On Line seminar: Drug Free Workplace

We are working in partnership with Prevention First to deliver a two part series on Drug Free Workplace-- Please pass the word to friends, employers,etc.

Session 1: From Paper to Practice: How to Build, Implement, and Sustain a Drug Free Workplace Policy and Program
June 23, 2009 12:00-1:00 pm

Session 2: Drug Users on Your Payroll: Drug Recognition, Concealment Strategies and Intervention Techniques
July 16, 2009 12:00-1:00 pm

Please register at www.preventionfirst.net

Marijuana and Kids—Is Occasional Use OK?

Judith Palfrey, M.D. is a columnist at US News & World Report. A reader wrote in with a question about occasional pot use by teens.

There is a big push to legalize or at least decriminalize recreational marijuana use, in part because it is so widely used among young people. What is your advice to young people who are occasional pot users? And, as a pediatrician, do you discuss an adolescent's pot use with Mom and Dad?

Dr. Palfrey replied:

At the Children's Hospital in Boston, we are very fortunate to have the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research. CeASAR expert Dr. Sharon Levy gave me this advice:

"We recommend that young people avoid use of marijuana entirely. While marijuana does not cause severe withdrawal symptoms seen with other drugs, the syndrome of marijuana dependence is well described in the medical literature, is every bit as powerful as addiction to other drugs, and causes great harm to young people.

Marijuana addiction is characterized by lack of motivation, poor functioning in school and at work, disruption in family relationships and friendships, and loss of control over how much is used and how often. Several large scientific studies have shown those who use marijuana during adolescence are at much greater risk of developing depression and schizophrenia, and adolescents who become addicted to marijuana have poorer outcomes relative to education, career, and family goals than their siblings. Unfortunately, because of slow and insidious onset, symptoms are often not recognized.

Recent research has demonstrated that, as with alcohol, adolescents who begin using marijuana early are much more likely to develop an addiction than fully mature adults. Parents should not permit their adolescent children to use marijuana—in the end, the messages they give have a greater impact on their children's behavior than the law. They should see the laws prohibiting marijuana use as a means to support them rather than an end in itself."

Marijuana Use Worsens Depression

The teenage years are the time when kids often begin to experiment with drugs. US News reporter Sarah Baldalf reported last week that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy sent out a clear message on teen pot use and depression: They're a bad combination. Issuing a report that analyzes around a dozen studies about marijuana use and mental health, the policy office warned that teens who use marijuana to "self-medicate" may worsen their underlying depression or other mental health issues.

The report, entitled "Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows 'Self-Medicating' Could Actually Make Thing Worse," indicates that marijuana use carries risk, especially in the subset of teens who are more susceptible to mental health problems due to genetic makeup or environmental factors.

Recovery Schools

An interesting article was on CNN regarding Recovery Schools they include High schools and Colleges !!

"The main difference between a recovery high school and a public high school is we're the true safe and drug-free zone -- I mean zero tolerance. As long as there's drugs you're gonna need a recovery high school. Until you've eradicated drugs, then you can stop having to help the adolescents. Drugs are in every school."


Here is the link to The Association of Recovery Schools

Sniff Dogs in NY times

Sniff dogs was included in an article in the NY times on the use of drug detector dogs in schools. Sniff dogs use of friendly dogs shifting the student and faculty experience from one of a "policed" experience to one of deterrence and drug prevention was a large part of our interview. CT has changed the protocols for law enforcement to reduce the presence of law enforcement in the search process.

NY TIMES ARTICLE

Marketing drugs by repackaging them to be appealling to kids

WOW--
Check out this video on repackaging of drugs

VIDEO ON YOU TUBE

Heard of "Shake and Bake"?

Shake and Bake is a new portable method for making meth- its is extremely dangerous

Shake and bake

Prescription Drugs

Did you know 62 percent of teens said they could get powerful painkillers at home, and 52 percent said the drugs were "available everywhere.?

Prescription drug use, 20 percent of U.S. teens have misused prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin, according to the Partnership for Drug Free America's 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, 40 percent of 7th- to 12th-graders said that prescription drugs were "much safer" than illicit drugs, 31 percent said there was nothing wrong with occasional use of these drugs, and 29 percent thought that prescription painkillers were not addictive. Teens also told researchers that prescription drugs were easy to get: 62 percent said they could get powerful painkillers at home, and 52 percent said the drugs were "available everywhere.“ A very worthwhile site to visit is www.notinmyhouse.com

Those prescription drugs are also starting to surface masked as childrens vitamins (see the newslink below)

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=12453418&src=news

If you find a suspect substance or packaging the DEA web site has photos and information on illegal substances please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/concern.htm

Webinar for Parents who want to get smart on practical methods to keep children safe from drugs

YES!!! Sniff dogs not for profit organization, ParentingwPurpose is launching a webinar series.

