Take a closer look at issues surrounding drug and alcohol use.

You've probably heard about all of the negative consequences to drug and alcohol use, but there may be a few factors that you haven't yet considered. Here are a few more outcomes to think about when it comes to substance abuse:

Losing friendships
When you use drugs and alcohol, the people around you are affected and friendships are often quick to suffer. As your behavior changes and you interact with different peers, you’ll find yourself losing friendships you may have had for a long time. It’s difficult for close friends to see you change the way you look and act as a result of drug and alcohol use. Friends who don’t use will pull away from you.

Bad grades or dropping out
Drugs and alcohol affect your brain. Between these effects and the social issues you’ll face as you spend more time drinking and doing drugs, your grades at school will suffer. Whether you’re finishing up high school or in college, your grades are very important. If you drop out, it will take a huge amount of effort to work your way back to where you were.

Losing financial aid or employment
Behavior related to drug use and alcohol use puts you at risk of losing your job or losing your scholarships and financial aid. If you face disciplinary action at school or work, chances are your situation will change drastically. Some of these marks on your record can stay with you throughout your life, especially if you face legal action.

Hurting your family
Your parents and other family members will struggle as you change from the effects of drinking and doing drugs. Whether you are directly combative towards them or you pull away more subtly, they will be the ones to suffer. Your actions have an impact on many people.

High costs                        
Drugs and alcohol aren’t free. When you use, you’re using a portion of your income or your parents’ income to have a good time. These costs add up quickly and can prevent you from saving any money or paying important bills.

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In 2009, studies showed that 37 percent of 8th graders and 72 percent of 12th graders had tried alcohol, according to the CDC. These statistics can be very scary from the perspective of a parent. Whether your child is in middle or high school, now is the time to talk about and continue talking about the dangers of underage drinking.

Talk to your teen about statistics
Your kids are used to reading facts at school in textbooks. Talk about drinking in factual terms. Make sure that your kids understand that underage drinking, particularly underage binge drinking, contributes to serious injury and death.  For example, according to the CDC, in 2008, there were approximately 190,000 emergency rooms visits by underage drinkers. While it may be an uncomfortable topic, discuss the fact that drinking increases the risk of sexual assault. Discuss this topic regardless of your teen’s gender. Visit SAMHSA to discover talking points to share the risks of drinking with your teen.

Do not allow supervised drinking
SAMHSA reports that most underage drinkers get alcohol from a friend or family member. Some parents mistakenly believe that underage drinking is safe if kids are supervised when drinking. Regardless of parental supervision, drinking can still lead to accidents and all known risks. Supervision promotes a sense that underage drinking is safe when it’s not. Never offer your teen a drink or allow teens to drink in your home or another parent’s home. If you have older children, actively discourage them from providing alcohol to your teen. Make sure other parents are aware of your stance.

Support teens at school and at home
Teens need support to say no to underage drinking. Studies by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism show that parents have the ability to prevent underage drinking by improving parent-child relations in ways such as providing discipline, listening and communicating, monitoring kids and strengthening family bonding. School resources are also important. Encourage your teen to get involved in extra-curricular activities and meaningful relationships with friends. Be available to your teen as a resource for her emotional needs as well as a sounding board to talk about drugs and alcohol.

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According to the CDC, people from 12 to 20 years drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States. That is a stunning statistic considering that it’s against the law to drink when you’re under 21. As a community, we can work together to prevent underage drinking and the associated risks and dangers.

Know the Facts
Kids who drink are in danger of health risks, problems at school, drug abuse and a higher risk of suicide. Underage drinkers often binge drink, putting them at risk of death from alcohol poisoning, accidents and assault among other risks. With these facts in mind, is it really worth it?

Don’t Encourage It
According to SAMHSA, most children who use alcohol get it from a friend or family member. If you’re a parent, older sibling or friend, don’t become part of the problem. It may be tempting to be cool or seem smart to supervise kids while they drink, but the fact is that you shouldn’t be giving alcohol to minors ever.

