The survey is administered annually. In the most recent survey, over 45,000 students reported from almost 400 schools across the country. The survey targets eighth, 10th and 12th graders who are given the survey by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The recently released results show that trends are shifting in the attitudes teens have about drugs and their use of them. One area that showed significant improvement is the use of methamphetamine. Only 1.2 percent of students reported having used methamphetamine in the last year, which is the lowest rate since the questions regarding methamphetamine were added in 1999. In addition, fewer students say that methamphetamine is easily obtainable, compared with five years ago (14 percent versus 19.5 percent).

Another significant shift showed that cigarette smoking is at its lowest for all three ages in the history of the survey. Only 2.7 percent of eighth graders identified themselves as daily smokers, as compared with 10.4 percent in 2006. However, there is concern regarding the rise in smokeless tobacco use reflected in the recent survey. The rate of 10th graders using smokeless tobacco was higher than it was last year.

NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow explains that this information is very important. The decline in cigarette use means longer lives for these teens, and the rise in smokeless tobacco use gives the NIDA critical information about where to focus their efforts.

Some measures on the survey were new this year. For instance, the survey included questions about the hallucinogenic salvia leaf, and the stimulant Adderall, used to treat ADHD. Many students are acquiring prescription drugs illegally, usually from a friend or relative. 5.7 percent of students reported having used the salvia leaf, and over 5 percent had also used Adderall.

The 2009 survey highlights the use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs by teenagers. Seven of the ten substances abused by the surveyed students were either prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

Although alcohol consumption has declined overall, the 2009 shows a softening of attitudes toward alcohol, with fewer students identifying binge drinking as a dangerous behavior.

The information provided by the survey of high school students is critical in helping the government decide how to allocate funds for education and prevention. As the attitudes of the teen population shifts, the focus of education and prevention will be able to shift with them.
 

In a recent Science Daily release, however, those suffering with an alcohol problem are finding it easier to confide in a member of the clergy. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and Saint Louis University studied 1,910 people dealing with alcohol-related problems and found that 14.7 percent used clergy services.

A study of this group of people also revealed that the majority who had used clergy services also used professional services at some point. Only 0.5 percent of the 14.7 percent using clergy services used them exclusively for alcohol use-related problems.

Professional services tend to be used more commonly than other offerings, yet the findings from this survey suggest that clergy services are important as a part of the overall system of care for those suffering from alcohol-related problems.

There were certain factors identified by researchers as being associated with an increased likelihood of the use of clergy services. These factors included being black, aged 35-54 years, possessing a lifetime history of dependence on alcohol, major depressive disorder and personality disorder.

Researchers suggest that the use of clergy services may be a reflection of other issues for the individual. These issues may include legal, occupational and/or social problems as a result of their consumption of alcohol. In addition, these individuals may be more likely than others to enter treatment by way of the legal system, social services or assistance programs provided by employers.
 

While such agreements ensure your record will follow you to others states; they also guarantee problems will follow you back home again. The shared information can be as minor as a speeding ticket or as major as a DUI. The ability to share this information is essential to keep drivers safe on the road, but not all states cooperate in one system.

The main agreements that currently exist are the Drivers License Compact (DLC) and Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC). The DLA – or Drivers License Agreement – also exists, but has not yet gained the state following of the DLC or the NRVA. And, while the former two agreements do claim a great number of states involved, there are still other states that have put their own agreements between the Motor Vehicle administration and other states.

The DLC agreement requires its members to report any ticket convictions back to the violator’s home state. The only states currently not involved in this agreement are Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Most of these states do have their own agreements in place to exchange information with other states, although they may not be as uniform as the DLC.

Membership in the DLC appears to only require reporting and each state then decides what to do with the information received. This is a key difference in the NRVC, which requires states to suspend a driver’s license if the owner fails to pay the ticket or take the necessary legal action. The NRVC claims all states as members, save for Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon and Wisconsin.

Reports throughout the industry show that the DLC and NRVC agreements will be revised. The purpose is to combine the two into one new and more powerful agreement, allowing for one system to be shared by all. The hope is to create effective and efficient management of all DUI offenders, especially in areas where cities may share state lines.

The movement toward one system has been slow and indications show it may not speed up anytime soon. It is unclear as to what objections some states may have to a single system, although cooperation without clear investigation can put a state at risk of losing certain controls.

One thing is clear, however; any system that can seamlessly track the habits of a repeat DUI offender and more quickly and easily remove them from the roads will protect more lives in the future.
 

Researchers recently examined, however, not only the health implications of heavy alcohol consumption, but overall life-course drinking patterns and their relationship with diabetes, heart problems and hypertension among Americans over 40. The study was conducted by William C. Kerr and Yu Ye.

The objective of the study was to examine the risks of self-reported diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension and estimate their connection with life-course drinking patterns.

