After alcohol, marijuana is the drug most abused by teens. In fact,
marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance in the United
States and recent data show an uptrend in teen marijuana use
during 2009. Unfortunately, it is still viewed today by many as being the
same drug it was 45 years ago, despite significant changes.

Prevalence of Use by
Teens in the past 30 ays (2008)
monitoringthefuture.org
Marijuana:
8th grade – 5.8%,
10th grade- 13.8%,
12th grade – 19.4%

It is a Stronger Drug Today. Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, A.K.A. “THC” is
the active ingredient in marijuana that creates the intoxication. From the
1960’s – 1970’s marijuana was around 1/2 % – 3% THC. For 35 years following the 70‘s, the potency of
marijuana slowly increased to 4% by 1995.

2. Average Age of First Use is Younger Today.
Replicated studies since 1997 have provided a convergence of data suggesting that “early onset of first
intoxication,” as an independent variable, significantly increases the probability of developing addiction. 4
Today the average age of first intoxication is 12 years old. This compares to the 1960’s when marijuana
was primarily used by college students.
One study by (1997) Grant & Dawson, shows the probability of a person developing addiction based
on age of first intoxication in the chart below. In addition to age as a variable if the drug-user has a
genetic family history of addiction then the risk factor is increased by 15 percent. See chart below.

3. Marijuana Then vs. Today – A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:

Marijuana Then:

Paraphernalia Then:

Marijuana Today:

20 – 25% THC)

Paraphernalia Today

Vaporizer, Grinder, Blunt Wrap

Clearly this is not the same marijuana used 40 years ago or certainly prior to 1995. For many, this grade of
marijuana has only been accessible from “cannabis clubs.” At the same time, because the cost of the marijuana
in the clubs was so expensive, many card holders still purchased marijuana from dealers on the street.
However, with the economic contraction high grade marijuana prices have fallen in many of the cannabis clubs
and access is now easier. Moreover, seeds to grow highly potent marijuana are easily purchased via the internet.
Clients in our program state that “the weed is so sticky I need to use a weed grinder to break it up if I want to
roll a blunt.”

4. Withdrawal From the Drug Can Occur Today:

t the 2009 medical doctor’s CSAM conference in San Francisco, a focus was on how to manage marijuana
withdrawal with Gabapentin. Withdrawal symptoms include loss of appetite, problems sleeping and anxiety.
Clearly people did not experience withdrawal 40 years ago and medicines weren’t being explored to manage
withdrawal symptoms. Finally, with regard to teens, any drug being abused inhibits normal neural, emotional
and social development, which can create a pathological relationship to intoxication resulting in negative
consequences with school, family, money, friendships, romantic attachments, health, mental health, sports,
employment, etc.

Final Thoughts: Evaluations, Education
&Treatment

Marijuana is not the innocuous drug that some believe it to be.
Too often parents and professionals base their understanding of
the drug from their own personal use 20 years ago. One of the
biggest challenges facing professionals
who specialize in the treatment of teen
and young adult addictive disorders is
that the intervention is not only with the
individual, but it is also with the family,
other health care professionals, schools,
and legal system, who might “minimize”
or discount the severity of marijuana
abuse. Statements such as “It is only
marijuana,” “at least it isn’t oxycontin,
meth, etc” are examples of the type of
denial described as “minimizing.” These messages from
various systems support denial for the individual who is having
consequences in different areas of their life because of the drug.
For this reason, intervention must occur with the individual,
family and community in order to be effective. It is also
important that if families are seeking help for their child who is
abusing drugs, they should seek professionals who are specially
trained in adolescent and young adult addiction. If you are a
parent or a professional working with teens and it is discovered
that they have used, regardless of the frequency, an evaluation
by a specialist is warranted. The individual needs to become
educated, explore their relationship to intoxication and examine
how it has already impacted different areas of their life in
addition to learning new affect regulation and relational skills to
move beyond this in their life. In addition, the family needs
education on teen addiction, an understanding on how the brain,
emotional, and social development are thwarted by drug use.
An examination of parental denial & enabling is needed as well
as help with developing and implementing a good home
contract, drug testing and education regarding how to be both a
supportive resource for their child meanwhile maintaining a
zero tolerance of drug use.

