Drug Fact Update
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| Post your comments, Reply to this article, Share your thoughts; A growing trend in NON-factual information! October, 2009 An ongoing trend in internet research is for websites to allow comments, replies and shares which allow the reader to create a discussion about the subject matter. Unfortunately, in the field of drug education, comments translate into inaccurate information that is later passed on as factual science and news. Lately, we’ve seen an increase in the volume of “online” opinions being reported back to us in the classroom. It is a high tech telephone game of misinformation. Referencing comments about articles is not factual or scientific; nor is it a consensus – it is simply the echo of opinion. Over the course of a year we review thousands of articles, news reports, science journals and case studies which have comments attached. People who comment on drugs articles represent a wide range of roles and careers such as doctors, nurses, family members of addicts, teachers, and counselors who all have real life experience and something to add to the conversation. Unfortunately, not everyone has something helpful to say; some are terribly misinformed know-it-alls. Others are teenagers who have so little life experience that they’ve never seen any damage from drugs, so they assume there are no dangers involved. Pro-drug advocates often seem to have the loudest voice and will comment on anything and everything. For years, we’ve warned teachers, librarians and parents about using the internet for research due to the proliferation of pro-drug websites. Today, we want to warn you about using comments. They are usually nothing more than a finger on the pulse of one group of people who are interested in the subject at hand. People who portray replies to an article as factual perpetuate rumors and ignorance. We all need to work together to watch where our students get their information for debates, classroom discussions and reports. |
| This Drug Fact Update page is a listing of all the articles, emails and drug fact updates that we send in our newsletter. It will continue to develop throughout each year. Please check back often and feel free to forward this site to other teachers and parents. Mid Summer Updates 2011- email sent to subscriber 7/4/11: click here Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet 2011- email sent to subscriber 10/26/11: click here The Great American Smokeout - email sent to subscriber 11/17/11: click here 8 Tips For A Safe New Year's Eve - email sent to subscriber 12/31/11: click here |
The Men Behind the Red Ribbon: Why We Honor Red Ribbon Week October, 2009 The story behind red ribbon week sounds like a page out of a violent novel. In November, 1984 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agent Enrique Camarena and his pilot Captain Alfredo Zavala-Avelar uncovered a multimillion dollar drug manufacturing operation in Chihuahua, Mexico. This information exposed several drug production operations and seriously reduced the flow of drugs out of Mexico. This cost the drug traffickers over 2 billion dollars in lost business and motivated themto seek revenge. First they murdered key local informants; then on February 7, 1985, Camarena and Avelar were each kidnapped, tortured and murdered. The murders of Camarena and Avelar motivated a massive investigation of Mexican drug trafficking. When Mexican authorities refused to cooperate, the US/Mexico border was closed for several days in order to force the Mexican government to assist in the investigation. Reluctantly, they cooperated and eventually more than two dozen drug traffickers including 2 major drug lords and several Mexican police officers were convicted for the murders of the DEA agents. Twelve years later, the LA Times published a story about high ranking Mexican officials who were involved with the planning and subsequent torture-murder of Camarena. The article also stated that US federal prosecutors relied on perjured testimony and false information. An independent investigation, done by the Times, found additional information that raised questions about who was telling the truth in a "story of a complex case built largely on the word of several paid informants with unsavory backgrounds, questionable credibility and much to gain from cooperating." Interestingly, just this week (10/09) the brother of the drug lord in the Camarena case who took over the family drug business was sentenced to jail in Colorado. In 1986, a California congressman and Camarena's high school friend began Camarena Clubs where hundreds of member pledged to lead drug-free lives to honor the sacrifice made by the agent. First lady Nancy Reagan asked community groups to wear red ribbons during the last week of October as a symbol of their drug-free commitment. In 1988 the National Family Partnership coordinated the first National Red Ribbon Week. Last week, approximately 80 million people observed Red Ribbon Week with discussions about alcohol, tobacco, drugs and violence prevention awareness. Understanding the whole story behind the red ribbon may help facilitate a discussion in your classrooms or at your dinner table this week. |
