December 19, 2009

Environmental prevention strategies need to be coupled with interventions targeting high-risk individuals to effectively combat campus binge drinking, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The Montreal Gazette reported Dec. 16 that researchers said that half a million college students in the U.S. suffered injuries each year as a result of binge drinking. Many of those injuries are suffered by frequent, heavy drinkers, up to 40 percent of whom have been injured due to drinking, according to the study.

“There’s a particular subset of students who are very likely to suffer alcohol-related injuries,” said researcher Marlon P. Mundt. “If we’re going to focus efforts on reducing injuries, we have to recognize that this subset of heavy frequent drinkers with a high sensation-seeking disposition is really putting themselves at high risk.”

Mundt said a five-minute survey could identify “sensation-seeking” frequent, heavy drinkers on campus. “They’re identifiable. You just have to be looking for them,” he said.

The study was published in the September 2009 issue of the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.

By Bob Curley – December 15th 2009

Proponents of a new approach to drug policy need look no further than the results of the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, which reports increased youth use of marijuana and a flattening out of many other types of illicit drug use after a prolonged decline.

Smoking rates among teens also have fallen to the lowest levels in history, although tobacco-control experts worry that use of smokeless-tobacco products could be rising, according to the study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The past two years have seen a small but significant increase in the proportion of teens reporting that they used illicit drugs, according to researchers at the University of Michigan, who have conducted the MTF study since 1975. In 2009, 32.8 percent of high-school seniors reported past-year marijuana use, as did 26.7 percent of 10th-graders and 11.8 percent of 8th-graders. Researchers said marijuana use has crept back up to the levels last reported five years ago after a steady decline in reported use dating back to the mid-1990s.

“So far, we have not seen any dramatic rise in marijuana use, but the upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade,” said lead researcher Lloyd Johnston. “Not only is use rising, but a key belief about the degree of risk associated with marijuana use has been in decline among young people even longer, and the degree to which teens disapprove of use of the drug has recently begun to decline. Changes in these beliefs and attitudes are often very influential in driving changes in use.”

“The small increase in marijuana use and the decline in viewing marijuana use as risky are troubling and may suggest that confusion surrounding discussions of medical marijuana may be encouraging recreational or self-medicating use by teens,” said David Rosenbloom, Ph.D., president and CEO of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA*) at Columbia University.

Marijuana was almost entirely responsible for the uptick in overall drug-use rates among teens, as reported use of illicit drugs other than marijuana continued to decline in 2009. Cocaine use, for example, is at its lowest reported levels since the early 1990s, and use of drugs like ecstasy, inhalants and LSD also have either fallen or flattened out at relatively low levels.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, called the reports of softening youth attitudes about the perceived risk of marijuana use a “warning sign.”

“These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and treating drug use,” said Kerlikowske, who currently is drafting the Obama administration’s first National Drug Control Strategy, widely expected to recommend shifting more resources to demand-reduction efforts rather than programs to reduce the supply of drugs.

Bruce Mirken, director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) stated in a blog post on the MTF results that youth marijuana use has declined in states that have passed medical-marijuana laws. He noted that the MTF study shows that more high-school seniors now smoke marijuana than cigarettes — findings he said “do not bode well for current policies.”

Progress on Youth Smoking Rates Hailed

Smoking rates among 8th-, 10th-, and 12-graders continued to decline in 2009, according to the MTF findings. Just 11.2 percent of high-school seniors now tell researchers they smoke cigarettes, less than half the rate in 1997. The rate of decline has slowed considerably in recent years, however.

“The much slower progress in recent years is a clear warning to elected officials at all levels that they must resist complacency and redouble efforts to implement proven measures — rather than cutting tobacco prevention programs, as 34 states did this year,” said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Use of smokeless tobacco rose slightly among 10th-graders, MTF found, with 6.5 percent reporting use of products that the tobacco industry has been increasingly marketing as an alternative to smoking. “Public health experts had predicted this increase in response to the tobacco industry’s wide-ranging and aggressively marketed smokeless products now widely available,” according to a statement from the American Legacy Foundation.

Teen Alcohol Use Rates Bottoming Out?

As with marijuana, far fewer high-school students report drinking alcohol today than did in the 1970s and 1980s, but the long-term trend toward declining use may be slowing to a halt. Past-month use and binge-drinking rates each ticked downward in 2009 among 8th-graders, the MTF survey found, but 10th- and 12th-graders drank and binged at about the same rate last year as they had in 2007.

