This Blog Has Moved and Changed Its Name
Embracing the Whirlwind is now simply the Daybreak blog located on the Daybreak Youth Services webpage.
Please visit us and redirect any shortcuts or rss feeds.
Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse released a study on July 7 entitled Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem. It reported that 9 out of 10 people suffering from addiction began using the addictive substance before they were 18. Addiction occurs in 1 in 4 people who started smoking, drinking, or using drugs before age 18, compared to only 1 in 25 for those who started at age 21 or older. Sadly, seventy-five percent of high school students have used addictive substances, with alcohol being the preferred choice. Forty-six percent of high school students are currently using an addictive substance, and 1 out of 3 of these students meets the medical criteria for addiction. Part of the problem is American culture and the acceptance of addictive substance use by parents, communities, and schools. Forty-six percent of children under 18 live in a household where smoking, excessive drinking, misuse of prescriptions drugs or use of illegal drugs occurs. The study highlights the cost of this epidemic, as well as the consequences for adolescents, including teen pregnancy, psychosis, impaired brain function, criminal involvement, and death.
— Walt Whitman
Study: Benefits of Medical Insurance To Poor
First Study of Its Kind Shows Benefits of Providing Medical Insurance to PoorBy GINA KOLATA
When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability, according to a new, large-scale study that provides the first rigorously controlled assessment of the impact of Medicaid.
While the findings may seem obvious, health economists and policy makers have long questioned whether it would make any difference to provide health insurance to poor people.
It has become part of the debate on Medicaid, at a time when states are cutting back on this insurance program for the poor. In fact, the only reason the study could be done was that Oregon was running out of money and had to choose some people to get insurance and exclude others, providing groups for comparison.
Some said that of course it would help to insure the uninsured. Others said maybe not. There was already a safety net: emergency rooms, charity care, free clinics and the option to go to a doctor and simply not pay the bill. And in any case, the argument goes, if Medicaid coverage is expanded, people will still have trouble seeing a doctor because so few accept that insurance.
Until now, the arguments were pretty much irresolvable. Researchers compared people who happened to have insurance with those who did not have it. But those who do not have insurance tend to be different in many ways from people who have it. They tend to be less educated and to have worse health habits and lower incomes, said Dr. Alan M. Garber, an internist and health economist at Stanford. No matter how carefully researchers try to correct for the differences “they cannot be completely successful,” Dr. Garber said. “There is always some doubt.”
The new study, published Thursday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, avoided that problem. Its design is like that used to test new drugs. People were randomly selected to have Medicaid or not, and researchers then asked if the insurance made any difference.
Health economists and other researchers said the study was historic and would be cited for years to come, shaping health care debates.
Happy Fourth of July
Be careful and be sober.
The Fourth of July is the third biggest drinking day of the year.
Fresh Daybreak Website look with Interactive Blog
On July 1 Daybreak launched a fresh and expanded website with interactive Blog.
Check it out at www.daybreakinfo.org
Dentists’ role in painkiller abuse
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2011) — In the cover article of this month’s Journal of the American Dental Association, a group of nine dentists, pharmacists, and addiction experts provides new research and recommendations to help dentists combat, rather than contribute to, abuse of addictive painkillers.
via Dentists’ role in painkiller abuse.
Earlier this year Daybreak staff offered two workshops to a dental convention that was held in Spokane, WA. We were well received though we have still not formed any partnerships or collaborations with local dentists.
Health Care Professionals Need to Screen Teens for Substance Abuse, Report Finds
Daybreak clinicians have been actively meeting with physicians, physicians clinics, dentists and emergency departments to offer assistance in substance use screening and brief intervention with adolescent patients. There has been mixed reception in physicians offices but there have been an increase in identification and referral of teen clients out of a Spokane emergency room.
Here is an excerpt from a news article by Celia Vimont at DrugFree.org | June 29, 2011 |
Health care professionals are not screening enough for teen substance abuse, according to a new report that finds nine out of 10 Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction start using addictive substances before age 18.
The report, Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem, finds that one in four Americans who began using any addictive substance before 18 are addicted, compared with one in 25 Americans who started using at age 21 or older. The report was released by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in New York.
"I begin to suspect that the world is divided not only into the happy and the unhappy, but into those who like happiness and those who, odd as it seems, really don't."
— C.S. Lewis
Email from one of the counselors
"Today I was shopping and met a really lovely woman who was helping me. After a few minutes of talking, she asked what I do and I mentioned working at Daybreak. She then told me that her daughter had seen one of our counselors at Daybreak and that she had recently graduated from our outpatient program. The mother said that initially it was a very scary experience, but that the staff and counselor made her feel very comfortable and confident in handling what was happening with her daughter. She said, 'Daybreak changed my daugher's life.'"
