Kandiyohi County ————————— Drug Free Communities Coalition

Happy Prevention Month! This October, we join President Obama and Director
Kerlikowske in recognizing the importance of substance use prevention and
celebrate the efforts of our partners working in their communities to prevent
drug abuse before it starts. Feel free to share the President’s Proclamation recognizing
National Substance Abuse Prevention Month and celebrating our commitment to the
well-being of all Americans.

Preventing drug use is cost-effective and makes
sense. Every dollar invested in research-based prevention programs saves up to
ten dollars in costs related to treatment for substance use disorders. With
this in mind, prevention is a foundational pillar of the National
Drug Control Strategy and one of
this Administration’s key policy priorities. Driven by a growing body of
research, our approach to prevention entails a systems-wide approach that
relies on evidence-based practices and policies, is youth-focused, and covers a
range of domains in young people’s lives, such as schools, faith-based
programs, and extracurricular activities.

Please find ONDCP’s newsletter featuring some of the
great work being done to help young people avoid drug use. Throughout the
month, stay tuned to our website
and blog
for Prevention month activities, resources, and celebrations of Red
Ribbon Week and NIDA
DrugFacts Week! As always, please feel free to read and share the
information below, as well as provide us with any feedback about
topics of interest to you or how we can further improve our public engagement.

Also, please remember
that on Saturday, October 29th the Drug Enforcement Administration and its
partners will hold their third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
at sites nationwide. This is a great opportunity to encourage safe and
environmentally responsible disposal of prescription drugs by ridding homes of
potentially dangerous expired or unwanted prescription drugs.

Y our nearby collection site is at the Law Enforcment  Center north of Willmar.
Bring any unwanted/unused prescription medication or over-the-counter meds.  Needles not accepted.

Help spread the word that recovery from substance abuse addiction is real by participating in the national Recovery Month observance this September. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), this public health campaign is designed to highlight the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment and to promote the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible. To help community organizations plan a Recovery Month event or campaign, SAMHSA along with the Recovery Month planning partners have developed the Recovery Month Toolkit.

The Recovery Month toolkit includes printed materials to support event organizers in their planning and outreach to local leaders and community audiences. The toolkit changes each year based on the Recovery Month theme. This year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Recovery Benefits Everyone,” emphasizes that all American’s have the opportunity to access provisions within the Affordable Care Act and Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act (MHPAEA), aimed to improve physical and emotional health while ensuring people will receive the care they need at a more reasonable cost.

The theme showcases how public awareness will increase access to those in need of essential substance use and mental health services and how these legislative changes will improve the overall health and well-being of people in the United States.

Since CADCA is one of the Recovery Month planning partners, all CADCA members will receive a copy of the 2011 toolkit via mail.

The online version of the 2011 Recovery Month Toolkit is available at http://www.recoverymonth.gov/Recovery-Month-Kit.aspx.

It’s summer, it’s sizzling, and the temperature’s not the only thing rising.

Underage drinking rises, too. With summer here and school out, youth have a lot more free time on their hands, a lot of it unsupervised. In fact, summer is a high-risk season compared with almost all other times of the year. According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the summer  months show the highest occurrence of first-time alcohol use among young people.    Data from SAMHSA’s 2004–2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also show that the highest occurrence of first-time  alcohol use (13.1 percent) occurs during July.

It’s no coincidence that during June, July, and August, the greatest number of teenagers  die in car crashes, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Summer time is also the time teens spend more time outside sun-bathing, biking, swimming, diving, skateboarding, boating, and getting behind the wheel.  And because alcohol can cause disorientation and an overestimation of one’s ability to perform these activities,  it’s important to share the following issues related to underage youth, alcohol and outdoor activities with your community:

Alcohol can also impair:

• Balance, coordination, and judgment, and its effects are intensified by sun exposure and heat.
• Vision and decision-making skills.  It can reduce the ability to distinguish and interpret colors, especially red and green, which clearly are important in safe driving and other means of transportation.

Time to take action!

Here are some ideas and steps you and your community can take to help make summer safer for everyone.

For parents and caregivers:
Underage drinking is less likely to take place when parents and caregivers monitor teens. Simply put, unsupervised youth have more opportunities to experiment with risky behaviors.

And when it comes to summertime parties …

Don’t Be a Party to Teenage Drinking
(From the Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth, with funding from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)

Just a few helpful party-planning steps that can help parents and caregivers avoid disaster:

• Help make the guest list, and limit the number to be invited. Send personal invitations to avoid the dangers of “open parties.”
• Put your phone number on the invitation, and encourage calls from other parents to check on the event. Think about inviting some of the other parents to help during the party, to help you ensure that no alcohol or drugs are present, and to help ask uninvited attendees to leave.
• At the party, limit access to a specified area of your property. Make sure plenty of food and soft drinks are available. Make regular, unannounced visits to the party area throughout the evening.
• If your teen is attending a party at someone else’s home, call the parent to verify the details and to ensure that adults will supervise and no alcohol will be served.
• Know how your teen is getting to and from the party. And be aware when your teen arrives home. Seeing and kissing your child good night is one way to detect if alcohol or drugs were used.
• If you are going away for the weekend or on vacation and plan on leaving your teen home alone, be direct and set clear expectations, ground rules, and consequences if you think your teen might be tempted to host a party. Notify your neighbors, and ask them to keep an eye out—and leave the phone numbers that should be called in the event of a problem or an emergency.
• Talk to your kids, and make sure they know you are concerned for their safety and do not condone underage alcohol or drug use or their use of a motor vehicle after any use of alcohol or drugs.
• If you are hosting a party for your teen this summer, keep it alcohol free. Remember Parents Who Host Lose the Most. Adults who serve alcohol to underage youth, or who are aware of it being served to underage youth on their property, may be legally responsible and liable for all of the destructive and deadly damage that  results.

