Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Study: Teen Pot Smoking Won't Lead to Other Drugs as Adults

Personally, I'm not yet ready to discard the idea that marijuana is a "gateway" drug for teens - a drug that may lead teens to use "harder" drugs. But, here's a new study which concludes that marijuana is not a "gateway" drug for teens.

New research finds little support for the hypothesis that marijuana is a "gateway" drug leading to the use of harder drugs in adulthood.

Teens in the study who smoked marijuana were more likely to go on to use harder illicit drugs, but the gateway effect was lessened by the age of 21, investigators say.

Harder drugs in the study referred to illicit drugs that include analgesics, cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers.

The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Failure to graduate from high school or find a job were all bigger predictors of drug use in young adulthood than marijuana use during adolescence, says study researcher Karen Van Gundy, who is a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.

Van Gundy says she did not set out to disprove the idea that marijuana is a gateway drug when she and co-researcher Cesar J. Rebellon examined survey data from 1,300 mostly male Hispanic, white, and African-American young adults who attended south Florida public schools in the 1990s. The participants were followed from enrollment in the sixth or seventh grade until they reached their late teens or early 20s.

"Most of the previous research has examined early drug use among people with serious drug problems," she says. "These people do tend to progress from alcohol and marijuana use to other drugs."

When the teens in the study were followed forward into young adulthood, however, a different picture emerged.

"We were somewhat surprised to find the gateway effect wasn't that strong during the transition to adulthood," Van Gundy says. "It really didn't matter if someone used marijuana or not as a teen."

Specifically, the study found illicit drug abuse in young adulthood to be much more closely linked to stress during the teen years and whether or not the young adults were employed.

But Columbia University sociologist Denise B. Kandel, PhD, whose research early in the decade found marijuana to be a gateway drug, calls the new research highly flawed and the conclusions "ill founded."

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20100902/teen-pot-smoking-wont-lead-to-other-drugs-as-adults

Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising in Magazines has Declined

A recent study indicates that youth exposure to alcohol advertising in national magazines has declined during the period from 2001 - 2008.

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently released their study on youth exposure to alcohol advertising in national magazines. Key findings of the study:

• From 2001 to 2008, youth exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines fell by 48 percent.  Adult (age 21 and above) exposure declined by 29 percent and young adult (ages 21 to 34) dropped by 31 percent.

• Alcohol advertising placed in publications with under 21 audiences greater than 30 percent fell to almost nothing by 2008.

• Continued declines in youth overexposure will depend on the actions of a small number of brands:  In 2008, 16 brands (5 percent of the total 325 advertising in magazines) accounted for 50 percent of youth exposure in magazines with youth compositions above 15 percent, and 40 brands (13 percent) were responsible for 80 percent of youth exposure in these magazines.

Source: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth
http://www.camy.org/research/Youth_Exposure_to_Alcohol_Advertising_in_National_Magazines_2001-2008/index.html

Many Parents Fret Over Time Kids Spend on Phones, Computers

Many American parents are worried that the large amount of time teens spend immersed in electronic media makes it difficult to discuss the dangers of risky behavior such as drug and alcohol use, a new study indicates.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America surveyed more than 1,200 parents and found that more than one-third are concerned about how TV (38 percent), computers (37 percent) and video games (33 percent) hinder parent-child communications.

More than one-quarter of parents are also worried about new forms of media such as cell phone texting (27 percent), and social networking sites such as Facebook (25 percent) and Twitter (19 percent).

"These new findings present a unique opportunity for parents to play a more active role in what their kids are watching, monitor how they are spending their time online and remain aware of the impact all of this media consumption is having on their impressionable teens," Steve Pasierb, president of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said in an organization news release.

"We know that kids today are bombarded with pro-drug and drinking messages via everything from song lyrics, movies and video games, to social networking sites. Videos of kids abusing cough medicine and common household products to get high are all too accessible online and that's why it's more important than ever for parents to break through the media noise and make their voices heard," he added.

One way for parents to do that is to use electronic devices to connect with their teens to begin and maintain a dialogue about avoiding risky behaviors. While not as good as an in-person conversation, parents can use e-mail, cell phones and texting to begin a dialogue with a reluctant teen, and to reinforce safety messages at times when teen drug use and drinking is more likely, such as after school, on weekends and during unsupervised periods.

Source: Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/641960.html

Report Shows Teen Girls Are Drinking More Than Boys, for Different Reasons

New data released from the Partnership for a Drug Free America suggest that not only are girls now drinking more than boys, they turn to drugs and alcohol for more serious reasons as well. The report, which analyzed results from the 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS), a survey of teen attitudes and behaviors, shows that the number of middle- and high-school girls who say they drink has increased by 11 percent in the past year, from 53 percent to 59 percent. Boys have stayed at about the same level, hovering around 52 percent.