You can be fired for using medical marijuana, justices rule
Employers in Washington state are allowed to fire employees who fail a drug test, even if they have valid medical-marijuana authorization, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The case involved a woman who failed a pre-employment drug test for a firm that handles customer service for Sprint. The woman, who had a valid medical-marijuana authorization from a doctor, sued. The Seattle Times reports that the company said its contract with Sprint mandated drug testing and did not make any exceptions for medical marijuana.
"I know of no other way to perfection but love." — St. Therese Of Lisieux
1 in 5 Young Adults May Have Hypertension
Researchers have found that hypertension may be much more common than expected among young adults
In this study, the prevalence of hypertension was almost 20% in participants ages 24–32, which is significantly higher than prior estimates.
In the NIH-funded National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the prevalence of hypertension in 24- to 32-year-olds was 19% in 2008
That compares with a rate of 4% among young adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for a similar time period
"We tend to think of young adults as rather healthy, but a prevalence of 19% with high blood pressure is alarming, especially since more than half did not know that they had high blood pressure," Harris said.
Read more on Medpage Today
Thinking of Mom
Daybreak kids make cards for their mothers:
Jazzin' It Up Concert and Auction
Daybreak in Vancouver, WA is having their 7th annual Jazzin' It Up Concert & Auction on May 7th at The Heathman Lodge in Vancouver. If you would like to buy tickets or donate to our event, please call Stephanie at (360) 635-4120 or smantey@daybreakinfo.org
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| From Drop Box |
Jazzin' It Up...... Dinner/Auction/Fundraiser
Lisa Mann will perform with her band at a dinner-auction fundraiser for Daybreak that’s set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7th at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA.
Tickets are $75; call 360-635-4120 or visit http://www.daybreakinfo.org to learn more.
Daybreak Targets Early Intervention
One of Daybreak's goals this year is to identify and intervene with young substance abusers as early in their abuse history as possible.
Most of Daybreak's teen clients have been using for two or more years prior to being identified:
* 87% of inpatient and 70% of outpatient clients are age 15 or older when they enter treatment.
* 62% report they first used prior to age 13 (22% at age 11 or under)
Historically most are identified and referred only when their chemical use creates visible problems, such as criminal behavior, running away from home, overdose, or psychiatric treatment.
During the past year (sometimes with the aid of small grants) Daybreak staff have been involved in several projects to increase the early identification and treatment of youth ages 10 - 13
We have been working toward educating the medical community about substance use and screening, brief intervention and referral. To that end:
Admissions Counselor, Jaime Peterson and Outpatient Clinical Supervisor, Claire Aberasturi have met with a number of primary care physicians and dentists. They have found that, though interested and concerned, physicians and dentists are anxious about asking screening questions or intervening with patients about their substance abuse.
In mid-April Claire and Allison Metzler (Spokane Assistant Treatment Director) addressed these and other issues with close to 100 participants in several breakout sessions at the Inland Northwest Dental Conference.
We have created a specialized Outpatient treatment program for pre-teens, using curriculum and methods more suited for their social and cognitive development.
Various staff from the Spokane Outpatient program are facilitating early intervention groups in four elementary schools: two in the Spokane School District and two in Spokane Valley, WA.
Finally, Daybreak is working to increase the access to adolescent treatment in Vancouver/Clark County. We just became certified for Outpatient treatment. The Daybreak Outpatient counselor, Angela Ball, CDP, has been doing outreach work to the community, and will focus on joint efforts with the Children's Center, (a mental health program), and local schools.
New Program Aims to Help Doctors Break Down Stigma of Addiction
By Join Together Staff | April 19, 2011 |
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has created a new program to help primary care providers break down the stigma of addiction. The Addiction Performance Project includes a dramatic interpretation of a family’s struggle with addiction, followed by a dialogue among participants designed to foster compassion and understanding for patients living with addiction.
According to a NIDA press release, many primary care providers say they do not have the experience or tools to identify drug use in their patients. The program aims to help these doctors move beyond their comfort zone in discussing drug abuse with their patients. Doctors receive continuing medical education credits for completing the program.
DEA to Hold Second Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
By Verena Huetteneder | April 14, 2011 | 0 Comments | Filed in Our BlogThis month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs during the second National Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30 from 10 am – 2 pm. The DEA and state and local law enforcement officials are organizing collection sites to take back unused, unwanted or expired over-the-counter and prescription drugs. These drugs can present a public health hazard given the potential for accidental poisoning, abuse and overdose if not taken care of properly. They can also pose environmental hazards from unsafe disposal.