Sources:
1. Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr., “Marijuana and Medicine:
Assessing the Science Base,” Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of
Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999).
2. http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/09data.html#2009data-drugs
3. http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs37/37035/national.html
4. (1997) Grant & Dawson, Journal of Substance Abuse, Vol. 9
5. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/newUsers.html
6. (1997) Grant & Dawson, Journal of Substance Abuse

Dear  Friend,

They wait to welcome their child into the world. They wait in cars after the team practice. They wait in line to buy their family’s dinner. They wait for texts to pick up their child from birthday parties, sleepovers and play dates. Others wait for thick college acceptance envelopes. But imagine this: You are one of the millions of parents with a teen or young adult abusing drugs or alcohol. You? You wait for a phone call. You wonder if your child will come home. You worry she’s hurt.

Like so many others, you don’t know where to start to find the answers you need, let alone how you will confront your child, if she needs help, or if there are others like you, parents who have stood in your shoes, paced beside doors or waited for a call. Having a child with an alcohol or drug problem can be emotionally taxing and financially devastating for families.

Suddenly, a lifeline.

You are searching the Internet for help and find The Partnership at Drugfree.org. The website, created with and for parents, allows you to connect with others, tap into expert advice and find support as you find help for your child. You find insight and tools you can use. You find a community who understands. You find hope. That’s what The Partnership at Drugfree.org exists to do – be a partner to parents all along their journey of parenting a teen, whether that’s prevention, intervention or treatment.

The The Partnership at Drugfree.org is there, a steady, supportive hand, offering services to help parents and caring adults. Not a government agency, but a nonprofit made up of partners in science, parenting and communications, and one that relies on the generosity of individuals.

Right now…

• We are building support for You Are Not Alone… a campaign dedicated to letting families of teens and young adults who are struggling with addiction know that they are not alone. By enlisting and uniting the millions who have been affected by addiction, we are removing barriers to seeking treatment and creating a new dialogue around addiction. 
• We are growing the staff and services of our Parents Toll-Free Hotline… 1-855-DRUGFREE… a new, nationwide support service that offers assistance to parents and other primary caregivers of children who want to talk to someone about their child’s drug use and drinking. Our trained and caring parent specialists will help parents plan a course of action for teens who are struggling with substance abuse and lead them to resources or treatment facilities in their area.
• We have downloadable e-books and kits available… which equip parents with conversation starters and step-by-step direction to talk to their kids or take action if they think or know their child is using. Kids who learn a lot about the risks of drugs from their parents are up to 50% less likely to use.

Meeting these specific needs of parents, in conjunction with the everyday services we provide to families, will take a huge effort, cost money, and stretch our resources to the limit.

Stephen J. Pasierb, President & CEO

Source: www.drugfree.org to learn more

 A growing body of research is showing that when it comes to treatments for alcohol use disorders, women’s needs are different from men’s. Scientists who recently presented studies at the Research Society on Alcoholism are exploring gender differences in alcohol treatment and moving beyond a one-size-fits-all strategy.

“Women have different barriers to treatment than men,” says Elizabeth Epstein, PhD, Research Professor in the Clinical Division of theCenterofAlcohol StudiesatRutgersUniversityinNew Brunswick,NJ. “They are less likely to seek alcohol treatment in a dedicated alcohol facility, and more likely to seek treatment with a general practitioner or psychiatrist for depression or fatigue.” However, many of these doctors don’t routinely screen for an alcohol or drug use problem, she explains.

“We know that 85 percent of people who have alcohol problems in their lifetime don’t seek treatment for it, so we are focusing most of our treatment research resources on the 15 percent who do,” according to Dr. Epstein. “We need to look beyond that, to who is struggling without treatment.” More training in alcohol use disorders is needed for emergency department physicians, obstetrician/gynecologists and family practitioners, she states. “We need to develop interventions that allow doctors to screen for alcohol use problems, since we know that women are not likely to come in and say they drink too much.”

Alcohol tends to affect women more than men for several reasons. Dr. Epstein explains, “A woman who weighs the same as a man and consumes the same amount of alcohol over the same length of time is likely to have a higher blood alcohol level. Women have less body water than men, leading to a higher blood alcohol concentration, and they also have less lean muscle mass and fewer enzymes in the stomach that break down alcohol. That means more ethanol is going into the bloodstream and directly to organs like the heart, brain and liver, and doing damage.”