For you and your community:

Advise adults to provide water and nonalcoholic beverages for everyone included in summer outings and recreational events, not just for youth. Ask partners in your  community to promote this idea.

• Increase awareness of your community’s laws on alcohol use in public places. Support  enforcement.
• Collaborate with beach, park, and recreational facility administrators to establish  effective policies on alcohol and safety.
• Urge your community and colleges to provide alcohol-free locations where students can meet with friends. Communities are designating parks and recreational areas as alcohol free—share this information.

For retailers in your community:
Retailers play an essential role in reducing access to alcohol by underage youth,  specially during summer months when there’s more unsupervised free time. They can take steps to make sure that teens can’t buy alcohol from their stores, and they can serve as a source of information to reduce the possibility that alcohol legally sold to an adult will end up in a teenager’s hands.

We Don’t  Serve Teens
This Web site offers tips for reducing young people’s access to alcohol. (Federal Trade Commission)

Alcohol Retailers Can Help Reduce Teen Drinking
This printable Web page recommends practices for retailers to help prevent underage drinking and to help reduce the chances of adults buying alcohol for teenagers. (Federal Trade Commission)

Taken from this website directly: http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/townhallmeetings/article_summersizzling.aspx

This ad was a paid advertisement in the West Central Tribune on Saturday July 2, 2011.

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As with any other area of medicine, the least intensive treatment should be the starting point.

Comprehensive residential treatment programs monitor and address potential withdrawal symptoms and behaviors. These programs incorporate behavior modification techniques, and they are designed to get the user to recognize his behavior. Treatment programs include counseling both for the person (and perhaps family), and in group settings. Drug abuse treatment programs have a long after-care component (when the user is discharged from the medical facility), and provide peer support.

Drug addiction is a serious and complicated health condition that requires both physiological and psychological treatment and support. It is important to have an evaluation with a trained professional to determine appropriate care.

For treatment services in Kandiyohi County – Call 320-231-7800

There are several stages of drug use. Young people seem to progress more quickly through the stages than do adults.

• Experimental use — typically involves peers, done for recreational use; the user may enjoy defying parents or other authority figures.
• Regular use — the user misses more and more school or work; worries about losing drug source; uses drugs to “fix” negative feeling; begins to stay apart from friends and family; may change peer group to others who are regular users; takes pride in noting; increased tolerance and ability to “handle” the drug.
• Daily preoccupation — the user looses any motivation; the user is indifferent toward school and work; behavior changes become obvious; preoccupation with drug use overrides all prior interests, including relationships; the user engages in secretive behavior; may begin dealing drugs to help support habit; use of other, harder drugs may increase; legal complications may increase.
• Dependence — cannot face daily life without drugs; denial of problem; worsening physical condition; loss of “control” over use; may become suicidal; financial and legal complications worsen; may have severed ties with family members or friends by this time.

Opiates are derived from opium poppies. These include morphine and codeine. Opioids refer to synthetically produced substances that have the same effect as morphine or codeine.

Opiates and opioids include heroin, oxycodone, hydromorphone, meperidine, propoxyphene, and methadone. All of these substances, natural or synthetic, are considered narcotics. Used as pain-killers, these drugs promote sedation, decrease anxiety, and produce a different perception of painful stimuli.

Because heroin is commonly used intravenously (injected into a vein), health concerns related to sharing contaminated needles among IV drug users must be considered. Complications of sharing contaminated needles include hepatitis, HIV infection, and AIDS.

Inhalant abuse became popular with young teens in the 1960s with “glue sniffing.” Since then, a broader variety of inhalants have become popular. Inhalant use typically involves younger teens or school-age children. Groups of children will use inhalants usually as an experiment.

Commonly abused inhalants include model glue, spray paints, cleaning fluids, gasoline, liquid typewriter correction fluid, and aerosol propellants for deodorants or hair sprays.

The chemicals are poured into a plastic bag or soaked into rags, then inhaled. The drugs are absorbed through the respiratory tract and an altered mental state is noted within 5 – 15 minutes.

Adverse effects associated with inhalant abuse include liver or kidney damage, convulsions, peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), brain damage, and sudden death. Most inhalant use occurs amongst teens or preteens who do not have access to illicit drugs or alcohol.

During the 1950s and 1960s, amphetamines were commonly prescribed for conditions such as fatigue, obesity, and mild depression. Such use has ceased as the drugs have a high potential for addiction, and are now categorized as controlled substances.

Over-the-counter (OTC) amphetamine look-alike drugs are often abused. These drugs typically contain caffeine and other stimulant ingredients, and are marketed as appetite suppressants or stay-awake/stay-alert aids.

If taken in high doses, these OTC drugs may cause the same high and other effects associated with amphetamines. Regular users may exhibit irritability, restlessness, sleep disturbances, tremors, dilated pupils, skin flushing, and weight loss over time.