graduate from schools," she said, adding, "So you could imagine how heavy the teachers' burdens are in creatively delivering HIV/AIDS education alongside other pressing expectations."

Also at the workshop, UNESCO Bangkok representative Simon Baker announced that the organization will hold a national competition for educators to develop the most innovative approaches to teaching HIV/AIDS prevention. "The competition is for school teachers to create the best lesson plans for HIV/AIDS," Baker said, adding that "in addition to a financial reward, the best action plan will hopefully be posted on the Internet for others to learn" (Jakarta Post, 6/28).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.