Talk to Kids
Make sure kids know about the dangers of drunk driving. Never drink and drive in front of your kids. If you set a bad example, you can’t expect your kids to listen to you. Ask tough questions, get to know your kid’s friends and be open with your life as much as possible. You and your child are in this together.

Work Together
Parents should involve friends, peers, family members and teachers in a group effort to talk to kids about underage drinking early and repeatedly. With a strong support system in place, kids will be less likely to drink underage.

Get Involved
On April 3 at 5:30 PM at Pinellas Park High School, the 2012 Florida Kids and Alcohol and Prescription Drugs youth led Town Hall meeting will address underage drinking. Join your peers to discuss the real dangers of underage drinking, ways to prevent underage drinking and how drinking has affected members of the Pinellas community.

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Everyone has heard a spring break horror story. Don’t be one of those statistics this year. Instead, play it safe, avoid peer pressure and have fun. The best spring break memories are the times you spend with friends and the time spent having adventures you can’t have at home. Learn how to have a safe, fun spring break.

Plan activities
Instead of arriving at your destination with nothing to do, create a busy itinerary. You’ve been studying for weeks. This is your chance to let loose. Go on hikes, rent water crafts or try a new activity you’ve never done before. Visit local attractions and keep yourself busy. You’ll be less likely to fall into a habit of binge drinking on your vacation if you have plenty of fun things to do.

Travel with safe friends
The best way to avoid peer pressure is to surround yourself with peers who respect you and those you admire. Ditch the friends who do things that make you uncomfortable and make you feel bad about yourself. On vacation, it’s more important than ever to be with people you trust and enjoy hanging out with.

Be street smart
Travel in groups and never go somewhere with a stranger. Keep your identification and health insurance on you and keep an copy of your driver’s license and passport somewhere safe. Make sure someone knows where you are at all times, and use a system of checking in with your friends so that everyone is accounted for. Avoid going to someone’s residence if you’ve just met them, even if you’re in a group.

Don’t binge drink
According to the CDC, about 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the United States is in the form of binge drinking. Binge drinking can lead to violence, injury, alcohol poisoning and risky sexual behaviors. During spring break, don’t let this risky action put you and your friends in danger. The CDC also states that in 2008, there were approximately 190,000 emergency rooms visits by people under 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol. Think about how much you’ve been looking forward to your break and the chance to get away and relax, not end up in the hospital.

The LiveFree! Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a coalition of community advocates who strive to address substance abuse in Pinellas County. To see how you can get involved in this cause to help make our community a better place, visit us online.

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You probably started experiencing peer pressure way before you had the ability to understand what it meant. Even preschool kids can influence each other. As you got older, your parents probably said things like, “If all your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to do that too?”  The thing is, our brains are hardwired to want to impress the people around us. A study conducted by the University of Southern California actually showed that people are more likely to take chances in front of friends. Scary, right?  So how do you beat that impulse and think for yourself?

Take a breather
Feeling influenced by your friends in a spur of the moment way? Literally remove yourself from the situation, at least long enough to think. Do you really want to ride someone else’s momentum, possibly into a dangerous situation or illegal activity?  When you’re using your rational brain, the answer is probably no. Give yourself space to make the right choice.

Surround yourself with smart people
If your peers aren’t pressuring you to do stupid things, you don’t have to worry as much about peer pressure. Choose your friends and your social activities wisely. Don’t hang out with people who put you down or try to push you into situations that make you uncomfortable. Don’t go to gatherings where kids are doing things that aren’t in your comfort zone. That way, you’ll feel way less pressured to do things you don’t want to do just to fit in.

Talk it out
Girlshealth.gov recommends coming up with an excuse if you don't know what else to say. Maybe you have somewhere to be or a big project to complete so you don’t fail a class. Alternately, if you feel comfortable, just be honest. You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to cave in to peer pressure. After all, all of us want to be independent, unique and brave. If the people around you act like they only accept you if you do what they say and act how they act, it’s time to put on some mental armor and fight your way into a better situation. You’ll feel better knowing you made your own choices.