April Is The 24th Annual Alcohol Awareness Month For your discussion: In 1944, Marty Mann, the first female member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) founded the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) to “reduce the stigma and to educate Americans that alcoholism and other drug addictions are preventable and treatable, not a moral failing.” The NCADD developed employee assistance programs, succeeded in placing warning labels on all alcoholic beverages, formally defined alcoholism in the Journal of the American Medical Association and currently sponsors Alcohol Awareness Month each April. Miles To Go salutes the NCADD for their ongoing efforts to increase alcohol awareness and lower the rate of alcohol use by teens. For more information about April’s Alcohol Awareness Month including links to audio reports for the classroom, home-school or family. Please preview the reports and tell us how you used them with your students or family. Most are good for grades 5-college. SAMHSA: http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/seasonal/aprilalcohol/ NCADD: http://www.ncadd.org/index.html NCADD Awareness Activities: http://www.ncadd.org/programs/awareness/index.html MADD: Why 21 & Alcohol and the teen brain (Our favorites to kick off discussions) http://www.why21.org/myths/ http://www.why21.org/teen/ NPR Article: Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage with audio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122765890&ps=cprs NPR Article: Keeping Teens Sober At Prom With Science. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104519897&ps=rs Study: Teen Drinking Can Have Lifelong Effects http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123221107 Alcohol and cancer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_and_cancer http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/healthissues/1109728149.html Our daily twitter updates can help you keep the conversation going in the classroom: http://twitter.com/MilesToGoDrugEd http://milestogodrugeducation.com/twitter.html |
| The Great American Smokeout – November 18th, 2010 Integrating the discussion into your classroom The month of November brings us one of the most proactive topics of the year. The third Thursday of November (the week before Thanksgiving) marks an annual event called the Great American Smokeout. The American Cancer Society (ACS) challenges Americans to stop smoking for 24 hours to kick off what they hope will be a change in lifestyle that will last forever. It all began in the mid 70’s when Massachusetts, Minnesota and California presented public challenges for smokers to give up their cigarettes. In 1976, the California division of the ACS successfully encouraged nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. The annual event has flourished, and each year smokers choose this day to mark the beginning of the end of their smoking. We encourage you to integrate this topic into your classroom discussions. We have provided several ways to do this below. Here is our new favorite website. The California Youth Advocacy Network is designed for colleges, but we recommend that you scroll down to the bottom of the page where they show 2010 Sample Advertisements and Flyers. Integrate the discussion: Create your own school advertising campaign to help others learn. Integrate this topic for the week in art, homeroom, health, advisors, technology/media class etc. Here are some tips from the American Cancer Society (ACS) website: In 2009 "The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" was signed into law and gives the FDA the authority to regulate the sale, manufacturing, and marketing of tobacco products and protects children from tobacco industry’s marketing practices. On the ACS website they have a fantastic calculator that can tell a smoker how many cigarettes they smoke per day, month or year and how much it costs them to smoke. Integrate the discussion as a classroom project for math, health, homeroom etc. One of our schools made a spinning wheel of death using cigarette smoking as a basis for mathematical calculations. How To Quit http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GuidetoQuittingSmoking/index http://www.californiasmokershelpline.org/ Make the decision to quit Set a quit date and choose a help plan Learn how to handle withdrawal Staying quit (maintenance) Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have some means of support, such as:
How To Help A Friend – Many People say “It Is One Of The Hardest Drugs To Quit!” As a friend or family member of a smoker, you are in an uncomfortable situation. Tobacco smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to at least 15 different cancers including: lung, larynx (voice box), oral cavity (mouth, tongue, and lips), pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, pancreas, cervix, kidney, bladder, acute myeloid leukemia. You should know that it may take several attempts to quit and relapse is part of the process for some people. Each time they quit they will feel bad about failing. Encourage them to set another date to quit. The sooner they try again and the longer they remain smoke-free each time will ensure their confidence and success. Integrate the discussion Have a classroom discussion about how difficult it is to help someone to quit. Practice how to use “I” statements and research available methods of quitting in your community. Does your library, counseling or health/nurse office have available information? Secondhand smoke – “A known human carcinogen (cancer causing agent)” If the smoker claims they aren’t concerned about their own health, they should consider here is what family members are up against as a consequence of living with a smoker. Secondhand smoke comes from sidestream smoke (smoke that comes from the end of the lit cigarette, pipe or cigar) and mainstream smoke (smoke that is exhaled by a smoker). In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for:
