WAKE UP: Be Sure to Safeguard Prescription Medications Before Welcoming Guests In

Tis the season of giving, but as you invite family and friends into your home for holiday festivities, beware – for some, it is also the season for taking. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, most teens initially get prescription pills from family and friends, including straight from home medicine cabinets.  And it’s not just teens.  

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the United States. Deaths from prescription drug overdoses have become the second leading cause of accidental deaths nationwide, and the leading cause in as many as 15 states.

“Prescription pill abusers are no different than those that are addicted to illicit drugs like meth or heroin.  They will go to great lengths to get their fix. I can’t stress enough the importance of safeguarding your medications,” says Lora Brown, MD, a Pain Management Physician and Medical Director for WAKE UP!, a community educational campaign created to combat the increase in prescription drug abuse among teenagers.

Brown says that you should always safeguard your medicine, but it’s especially important during the holidays when friends, family, neighbors and sometimes strangers are invited into our homes.  Don’t discuss what medications you are taking with anyone but your medical or mental health team, and keep the medications in a secure place at all times. Often these medications are stolen from medicine cabinets and nightstands. Addicts have been known to break into homes where they suspect they can find meds, as well as assault someone who is in possession of the prescription medication they desire.

About WAKE UP!:

WAKE UP! is a community educational campaign established by The Pain Truth, a Florida 501(c)(3), to combat the increase in prescription drug abuse among teenagers. It is designed to use science, not scare tactics, to educate teenagers of the effects and dangers of prescription drugs. The program uses a school “takeover” approach to reach thousands of students and their families with an extended program designed to teach not preach about the dangers of abusing and misusing prescription drugs. This program is unique in many ways. One of the most important aspects is sustainability through a school-based CORE of students and educators that remain present and active long after

the original campaign is complete. 

Follow them on Twitter and use hashtag #WAKEUP

Stop Medicine Abuse: New Website

Medicine abuse and teens unfortunate is not new, but this year www.StopMedicineAbuse.org rolled out a new and updated website full of educational tools, downloads, brochures, posters, and other resources to help your and your family and community fight medicine abuse.

About them:

The prevention campaign StopMedicineAbuse.org and its Five Moms initiative is working to alert parents and members of the community about the problem of teen abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM).

In 2004, national surveys began to track abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine among teens. Experts predicted, “abuse among adolescents most likely will increase, as the drug is relatively easy to obtain and inexpensive.  Moreover, adolescents perceive the risk in abusing the drug as low.”
This was a call to action.

To fight the potential rise of teen DXM use, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) launched the Five Moms: Stopping Cough Medicine Abuse campaign to raise awareness about teen DXM abuse and offer peer-to-peer guidance on how to prevent it. Following the success of the Five Moms campaign, CHPA created StopMedicineAbuse.org to serve as the online home for Five Moms and provide valuable resources for parents and their communities. Together, these initiatives have reached millions of parents to date.

Back to School: Stop Medicine Abuse

StopMedicineAbuse.org was created by the leading makers of OTC cough medicines and their trade association, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA).

CHPA, founded in 1881, is a member-based association representing the leading manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines. CHPA and its members are involved in a multi-pronged effort to curb the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicines containing dextromethorphan with the help of a host of partners. Included in those other concerned organizations are the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, and D.A.R.E. America.

In addition to preventing the abuse of OTC medicines, CHPA and its members also work to provide information on the safe and responsible use of medications through the nonprofit CHPA Educational Foundation.

Learn about the abuse of OTC:

Recent studies among middle and high school aged kids across the country show a disturbing form of substance abuse among teens: the intentional abuse of otherwise beneficial medications, both prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC), to get high.

Teens who learn a lot about the risks of drugs from their parents are 50 percent less likely to use drugs.

According to data from the 2011 Monitoring the Future Study, teen past-year abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine has remained at roughly 5 percent.



The ingredient the teens are abusing in OTC cough medicines is dextromethorphan, or DXM. When used according to label directions, DXM is a safe and effective ingredient approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is found in well over 100 brand-name and store-brand over-the-counter cough medicines. When abused in large amounts, DXM can be dangerous.

StopMedicineAbuse.org was developed by the leading makers of OTC cough medicines to build awareness about this type of substance abuse behavior, provide tips to prevent it from happening, and encourage parents to safeguard their medicine cabinets. Substance abuse can touch any family: The key to keeping teens drug-free is education and talking about the dangers of abuse.
 