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As a parent, one of your most difficult tasks may be having to talk to your kids about drugs. To make matters worse, this is a conversation you’ll have to have more than once. In fact, you may need to have it again and again. As children develop, they have different levels of comprehension and different levels of social awareness. What you tell a preschooler about drugs is very different than what you might tell a junior in high school. Learn to talk to your child about drugs at different ages.

Elementary School
Play it by ear when it comes to talking to your young child about drugs. Chances are, she’ll encounter some form of drugs on television, in advertisements or in person. Use that as an opportunity to bring up drugs like alcohol and cigarettes. Distinguish them from the types of drugs your child may take when she is ill or as a preventative measure. Don’t beat around the bush. Kidsheath.org recommends talking to kids about how drugs can make a person feel, the potential dangers of using them, and the possibilities of very dangerous effects like drug overdose.

Middle School
D.A.R.E recommends watching kids for mood changes and different behavior. You may chalk these things up to becoming a teenager, but it’s important to understand that even middle school kids can begin using drugs and alcohol. As a parent, you have the ability to recognize potentially harmful behavior. Now is the time to discuss drugs in earnest, not just once, but often. Ask your child openly if he has seen someone using drugs or heard someone talking about using drugs. If you see news involving teens and young adults using drugs, being arrested for using drugs, or being injured or killed as a result of using drugs, share the news with your middle schooler and use it as an opportunity for discussion.

High School
According to DrugFree.org, parents have more influence over children than friends, music, TV, the Internet and celebrities. This is your time to make a difference. During this period of your child’s life, he or she is more likely to be offered drugs. You teen probably has friends who use drugs regularly. Drugs are no longer a mystery. Now, more than ever, you need to talk to your child about the dangers of using. Your teen has the smarts to understand dangers. Give your teen solid facts, including information about drunk and drugged driving, overdose, and addiction. Help them focus on the aspects of their life that are positive and fulfilling. Make yourself available as a sounding board so that your teen can express fears and can open up to you.

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Think you understand addiction? There’s a good chance your knowledge about addiction comes from popular culture and myths that aren’t grounded in the reality of substance abuse and addiction. Check out these common myths and see how your understanding measures up.

Myth: Addicts use drugs to escape problems.
According to DrugAbuse.gov, addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. People begin trying drugs and alcohol for many reasons, and becoming addicted has nothing to do with an individual’s personal situation. While it’s true that initial drug use or alcohol use might be a form of escape, anyone can become addicted.

Myth: People with high alcohol tolerance won’t become addicts.
Becoming addicted to alcohol doesn’t just happen to people who become drunk easily. Being able to drink large amounts of alcohol without appearing or acting drunk can actually be a sign of alcoholism. If you or a loved one shows signs of alcoholism, look into treatment resources.

Myth: People who relapse after drug and alcohol recovery are hopeless cases.
It can be discouraging when relapse occurs after successful treatment of substance abuse, but this isn’t the end of the road. Addiction is a treatable disease, and if relapse occurs, individuals have to begin treatment again. It’s not uncommon for people to have to go through treatment for addiction more than once.

Myth: Addiction is a bad choice.
Addiction is a disease, not a choice. It has physical symptoms, just like any other disease. People who choose to stop abusing drugs and alcohol experience withdrawal and may suffer painful, debilitating side effects. It takes support and treatment to overcome addiction, and it isn’t just a matter of having stronger willpower or making better choices in life.

Myth: After recovery, addicts are back to “normal.”
Most addicts require various forms of treatment and therapy throughout life. Addiction treatment isn’t a simple cure. Many addicts continue going to forms of group therapy and counseling on an ongoing basis. In addition, the effects of abuse of drug and alcohol can have permanent effects on the brain and body.

Myth: Legal drugs are helpful.
Over the counter and prescription drugs provided by doctors can be just as addictive as illegal street drugs. Prescription painkillers can be highly addictive and highly dangerous, frequently leading to death from overdose, accidents and drug interactions.