These numbers are more indicative of a long-term trend than a sudden uptick. In 2005 the rate of girls who had used alcohol in the past year as surveyed by the partnership hit 57 percent, only to fall back to 55 percent in 2007 and 53 percent in 2008. (During that same time, boys continued to fall within a couple of percentage points of 50 percent, but the changes were not statistically significant.)

The Partnership for a Drug Free America results also show that girls are more likely to associate drugs and alcohol with a way to avoid problems and relieve stress. (Boys, on the other hand, show dramatic increases in seeing drugs and alcohol as social lubricants: in 2009 compared with 2008, they were 16 percent more likely to see them as a way to make socializing easier, and 23 percent more likely to label drinking as a necessary ingredient for a party.)

Teen girls are more likely to be attuned to their feelings, says Leslie Walker, M.D., director of adolescent medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and therefore may seek alcohol as a way to self-medicate. “Girls tend to be more internalizers with issues that are happening anyway. It makes sense that if they have some stress and things that they are dealing with, they’re going to take care of themselves instead of reaching out.”

Source: Newsweek
http://www.newsweekinteractive.org/2010/06/29/study-shows-teen-girls-are-drinking-more-for-different-reasons-than-boys.html?from=rss

CDC Study: 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results

Since 1991, The U.S. Center for Disease Control has surveyed teens every two years in order to identify trends in risky adolescent behaviors. The results of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey have just been released.

First, let's look at the percentages on some of the areas surveyed:

• Have had at least one drink of alcohol (during their life): 72.5%, down from 75% in 2007.
• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey: 41.8%, down from 44.7% in 2007.
• Have had five or more drinks within a few hours, within 30 days of survey: 24.2%, down from 26% in '07.

• Have used marijuana at least once (during their life): 36.8%, down from 38.1% in 2007.
• Have used marijuana at least once within 30 days of the survey: 20.8%, up from 19.7% in 2007.

• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life): 46.3%, down from 50.3% in 2007.
• Have smoked cigarettes at least once within 30 days of the survey: 19.5%, down from 20% in 2007.

• Have had sexual intercourse (during their life): 46%, down from 47.8% in 2007.
• Have had sexual intercourse with 4 or more persons (during their life): 13.8%, down from 14.9% in '07.
• Have had sexual intercourse within 30 days of the survey: 34.2%, down from 35% in 2007.
• Drank alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse: 61.1%, down from 61.5% in 2007.

• Seriously considered attempting suicide during 12 months before survey: 13.8%, down from 14.5% in '07.
• Made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during 12 mos before survey: 10.9% down from 11.3% in '07.
• Attempted suicide during 12 mos before survey: 6.3%, down from 6.9% in 2007.

• Rarely or never wore a seat belt: 9.7%, down from 11.1% in 2007.
• Rode with a driver who had been drinking within 30 days of survey: 28.3%, down from 29.1% in 2007.
• Drove when drinking alcohol within 30 days of survey: 9.7%, down from 10.5% in 2007.

While on the surface it appears that there are broad, although slight decreases in at-risk behaviors, the study indicates that in terms of trends, most changes are statistically insignificant, amounting to "no change." The areas noted above where changes in trends were indicated were:

• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey - decrease
• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life) - decrease

To view the extensive overview of the report, click the source link below.

Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/us_overview_yrbs.pdf

Binge Drinking Causes Lasting Brain Damage in Teens

Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, CA, have established that binge-drinking in youngsters does not cause hangovers alone but affects the brain, too, with irreversible damage.

Binge-drinking is consuming large amounts of alcohol within a short period of time.

Researchers conducted their study on adolescent rhesus macaques monkeys for a period of 11 months.

Analysis revealed that monkeys consuming alcohol continually produced fewer brain cells and reportedly suffered more brain damage to the hippocampus. The hippocampus, a major component of the brain in humans and other mammals, plays a vital role in long-term memory and spatial navigation (the process of reading and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle).

Study-collaborator Michael Taffe found that even after two months of total abstinence, monkeys’ hippocampus had fewer signs of fresh, immature neurons. The worst part was, stated Taffe, that there were indications that the existing supply had begun to deteriorate.

The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: The MedGuru
http://www.themedguru.com/20100602/newsfeature/binge-drinking-causes-lasting-brain-damage-teens-study-86136076.html

With Drinking, Parent Rules Do Affect Teens' Choices

As teenagers mature into their senior year of high school, many parents begin to feel more comfortable about letting them drink alcohol. But new research from brain scientists and parenting experts suggests loosening the reins on drinking may not be a good idea in the long run. And, researchers say, parents' approach to addressing teen drinking does influence a teen's behavior.