The study obtained its information using data from the 2005 National Alcohol Survey, from participants aged 40 and older. The participants whose data was used had all reported having had a doctor or health professional diagnose at least one of each of the three health-problem outcomes.

The researchers established drinking patterns by looking at lifetime abstention and the frequency at which the participant had a “5 drinking day,” which is a day on which five or more drinks were consumed. The patterns were based on drinking during the participant’s teens, 20s, and 30s. Past-year drinking patterns were estimated through intake volume and the number of 5 drinking days.

The researchers used propensity-score matching to control for variables such as demographics, socioeconomic resources and other health-risk variables. Other health risk variables included were depression, distress, sense of coherence, body mass index, tobacco use, marijuana use, childhood abuse, and family history of alcohol problems.

After the matching was completed, a higher risk of diabetes was found to be connected with lifetime abstainers, when compared with lifetime and current moderate drinkers. Those who had given up drinking were found to have a higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension.

Higher volume drinkers who did not have monthly 5 drinking days were at a lesser risk for diabetes when compared with moderate-level current drinkers. An increased rate of hypertension was associated with heavy-occasion drinkers.
The study’s findings indicate that a lower volume alcohol consumption may protect against adult onset diabetes, but there was no benefit found towards protection against heart problems or hypertension.
In addition, the study found that both life-course-defined and past year-defined drinking groups were connected with a significant clustering of risk variables. The increased risks among those who had given up drinking showed that there may be a “sick quitter” effect occurring.
 

A recent Science Daily release examined a study that had been published in the journal, Addiction. This study found that drunkenness increases the risk for violent behavior, but only for those individuals who have a strong inclination for suppressing anger.

The findings of this study are interesting as they suggest that drinking can inflict physical aggression. The approach used in the study actually reduces the risk of drawing erroneous conclusions about cause and effect and the authors highlight that only a tiny fraction of all drinking events result in violence.

The authors also note that intoxicated aggression is likely to occur in situations where the drinker has a tendency to withhold angry feelings when sober. This finding suggests that dealing with anger in a healthy way when sober can eliminate angry aggression when under the influence of alcohol.

Authors used data from nearly 3,000 individuals. Among those who reported a high inclination to suppress feelings of anger, a 10 percent increase in drinking to a point where the individual is intoxicated is associated with a 5 percent increase in violence. The research team also noted there was no association among individuals who did not have a habit of suppressing angry feelings.

As this trend continues, so does an increased focus on reducing the number of places that allow for the freedom to smoke cigarettes. According to industry research, however, the banning of one activity appears to be increasing another.

A number of bars throughout the United States have implemented bans on smoking cigarettes. The intention was to reduce the amount of second hand smoke patrons were exposed to when in the bar. The initiative had a positive focus – to save lives. Unfortunately, it may also have a negative – and certainly unintended – consequence.

A study conducted by a research team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee compared data from a variety of locations throughout the nation. Data was captured from smoke-free bars and compared with data captured from establishments without such a ban. Lead researchers in this effort then discovered a troubling relationship: there was a relative increase in the number of fatalities caused by driving under the influence that followed the enactment of no-smoking bans.

In trying to establish a reason for this behavior, literature on the habits of smokers suggest these individuals will drive longer distances to an establishment that will allow them to smoke. As a result, the number of smokers who were willing to drive extra distances to enjoy their surroundings offset any reduction in driving from smokers who decided to just stay home.

As drunk-driving laws are uniformly enforced throughout different states and even different counties, researchers find it more effective to use fatalities as a gauge in measuring for results in this study. Evidence gathered by these researchers suggest that consumers drive longer distances to smoke and drink, but does not exclude other explanations that could be the true cause of the increase.

While a person’s nicotine habit can contribute to their likelihood to drink and drive, what other factors can play a part? Does ethnicity contribute to a person’s risk of driving while under the influence? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it does and Hispanics pose the biggest threat. Findings by this organization suggest that while Hispanics make up 9 percent of the driving population, they account for 21 percent of those arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Are such findings the result of racial profiling or is there truly a bigger problem among the Hispanic population? Report findings suggest that these individuals are willing to take more risks, which would push their likelihood to get behind the wheel of a car no matter how much alcohol they had consumed. If these individuals also happen to be smokers, their risk for DUI may be driven even higher.
 

German researchers decided to take a closer look at the phenomenon and their findings were reported in a recent Science Daily release. In their study, these researchers determined that high school students were experiencing greater numbers of migraines and tension-type headaches (TTH) due to alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking.

The researchers also found drinking coffee and a consistent physical inactivity to be linked with migraines. They were attempting to identify modifiable risk factors for the variety of headaches reported in the youth population.

In previous studies, researchers had found that headaches are the most often reported health complaint among youth as 5 to 15 percent of this age group appears to suffer from migraines and 15 to 25 percent deal with TTH. Until now, studies did not fully explore modifiable risk factors in the younger population.

