Girls More Likely Than Boys to Start Using Alcohol, Cigarettes, and Marijuana

Center for Substance Abuse Research, 3/20/06

Based on data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables, 2005, the Center for Substance Abuse Research is reporting that girls ages 12-17 are more likely than boys of the same age to initiate use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Nearly 1.5 million girls began using alcohol for the first time in the past year versus 1.2 million boys. Girls are also just as likely as boys to have reported using substances in the last month: alcohol (18.0% vs 17.2%), cigarette (12.5% vs. 11.3%) and marijuana (7.1% vs. 8.1%).

Smoke Free Colorado Bill Passes to Governor

House Bill 1175, the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act of 2006, passed out of the House and on to Gov. Bill Owens, who is expected to sign or allow the bill become a law without his signature.

The law would ban smoking in restaurants, bars, and most indoor workplaces and public places (e.g. casinos are exempted). It would also set a 15-foot perimeter outside business doors where smoking would be prohibited.

For more information visit the following links:

• Current Bill version, history, status, and votes on CO General Assembly Web site.
• Current news on Colorado smoking legislation from Google News.
• Smoking ban – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
• “State Smoking Restrictions for Private-Sector Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars: United States, 1998 and 2004.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 54(26) July 8, 2005.

New in the RADAR Clearinghouse

The following resources have just been added to the online RADAR store. They are FREE to Colorado residents. To browse and order this and other free resources visit http://www.rmc.org/picStore/

Faces of Change – Do I Have a Problem With Alcohol or Drugs?
DESCRIPTION:
This booklet asks people to assess the role alcohol and drugs play in their lives as they follow the stories of five individuals from different backgrounds who also have a problem with substance abuse. Contains a change plan worksheet and contact information.
Colorado Residents: Click here to order for FREE

Hope, Help & Healing: A Guide to Helping Someone Who Might Have a Drug or Alcohol Problem
DESCRIPTION:
This brochure is a guide to helping someone who with a drug or alcohol problem. Information is included on what signs to look for, where to start, how to intervene, and how to find hope and help
Colorado Residents: Click here to order for FREE

Esperanza ayuda y curacion: Una guia para ayudar a alguien que podria tener un problema con drogas o alcohol
DESCRIPTION:
This brochure is a guide to helping someone with a drug or alcohol problem. Information is included on what signs to look for, where to start, how to intervene, and how to find hope and help.
Colorado Residents: Click here to order for FREE

National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week is March 19-26, 2006

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC) has developed National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW), an annual media-based, community-level program that takes place the third week in March. NIPAW is designed to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalant involvement. The program involves youth, schools, media, police departments, health organization, civics groups and more, and has proven to be an effective means of mobilizing communities to reduce inhalant use.

To learn more about the NIPC and NIPAW, please visit their website at: http://www.inhalants.org

Colorado residents can order free materials concerned with inhalants abuse as well as resources to support your National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week activities by visiting our online RADAR Clearinghouse store.

You can click on the March Focus category link for resources to help prevent inhalant abuse.

Colorado Statewide Marijuana Legalization Initiative begins

SAFER, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation began their petition drive
to place a statewide marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot.

The law, if passed would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess
up to an ounce of marijuana in cities and towns where there is no local ordinance that expressly forbids possession within their borders. Home rule cities and towns that currently operate under state law, with respect to marijuana, would be free to pass local ordinances restricting possession. Federal law would also apply, though federal intervention in small-scale possession cases is rare.

For more information:
“Statewide pot initiative kicks off” – Denver Post (03/01/06)
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3559083

“Marijuana” on MedlinePlus.gov
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/marijuana.html

New in the STEPP Clearinghouse

The following resources have just been added to the online STEPP store. They are FREE to Colorado residents. To browse and order this and other free Tobacco resources visit http://www.rmc.org/shop/

Tobacco Industry Involvement in Colorado
Colorado Residents: Click here to order for FREE

Tobacco And Diabetes
DESCRIPTION:
You may not choose to have diabetes…but you can choose not to smoke.
Colorado Residents: Click here to order for FREE

March Media Campaign Roundup

As if in response to the recent (January) Drug and Alcohol Research Findings article “Boomerang ads”, in which the authors argue that the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s “National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign” had zero or negative impact on actual drug use, the last month has seen a slew of articles outlining the benefits of successful media campaigns.

