Let's play a little game of true or false — Marijuana is natural, so it's safe…..right?

You might feel the peer pressure to join the crowd and start smoking marijuana and they might even tell you it's natural…..which could be true or untrue. The truth is that smoking marijuana can have lasting negative effects on your brain.

What is Marijuana?
Marijuana is a plant, it derives from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa and contains the active ingredient THC. This is the chemical that affects your body the most by going through your blood stream and to your brain. It could even cause you to hallucinate. Marijuana can also act as a depressant in some people.

Why it's Dangerous
At the age that most people are experimenting and using marijuana (adolescence), the brain is still developing and marijuana effects the brain in a big way. There are both short and long-term effects.

Short-Term Effects:

• Problems with memory and hearing
• Difficulty solving problems
• Increased heart rate
• Anxiety
• Poor motor skills

Long-Term Effects:

• Cancer
• Gateway to other drugs
• Depression
• Mental health problems

Whether the marijuana is synthetic, medical or it's natural, these effects on your body are the same. So even if all of your friends are doing it, you see it in the movies or you think that it will make you look cooler….don't do it. Keep yourself healthy and make sure that you stay drug free in order to do well in school.

To learn more about LiveFree! and our mission to reduce youth substance abuse, visit our website.

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As your child gets older, they sometimes distance themselves from you. How do you stay connected?

As parents of a teenager, you know that their attitudes can sometimes go from pleasant to….not so pleasant, without warning. That kind of back-and-forth makes it hard for you to stay connected with them. The more you are involved in your teen's life, the better they tend to behave and listen.

When you talk to your teen, does it seem as if they are on another planet? With all of the technology today, it's hard to get them to actually focus and have a real conversation — but you can still stay connected. Here's how:

1. Share their interests — Find something they enjoy doing and do it with them. It will show that you care about what they are involved in.
2. Don't lecture them — Unless they did something absolutely terrible, don't be too hard on them, because the last thing you want is to push them away.
3. Give them their space — If they want to go listen to music in their bedroom, let them. They need to be alone sometimes too.
4. Connect with them online — If you can't beat them, join them! If they have a Facebook and Twitter, make sure you are friending them and following them. And don't forget you can text them too — we all know how much they love to text!
5. Talk about your teenage years — They might not want to hear it, but they will eventually thank you for telling them what you went through when you were their age.

The key to really connecting with your teen is to find one thing that works the best and keep doing it until it becomes something that eventually brings you together — and don't worry, once they mature a little, you'll probably be the best of friends!

The LiveFree! Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a coalition of members of the community who strive to address alcohol and drug use in Pinellas County. Visit us online today to see how you can get involved in this cause that is so important to our community.

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Sure, they are great for a quick boost…but are they harmful long term?

You probably buy them because all of your friends drink them or maybe you are the one who got your friends to start drinking them — either way, energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers…but are they really dangerous?

According to NBC News, the number of emergency room visits after consuming energy drinks has doubled since 2007 and in most of those cases it was a teenager or young adult who was admitted. The Drug Abuse Warning Network states that 52% of the visits to the ER were due to mixing alcohol with the energy drinks.

What is an Energy Drink?
Because energy drinks are sold as dietary supplements, they have a little more leeway with the ingredients in their product. These drinks are loaded with sugar and not even close to a "dietary supplement" that should have vitamins and nutritional value. The massive amount of sugar each energy drink sometimes leaves you feeling a little anxious and probably a little dehydrated. Plus, when mixed with alcohol, energy drinks can be fatal.

Sugar isn't the only ingredient in these beverages, there are a few others that are also not very good for you:

• Caffeine — gives you your feeling of "energy", along with the copious amounts of sugar
• Guarana — this has been banned in some dietary supplements
• Taurine – used to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure

While these potentially dangerous drinks are still legal, there are numerous fights to try and get them banned from shelves because of the danger they pose. Keep these things in mind the next time you're thirsty and opt for something with more nutritional value.

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Talking to a loved one about the excessive use of alcohol can be difficult, but you can make it a little easier.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 80,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States. It's hard to have someone who is close become dependent on alcohol and need it just to make it through the day. It can be very tough to try and talk to them about their addiction, but there are a few things that you can do to make it a little easier on you and on them.