Still, CASA’s Rosenbloom termed the long-term trends on drinking “very positive” and used the data to rebut recent calls for lowering the legal drinking age as a means to combat binge drinking among college students.

“The 21-year-old drinking law has been an important public-health success, even with limited enforcement,” said Rosenbloom. “This year’s numbers reinforce the importance of keeping the law.”

MTF researchers found that 60 percent of students reported that they could easily obtain alcohol — including a significant drop between 2008 and 2009 and reflecting the long-term decline from a high of 75 percent in 1996. “It would appear that state and local efforts to crack down on sales to underage buyers, perhaps along with greater parental vigilance, have had an effect,” Johnston said.

Little Change Seen in Prescription Drug Misuse

Prescription drug misuse has garnered much media attention and is the focus of antidrug media campaigns from the federal government and groups like the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Antidrug officials said that non-medical use of prescription drugs remains problematic, with almost one in 10 high-school seniors reporting misuse of the prescription painkiller Vicodin, for example, and prescription drugs accounting for 8 of the 13 drugs most frequently abused by 12th-graders.

After several years of rising rates, however, this year’s MTF report finds that misuse of prescription drugs has generally leveled off. The same was true of over-the-counter medications and cold medicines, researchers reported.

The survey also identified a significant decline in reported teen use of methamphetamine: just 1.2 percent of high-school students reported using the drug, the lowest rate since 1999. Federal officials hailed the news, which underscores the belief that meth use is fading as a national threat even as it persists in certain regional pockets.

While awareness of the danger associated with meth use may be high, however, the MTF report found that the same was not true of ecstasy, inhalants and LSD: Johnson noted that perceived risk of these drugs has fallen in recent years even though there has been no corresponding rise in usage rates.

“Given the glamorous name and reputation of [ecstasy], I could easily imagine it making a comeback as younger children entering their teens become increasingly unaware of its risks,” he said, noting that the shift in attitudes toward these drugs and substances could leave young teens more open to experimentation.

The MTF included questions about use of the psychoactive herb salvia divinorum — which has received substantial media coverage in recent years — for the first time in 2009. Researchers found that 5.7 percent of high-school seniors reported using salvia in the past year; the herb grows wild in some regions of the U.S. and remains legal in many states.

*The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as “CASA”) or any of its member organizations with the name of “CASA.”

By Peter Provet, Ph.D.,
President and CEO of Odyssey House

For individuals with substance abuse disorders, the Holiday Season brings ambivalent feelings, at best.  Memories of past disappointment, pain, and emptiness – and the self-destructive attempts at self-medicating them – are close at hand.  Anger towards others and guilt for one’s own failures drive the addict to try to forget through momentary intoxication.

Just as the Holidays are a time of increased relapse, they can also be a time of resolution and resolve.  Individual addicts can commit or recommit to a sober life and families can participate in that commitment.  It is through seeing oneself deeply – one’s attitudes, personality style, motives, social skills, work ethic, family responsibilities – that renewed memories can be evolved, a new sense of self forged, and hope for the future restored.

Just as every addict has gone through a long course of struggle and compromise, so has the family.  The family has experienced great hardship and tried so many approaches to help their addicted loved one.  Love, support, encouragement, anger, limit-setting and separation are just some of the common familial reactions to the addict.

Families need to go through their own healing process and should, whenever feasible, be involved in their loved one’s treatment.  Analogous to the addict’s process, the family must also seek resolution and closure.

Throughout the Holiday Season it is important to be mindful of these complex individual and family issues, all the while staying diligently hopeful.  Celebrating the redemptive nature of the human spirit is as important in the world of recovery as it is anywhere.

Dr. Provet is President of Odyssey House, a nonprofit, substance abuse treatment and mental health services organization based in New York City. Over the Holidays, Odyssey House will treat 1000 men, women, and children in residential and outpatient counseling programs that include educational, vocational, medical, dental, and housing support services. www.odysseyhouseinc.org

December 3, 2009

Alcoholic beverages popular among youths are more likely to be advertised in magazines with high youth readership than alcoholic drinks consumed mainly by adults, resulting in disproportionately high youth exposure to such targeted alcohol ads, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Virtual Media Resources who conducted the study — published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health — say their findings present the strongest evidence to date that alcohol companies are targeting youths through magazine advertising.

They note that three major trade associations representing the alcoholic beverage industry – the Wine Institute, the Beer Institute, and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States – have publicly stated that they do not advertise to underage youths.