She notes that women develop a host of alcohol-related health problems more quickly than men, even though they tend to start drinking later. “Older womens’ bodies are not processing anything as well as younger women, including alcohol,” she says. “And we are seeing younger women’s drinking patterns catching up with men’s, which is not a good thing. That means that as this generation progresses, we’ll see more and more older women with alcohol problems.”

Success With Individual Therapy

Dr. Epstein is leading the Rutgers Women’s Treatment Project at theCenter ofAlcohol Studies. This five-year clinical research study, funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is testing the effectiveness of therapies for women with drinking problems.

She and her colleague, Dr. Barbara McCrady, looked at marital therapy combined with alcohol therapy for women, testing it against individual alcohol therapy for women. “The women in both groups did very well, reducing their drinking days from an average of about 70 percent before the study, to 20-30 percent while in and after treatment,” states Dr. Epstein. The coupled treatment conferred a slight advantage in terms of maintaining the gains in the year following treatment. That study required women to be in a committed relationship or marriage to a male to be eligible. Many women didn’t want to sign up, because their spouse had to be involved.

Both doctors then offered a choice of either individual therapy or couples therapy in a two-armed clinical research study to treat alcohol use disorders. For that study, women had to be in a committed relationship, but did not need to bring their partner in if they chose individual therapy. Most women in that study chose individual therapy. Women who chose individual therapy were randomly assigned to regular cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or female-specific CBT. In CBT, emphasis is placed on the importance of breaking the drinking habit and learning coping skills.

The female-specific treatment also emphasized womens’ rights to care for themselves, and helped them feel more self-confident and less sensitive to what other people thought about them. The treatment provided assertiveness training and helped women address how to deal with a partner who drinks heavily, and with anxiety and depression. Women learned about anger management and how to make connections with sober people who treat them well and don’t abuse them.

While women in both groups showed improvement in their drinking, Dr. Epstein and her colleagues found that women who chose individual therapy were more likely to stick with therapy than those who chose couples therapy.

Currently Dr. Epstein is investigating the effectiveness of female-specific-CBT treatment delivered in women-only groups. She explains, “We want to be able to develop treatments for a broad range of women, which could be integrated into community-based therapy.”

Trauma and Substance Abuse Linked

Many women with substance abuse disorders also suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), resulting from interpersonal violence, says Denise Hien, PhD, ABPP, who presented data at the meeting about promising treatments for women who suffer from PTSD and substance use disorders. “They drink in response to trauma,” says Dr. Hien, Professor at the City University of New York, and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons inNew York.

Dr. Hien compared a type of CBT called “Seeking Safety” for substance abuse and PTSD with a relapse prevention treatment. “Seeking Safety” is a short-term treatment for both trauma and substance abuse in women. Both disorders are treated at the same time by the same clinician. Secondary analyses indicate that trauma therapy may be most effective for women who are also receiving some type of self-help, such as being part of a 12-step group. “If a person is not affiliated with a self-help group, she may actually get worse from trauma therapy alone,” Dr. Hien says.

Last year, she published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry that found if you treat the PTSD symptoms first, in women who suffer from both substance abuse and PTSD, it led to a reduction in substance abuse. The study found little evidence that treating substance abuse first improved PTSD symptoms. Currently, patients who suffer from both disorders often are not treated for PTSD until they receive addiction treatment and stop using drugs and alcohol. This sequence is based on the assumption that addressing trauma could worsen a person’s substance abuse.

Dr. Hien is also conducting a clinical trial that is examining whether adding the antidepressant sertraline HCI (Zoloft) to trauma therapy benefits women with PTSD and alcohol misuse or alcohol use disorders.

Source: The Partnership@DrugFree.org  July 2011

Smoking cannabis is more harmful than cigarettes and more likely to trigger cancer, according to a report.

Just three cannabis ‘joints’ a day can cause the same amount of damage to the lungs as an entire packet of 20 cigarettes.

The British Lung Foundation says that when cannabis and tobacco are smoked together, the harmful effects are significantly worse.

Its research suggests young cannabis smokers may also be at greater risk of throat and gullet cancers.

The foundation found that tar from cannabis joints contains 50 per cent more cancer-causing toxins than cigarettes made from tobacco alone.

