A new study suggests marijuana may accelerate the onset of psychotic disorders in some young users, Reuters reported Feb. 7. Matthew Large and colleagues at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, along with investigators at two U.S. sites, conducted an exhaustive review of the literature examining the effects of marijuana, alcohol, and other [...]
Problem drinking during the late teenage years is a real problem, not just a phase, that can signal problem drinking in young adulthood, according to a new study. The findings are published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. “The key finding was that the more drinking-related problems experienced by an adolescent at age 18, the greater the [...]
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan each year conducts and reports on a national study of youth in grades eight, 10 and 12, in order to learn more about drug, alcohol and tobacco use by young people. Published as the Monitoring the Future surveys, the statistics that [...]
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nearly every community in Cuyahoga County has been touched by a death from an accidental overdose of opiates — prescription painkillers or the often-cheaper street drug heroin. Those who die are increasingly younger, increasingly suburban, increasingly female — with numbers overall simply increasing. Read More
Teenage girls are about three times as likely as boys to attempt suicide for drug-related reasons, according to an analysis of emergency-room visits. A government study also found boys are far more likely to attempt drug-related suicide in the month of December, while the suicide rate for girls stays fairly steady throughout the year. Read [...]
In my experience as a psychiatrist treating teenage alcoholism and teenage drug abuse. I find that parents of teens are often too permissive about their teen smoking weed. Many parents of teens smoked pot when they themselves were teenagers, but pot was very different a generation ago. Here are 10 negative effects of weed: 1. [...]
“My dad says it’s okay to smoke marijuana.” That’s what a sixth grader said to me at a drug prevention program where I presented. I can’t tell you how many times parents have told me that they know their kids drink or smoke pot, but they aren’t worried because it’s “beer and pot.” I’ve seen parents [...]
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday a multipronged strategy to address so-called pill mills. “We are the epicenter for the country in prescription drug abuse,” she said at an hour-long news conference in Tallahassee. “Cracking down on pill mills is one of our top priorities.” Key provisions of Bondi’s legislative proposal include: • Mandatory six-month [...]
Newswise — Illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin have always been a parent’s nightmare. But perfectly legal and easily accessible prescription medications are now the recreational drugs of choice for many teenagers, prompting physicians at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center to urge pediatricians to screen specifically for their abuse during routine visits. “Ask teens explicitly [...]
Brad DeHaven calls it “our family’s dirty little secret.” By age 17, his oldest son, Brandon, was selling and developing an addiction to the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin. DeHaven and his wife Lisa were ill-equipped to deal with Brandon’s problem. Here was what seemed to be a normal, upstanding Granite Bay family. A financial planner [...]