• Be specific — When you are talking with your loved one, make sure you explain to them that their drinking habit is affecting both of your lives.
• Be respectful — You do want to be specific with your loved one, but you also want to respect them. Don't over exaggerate or be rude about it. Just stick with the facts
• Make them aware of the consequences — Many people who abuse alcohol, don't really notice that there are repercussions for their actions. Make sure that they know there will be consequences if they do not get help — but don't threaten them.
• Offer your help and some solutions — Make sure that before sitting down to talk with them, you find out what options are available for help. It will be a lot easier to help them if they know you are there to support them.

Alcohol abuse is nothing to play around with — if you think a loved one is in over their head, make sure you use the tips above to talk with them about the difficulties and the consequences of their actions.

If you have a loved one who you think has a drinking problem, click here for more information on what you should do. To learn more about LiveFree! and their mission, visit their website.

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For such a small and compact object, it's packing a lot of chemicals.

Any way you look at it, smoking is bad for you and it's bad for the people around you. Do you even know what's really lurking in that guilty pleasure you have every afternoon? A typical cigarette has almost 600 ingredients in it and once it's lit — it releases close to 4,000 chemicals. What's even more shocking is that 51 of those chemicals are carcinogenic, or known to cause cancer.

These nasty chemicals cause a lot of other health problems too such as COPD, emphysema and even chronic bronchitis. A lot of the chemicals that are in cigarettes are also found in some of your every day household cleaners, which usually carry a warning. Just some of the more familiar chemicals found in cigarettes are:

• Carbon Monoxide — found in your car's exhaust
• Nicotine – can be found in some bug sprays, used to ward off those pesky insects
• Tar – used to make roads and to patch holes in roads
• Arsenic — found in rat poison
• Sulfuric Acid — normally found in car batteries
• Formaldehyde — typically used to preserve dead bodies

Smoking is an addiction and the nicotine is a habit-forming drug. The longer you have done it, the harder it is to quit. If the list above isn't enough to get you to stop, take a look at the complete list of chemicals that are put into one cigarette.

If you are a smoker and you are trying to quit, you can find more information on how to quit here. To learn more about LiveFree! and our mission to reduce youth substance abuse, visit our website.

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Are you safe when you are surfing online?

With all of the Tweeting, Facebooking and Instagraming going on, you should be cautious about what you are posting. By now, most of you use social media on a regular basis — but how safe is it? Are your privacy settings correct? Are you only friends with people you know? Do your parents monitor your pages? All of these things go into question when you are on the internet.

Internet safety isn't limited to Facebook or Twitter, either. You should be aware that everything you look up online for a project in school or just for fun is traceable. Here are ways that you can protect yourself and stay safe while you are online:

• Don't post any personal information like your address, phone number or where you go to school.
• Never meet someone you "met" online in person, this is extremely dangerous.
• Be careful what you do post on Facebook and Twitter — never give out your location.
• Never give out your password.
• Make sure you take advantage of your privacy settings correctly.
• Don't talk to or add people you don't know on your social media sites.

Along with keeping yourself safe, you need to protect your image. If you or a friend posts a photo of you, and it gives the impression that you are at a party drinking, it could be damaging to your college and/or professional future. Be sure that you are careful about what you post and what you post about others, too.

Click here to learn more about internet safety and what you can do. To learn more about LiveFree! and our mission, visit our website.

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Spring break is just around the corner, but do you have a safety plan in place?

You made through one half of your school year and you most certainly deserve a break from all of it. Good thing spring break is just around the corner! Whether you are going on vacation with your family or just hanging out at the beach with friends, it's good to have a safety plan in place during spring break.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind when planning your trip:

• Make sure you pick a hotel that is centrally located. You don't want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
• Stay in touch with family and/or friends — whether by email, social media or phone. Make sure that you are staying in contact and letting them know you are safe. This is especially important if you go without your parents.
• Don't carry a ton of cash with you; take a little and use mostly credit cards. You are less likely to be robbed.
• When you go out, don't go out by yourself. Make sure you have people with you.
• Make sure you use sunscreen and drink plenty of water when you are out in the sun.
• If you are old enough to drink, make sure go easy on the alcohol and make sure you designate a driver or have the number to a cab service handy.