Eight million Britons are thought to smoke cannabis, which some experts believe is a ‘gateway’ to harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

Earlier this year, researchers found that 79 per cent of children thought cannabis was safe while only 2 per cent recognised there are health risks from smoking the drug.

Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said the harmful effects of cannabis had been swept under the carpet.

‘People are under the illusion it is safe to smoke cannabis. Our report shows it is very dangerous to lung health, at least as dangerous as tobacco.

‘It seems society is in the same position as when research first showed the harm caused by tobacco. It took 15 years for the Government to take notice but we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past.’

Dame Helena said cannabis available today is 15 times stronger than the drug smoked in the 1960s. ‘This means studies carried out at that time will probably have underestimated the effects of cannabis smoking,’ she
explained.

‘Puff and inhalation volume with cannabis is up to four times higher than with tobacco – in other words you inhale deeper and hold your breath with the smoke for longer before exhaling.

‘This results in more poisonous carbon monoxide and tar entering into the lungs,’ Dame Helena said.

The foundation’s report – A Smoking Gun? – analyses research from around the world.

It found cannabis smokers have a higher level of chronic and acute respiratory-conditions such as coughingwheezing and bronchitis. ‘When cannabis is smoked together with tobacco then the effects are additive’, it says.

Some studies suggest cannabis smoking may trigger chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which kills 32,000 people in Britain every year, the foundation’s report adds.

‘Research linking cannabis smoking to the development of respiratory cancer exists although there have also been conflicting findings.

‘Not only does the tar in a cannabis cigarette contain many of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke, but the concentrations of these are up to 50 per cent higher in the smoke of a cannabis cigarette,’ it says.

Benzyprene, found in the tar of cannabis joints, can change the make-up of one of the genes which suppresses tumours and could therefore make cancer more likely for people who smoke joints.

There are also more than 75 case studies of young cannabis smokers with cancers of the throat and gullet – diseases usually rare in people under 60.

Source: Daily Mail Monday 11 Nov 2002

All items on the Research page of this website give the source of materials Some items may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. They are being made available without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance their understanding of crime, drugs, intelligence, terrorism and arms trade activities, for non profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a ‘fair use’.

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: March 21, 2007
Teenage use of alcohol and drugs dropped significantly in New York City in 2005 compared with past years, and is lower than the national rate, but it remains disturbingly high, city officials said yesterday, citing the results of a recently released survey.

The city’s biennial survey found that in 2005, fewer students at the city’s public high schools were drinking or smoking marijuana than at any time since the surveys began in 1997. Use of most harder drugs was roughly unchanged.

But 1.8 percent of students surveyed in 2005 said they had tried heroin at least once, triple the number in 2001.

Lorna Thorpe, a deputy city health commissioner, said that it was not clear why there had been an overall drop in drug and alcohol use, but that it might be connected to a decline in teenage smoking. People who smoke are more likely to use other substances as well.

She said officials were equally unsure of the cause of the rise in heroin use, but that it coincided with a rise in emergency room visits and Emergency Medical Services calls involving heroin.

“That has raised a flag for us, and we’re watching it,” she said. She added that while the data are usually compiled slowly, over more than a year, officials will pay particular attention to the heroin figures as they conduct the 2007 survey.

The change could be tied to the fact that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan greatly curtailed the trade in opium, the raw material for heroin. But the drug became more readily available and cheaper after the regime was overthrown in late 2001.

In 2005, 14 percent of the teenagers surveyed said they had engaged in binge drinking — five or more drinks in the space of a few hours — in the previous month, down from 18 percent in 2001. And 35 percent said they had consumed some alcohol in the last month, down from 41 percent.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city health commissioner, said those numbers, though an improvement, were still worrisome, because using alcohol and other drugs raises the chance of risky behavior like unprotected sex.

White students were far more likely than their black, Hispanic or Asian classmates to engage in binge drinking or to use hard drugs, and a little more likely to smoke marijuana. Staten Island had much higher rates of binge drinking and drug use than the other boroughs.

Marijuana use fell more sharply than use of any other substance: 12 percent of students said they had smoked it in the previous month, down from 18 percent in 2001.

The portion of students who reported using cocaine (1.8 percent) and methamphetamine (2.5 percent) in the previous month was about the same as in earlier surveys.