Integrate the discussion: Make a list of all the ways that people can accidentally be around secondhand smoke and a list of all the ways to avoid it. Work as a group to find polite ways to excuse yourself from a smoking person, room or area without insulting the smoker or hurting their feelings. Pets and cigarette smoke It’s not just the humans that smokers should worry about; their pets are inhaling the smoke as well. (http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org/smokingpets.htm) has a page explaining the toxins that our pets are exposed to. Cats are known to get cancer from licking the tar off of their fur when cleaning themselves. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075305.htm Californians Unite California proudly has the second lowest smoking rate (12.9% of adults smoke – CDC 2009) in the country. With positive and gentle encouragement we could be the leaders of the nation in smoke free communities. If you have a loved one who is not ready to quit, plant the seed and put it on the calendar to quit the next time the Great American Smokeout or World No Tobacco Day comes around. If you have a loved one who is ready to quit smoking, they don’t have to wait another year to quit. In an attempt to reduce the 5.4 million yearly deaths from tobacco-related health problems, World No Tobacco Day (sponsored by the World Health Organization since 1987) is observed around the world on May 31st. http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/ Other references for help:
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| From MADD.org http://www.madd.org/feature-stories/april/us-senate-declares-april.html http://www.madd.org/underage-drinking/powertalk-21/ This Thursday, April 21st, is the first annual PowerTalk 21™, the national day for parents to start talking with their kids about alcohol. Looking at research and talking to parents, we found that a lot of parents wanted to have a conversation with their children about alcohol, but didn't know where to start...or how to answer the tough questions. Dreading saying the wrong thing, some parents said nothing at all. So we wanted to create a national day for parents to start speaking with their kids about alcohol - that's this Thursday. But more than that, we wanted to give parents the tools to protect their children from the dangers of drinking. Since underage drinking kills about 6000 people each year, we want every parent to initiate a potentially life saving conversation with their children about the negative effects of underage drinking. But we can't do it alone. Please go to their website for more information and a free handbook to discuss this with your kids. |
| Walk Like MADD 5K - Huntington Beach, CA 2011 & 2012 We did it! We walked the walk against drinking and driving! It was an outstanding walk on an overcast morning right on the beach. There was lots of fan support and some extremely touching stories about people who have been impacted by drunk drivers. For a couple of us it was excellent exercise! Not only did we walk, but thanks to Michelle Gouvion and The Argyros Foundation (walker: Lisa Argyros - who was the top fund raiser for the entire event!) we were the top educational fund raising team. Thank you to both moms for helping kick off our first year walking like MADD. Team Miles To Go is signed up for 5/12/12 to Walk Like MADD again. We encourage all parents and teens to join us for the walk. Not only do you show your support to the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, but you teach your children that your words are serious when it comes to drinking and driving! Send us an email to sign up now to walk with us next May! We'll notify you when the 2012 page is up and running for registration. http://support.madd.org/site/TR/WalkLikeMADD/WalkLikeMADDwlm_?pg=entry&fr_id=2783 |
Miles To Go Drug Prevention Lecture Series Spring Drug Fact Update - see the email: click here
Today is 420 Day, aka National Pot Smoking Day. | |||||||||