Last September, Americans turned in over 242,000 pounds — 121 tons — of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by more than 3,000 of the DEA’s state and local law enforcement partners.
The DEA has an easy-to-use online tool to locate a collection site near you. Visit http://www.dea.gov/, click on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and follow the links to a database and enter your zip code. Law enforcement agencies interested in operating one or more collection sites on April 30 can register with the DEA by calling the DEA Field Division office in their area. The collection is anonymous. The website also provides you with details on what is (and isn’t) accepted.
This Is Your Brain On Ecstasy
Ecstacy Takes Away Memory - from MedPagsToday
If people take drugs to help them forget their problems, ecstacy users may be doing so most effectively.
The drug -- technically known as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA -- may actually shrink the hippocampus, which plays a central role in memory, according to a study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.
Among 10 patients who popped an average of 280 pills over the past 6.5 years, MRI scans revealed that their hippocampal volume was reduced about 10.5% compared with seven other drug users whose preferences ran in other directions.
The study authors said theirs is the first to show the drug's effect on structural changes in the brain. Prior work has established that ecstacy users tend only to be deficient in memory, with scores on other cognitive tests usually normal.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
Alcohol Awareness Month in April 2011 Alcohol Awareness Month is an annual public awareness campaign that encourages local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. National Alcohol Screening Day is an outreach, education, and screening program that raises awareness about alcohol misuse and refers individuals with alcohol problems for further evaluation.
A new SAMHSA Spotlight report shows that only 1.2 percent of the nation's more than 7.4 million adults aged 21 to 64 with alcohol abuse problems perceive they could benefit from treatment. The report highlights the need to raise awareness about adult problem drinking, how to identify when someone has a problem, how to confront a problem drinker, and how to get help.
Participate in Alcohol Awareness Month and National Alcohol Screening Day by making a commitment to prevent alcohol abuse and underage drinking in your community. Promote safe and alcohol-free behaviors that prevent the occurrence of alcohol misuse. Encourage those you know who abuse alcohol to seek help. Alcoholism can be fatal, but treatment is available and it is effective.
Read the SAMHSA Spotlight: Most Adults With Alcohol Problems Do Not Recognize Their Need for Treatment PDF (110 KB)
Related Resources
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Heathfinder's Alcohol Awareness Month Toolkit National Alcohol Screening Day New SAMHSA Blog Post: Alcohol Use Problems: Who's at Risk? National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Rethinking Drinking
Docs Get Advice on Medical Marijuana
By Ed Susman, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today
Published: March 29, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Doctors in every state in the U.S. have the right to recommend medical marijuana for patients with a qualifying condition, such as cancer or HIV, but they can find themselves in legal hot water if they actually prescribe it -- even in those states where medical marijuana has been legalized.
That's because although the First Amendment right of free speech allows physicians to recommend medical marijuana, under a 2009 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, they may not say or do anything to help patients obtain the drug, according to Joshua Murphy, JD, of the Mayo Clinic Legal Department in Rochester, Minn.
Murphy gave clinicians a primer on the do's and don'ts in the new -- and expanding -- playing field of medical marijuana, during a panel discussion here at the American Academy of Pain Medicine meeting.
"Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have laws permitting the use of medical marijuana," Murphy explained. Those states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
A Mom's Response To Teen Marijuana Use
Short (minute and a half) video
Approaching dogs, teenagers, and other mammals
This morning my dog Cinder rounded a corner of a pond to a man and a woman coming in the opposite direction.
Cinder trotted toward them wondering, I think, whether they might have a treat for her. Perhaps startled, the man squared-off toward her, staring her straight in the eye.
Cinder (as would most dogs.... as would most mammals?) interpreted this as a threat, backed off, but maintained equally vigilant eye-contact.
The moment passed with me wondering if it might be possible to help the man understand that this approach, while only pushing this dog away, might cause aggression from another animal.
I wondered also if many adults, fearful of or hesitant around teenagers, might take a similar stance. With the same results.
Take home lesson: Most dogs and teenagers are friendly but can become frightened and even aggressive if faced with signs of rejection.
DEA Holding Second Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April
Saturday, April 30, 2011 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Local Time
Got Drugs? Turn in your unused or expired medication for safe disposal Saturday, April 30. Click here for a collection site near you. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its community partners will hold the second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day at sites throughout the United States. This will be an opportunity for the public to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for safe disposal.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Prescription drugs are being misused and abused at alarming rates in the United States—more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.
The service is free and anonymous—no questions asked.