The city’s survey, conducted jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is patterned on a national survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National surveys include students at both public and private schools, while the city’s cover only public schools, which include about 80 percent of the city’s high school population. Because use of alcohol and some drugs are more prevalent among white and affluent students, the city’s surveys may understate the overall rate.

But city officials say they are confident that inclusion of private school students would still show lower rates of drug and alcohol abuse in the city than nationwide. In particular, the most recent national surveys show binge drinking almost twice as common nationally as in the city, and methamphetamine use two to three times as common.

The city’s survey is conducted by choosing a sampling of high schools that is representative of all high schools, and then a representative sampling of classrooms within those high schools. In the selected classrooms, all students take the survey on paper, anonymously.

In all, 8,000 students took the survey in 2003 and 2005, with only 1,500 students taking the survey in earlier years.

Next Article in New York Region (15 of 28) »

To get an idea of how pervasive drug testing has become, consider Florida Drug Screening Inc.’s long list of clients.
The Palm Bay-based company provides drug-testing for 380 businesses and organizations in Brevard County, and for about 8,000 nationwide.
“We have seen a strong increase of businesses wanting to implement a (drug-testing) program,” said Florida Drug Screening President Joe Reilly, who founded the company in 1993.
Drug-testing programs generally started in government, and began spreading to the private sector in the late-1980s. They started to take hold on a widespread basis in the early-1990s, Reilly said.
Today, drug-testing is being done by businesses of all sizes — from large corporations to mom-and-pop operations, he said.
Pip Printing in Palm Bay has only several employees, but the shop has a drug-testing program through Florida Drug Screening.
“We think it’s a good thing to do. It’s the responsible thing to do,” said Beverley Wiggins, who owns the shop with her husband, Leslie. “We’re against drugs.”
The couple require job applicants to take a drug test, and they also have random drug tests — for both employees and themselves.
“If we’re asking the staff to do something, we should also do it ourselves to set an example,” Wiggins said.
Since the couple bought the printing shop last year, no one has tested positive for drug use, she added.
Overall, Florida Drug Screening’s Reilly said, his clients’ drug tests for applicants and employees come back positive about 4.8 percent of the time.
Most of the testing done by the firm is for job applicants, and the majority of employers do not test employees after they are hired, he said.
The growth of Florida Drug Screening’s business isn’t surprising, considering some of the latest data on drugs in the workplace.
About one in 12 American workers — 8.2 percent — has engaged in illicit drug use in the past month, according to a newly released survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The survey of 128,000 adult workers from 2002 to 2004 also found:
• The highest rates of employee drug use, by industry, were among restaurant workers, with 17.4 percent reported using in the past month; and construction workers, with 15.1 percent reporting using in the past month.
• Four percent of teachers and social-service workers reported using drugs in the past month.
• The 8.2 percent overall rate of employee drug use was higher than previous surveys, which found overall rates of 7.6 percent in 1994 and 7.7 percent in 1997.
In addition, the survey found that 48.8 percent of full-time workers reported that their employer conducts drug testing, most often prior to being hired; and 30 percent reported that their employer conducts random drug testing of current employees.
Many observers “believe these statistics actually underestimate the magnitude of illicit drug use and alcohol abuse problems in the workplace, because substance abusers are likely to be harder to reach,” said Mark de Bernardo, executive director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace.
Also, employees are “less likely to self-report their substance abuse, particularly of illegal drugs,” de Bernardo said.
Some organizations feel not enough is being done to address the issue.
A recent survey by the Hazelden Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps people overcome addictions, found that substance abuse and addiction are recognized by human-resource professionals as among the most serious problems in the workplace.
The survey of 1,356 human-resource professionals nationwide also found that employers’ policies and practices are not fully addressing the problem.
Although many companies offer employee-assistance programs, many do not openly and proactively deal with employee substance-abuse issues, according to the Hazelden Foundation.
“Addiction is this country’s No. 1 public-health problem,” said Jill Wiedemann-West, senior vice president of clinical and recovery services at the Hazelden Foundation.
“We know that treating drug and alcohol addiction results in more people finding their path to recovery,” Wiedemann-West said. “It results in more resilient families, more productive workplaces, and healthier and safer communities.”
Among the barriers to helping employees with substance abuse problems, the Hazelden survey found:
• Fifty-four percent of human-resource professionals believe that getting employees to acknowledge or talk about the issue is their toughest challenge.
• Forty-nine percent of human-resource professionals cited at least one of four personal hurdles to helping employees: lack of experience in identifying substance abuse and addiction; lack of information about treatment options; personal discomfort in approaching employees about the issue; and not having enough time to deal with the issue.
Florida Drug Screening’s standard “five-panel” test looks for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine (“speed”), opiates (such as heroin, morphine, opium) and PCP (“angel dust”).
The firm also has an expanded “10-panel” test that also looks for five other categories of drugs: barbiturates (“downers”), methamphetamine (“meth,” “crystal meth”), benzodiazapines (tranquilizers), methadone (commonly used for treating narcotics addiction) and propoxyphene (“painkillers”).
Reilly said some local companies that have drug testing also have confidential employee-assistance programs to provide workers with counseling and other services to help them.
But, often, the programs are underused.
“Companies have these programs, but they don’t promote them enough,” he said.