Join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.

Treatment Talk

Treatment Talk

A fantastic website and educational resources for parents and everyone, Treatment Talk covers a wide range of informational articles and valuable tools that are dealing with addiction.

Cathy Taughinbaugh founder of Treatment Talk.

What you will find on Treatment Talk:

• Create a life of peace, serenity and joy.
• Learn more about addiction and recovery from people experienced in the field.
• Find treatment resources that can help you or your family member.
• Connect with others who have experienced addiction and made the journey through to recovery.
• Find powerful books and helpful links to help you find your way.

Visit today at www.treatmenttalk.org. 

Join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

April 28th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Getting rid of unused, unwanted prescription medications can help prevent the misuse or abuse of these drugs. Since many homes end up with unwanted or expired prescription medications, including controlled substances, such as certain pain medications and ADHD drugs, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has coordinated drug take-back events across the country. Consumers are encouraged to use this unique opportunity to safely and legally dispose of any unneeded pills, including controlled substance medications, as these pills can only be accepted for disposal when law enforcement is present.

The next DEA coordinated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10 AM - 2 PM. DEA drug take-back events provide a safe means for the disposal of unwanted, unused prescription medications. DEA coordinates with local law enforcement agencies so that drug take-back sites can accept controlled substances for authorized disposal.

Now available online, the DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day collection site locator allows consumers to search for a convenient location to dispose of unneeded medications, on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Thousands of DEA-coordinated collection sites across the country will accept unwanted, unneeded, and expired prescription medications, including controlled substances, for safe disposal. Check the DEA collection site locator often, as new locations will be added until April 28, 2012.

DEA reminds consumers that the take-back service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. Sites will accept tablets, capsules, and all other solid dosage forms of unwanted medication. Personal information may be blacked out on prescription bottles, or medications may be emptied from the bottles into the bins provided at the events.

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Home Drug Test Kits: Teensavers

Do you suspect your teen is using drugs?

Teensavers Diagnostics Inc. is proud to announce that CVS Pharmacy and CVS.com has added the entire family of Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kits.  

"CVS.com and the CVS/Caremark family are absolute leaders in the home health care industry.    Families rely on the CVS family for every day products and life saving prescriptions.    We value the support that CVS.com has shown the Teensavers® family, including our family branded drug tests in their diagnostics category.   We share the importance and enthusiasm for families looking to lead a healthy life," said Teensavers Diagnostics Inc. President Steve Stahovich.    

Teensavers Diagnostics Inc. created the Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kits with the family in mind.   Government statistics show that 4,000 teens try drugs for the first time every day.   2,500 of those kids are experimenting with pills.    Many parents are seeing the explosion of teen prescription drug use in our community.    But they don't know what to do about it.    The Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kits can help detect possible opiate use.    It can help deter kids from taking pills, prescribed for a legitimate patient, from the medicine cabinet to use recreationally.

"We are proud that parents can find our total family solution, from the same chain where they are getting their prescriptions.    Just as any health ailment requires immediate attention, potential teen substance abuse requires the same immediate attention and care.   Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kits provide more than a positive or negative result.   Our complete kit helps parents understand through the entire process, whether it's diagnosing the drug use, or finding the best solution for your family," said Stahovich.

There are five different Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kits available on CVS.com ranging from a 1-panel (THC only) test to a comprehensive 12-panel test.     The prices range from $16.99 to $39.99.

Stahovich says choosing the right test is based on alert and informed parenting.  Stahovich says, "Choosing the right drug test kit not only depends on your family and the child's exposure to drugs, but the drug culture of the community.    It is critical for parents to be proactive by talking with other parents in the neighborhood, finding out about drug issues in the schools, and within the community.   Some communities have marijuana and cocaine problems.    We are seeing an explosion of prescription drug abuse across most of the country.   Parents may want complete tests for popular pills.     Proper home drug testing involves pro-active parenting"

The Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kit is 99.9% accurate, made in America, and approved for over-the-counter sales by the FDA. The test is endorsed by America's Parenting Coach, Tim Chapman, a 30-year treatment veteran.   The Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kit was recently named a 2011 “Top Products” Winner by Parent Tested, Parent Approved, one of the most reliable and valuable online resources for parents.