| Miles To Go supports the DEA's National Take Back Initiative October 29, 2011 - 10am - 2pm - see our links section for a national collection box service. The DEA has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. to provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. Parents need to re-think how they deal with medications in the home. In our new book, The Mother's Checklist of Drug Prevention, we went so far as to suggest: Maybe we should start calling the medicine chest the "potential to kill my children drug overdose, addiction, and death locker" instead, and see if attitudes about the compounds kept there change. Below is a section about medications from our new book: Establish a Pattern: Medicine and OTC Drugs Talk to your children about the fact that medicines are drugs, and that we don't need to be afraid of them, but we do need to respect their powers to help and to harm. Make it a rule: Your children are not allowed to take any medicine, no matter what kind, unless you know about it and have given permission for it to be used. Teach your children to check for expiration dates. This includes commonly used medications like Tylenol, Advil and Aleve, etc. If you take expired medicine, it might not work as well as it should, which could lead to more frequent or larger doses than are safe. Some medicines, such as tetracycline, become toxic after the expiration date. Teach your children the importance of following the directions that come with medications. As a first step: You know that folded piece of paper you pull out of the box and immediately chuck into the garbage? Stop doing that! There is a wealth of information about dosage and safe use on it that you should take the time to read. At a minimum, you should read all sections that have anything to do with dose, safety, warnings, dangers, and especially a section called "contraindications," which warns you about other drugs, foods, and beverages that should not be taken at the same time the medicine is used. If your children are too young to read, at least let them see and hear you read the directions aloud. Teach them to follow directions for medicine to the letter. We know it's really hard to stand by and watch your children suffer when they are sick or in pain, but for young children, sometimes the medicine is worse than the symptoms. In the past few years, the FDA has issued numerous warnings directing parents to stop using cold medications for children under the age of two. Thousands of emergency room visits and dozens of deaths have been reported as a result of reactions to these medications. In 2011, new FDA warnings also cautioned against the use of solutions or gels which contain benzocaine on children under two, due to the risk of a rare but possibly fatal condition that limits the amount of oxygen their red blood cells can carry. The most commonly used medicines of this type are drops used to reduce the pain associated with teething in infants. Talk to your children about the dangers of sharing medications, either by taking medicine intended for others or by giving medicine intended for them to other children. Reading labels doesn't stop at medicines. Help your children to read and understand other labels as well. Energy drinks are currently not required to list the amount of caffeine they contain, although some do in an effort to draw in people looking for a big jolt of caffeine. Labels on foods list ingredients by their predominance, with the highest percentages first, so if sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other sugary ingredients are high up on the list, you can be pretty sure it's not health food. Kelly also adds in her classes on reading labels, "If you can't pronounce it, you should think twice about putting it in your mouth." |
| THC (Pot/Marijuana) Laced Halloween Candy Alert 10/31/11 In the old days, we were worried about needles and razor blades in our children's Halloween candy. Now we have something else to watch out for... pot laced candy. We live in a world of the easy-to-get medical marijuana license, so parents of teens keep an eye out for unusual smelling or tasting candy that raises suspicion in your teen's candy bag. Watch for easy to confuse packaging that mimics common foods and products. Melissa McBride of ABC News Los Angeles provided an excellent report on Friday, 10/28/11 with the LA Sheriff's Department linked below http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8409380 Items discussed in this report:Candy, soda, chocolate, lollypops, cheese crackers, pretzel snacks. |
| We recently received this request from a blogger doing something proactive, so for our motorcycle riders: Hello, MotorcycleAccident.org needs your help! We are emailing you to ask you to spread the word about our petition to create a zero tolerance motorcyclist alcohol policy, by asking you to link to our petition at MotorcycleAccident.org or add the petition badge to your website. Motorcycles require more concentration, and collisions involving motorcycles are on average more deadly. So we are petitioning the Federal Highway Authority to pass a nationwide requirement that states raise the 0.08% blood alcohol level threshold for drunk driving to a zero tolerance threshold for motorcyclists. You can help reduce motorcycle fatalities and keep our highways safe by telling your readers about our petition to create a zero tolerance motorcyclist alcohol policy. Please consider promoting the petition by adding a link pointing to our petition at www.motorcycleaccident.org. MotorcycleAccident.org is an independent website that provides information on the frequency of motorcycle accidents, as well as articles, statistics, and advice about minimizing the risks of motorcycle riding. If you have any questions or comments about our request or our site, please don't hesitate to contact me via email. Gina Williams Blogger | Owner Motorcycle Accident |
Via: Motorcycle Accident