Source: www.floridatoday.com, Aug 19th 2007

Mephedrone — a stimulant that is currently legal in both the U.K. and the U.S. — has gained recent and surprising popularity among club-goers in the U.K., according to Britain’s National Addiction Center.
The BBC reported Jan. 14 that the drug, also known as meph, 4-MMC, MCAT, Drone, Meow or Bubbles, was the fourth-most popular drug cited by readers of Mixmag, a popular British dance magazine.
“It’s come from nowhere to become very popular,” said researcher Adam Winstock. “For a drug that’s been around for a relatively short amount of time, mephedrone has certainly made a big impact on the dance drug scene.”
Users describe the drug’s high as falling somewhere between that of ecstasy and cocaine. The drug is sold legally in the U.K. as a plant food; it is a powder that can be taken in pill form, snorted, mixed with liquid or even injected.
Side effects include headaches, heart palpitations, and nausea.

Source: BBC 14th Jan 2010

Methadone withdrawal helps many people to withdraw from damaging heroin use. Methadone maintenance however keeps a person addicted …

I’ve been told that methampethamine addicts who binge use the drug can go on a tweaking stage and its dangerous. Can some explain this “tweaking phase” or provide a nice reference site that discusses this.

Response: cotton mouth, anxiety, paranoia, restlessness

I went to the doctor for help to get through a moderate heroin addiction back in 1976. The doctor put me on 40mg of Methadone per day and referred me to a Psychiatrist who continued this dosage until he lost his licence to prescribe methadone and had to send me and his other methadone patients to the government run methadone clinic. I think that methadone exacerbated my moderate heroin addiction culminating in over 30 years of daily pharmacy attendance and now 120mg per/day dependence.

