The NSDUH Report: Nonmedical Use of Adderall® among Full-Time College Students

Nearly 90% of the full-time college students who had used Adderall® nonmedically in the past year also were past month binge alcohol drinkers and more than half were heavy alcohol users.

From the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) - Among persons aged 18 to 22, full-time college students were twice as likely to use Adderall® nonmedically in the past year as those who had not been in college at all or were only part-time students.

Students under the legal drinking age who used Adderall® were also more likely to be binge drinkers or heavy drinkers than their underage counterparts who had not used Adderall® nonmedically.

For more interesting statistics from OAS and to read the National Survey on Drug Use and Health report click here.

To learn more about risks and consequences, signs and symptoms of the abuse of prescription drugs like Adderall and Ritalin click here to visit Parents. The Anti Drug.

Why are college students abusing stimulant drugs? For some insight to this question click here to visit the website of University of Miami's student newspaper The Miami Hurricane or click here to read an interesting article from Canada's McLean's Magazine.

Report: Alcohol Laws Save Lives

It is estimated that zero-tolerance and purchase/possession laws save 732 lives each year.

From Join Together - Laws that prevent alcohol purchases and possession by youth are the most effective at preventing drunk-driving fatalities, according to a new report that also praises as effective license suspensions for underage alcohol offenses and zero-tolerance laws for drivers under 21 found with alcohol in their system.

HealthDay News reported April 6 that researcher James C. Fell of the Pacific Institute on Research and Evaluation estimated that zero-tolerance and purchase/possession laws save 732 lives each year, and that another 165 lives could be saved annually if all states adopted the most effective laws.

'Use-and-lose' laws cut alcohol-related traffic crashes by 5 percent, according to the study, which looked at national databases on drunk driving and six state laws aimed at reducing underage drinking and four other laws that addressed drunk driving in general.

To read the complete story visit Join Together here.

New Study Reveals Snapshot of a Binge Drinker

CDC Says Typical Binge Drinker is White, Young, Relatively Affluent Male

From Join Together - A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that binge drinking is most common among whites, men, individuals aged 18-24, and those with an annual income of more than $50,000 annually, HealthDay News reported April 2.

CDC researchers studied data on about 63,000 Americans and found that 17.5 percent of binge drinkers were white, 24.3 percent were male, and 27.4 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24 (24.4 percent were ages 24-34).

To read the complete story in Join Together click here.

What defines binge drinking? What are the risks? To learn more click here.

For more information on binge drinking specifically in adolescents and college students visit SAMHSA here.

For a variety of scientific research news about binge drinking visit ScienceDaily.

What Kids Need: Spiritual Development

Spiritual development involves core issues of meaning, purpose, belonging, and identity that give young people a sense that they matter and are part of something bigger than themselves.

From Search Institute - The Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence is a global initiative to advance the research and practice of this important and understudied domain of human development. Search Institute, with major support from the John Templeton Foundation, is designing the center to become an international hub of theory, research, and practice.

What Makes the Center Unique?
- The center integrates current understandings of human development with spiritual development.
- The center recognizes spiritual development as linked to, but not the same as, religious development. It seeks to engage both religious and secular thought leaders, scholars, and practitioners in examining and attending to young people’s spiritual development.
- The center is intentionally multi-faith, multicultural, and interdisciplinary, bringing together insights and perspectives from the social sciences, religious studies, and other fields.
- The center is international, seeking to examine spiritual development in a global context.

To learn more about Search Institute's approach, research, and commitment to spiritual development in young people click here.

Spiritual development is one of four innovations the Search Institute supports to help kids succeed. To learn more about what it takes to help young people grow up successfully click here.

Report: Treatment Admissions for Prescription Pain Killers on the Rise

Largest share of treatment admissions is still for alcohol abuse, but a significant decrease seen over the past decade

Released March 17, 2009 from SAMHSA - Treatment admissions for prescription pain killer misuse has risen dramatically over the past decade – from constituting 1 percent of all admissions in 1997 to now representing 5 percent, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) 2007 Highlights report also indicates that although alcohol-related admissions still account for the largest share (40 percent) of the 1.8 million treatment admissions occurring throughout the country during 2007, this reflects a reduction from 50 percent in 1997.

The TEDS 2007 Highlights report is the latest in a series of yearly reports, developed by SAMHSA, providing demographic and other information on substance abuse treatment admissions from state licensed treatment facilities (most of them publicly-funded) across the country. Although it does not include information on all treatment admissions, it is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind and provides a vast array of specialized data on the characteristics of substance abuse treatment in the United States.

To read the complete release in the SAMHSA Newsroom click here.

Is it an epidemic? Click here to learn more about prescription drug abuse.

Study: Alcohol Images Increase Consumption

"Money, not morality, is the principle of commerce and commercial nations." -Thomas Jefferson

From Marin Institute - There have been numerous studies evaluating the media’s influence and portrayal of alcoholic beverages. But until now, there has never been research conducted on whether alcohol in commercials, television or the movies have an actual effect on drinking behavior.

A new study published in Oxford Journals: Alcohol and Alcoholism shows that alcohol images directly influence drinking. Participants of the study increased alcohol consumption when watching films and commercials featuring alcohol.

The study’s findings are timely, considering Absolut Vodka’s recent ad which ran during the Grammy Awards, reaching a primetime audience of underage youth. Paris-based, global alcohol giant Pernod Ricard was the first to disregarded the long-established voluntary liquor ad ban on U.S. TV.

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) maintains an up-to-date gallery of print and television alcohol advertising. To view the gallery click here.

To view CAMY's recent report "Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television, 2001 to 2007" click here.

Study: Investing in Prevention Yields Big Return for Society

$1 Spent on Prevention Saves $10, Study Says

From Join Together - Investing in addiction prevention programs yields a 10-1 return for society, according to researchers from Iowa State University (ISU) who studied the Iowa Strengthening Families Program and the Life Skills Training Program.

Researchers Richard Spoth, Ph.D., and Max Guyll, Ph.D. detailed findings from the "Prevention's Cost Effectiveness: Illustrative Economic Benefits of General Population Interventions" and "Prevention of Substance-related Problems: Effectiveness of Family-focused Prevention" studies for a conference sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Health Organization.

"Effective and efficient prevention promises to save possibly billions of dollars per year, provided we can learn how to effectively implement it on a larger scale," said Spoth, director of ISU's Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute (PPSI).

What is the economic cost of methamphetamine in the United States? To find out click here.

What is the economic impact of underage drinking? The numbers may startle you! Learn more here.