The Mexican Connection

U.S. officials say meth production in Mexico is rising because Mexican traffickers can no longer easily obtain pseudoephedrine in the United States and Canada. Both countries have cracked down on companies that sell cold pills. So far the attempts of the Mexican government to control imports of pseudophedrine power and to restrict the number of cold pills consumer can buy have not had much effect so far. Lengthy article.

Signs of Drug War Shift

Evidence is beginning to mount that the approach to the war on drugs could be changing by shifting attention away from small-time drug dealers and individual users and toward major drug traffickers. Drug czar John Walters, at a congressional hearing earlier this year said, “Break the business. Don’t break generation after generation [of poor, minority young men], is what we’re going for. "

Targeting Marijuana – Good Idea? Bad Idea?

A new government anti-marijuana campaign has reignited a long-smoldering debate over how dangerous the most widely used illegal drug in America really is and whether it should be the central focus of the nation’s war on drugs.

Simple Plan

A Canadian rock group, Simple Plan, has produced a strong drunk driving message and are collaborating with MADD on some of that organization’s educational work. The video is called “Untitled.” I went to the group’s website and I watched the video.  Powerful. Very powerful . Click on the link above and then click again at "Untitled" to watch the video. With thanks to Brevity reader Mike McElroy in Florida for sending me the link.

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The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States 1992-2002

The Office of National Drug Control Policy examines the cost of drug abuse to the country. In 2002, the economic cost of drug abuse was estimated at $180.9 billion, representing both the use of resources to address health and crime consequences as well as the loss of potential productivity from disability, death and withdrawal from the legitimate workforce. The study identifies trends:

• The costs of drug abuse have increased an average of 5.3% per year from 1992 to 2002. This rate is slightly above the 5.1% annual growth in the gross domestic product for the entire economy.
• The most rapid increases in drug abuse costs have been in criminal justice efforts, particularly increased rates of incarceration for drug offenses and increased spending on law enforcement and adjudication.

This is a massive report available for download by section. I found the Executive Summary to be sufficient for my needs

Economists Support Higher Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages
In a declaration to Congress organized by the Coalition for the Prevention of Alcohol Problems (CPAP), a group of economists whose numbers include four Nobel laureates, say legislation promoted by the alcohol industry to reduce federal excise taxes on alcoholic beverages would damage public health, increase budget deficits, and threaten the safety of Americans, especially young people.

They called for long-overdue increases in these taxes to help offset the massive economic and social costs of alcohol. Federal taxes on alcohol have only increased once in 54 years for beer and wine and twice for liquor.

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Charter High School for Students with Substance Abuse Disorders

Kathleen Bower, a public school administrator who struggled with substance abuse when she was in college, bought two dilapidated Cincinnati Public Schools warehouses and renovated them into a charter school for students struggling with substance abuse. Dohn Community High School opened in 2001 with 50 students, many of whom were kicked out of other schools for truancy, fighting or drug use. Students can attend AA meetings and receive chemical dependency counseling at school. It is the only school in Ohio that conducts random drug testing on its students.

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The Affects of Family Members’ Substance Abuse on Workers

The April 18, 2005 CESAR FAX  says slightly more than one-fourth (26%) of employed adults report that there has been substance abuse or addiction within their family and 42% of these workers report that they have been distracted or less productive at work because of it.

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The Cheapest High

Inhalants are 12- and 13-year-olds' drug of choice. This article from the Connect For Kids web site says they are cheap, legal, fast-acting, and dangerous. An estimated 50% of inhalant-related deaths are caused by Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome, which occurs when the inhalant abuser is startled, causing the release of a burst of chemicals that trigger cardiac arrest.
Signs of inhalant abuse:

• Paint stains on the fingers or mouth
  
• A chemical smell on the breath
  
• Vomiting
  
• Watery eyes
  
• Poor muscle control
  
• Confusion, and
  
• Items such as shoe polish, spray cans and solvents disappearing or found in the child's room.
  

The earlier a child abuses inhalants the more likely he is to become drug dependent. Use at a very young age often indicates social and psychiatric problems.

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Teens Misuse Prescription Drugs

Rising numbers of teenagers are turning to prescription drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin to get high. More teens abused a prescription painkiller in 2004 than Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine.

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Alcohol/Drugs An Online Tutorial for Juvenile Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals

Working Together for Change: Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System is available online from the National GAINS Center for Co-Occurring Disorders in the Justice System. There is no charge for the tutorial, as near as I can tell.

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Meth Again

3-Pronged Initiative to Target Meth

• Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has announced three new initiatives to battle meth in Indiana:
• Using a partnership with Indiana’s colleges and universities to help reduce the backlog of drug cases at State Police drug-testing labs.
• Developing a “real time” data base between prosecutors and drug-testing labs to ensure dismissed criminal cases no longer clog the lab.
• Standardizing procedures for removing and protecting children exposed to meth production.

   

Learn the Smell of Meth

Illinois wants its educators and others school employees to smell “scratch and sniff” cards impregnated with the scent of anhydrous ammonia so they will be familiar with the smell of a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The goal is to ID children who have been exposed to meth.

Colorado Meth Baby Bill The Colorado House and Senate have agreed on a bill that makes using illicit drugs during pregnancy a form of child abuse. A provision of the bill that would have given judges the power to immediately terminate the mother’s parental rights was eliminated. Denver Juvenile Court Judge Karen Ashby, a member of the NCJFCJ Board of Trustees, is quoted in the article.

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Family Matters Substance Abuse and The American Family – A CASA White Paper

Alcohol and drug abuse are family diseases with several consequences for all family members, particularly children. According to this CASA White Paper, in the United States today:

• Half of all children (35.6million) live in a household where a parent or other adult uses tobacco, drinks heavily or uses illicit drugs.
• 37.4% of children (27million) live in a household where a parent or other adult smokes or chews tobacco.
• 23.8% of children (17 million) live in a household were a parent or other adult is a binge or heavy drinker.
• 12.7% of children (9.2million) live in a household where a parent or other adult uses illicit drugs.

   

93 page pdf file. The substance of the report is contained in the first 50 pages.   ++++++++++

Substance Use and Need for Treatment in Foster Care Youth

This brief (three-page) report looks at the need for and the receipt of substance abuse treatment among youths who have been in foster care.

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Adolescent Portable Therapy: A Practical Guide for Service Providers

The Vera Institute’s APT program combines family therapy and individual treatment to reduce adolescent drug use and address mental health problems and behavioral issues. APT’s treatment manual gives service providers and program planners a theoretical framework and procedures, techniques and case examples that will enable them to implement the APT model easily and effectively. Downloadable from the Vera Institute of Justice as a pdf file – 99 pages long.

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