So now that you have your safety plan in place, all you have left to do is to pick your destination! Where ever you decide to go, make sure to follow the safety tips above. Find more spring break safety tips by visiting the CDC website. Be safe and have fun!

If you would like to learn more about LiveFree! and our mission to reduce youth substance abuse, visit our website. And if you want to join our mailing list, just text LIVEFREE to 22828, and don't forget to include your email address!

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Is there really such a thing as a gateway drug?

When you're surrounded and influenced by your friends, it's sometimes hard to make good choices. Don't give into peer pressure. Just because everyone else is doing it — that doesn't mean you have to! And a lot of times, once you start…you can't stop.

What exactly is a gateway drug?
When a drug, such as marijuana, alcohol or tobacco, opens up the door for other harder drugs like cocaine and heroin, it is known as a gateway drug. According to drugfree.org — 50 percent of teens in the U.S. have access to marijuana by the time they are 16. In some cases, this is the first drug that young teens are introduced to.

Remember that alcohol is also a drug.
Although, a study from the University of Florida found that alcohol is the gateway drug that is leading teens and young adults down the wrong path and exposing them to harsher drugs, many people unfortunately don't really consider alcohol a drug.

Don't become a victim of peer pressure.
How can you avoid becoming a victim of gateway drugs? Well, the simplest solution would be to just say no. If and when you are offered any type of drug (even alcohol), make sure you refuse — even if you are afraid of peer pressure.

Click here for more information on resisting drug abuse and what you should do. To learn more about LiveFree! and our mission to reduce youth substance abuse, visit our website.

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It can be hard to sit back and watch a friend who is caught up in drugs. How do you know if they have a problem?

The use of drugs among teens is rising every day.  It may not seem like a big deal because you see it all of the time, but it can lead to big problems. If you notice that a friend is abusing drugs, make sure you get them help while there is still time.

How will you know if a friend had a drug problem? There are many things to look for and you may not have to look very far. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse website, there are signs that you can look for that will tell you if a friend may be addicted or abusing drugs:

• He or she may take the drug more often or in large quantities.
• He/she may have tried to quit, but can't resist the craving.
• He/she may spend an excessive amount of time trying to find the drug.
• He/she may continue to use the drug even though he/she knows it's harming them and others.
• He/she might give up other things they enjoy for the drug.

If you spot any of these changes in your friend, get them help right away. You can talk to your friend and tell them how much you care about them, but don't try and help them on your own — enlist the help of a counselor, teacher or parent to help. And remember, withdrawal symptoms can sometimes be dangerous, so it's important for them to seek medical help after they stop using them.

For more information on drug abuse and what you should do, click here. To learn more about LiveFree! and their mission, visit their website.

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This year, LiveFree! will be featuring High School and Middle School clubs from Bay Area schools. Today we're featuring the Largo Middle School LiveFree! Club.

Number of members: 45

Year this club began: 2012

How has the Largo Middle School LiveFree! Club been involved in the community this year?
Attended the NOPE Candlelight Vigil at Largo Central Park in October; a few students attended the Red Ribbon Family Fun Festival with their families in October; Participated in the Great American Teach-In in November, Posted signs throughout the school about being Drug-Free. Made signs for Red Ribbon Month and handed out Twizzlers with a Red Ribbon attached and a drug-free message attached to the ribbon. In December, the club joined together to promote collecting donated gifts for CASA, and collected over 70 gifts and clothing for the St. Pete CASA location.

What are your future goals as a LiveFree! Club?
Increase their knowledge and awareness and focus more on the positives, and what percentage of students are NOT doing drugs or alcohol. They will be studying up on the new fliers and handouts, and split into teams of 4 to a topic, and will present and educate the other students in the club on the topic they vow to become an “expert” about. Teams have already been formed for the presentations. New recruitment efforts will go out and membership is expected to expand and include additional students.

“We are the LiveFree! Club from Largo Middle School. We joined with CASA in helping abused kids and their mothers,(so they would have a better Christmas). Almost every member brought in a new item to donate to the shelter. We want to be hands on with different organizations, and we would like to make a difference in our community!”  -Milany S. and Jennifer C. – 8^th grade students at Largo Middle.