Media Campaign Found to Cut Teens’ Marijuana Use
A NIDA funded study has found that an in-school anti-marijuana and alcohol campaign, “Be Under Your Own Influence,” cut usage by one half compared to communities that did not have the program. The study was published in the February 2006 issue of Health Education Research.

For more information:
New Anti-Drug Program Shows ‘Phenomenal’ Success by Focusing on Positives – AScribe Newswire (02/28/06)

Montana Meth Project Ads Getting Wide Publicity: Will They Work?
The Montana Meth Project has launched a series of graphic and credible TV, radio, and poster ads targeting youth ages 12-17. The campaign has received national coverage in a New York Times article (02/26/06) as well as on NPR’s All Things Considered radio show (02/27/06), where the ads were described as “visceral and less parental.” Listen to the 5 minute NPR interview with Paul Venables, founder of ad company that created the ads, here.

View the Ads at http://www.montanameth.org/ads_television.aspx

TV Ads Help Many Smokers Quit
Source: JoinTogether.org (02/23/06)

TV antismoking ads helped more people quit than any other intervention, including nicotine-replacement therapy and telephone help lines, according to a new study.

View the full JoinTogether.org News Story

March Agency Highlight

Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research
   Description:
The Tri-Ethnic Center has conducted research on inhalant abuse for the National Institue on Drug Abuse . To find out more about their study, “Inhalant Use Among Rural Children: A Multicultural Study”, visit their website at: http://triethniccenter.colostate.edu/
   Contact Information:
Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research
Colorado State University
100 Sage Hall
Ft. Collins, CO 80523
1-800-835-8091

Coming in April

April 2006 is the 20th Annual Alcohol Awareness Month, sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD). In addition to general news from the prevention field, PIC Newswire articles will focus on and supplement activities related to alcohol abuse prevention and awareness. For more information, and to access a Kit to help you plan Alcohol-Free Weekend and other Alcohol Awareness month activities, contact NCADD http://www.ncadd.org/

March Focus: Inhalants Abuse

Our focus for March is on the abuse of inhalants. Below are a selection of the resources available from the PIC and on the Web that address this important topic. Please feel free to contact the PIC for further information on these or other items available for loan through the library.

ON THE WEB:

Inhalants – MedlinePlus.gov
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/inhalants.html
An excellent starting point for finding reliable web-based information on
inhalant use, abuse, diagnosing, prevention, statistics, organizations and
research.

Partners Focus: Inhalants as Dangers in the Home, Schools and the Community – Partners for Substance Abuse Prevention
http://preventionpartners.samhsa.gov/foc_inhale_p1.asp
Provides an overview of chemicals that are commonly abused, the effects they have on the body and brain and practical suggestions for your prevention and intervention efforts in homes, schools and communities

VIDEOS:

Inhalants: Drugs: Uses And Abuses Series
This program presents a summary of this class of drugs and then details its constituent parts: solvents and aerosols, nitrites, and nitrous oxide. The physical hazards of inhalants, including brain, liver, and kidney damage and SSD, sudden sniffing death syndrome are also detailed.
Circulation Number: 11433

One Breath at a Time Teens and Inhalants
The misuse of common household substances by adolescents through ‘huffing’, or inhaling, is often the first foray into experimental drug use among teens. This video is designed to help viewers learn to dispel peer pressure, learn coping skills for problem solving, and educate on the dangers and lethal risks of ‘huffing’.
Circulation Number: 11060

The Danger Zone: Dangers in Your House
The video focuses on the drugs youngsters grades 3-5 are most likely to be exposed to such as common household products that can be inhaled or huffed and over the counter and prescription medications commonly found in the family medicine chest.
Circulation Number: 11663

VISUAL AID:

Dangers of Inhalants
This folding display uses bright illustrations combined with text to emphasize the short-and long-term effects of inhalant abuse. Includes true stories of teens who died after experimenting with these toxic substances.
Circulation Number: 11035