Pot Use Among College Students

A University of Michigan study funded by the National Institute On Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that college students are presently 51% more likely to use marijuana than same age peers who are not enrolled in college. This trend has been increasing at about 10% per year for several years underscoring the need for increased prevention
Read more
No Comments

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Know! April is Alcohol Awareness Month The media has done a good job bringing to light the prevalence and severity of the use of heroin, prescription drugs and marijuana among our nation’s youth. But what about alcohol? We don’t hear much about it in the news anymore. Is underage drinking still that widespread? And c’mon,
Read more
No Comments

Surgeon General Identifies E-Cigarettes a Public Health Threat

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated that more research is needed on the health effects of vaping. In a statement issued today, he expressed that e-cigarettes have the potential to create a whole new generation of nicotine addicts. E-cigarettes turn liquid nicotine into an inhaled vapor. While being touted as safer than cigarettes because of the
Read more
No Comments

Giving Up Tobacco

Tobacco has been one of the most prevalent, long-standing addictions in America. Fortunately, tobacco use has declined over the past 30 years with many public buildings, retail stores, and restaurants having banned smoking as a service to their patrons. Smoking cigarettes was once a rite of passage as teens aspired to look older and act
Read more
No Comments

The Meth Project

The Meth Project was founded in 2005 and is currently a program managed by the national non-profit organization, The Partnership For Drug-Free Kids. Methamphetamine (“Meth”) is a highly addictive stimulant drug that is typically smoked (sometimes injected) and produces an effect similar to that of cocaine. Methamphetamine addiction is characterized by a rapid loss of
Read more
No Comments

Powerful Message in The Overtaken Documentary

There is a powerful and informative short film out – produced by KB Films, and entitled “The Overtaken Documentary“. The film addresses addiction in America and the various ways in which young people are introduced to drugs. The Overtaken Documentary expertly highlights the insidious nature of addiction progression and how youth are wired to typically
Read more
No Comments

PBS Frontline Highlights America’s Heroin Epidemic

ADS Board Member, Stacy Smith, recently notified ADS staff of a powerful documentary she viewed which just aired on PBS. The film is titled Chasing Heroin. It is an expertly produced piece on the resurgence of heroin addiction in America. Chasing Heroin profiles a number of individuals and families who are struggling with heroin/opioid addiction.
Read more
No Comments

Chronic Marijuana Use Affects Memory and Cognitive Function

The emerging marijuana legalization effort in the U.S. has created growing concerns about the effect that chronic pot use will have on the developing brains of teens and young adults. A recent CNN article highlighted research findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that point to diminished verbal memory, processing speed
Read more
No Comments

Thinking About The Meaning of Recovery

The word Recovery is a powerful symbol of hope for people who deal with addiction. Before alcohol and drug addiction were so readily addressed in society, the medical community used recovery as a reference to that period of time when a person was recuperating from a surgery or extended illness. So-and-so has had a full
Read more
No Comments

Methamphetamines and Methadone Are Not The Same

Monday, November 30th is the official start date of “National Meth Awareness Week” which is an initiative to educate the public on the dangers of methamphetamine abuse. This is a coordinated prevention program by the Partnership For Drug-Free Kids. It is important to note that some people occasionally confuse “Meth” (a slang abbreviation for methamphetamine)
Read more
No Comments