===Product Specs===

-- 1-panel ($16.99) Marijuana (THC) test.
-- 3-panel ($21.99), screens for Marijuana, Cocaine, and Methamphetamine.
-- 5-panel ($25.99) screens for the previous three drugs, plus Oxycodone and Opiates.
-- 7-panel ($29.99) screens for the previous 5 drugs plus Benzodiazepines and Ecstasy (MDMA.)
-- 12-panel test ($39.99) is the most comprehensive Teensavers® Home Drug Test Kit. It screens for Marijuana, Cocaine, PCP, Opiates, Amphetamines, Methamphetamine, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, Oxycodone, Methadone, Ecstasy (MDMA), and Tricyclic Antidepressants.
# # #

Founded by President Steve Stahovich, a long time recovery and addiction specialist, Teensavers Diagnostics Inc. (http://myteensavers.com) is an ally to parents who suspect their teen may be using narcotics. We are the latest generation in home drug testing kits, offering a total solution, and not just results. We are endorsed by America's Parenting Coach, Tim Chapman, founder of Chapman House.
To contact Teensavers Diagnostics about our total solution home drug test kit, or if you are a pharmacist or medical distributor, call 866-728-7833 or visit our website at HTTP://Myteensavers.com

Teensavers Diagnostics sister company Independent Drug Testing Supply, manufactures business drug test kits and has been supplying hospitals, jails, and corporations for years. If you are a company interested in our business model drug test kits, contact us at (949) 727-3750.

Red Ribbon Campaign: Preventing Teen Drug Use

The National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign. NFP provides drug awareness by sponsoring the annual National Red Ribbon Celebration. Since its beginning in 1985, the Red Ribbon has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. In response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing Red Ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction cause by drugs in America.

Enrique (Kiki) Camarena was a Drug Enforcement Administration Agent who was tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985. When he decided to join the US Drug Enforcement Administration, his mother tried to talk him out of it. "I'm only one person", he told her, "but I want to make a difference."

On Feb. 7, 1985, the 37-year-old Camarena left his office to meet his wife for lunch. Five men appeared at the agent's side and shoved him in a car. One month later, Camarena's body was found. He had been tortured to death.

In honor of Camarena's memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin. Parents, sick of the destruction of alcohol and other drugs, had begun forming coalitions. Some of these new coalitions took Camarena as their model and embraced his belief that one person can make a difference. These coalitions also adopted the symbol of Camarena's memory, the red ribbon.

In 1988, NFP sponsored the first National Red Ribbon Celebration. Today, the Red Ribbon serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities. Since that time, the campaign has reached millions of U.S. children and families.

The National Family Partnership (NFP) and its network of individuals and organizations continue to deliver his message of hope to millions of people every year, through the National Red Ribbon Campaign.

Learn more - click here.

SOBERLINK Family - Monitoring Promotes Accountability and Your Teens

What is SOBERLINK?

Soberlink is a patent pending medical device that remotely monitors a person's blood alcohol level without being physically present. Soberlink compiles a sobriety report that transmits to a web-based monitoring portal for counselors to review.

Monitoring helps promote accountability with your teenagers: 

• It is proven that families who use monitoring techniques provide their children with one more good reason to say "NO" in the face of social pressures.
  
  
• Proactive parents desire their children to be successful in every aspect of life. Most teenagers want to make the right decision, but compromise when faced with a moment of social pressure and peer expectation.
  
  
• The accountability of SOBERLINK empowers your teenager to make the right choices in the moments that matter most.

 Learn more at www.SoberLink.net.

Watch then video of how SOBERLINK works here.

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Informed Families the Florida Family Partnership

THE NUMBER ONE REASON KIDS GIVE FOR NOT USING DRUGS IS THEIR PARENTS!  

However, 40% of parents believe they have little influence on their children's drug use. Worse, 50% of parents expect their children will use drugs. 

When we ask kids what they would like us to do to help with the drug problem, the surprising answer is "talk to our parents about drugs." 

Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is a broad-based, grass roots volunteer/parent organization that is affiliated with the National Family Partnership. Informed Families is an education, training and support center for parents, schools and communities to help raise safe, healthy and drug-free children. 

We teach people how to say no to drugs and how to make healthy choices. To reduce the demand for drugs, Informed Families has focused its efforts on educating and mobilizing the community, parents and young people in order to change attitudes. In this way we counteract the pressures in society that condone and promote drug and alcohol use and abuse. The organization educates thousands of families annually about how to stay drug and alcohol free through networking and a variety of programs and services . 

Informed Families offers children's substance abuse prevention activities in various locations throughout the State of Florida. While the agency is headquartered in Miami, other service locations include the Orlando and Pensacola Regions.