Brain researchers are finding that alcohol has a particularly toxic effect on the brain cells of adolescents. That's because their brain cells are still growing, says Susan Tapert, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

The regions of the brain important for judgment, critical thinking and memory do not fully mature until a person is in his or her mid-20s. Tapert found that alcohol can damage the normal growth and development of a teenager's brain cells in these regions.

"Adolescents who engage in binge drinking (that is, having five or more drinks on occasion for boys, or four or more drinks on occasion for females) tend to show some brain abnormalities in their brain's white matter. That's the fibers that connect different parts of our brains," she wrote in a recent study.

So if parents want to give a "no alcohol" message to their teens, what can they do? Alcohol researcher Caitlin Abar from Pennsylvania State University found that parents' efforts do play a role in shaping their teens' behavior. She studied how parents deal with their high school teenagers regarding alcohol use while still at home, and she then checked after the teens' first semester of college. Her study of 300 teenagers and their parents was published recently in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

"Parents who disapproved completely of underage alcohol use tended to have students who engaged in less drinking, less binge drinking, once in college," Abar says.

And conversely, a parent's permissiveness about teenage drinking is a significant risk factor for later binge drinking.

"The parents who are more accepting of teen drinking in high school were more likely to have children who engaged in risky drinking behaviors in college, compared to those children who had parents that were less accepting," Abar says. The researchers also asked the teens about their parents' drinking patterns and found that parents' own drinking behavior influenced a teen's later alcohol use.

Source: NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127222042

Vodka 'Eyeballing' Latest Fad With Teens

"Eyeballing," a drinking game where participants pour vodka directly into someone's eye, is the latest -- and dangerous -- fad, and videos of the act are even popping up online.

"They're not doing this eyeballing to get drunk, they're doing it after they're drunk and they're drunk enough to act stupid," Mike Gimbel, a substance abuse expert told Fox41. "They're actually doing it as part of a fad. You know, I dare you to do this."

Hundreds of YouTube videos have been put up to document the practice.

"Vodka is about 40 to 50 percent pure alcohol, which can take off the top layer of the cornea," Robert Stutman, president of the Maryland Optometric Association told Fox41. "It can cause scarring. Can it make you go blind? I suppose it probably could, if it causes severe enough scarring of the cornea."

Dr. Barry Eiden told AOL Health that once the damage to these surface cells of the eye occurs, there is a possibility that with prolonged exposure damage to deeper layers of the cornea may lead to permanent vision loss.

He added that because these teens are intoxicated while "eyeballing" it's likely that their pain tolerance will be heightened and sense of urgency depleted, so they would not try to immediately flush their eye out with water.

Source: AOL Health
http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/05/26/blind-drunk-vodka-eyeballing-latest-fad-with-teens/

Alcohol Companies Use New Media to Lure Young Drinkers

Alcohol companies are increasingly using the latest new media technologies -- including cell phones, social networking sites, YouTube and other features of the expanding digital universe -- to reach young drinkers, a new report contends.

And existing regulations may not be keeping up with the marketing trend, the report's authors added.

They're calling on the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney generals and others to investigate the phenomenon and examine whether current mechanisms to protect youth from alcohol marketing still work effectively in the digital era.

Young people are being exposed to a 24/7 "digital marketing ecosystem that is transforming the nature of advertising," said Kathryn Montgomery, a professor of public communication at American University in Washington, D.C. and co-author of the report, titled Alcohol Marketing in the Digital Age.

One area the study authors want officials and activists to look at is weak age-verification mechanisms, pointing out how easy it is for a young person to enter a false birth date so they are legally "of age" to enter a Web site.

According to the report, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth estimates that underage drinking accounts for 12 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. alcohol market.

There are several major distribution platforms, the report authors stated, the first being social networking sites such as Facebook, where not only can companies promote their own brands, but they can enjoin consumers to promote their brands, too.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/05/19/alcohol-companies-use-new-media-to-lure-young-drinkers-report.html

What Kills Teens?

A new report out from the National Center for Health Statistics finds that in the period of 1999-2006, of the more than 16,000 teenagers that die annually, most are killed in auto accidents, but other accidents, murder, suicide and disease also take their toll.

Key Findings:

• An average of 16,375 teenagers 12-19 years died in the United States every year from 1999 to 2006. This is less than 1 percent of all deaths that occur every year in the United States.

• The five leading causes of death among teenagers are Accidents (unintentional injuries), homicide, suicide, cancer, and heart disease. Accidents account for nearly one-half of all teenage deaths.

• As a category of accidents, motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of death to teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths.

• Among teenagers, non-Hispanic black males have the highest death rate (94.1 deaths per 100,000 population).

• Homicide is the leading cause of death for non-Hispanic black male teenagers. For all other groups, accident is the leading cause.

Sources: Businessweek, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/638802.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db37.htm