“Alcohol companies are deceiving us,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health and a co-author of the study. “Contrary to their public statements, they are targeting youths through their advertising. They are saying one thing, but doing another.”

The study compared alcohol advertisement placements in 118 magazines from 2002 to 2006, specifically looking at the relationship between a magazine’s youth readership and the probability of youth alcoholic beverage types — defined as those consumed by a large proportion of youth — being advertised in each magazine.

The researchers found that in magazines with the highest levels of youth readership, youth alcoholic beverage types (e.g., premium beer, low calorie beer, rum, vodka, and flavored alcohol beverages) were more than four times more likely to be advertised than non-youth types (e.g., gin, brandy, whiskey, and scotch). As youth readership increased in a magazine, so did the number of youth alcoholic beverage advertisements.

The researchers identified a total of 13,513 alcohol advertisements in the 118 sample magazines during the five-year study period. While 23.1% of advertisements for non-youth/adult alcoholic beverages appeared in magazines with high youth readership, 42.9% of advertisements for youth alcoholic beverage types were placed in the same magazines.

The researchers noted that previous studies examining the issue of targeted advertising were limited by the problem of “lumping together types of alcohol that are and are not consumed frequently by underage youths.” In this study, the researchers used 2006 data on alcohol use among 18- to 20-year-olds that was collected as part of a large national survey called the Survey of the American Consumer.

The study notes that in 2005, the alcohol industry spent $4 billion overall in advertising and promotion. “The question of whether this advertising is disproportionately reaching and influencing underage youths (under 21 years old) lies at the heart of the public health debate about interventions to reduce youth drinking,” the authors wrote.

A new iPhone application helps users keep track of their blood-alcohol content (BAC) and sends warning messages if data indicates the user is “buzzed” or legally intoxicated.

The Denver Post reported Dec. 2 that the free R-U-Buzzed? application developed by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) calculates BAC based on information about the user’s weight, sex, type and amount of alcohol consumed, and number of hours spent drinking. If the application determines that the user’s BAC is over the legal limit of .08 percent, an anti drunk-driving warning flashes: “Don’t even think about it.”

The app also includes a “Taxi” icon that provides the phone number of the nearest Yellow Taxi stand using the iPhone’s GPS capability.

The software was developed as part of CDOT’s holiday drunk-driving prevention campaign, “Plan Ahead.” It already has been downloaded more than 3,000 times.

CDOT warns that the app is only for general guidance, and the director of Colorado’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is lukewarm about the tool. “I think there’s a lot of room for error, and people just really have to understand it’s an estimate and the point is to plan before you’ve been drinking,” said Emily Tompkins.

“When we think of drug abuse, the first thing that comes to mind is often teens. However, drug abuse affects people of all ages, and America’s baby boomer population is no exception. In fact, as drug abuse declines among some younger populations, it’s increasing among older adults. Many of the boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – came of age in the 1960s, an era defined by sex, drugs and rock and roll. While some carried their bad habits into adulthood, others are turning to drugs to deal with feelings of grief, financial difficulties, or other issues. Learn about this growing problem during an hour-long broadcast entitled Drug Abuse & the Boomer Generation. The show, hosted by the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training, a longtime CADCA partner, airs Dec. 17 at 1-2 p.m. EST.

Drug use in this group impacts the very people who they care for and who love them. Many younger boomers end up caring both for parents and children at the same time, making them part of the so-called “sandwich generation”. During Drug Abuse & the Boomer Generation, you’ll learn how to identify the signs of abuse and ways to prevent, treat, and manage drug use among this generation.

Presenters include:
• D. John Dyben, Clinical Director of The Hanley Center, West Palm Beach, FL
• Dr. Barbara Krantz, D.O., M.S.- Nuclear Medicine, Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of Research Hanley Center, West Palm Beach, FL
• Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Recovering Addict, Treatment Counselor, Hanley Center, West Palm Beach, FL

This free webcast can be viewed at www.mctft.com. Click on broadcasts/videos, then on upcoming broadcasts, find the broadcast, click on view webcast.

By Rachel Spencer - The Exponent –  12/09/09

On a college campus, using fraudulent forms of identification can be a problem.