Follow PACT Prevention Coalition on Twitter.

Loved One in Treatment? Now What!

By Lisa Frederiksen

There is a great deal of 21st century brain and addiction-related research now possible thanks to advances in brain imaging technologies. These findings are exploding long-held beliefs about addiction and addiction treatment and the impacts of a loved one’s substance misuse on family members and friends.  

Loved One In Treatment? Now What! simplifies this research and answers questions, such as:

- What causes addiction? Why do some people become alcoholics or drug addicts and others do not?
- What is “effective” treatment? Is there a difference between treatment and recovery?
- Who among family members and friends can help a loved one get treatment? Or can they?
- What does coping with a loved one’s addiction do to family members and friends, and what is available to help them?

Order on Amazon today!

From Drugs to Mugs: Faces of Meth

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The message is clear. Substance abuse will change your life in ways you never imagined. Using before and after photos collected from jail mug shots as the foundation for this 48-minute documentary, the authors easily make their case. The shocking images, taken over time, during the jail booking process, are alarming. The photos clearly illustrate the stark and devastating effects of substance abuse. 

The program features interviews with incarcerated addicts and experts who encounter the impact of substance abuse on society in their daily work—law enforcement officers, a judge, an addiction recovery specialist and a deputy medical examiner. 

From Drugs to Mugs is a drug education program designed specifically for classroom use and is a collaborative effort that would not have been possible without the input of many dedicated professionals. Special thanks to Deputy Bret King and Deputy Curtis Sanders who were responsible for research, development, and production. Revenue generated from the sale of From Drugs to Mugs will be used to cover the costs associated with production and shipping and enable the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to continue to provide educational visits to the youth in classrooms throughout the Pacific Northwest.

If you have any questions, or would like to invite Deputy King to make a presentation to your school or organization, please contact us at:

Deputy Bret King
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office
Email: facesofmeth@mcso.us
503-988-4300
 

Purchase your own copy of From Drugs to Mugs - click here.

Watch intro.

PACT360: Community Education on Drug Use Prevention

Working together with key community stakeholders focused on prevention, treatment, health care, education and law enforcement, The Partnership at Drugfree.org developed a series of research-based, multimedia community education programs designed specifically to inform parents about today’s drug and alcohol landscape, equip them to be more effective in dealing with these issues and help them raise healthy teens.

PACT360 contains five key programs – Meth360^®, Parents360, Youth360, Latino360 and Padres360 – and is designed to complement and not supplant existing local prevention efforts. All five programs can be customized with local statistics, real-person stories and events and first-hand experiences of the presenters, to reflect the unique needs and issues of the community. This multi-dimensional approach highlights the powerful impact local efforts can have on individual families and communities.

 

How communities put into practice the PACT360 programs is wide-ranging from implementation into probation programs to community development plans to individual efforts by local community service organizations that address the needs of parents and youth, parent teacher organizations and community watch groups. Communities across the country have used the PACT360 programs in numerous ways to reach parents and teens, and most importantly, the various uses of the program underscores the importance of community partners working together to bring these issues to the forefront.

 

Visit www.pact360.org and find out how to get started today!

Read more.

Sue Scheff: TIME TO ACT! Drug Free America

TIME TO ACT! is a first-of-its kind online help resource for parents and caregivers who suspect or know their child is experimenting, using or has a problem with alcohol or drugs.

Discovering that a teen is using drugs or alcohol can be a scary experience for parents — many feel alone, ashamed, and confused about what to do next. The Partnership believes that no parent should go through this alone, without guidance from experts and other parents.

Time To Act! was created to ensure that every parent has free access, on their own terms, to the most current research-based information on how to help their child — and their family — take the next steps. It is the only site of its kind designed to address parents in an active state of concern about how to help their child, whether they’ve used once or have a known drug or alcohol problem.

Read more.

Sue Scheff: Drugwatch.com - Be an educated parent with RX drugs and your teens

DrugWatch.com is a comprehensive Web site database featuring extensive information about thousands of different medications and drugs currently on the market or previously available worldwide. DrugWatch.com includes up-to-date information about prescription and over-the-counter medications and includes details about associated side effects to aid in the protection of patients and consumers.

The resources available on DrugWatch.com are provided to offer visitors free and accurate information to aid in the understanding of various medications and conditions. The content on the site may help consumers formulate questions for medical professionals and alert the public about important information regarding potentially dangerous side effects associated with certain medications. By providing FDA alerts, drug interactions, and potential side effects on the site, patients have access to valuable knowledge that could enhance their ability to voice concerns with their doctor and improve their quality of care.