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Unlike designer clothes, designer drugs are easy to obtain and inexpensive. Referred to as designer drugs because they’re created in labs, not because they’re upscale, these synthetic drugs are not regulated and are often laced with dangerous chemicals. In recent years, designer drugs have become more of a problem thanks to drugs that aren’t regulated because they’re sold as bath salts or incense and are labeled as "not for human consumption." Older synthetic drugs such as Ecstasy and Methamphetamine have recently given way to drugs that can be purchased legally in convenience stores and gas stations in many states.

Unknown Ingredients
It’s impossible to know exactly what chemicals are in drugs like bath salts and synthetic marijuana products, sometimes  referred to as incense or spice. It’s also impossible to know the potency or how relatively safe a dose might be. According to drugabuse.gov, these unknown mixtures can cause dangerous side effects, such as seizures, memory loss, coma and even death.

False Marketing
How can drugs be legal?  These substances are sold legally as incense, cleaning products or bath products, allowing teens to easily skirt the law. A popular “incense” called Jazz recently contributed to a teen’s death in Safety Harbor, Florida. 19-year-old Logan Kushner drowned after smoking the incense and swimming. Jazz can cause side effects like hallucination and dizziness.

Bath salts, marketed under many names, is an amphetamine-like chemical that may have long term side effects similar to meth, making it a highly dangerous yet not always illegal substance. It has the potential to cause overdose, severe hallucinations, and even death. Over the past few years, emergency rooms have seen an upswing of patients suffering intense side effects from snorting these so-called “bath salts.”

Dangerous Combinations
Because these drugs are created in labs, they can be changed easily to avoid government bans on certain chemical formulations. This also makes it difficult for drug tests to accurately detect these drugs in the body. The combination is creating a dangerous situation ripe for substance abuse, overdose and accidental death due to intoxication from designer drugs. This presents additional danger in cases of overdose, because hospitals aren’t always aware of the specific toxicology in the synthetic drugs, making it difficult to diagnose and treat overdose appropriately.

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Not all drugs are difficult to obtain. Over-the-counter medications, or OTC drugs, can be found at local pharmacies and supermarkets. They're easy for teens to obtain and easy for teens to abuse.
                   
Impairment
According to Abovetheinfluence.com, The most commonly abused OTC drugs include those that contain the ingredient dextromethorphan, or DXM. This is often found in drugs to treat cold, cough and flu. Teens may believe that because cough medicine is available over-the-counter, it’s safe. But a large dose can cause serious effects like hallucination, vision problems and loss of coordination. Teens have been killed while impaired with high doses of DXM.

Drug Interaction
When combined with alcohol and other drugs, OTC drugs become even more dangerous. Side effects are enhanced, and can often lead to hospitalization for breathing problems, severe vomiting and heart problems.

Overdose
When taken in large doses, DXM can cause death or brain damage. According to DrugAbuse.gov, hypoxic brain damage has occurred due to the combination of DXM with decongestants often found in the medication. Talk to your teen about the potential of never recovering from severe brain damage due to abusing simple cough syrups.

Long Term Health Concerns
Even OTC drugs can cause dependence. Addiction leads to further unhealthy behaviors and impaired judgment. Kids with addictions to OTC medications may suffer long term health problems and may be more at risk for injury or death from accident or overdose.

Unhealthy Weight Loss
Diet pills, diuretics and laxatives can quickly become habit-forming, especially in teens with body image issues. The feeling that weight can be lost easily with the help of a simple pill can quickly enticing. This type of weight loss isn’t healthy, and in many teens with eating disorders, weight loss isn’t healthy or necessary. If you suspect your child has a problem with using OTC drugs to diet, intervene with the assistance of your child’s doctor.

Problems at Work and in School
Teens who abuse OTC drugs may begin to have problems in school, at work and with friends. Because the high associated with these drugs can cause severe impairment, it’s especially dangerous for kids who get behind the wheel or operate machinery of any kind.

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