According to IN.gov, under Indiana Code, false statements of age are Class C misdemeanors potentially punishable by jail time, probation, $500 fines and a suspended drivers license for up to one year. Despite the negative consequences, fake IDs are still used on Purdue’s campus.
The Campus Community Bar Retail Coalition is an organization comprising members from the Student Wellness Office, the West Lafayette community, campus bar owners and the local police departments. In 2003, a report by the Coalition showed that 30 percent of underage students frequented bars.
Although bouncers have undergone training to identify fake IDs, students are still gaining entry to bars by using IDs other than their own. A report by the Coalition in 2004 stated that 80 percent of confiscated IDs on campus were real forms of identification presented by a different person than portrayed on the ID.
A former local bouncer said that fake IDs are usually easy to spot, but employees who are indifferent to the rules let underage people in. On occasion, he said he would let in students who he knew weren’t 21.
“It was always a friend; usually my best friend’s girlfriend who I knew was only 20. She would show me her ID and I would let her on in,” he said.
Jessica, a student in the College of Agriculture who requested to remain anonymous, said she has used a false form of identification to get into bars near Purdue. In one night, Jessica went to four local bars and was never questioned about her identification even though she wasn’t 21.
“I got the ID from my roommate; she’s used it before, but I don’t even know the girl on it,” she said. “I was nervous to show my ID at the bars, but I probably wouldn’t have tried it if I didn’t know a bouncer.”
After getting into several area bars, Jessica said her confidence was boosted and she wasn’t nervous at the following bars.
“It was probably risky,” she said of using another person’s ID, “but I don’t think I would get arrested at Purdue.”
However, not everyone who attempts to fool a bouncer is successful.
Former Purdue student Laura Magliozzi doesn’t think using false identification to get into West Lafayette bars is easy. After three years of using a friend’s New York ID at bars in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and South Bend, Magliozzi had hers confiscated at Jake’s Roadhouse last year.
“I am proof they catch you,” Magliozzi said. “I had used the NY one so many times I was in shock when they took it. No one ever caught it.”
Purdue Police Lt. Fred Davis of the criminal investigations division said that there have been arrests made in the past for manufacturing fake IDs.
“Over the years, I’ve been here for 33 of them, there were cases of persons traveling the campuses and making false IDs.”
Purdue Police Chief John Cox said despite the existence of fake IDs, “We have not seen a lot of fake ID cases lately.”
Typically, when an ID is taken by a bouncer, it is procedure for the ID to be turned into the manager. As long as the ID is an authentic state-issued form of identification, the owner can show verification and reclaim the ID the following day.
However, it seems there may be alternatives to regaining possession of a false ID. According to the bouncer, a coworker accepted money in exchange for returning a counterfeit ID he had taken.
“The guy offered $50, then $100 and finally $200 to get it back; he agreed and made $200 in cash on the spot,” the bouncer said.
Although campus bars may be lenient with rules concerning the use of false identification, the possible consequences should not be forgotten.
“The moral of the story is that no matter how good your fake ID is, you’re probably going to get caught,” the bouncer said.

Our first billboard for the Drug-Free Tippecanoe Project ACE – Responsible Alcohol Retailers is now up. The billboard will move every 4 weeks to a new location.  Currently you will see the Billboard on Sagamore Parkway and Kossuth Street as your are heading South towards the Tippecanoe Mall.

Indianapolis Star – Bill Ruthart – November 29, 2009

When visitors tour Indiana wineries on a Sunday afternoon, not only can they sample the wine, they can take some home.

Now Indiana’s microbreweries say it’s time their visitors were given the same opportunity.

The Brewers of Indiana Guild is lobbying lawmakers to allow its microbreweries to sell beer on Sunday, an important day for tourism.

“You can’t market yourself for tourism if on one of the busiest days, your customers can’t take anything with them,” said Ted Miller, owner of the Brugge Brasserie brewery in Broad Ripple and president of the guild.

“We’re all tiny guys,” he said. “We’re all small brewers. We’re mom-and-pops who want to be able to get people into our breweries, sell them a little beer.”

The small brewers have a legislative ally but a very large obstacle: Their push very well might be swallowed up by a much bigger debate on the issue of Sunday alcohol sales.

Big-box retailers, convenience shops and grocery stores have launched their own intensive lobbying offensive to allow Sunday carryout sales, currently banned by state law, in advance of the upcoming legislative session.

Earlier this year, a legislative study committee recommended against that effort.

More significantly to the brewers guild, the committee also voted against backing the brewery sales. The discussion didn’t focus on the merits of the breweries as a tourism business, however, but on concerns that consideration of that bill could open up a greater discussion about Sunday sales.