Visit www.drugwatch.com for more information.

Sue Scheff: Recovery Month - Join The Voices For Recovery

The Recovery Month Web sites aims to promote the societal benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers, and promote the message that recovery from alcohol and drug disorders in all its forms is possible. Today they are promoting “Join the Voices of Recovery: Now More Than Ever!” toolkit.


Join Recovery Month on Facebook for more up-to-date information on events throughout Florida and our country.  Don't be a parent in denial, be proactive.

Sue Scheff: Project Alert

What is Project Alert?

Today more than ever, teens need help resisting drugs. Project ALERT is a proven solution — a nationally recognized, 7th & 8th grade, evidence-based program that gives students insight, understanding, and actual skills for resisting substance use. Project ALERT successfully addresses tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants, the substances teens are most likely to use. 

Project ALERT core strategies

• Motivate students against drug use
• Provide skills and strategies to resist drugs
• Establish new non-use attitudes and beliefs

Project ALERT in the classroom

• Small group activities
• Role playing exercises
• Real life videos
• Guided classroom discussions

Sue Scheff: The Cool Spot - Helping With Peer Pressure Against Substance Abuse

Info for Parents and Teachers

The Cool Spot was created for kids 11-13 years old by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The NIAAA is the lead U.S. agency supporting research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of alcohol problems. It is a component of the National Institutes of Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The content of The Cool Spot is based on a curriculum for grades 6-8 developed by the University of Michigan. The curriculum was created for the Alcohol Misuse Prevention Study (AMPS), a large-scale project supported by NIAAA.

One goal of AMPS was to give young teens a clearer picture about alcohol use among their peers. Teens tend to overestimate how much kids their age really drink. When they learn more accurate information, some of the pressure to drink can subside. Other goals of AMPS were to help kids learn skills to resist pressure to drink and to give them reasons not to drink. The Cool Spot incorporates AMPS goals in these and other features:

• Reality Check quizzes kids about how much drinking is really going on in the U.S. The answers, which often surprise kids and adults alike, are based on results of the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
• Deep Digging is a simple but powerful page that depicts why using alcohol as a solution to problems, or a way of trying to cope, is trouble.
• Peer Pressure Bag of Tricks presents animated scenes that invite kids to identify some common peer pressure “tricks.” It also lets kids know that spotting these tricks is the first step to resisting them.
• Know your No’s is an activity that introduces kids to a variety of ways to say no, and helps them learn which one is the most effective.

For more information visit http://www.thecoolspot.gov/ .

Sue Scheff: Above the Influence - Teen Drinking and Drug Use

Above the Influence

Learn more about why people use drugs.

There are many reasons why some people start taking drugs. Many of these are social. But with the very first use, chemical changes occur in the brain that may lead to addiction. Drug addiction is a disease. And with every additional use, the user increases his or her chance of becoming addicted.


To help people better understand the science and facts about drug addiction, leading scientists in substance abuse at the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently published "Drugs and the Brain."

Click here for more.

Sue Scheff: Operation Medicine Cabinet

Rid your medicine cabinet of unused, unnecessary or expired prescription medication immediately. You can do so by participating in one of our prescription drug "take back" programs. Participants can drop off prescription drugs with no questions asked and receive a $5.00 gift card to local stores and pharmacies. For information about when and where BSO will hold its next "take back" program, download our schedule.

Read more here.

Sue Scheff: PARENTS - The Anti-Drug

TheAntiDrug.com was created by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to equip parents and other adult caregivers with the tools they need to raise drug-free kids. Working with the nation's leading experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention, TheAntiDrug.com serves as a drug prevention information center, and a supportive community for parents to interact and learn from each other.

The site provides parents and other adults caregivers access to:

• Helpful articles and advice from experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention;
• Science-based drug prevention information, news and studies;
• Support from other parents striving to keep their children drug-free;
• Perspectives of teens themselves.

About the Media Campaign:

Since its inception in 1998, the ONDCP’s National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has conducted outreach to millions of parents, teens and communities to prevent and reduce teen drug use. Counting on an unprecedented blend of public and private partnerships, non-profit community service organizations, volunteerism, and youth-to-youth communications, the Campaign is designed to reach Americans of diverse backgrounds with effective anti-drug messages.

For additional information on the Campaign, visit http://www.mediacampaign.org/ .