In a study of 1,260 students in the 10th and 11th grades, researchers determined that 83.1 percent reported a headache at least one time in the previous six months. Of those 83.1 percent, 10.2 percent reported a migraine, 48.7 percent reported TTH and 19.8 percent reported experiencing a combination of the two.

An examination of diet revealed that 28.4 percent of the students studied never ate breakfast; 16.5 percent refrained from consuming any type of snack throughout the day; and only 24 percent took part in a warm lunch every day.

Alcohol consumption was widespread, however, as 38.5 percent of students consumed beer, 18.6 percent enjoyed wine; and 25.3 percent took part in cocktails at least once a week. Interestingly, 73.3 percent reported that they never smoked and 43.4 percent of students did not drink coffee.
 

According to a recent Science Daily release, the dietary supplement CDP-choline, used as a brain-boosting agent and under study for stroke and traumatic brain injury, could prove to be beneficial in alcohol consumption damage in gestation.

Medical College of Georgia researchers report that alcohol consumption early in pregnancy increases levels of a lipid called ceramide, which significantly increases suicide among cells critical to skull and brain formation.

The resulting damage is to the neural crest, which includes the brain’s skin or the multi-layered meninges that provide protection and nourishment. It also results in a lower production of a growth factor critical for brain and bone development. This finding could help explain defects that occur in fetal alcohol syndrome.

"There is just a little window," Dr. Erhard Bieberich, biochemist in the MCG Schools of Graduate Studies and Medicine, said in Science Daily. It is about four weeks after conception when neural crest cells emerge for a few days before morphing into other cell types that help form numerous organs.

It is suspected that ceramide, known to induce cell death and to be activated by alcohol, is a culprit in the damage. Researchers found high levels of ceramide both in mouse cells and pregnant mice exposed to alcohol along with a five-fold increase in apoptotic or dying cells.

Officials claim this murder of a small town mother is the result of a minor car accident that spiraled out of control. Stephon Davis and girlfriend Latesha Santos are in jail, charged with the murder. Public records on the lives of these two demonstrate a life of crime and violence with drugs playing a key part in the mix.

At the age of 33, Santos has served time in jail and in drug treatment. She struggles with drugs, alcohol and mental health issues. She is a mother of five, yet does not have custody of any of her children. One of the five was fathered by Davis.

Davis has a long crime history that began at age 12 with a gang rape and a murder at 14. He is known in Ohio as “Face” and left the Ohio Department of Youth Services at 21 and began selling drugs in Cleveland. Shortly thereafter, he pled guilty to trafficking in cocaine.

On Monday, April 5, a car accident occurred between Bradley-Crockett and Davis and Santos. Davis and Santos persuaded Bradley-Crockett to drive East on 66th Street and Charter Avenue to discuss what had happened. In the secluded area, the two robbed Bradley-Crockett after they lured her into the van Davis had borrowed. She was then beaten, strangled and stripped of her clothes.
 

As the diversity of the American population expands, it is important for policy-makers to understand the health needs of different groups of people, including assessing adequate availability of substance abuse treatment. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) compiles data that details the substance abuse treatment needs of the population, and the information presented in this article was gathered during the period between 2004 and 2008.

The data from 2004 to 2008 indicates that there is wide diversity even among Asian Americans. 24 percent of Asians identify themselves as Indian, 23.1 percent as Chinese, 21.1 percent as Filipino, 8.9 percent as Japanese, 7.7 percent as Vietnamese and 7.6 percent as Korean.

The report from the NSDUH showed that 39.8 percent of Asian Americans had used alcohol, with 13.2 percent participating in binge drinking during the last month. 3.4 percent of Asian Americans had used an illicit drug in the past month. These numbers are below the national average for American adults.

Substance abuse varies between the different Asian subgroups. Koreans showed the highest use of alcohol in the last month, at 51.9 percent. Indians showed the lowest rate of alcohol consumption, with only 32.1 percent of Indians having used alcohol in the past month. Japanese represented the highest illicit drug use at 6.2 percent having used drugs in the last month, while only 2.1 percent of Chinese and Indian adults had used an illicit drug.

Asian Americans who were born in the United States reported a higher rate of past month alcohol use, binge drinking and drug use than those born outside the United States. However, rates of use of alcohol and illicit drugs were significantly lower for Asian young adults than the national average.

The data published by the NSDUH indicates that approximately 451,000 Asian adults were in need of substance abuse treatment during the last year. This number represent 4.8 percent of Asians, compared to a national average of 9.6 percent for adults. 1 in 16 Asians in need of substance abuse treatment received it at a specialty facility.

Across all adult age groups, Asian Americans have a lower substance abuse rate than the national average. The NSDUH data is helpful for identifying the subgroups that may need more treatment availability than others, and the information presented by the survey is important for planning healthcare facilities that adequately serve the population.