As a result, Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, recommended lawmakers steer clear of the microbrewery issue to avoid any chance of a larger fight over Sunday sales. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Trent VanHaaften, D-Mount Vernon, agreed.

“It’s all about timing,” said Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, who supports Sunday sales for microbreweries. “The timing is not favorable for them right now, because of the big-box stores wanting to have Sunday sales, too.”

Still, Alting said he would introduce a bill for the microbreweries in the upcoming legislative session and plans to hear it in the Senate Commerce and Public Policy Committee he is chairman of. He said he’d ask fellow lawmakers and lobbyists not to amend it to apply to any other issue — especially Sunday sales at grocery and convenience stores.

“I’ll ask them to keep the bill clean, and if they don’t, then I’ll kill the bill,” he said. “I’m going to ask them to respect the right of the microbreweries.”

The breweries hope to separate themselves from the larger debate by arguing that they, like wineries, are tourist destinations that draw visitors and money to the state.

Exposure is key

Many microbreweries offer tours of their brewing facilities, but unlike wineries, the state’s microbreweries can’t effectively market themselves as a tourist destination, Miller said.

“You can’t do a brewery tour without selling beer,” Miller said.

While those additional sales would be nice, the additional marketing and exposure that comes with a visitor taking home their beer and sharing it with others is what Miller and brewers such as Blaine Stuckey are after.

“You can’t believe how many people who come from out of town to hit breweries, and it is destination-driven,” said Stuckey, president of Fort Wayne-based Mad Anthony Brewing Co. He estimates that 10 percent of his business comes from tourists.

“If it’s working for wineries,” he said, “it’s got to be a great step for Indiana breweries.”

Opposing view

Lisa Hutcheson, director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, says there is one important similarity between microbreweries and major retailers.

“Anytime laws are expanded in this area — whether it’s allowing a winery to have carryout sales on Sunday or allowing Sunday sales everywhere — you’re inevitably going to increase access to minors in some way,” Hutcheson said.

“They talk about tourism and competing with wineries, and I have no doubt about any of that, but it’s a slippery slope. Once you allow it for one, more will follow.”

Alting, however, doesn’t see it that way.

“These breweries are not only destinations, but what they do is a true art,” Alting said.

“They make it on-site, in-house and there’s no beer like it anywhere else, and that’s why there’s no comparison to that and allowing someone to take home a case of Budweiser home from Kroger on a Sunday, but that’s what’s holding it up.”

Journal and Courier – Justin L. Mack – December 3rd, 2009

Nearly 50 community members and anti-alcohol advocates were given the opportunity to share their concerns with their state legislators Wednesday.

Sen. Ron Alting, Rep. Randy Truitt, Rep. Tim Brown and Rep. Sheila Klinker were on hand at the West Lafayette Public Library to answer questions posed by the coalition and members of the audience.

The legislative forum was held by the Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County and supported Campus Community Bar Retail Coalition.

“This is a great meeting because we get the chance to educate our local legislators” said Tammy Loew, Purdue’s health advocacy coordinator in the student wellness office and chairwoman of the Drug Free Coalition.

Loew said the coalition wanted to focus on four concerns during the forum: mandatory carding, alcohol tax, segregating alcohol sales from other items in retail stores, and ignition interlock devices for convicted impaired drivers.

“The number one issue selected by the coalition was mandatory carding,” said Loew. “When you look at the whole issue and you see that you have 35 percent of retailers not asking for IDs, you realize that if everyone asked, it would reduce the number of minors using alcohol.”

Alting said that he expects to see a bill for mandatory carding presented during the upcoming legislative session.

“During the summer session no one spoke against it,” he said. “There are pros and cons with it, especially in the service industry because you will see service times slowing down, but for the most part people believe it is worth the hassle.”

Other issues like a proposed alcohol tax increase have more obstacles to overcome. According to Lisa Hutcheson of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, Indiana alcohol taxes have not been increased since 1981.

“We’re really missing out on tax revenues that could support alcohol and prevention efforts,” she said.

Truitt believes that the current state of the economy will keep legislation supporting a tax increase from passing.

“I think the timing is going to be the challenge,” he said. “I am in support of this, but any bills supporting new taxes will be difficult to pass.”

Ron Culp, owner of Elmwood Liquors in Lafayette, spoke in support of separating alcohol from other products in stores.

“What it comes down to is that alcohol is not milk,” he said. “Retailers really want it to be like any other item.”