Source: Drug Rehabilitation that works Blog Archives 28.01.10

What does it take to get a wave of energy to a point where it takes on its own momentum, swelling and ploughing across a rough ocean, gathering dynamism and visibility? I’m thinking the recovery movement here and I’m watching the wave as it grows. My surfboard is getting a dusting down.
‘Tipping points’ are, according to Malcolm Gladwell, ‘the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable’. It seems to me that we’re moving toward critical mass in the UK with regard to recovery. With Government supporting recovery and a late conversion to the cause by the NTA, it would look like the environment is favourable. That’s not where I see the head of steam though. The kettle is on the boil from the grassroots up.
What can Gladwell teach us about this from his book ‘The Tipping Point’?
Well, “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts”. I think we have these kinds of people. He also says that 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the people. Sound familiar?
That’s why I think we need to support all the initiatives that bring the emergent recovery movement together. I see a little cynicism around some of this and a suspicion about motives and who has the ‘right’ to represent who.
We need to resist cynicism and stay positive. Wise, and careful and observant of course, there will be teething problems, but where recovering people and their supporters come together to spread the message of recovery (“We do recover; here’s how we did it; we’ll support you to do it too!”) then exciting things will happen.
Gladwell also says: “Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur.” It’s my impression that the conditions, the circumstances and the times are perfect for the recovery epidemic to take hold in the UK. Of course the analogy to a pandemic has been made before. Take a look here. That recovery wave, fanned by the enthusiasm and energy of recovering people is gathering momentum. It’s time to go surfing.
Comments
Thanks for this Peapod. Massively timely and very, very important. If recovery is about getting there in a way that works for you, then surely we should be applying this to our own movement. Whether or not I agree with a,b and c, doing x, y and z is not relevant. Surely if they are pushing things along as best they can, we should – not only respect – but applaud! Not that I do this all the time – so note to self, must do better!
By Michaela on 31/01/2010 at 2:11 PM –
Pucker blog, I like your quotes. I just hope things will change for the better, I like the way you say 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Sort of gave me a guilt trip as i know my limits and have to keep my life as simple as possible. Envy those who have the commitment and energy to do all this, like Michaela on this site, and Anne Marie up in Scotland. Pucker like I said.
By MartinBailey on 31/01/2010 at 5:32 PM
Bill White once told me that they were doing some very interesting research on the prevalence of recovery in Philadelphia, PA. They were doing a survey of the city and using postal codes to map neighborhoods by the prevalence of recovery and the prevalence of drug problems. He said that they planned to use this information to identify the areas richest in recovery support and target other areas for the cultivation of a recovering community.
By Jason Schwartz on 31/01/2010 at 6:38 PM –
lol riding the waves Peapod, love it. Martin thanks for your support and questions, and Jason we have the means to map this in the UK also….. and to watch it grow.
By Annemarie W on 31/01/2010 at 9:37 PM –
The tipping point is one of my favourite books, It’s inspirational in how it shows that small things really CAN make a big difference.
I think that we (the recovery advocates, if you will) are probably still the 20% at the moment. Indeed, sometimes it can feel like you are fighting a loosing battle. One thing I am growing to understand though, the minute you become despondent and ready to give up YOU BECOME ONE OF THEM. I have seen this in many walks of life, not just in this field. Note to self: Must remain positive For everyone else, a word or 3 from Martin Luther King: “Keep hope alive” Matt

Source: Community Blog Wired-In Feb 2 2010

The truly alarming statistic that at least 900 children in Scotland are suffering severe damage caused to the brain and organs before birth by foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and that thousands of others have learning and behavioural difficulties as a result of their mothers’ drinking during pregnancy must concern us all.
The report by Dr Jonathan Sher, director of research, policy and programmes at Children in Scotland, should act as a warning that policy on alcohol in both Scotland and the UK has largely ignored the dangers to unborn children.
The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Bill has produced extensive lobbying of MSPs, mainly on the contentious proposal to set a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol can be sold.
At present, this is unlikely to become law because it does not have the support of the opposition parties at Holyrood. Nevertheless there is concern across all parties at the mounting alcohol-related damage in Scotland to both individuals and society in terms of ill-health and criminal activity.
Both of these can apply to children and adults affected by FAS and the wide-ranging foetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) which can include congenital heart problems and attention deficit disorder.
Once the damage has been caused to developing brains and organs in the womb it cannot be reversed. Yet the lifelong effects are completely avoidable by not drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The most critical time is the first three months of gestation, so a foetus can be harmed even before a woman knows she is pregnant.
Changing behaviour to prevent the growing toll of damage, therefore, requires education rather than regulation.
Forrester Cockburn, Emeritus Professor of Child Health at Glasgow University, believes that young women are not sufficiently aware of the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy, although such is the range of potential problems that it is not possible to specify a safe limit for expectant mothers.
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Harry Burns, has said that he believes the incidence of FASD in Scotland has been significantly underestimated and that it is directly linked to anti-social behaviour.
Dr Sher’s report coincides with a joint statement to MSPs by eight major children’s charities warning that excessive parental drinking is seriously damaging many children’s lives.
Their lobbying for minimum pricing ought to carry as much weight as that of the drinks industry.
Nevertheless while the arguments continue over the effectiveness of minimum pricing, in the light Dr Sher’s report on FAS, the call by the charities to include harm caused to other people when measuring the damage from alcohol should be accepted by MSPs. The despairing calls to ChildLine are the unassailable evidence that the extent of alcohol abuse goes far beyond the health and crime statistics.

Source:www.Heraldscotland.com March 1 2010

Teachers UK-wide given emergency training after some as young as 12 fall victim to £3-a-go ‘plant food’ drug linked to two deaths
Teachers are dealing with the behavioural consequences in their classrooms of a new “legal high” – known as “meow meow” or “plant food” – which is being taken by pupils as young as 12 or 13.
Classroom staff are now receiving training in the dangers of the new craze after an explosion in its use and recent cases of children falling seriously ill after taking the drug, which is believed to have similar effects to ecstasy. While the drug is not illegal, its abuse in the hands of pupils has prompted officials around the country to add warnings about the substance to PSHE lessons. It has been linked to the deaths of Swedish teenagers and 14-year-old Gabi Price from Worthing last November.
“Meow meow”, or mephedrone as it is formally named, is marketed by suppliers as plant food to avoid detection and can be acquired for as little as £3 a hit (a gram, containing four capsules, costs £12).
In Brighton there are reports of children as young as 12 and 13 taking the drug on school buses. College students have even started a trend of trying to drive home after taking legal high drugs, with five teenage boys in County Durham taken to hospital after indulging – with one suffering a drug-induced high for 36 hours.
Police around the country worried about the trend have now started taking action. Pupils at Brighton schools have already begun learning about the dangers of the drugs in assemblies and through the PSHE curriculum, while children in Teesdale have been given information leaflets. Police are also working with Harrogate headteachers after a growth in legal-high use among the town’s young people.
“It’s clear that increased numbers of 14- and 15-year-olds started using ‘meow meow’ at the end of last summer and we have big concerns about this,” said Sam Beal, acting healthy schools team leader for Brighton and Hove City Council. “Teachers hear about this more and more and they are concerned that the drugs are being brought into schools.”
The symptoms of using meow meow can include nosebleeds, headaches and breathing problems. Limbs can also turn purple and the user may have trouble urinating, leading to stomach cramps.
“It seems when bought over the internet you get discounts for buying larger quantities,” said Sgt Geoff Crocker, safer neighbourhoods officer for Harrogate. “It’s easily available and cheap and we’ve seen enterprising pupils start selling it in school. Staff in our pupil referral unit service have noticed a very rapid physical and mental decline in pupils using legal high drugs – and some just aren’t there any more. One young girl we know is addicted to mephedrone and she is active sexually with a number of men for money to pay for it. I know our schools are concerned about this, and are working hard to deal with it.”
In County Durham, drug workers have been warning pupils that legal does not mean safe following the incident when five boys fell ill last August. This has also meant an increased local police interest in the issue.
“We’ve mostly seen it used as part of a ‘risk-taking’ culture among young people, particularly in colleges,” said Darren Archer, manager of the County Durham drugs and alcohol action team. We’ve had anecdotal reports of it causing bad behaviour and now we are trying to offer comprehensive support to teachers and children.” It scared the life out of us, seeing him like that’
It was the wake-up call no teacher wants – but witnessing the distressing effects of legal high drugs has revolutionised one school’s drug education programme. Horrified teachers at Woldgate College, near York, watched as a sixth-form student became seriously ill after taking mephedrone off-site during lunchtime earlier this month. He was taken to hospital suffering from an irregular heart beat, chest pains and breathing problems. Headteacher Jeff Bower (pictured) is now calling for the drug to be made illegal.
“You can’t think anything else after seeing that young man struggling like that, it scared the life out of everyone here,” he said. We are not extremely receptive to this problem – it’s been a big wake-up call. It was the first time he had taken it and he admits it was because of peer pressure. This has just hit us completely between the eyes. We held a special assembly about the situation and built it into our drugs education programme. We have also been in contact with parents. This goes on out of school hours so it’s vitally important they know about the dangers.”
A correction to the above story:

The only link between the death of Gabi Price and mephedrone was made by some ill informed reporting in the Daily Mail, and the Sun and the Telegraph that reported that this was a drug death before the coroners report was published. The coroner in reality found no drugs in her body and that she died of broncho-pneumonia following a streptococcal A infection (see here http://bit.ly/7td8FN ). Such is the nature of drug story reporting that none of the newspapers that ran the original story printed a correction or follow up.

It is also the case that the unregulated vendors of this drug reported a leap in sales when the (false) Gabi Price death story received free advertising (it works, its legal, its cheap, you can buy online) from the massive national tabloid coverage (and the broadcast coverage that followed).

This is undoubtedly a dangerous drug, and serious public health and regulation policy concern – particularly regarding young people, but that does not excuse
Steve Rolles 28th Jan 2010-01-29
Source: www.tes.co.uk Jan 2010