Registration information can be found at www.parentingwpurpose.net

With busy schedules parents are torn with attending workshops to gain information on raising their children, while meeting the demands of home, work, and family. They find participating in evening parent’s nights and community meetings challenging and often have to forgo those meetings losing out on the opportunity to get valuable and useful information. Attending such meetings may also express a stigma that the parent has such an issue in their household which is quite often a fact they would like to maintain discretion on. But the information is relevant to parents as by 12th grade almost 50% of our children will have tried some form of an illicit drug and over 22% report using an illicit drug in the last month (NIDA 2008, Monitoring the future report).

With the objective to increase parental participation rates and bring important information to parents in the comfort and privacy of their own home we will be delivering a webinar on substance abuse. This venue will enable parents to learn from a well recognized expert in substance abuse, “chat” with each other and ask questions of experts while being in the privacy of their own home. In addition, parents will be provided with information, tools, and resources enabling early insight for fact based intervention.

Parenting with Purpose, Fran Mecili MEd LCADC CSW CPS and the Monmouth County Department of Human Services team will be launching a series of webinars for parents on drug prevention strategies. The content is focused and pragmatic- we get right to the heart guiding parents through the stages of substance abuse and a simple but effective model for a “Drug Safety Plan”; Observe, Verify, Plan, Communicate, Intervene.

Erin Brockovich's Daughter's Struggle With Drugs

ABC News recently did a story about Erin's Brockovich's discovery that her daughter was addicted to drugs. Brockovich, an internationally known crusader, made famous by Julia Roberts' Oscar-winning performance in the 2000 film, was taken by surprise when she discovered that her daughter Elizabeth had become addicted to illegal drugs. Brockovich then enrolled her Elizabeth at a rehab clinic at a cost of $1,200 a day. The heartbreaking story of the toll of addiction on the Brockovich family can be seen here.

Sniff Dogs Featured on New Jersey News

A deeper appreciation for innovative approaches to drug use and addiction

HBO in partnership with Robert Woods foundation has developed a series on drug use and teens.

Did you know ? Ninety-five percent of people who are dependent on alcohol or other drugs started before they were 20 years old.

"If you look at it from a kid's perspective," says Dr. Michael Dennis, senior research psychologist at the Illinois-based Chestnut Health Systems, "There's a lot of good reasons to use [drugs]...They're exploring. They're learning to try different things. They have impulse control problems with their brain where they don't have very good judgment about how risky something is."

NJ Soccer Group and Sniff Dogs announce strategic partnership

New Jersey Soccer Group is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Sniff Dogs. Sniff Dogs is a private drug
detection service dedicated to working with schools, parents and employers to keeping all premises drug free. With
over 50% of high school students reporting using illegal drugs before they graduate from high school parents, schools
and the community are making concerted efforts to ensure they take an active role in helping teens opt for a healthy
drug free lifestyle.

Participation in sports helps build self confidence, a respect for one’s body, improves
decision-making skills and gives teens a community of peers, coaches, and parents who are cheering them on; but
after-school activities and sports may not be enough to ensure a drug free teen.

Read more about our partnership

Maggie in the news

Local press has given Sniff Dogs an amazing level of support for getting the word out to parents on the importance of drug prevention. We have been highlighted on numerous radio, TV, newsletters, newspapers and magazines. Just a few weeks ago, New Jersey Monthly published an article on Sniff Dogs. The article by Emily Faherty noted that the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2005 report found that about half of New Jersey high school seniors have tried marijuana. “Every family should have a conversation about drugs, and we have to be aware of what our children are doing in this day and age,” a parent told Faherty. Sniff Dogs is for anyone who “just wants to know if the conversation stuck,” Sniff Dogs founder Debra Stone noted.

The story of Sniff Dogs is not just local though, In fact, press and local drug prevention communities nationwide have reached out to us regarding establishing a Sniff Dog service in their community. Communities in South America, Brazil, Canada, Germany, UK to name a few are exploring this concept to operationalize locally, and of course we are working with several teams in many states on their plans.

German television stations have done two segments on Sniff Dogs. If you speak German check it out here. The Sniff Dog piece is called "Drogenhunde zur Mietre." It's about 30 minutes into the 50 minute program, just after sports.


Please stay tuned for more details on Sniff Dogs as a drug prevention tool !!

Have you viewed Youtube ?

There has been much press about where children and teens are becoming educated on drugs and how social media is helping to propagate the "cool factor".

I checked out you tube today and found the videos shocking in many ways. Not only are teens willing to openly publicize their drug use, but watching teens trip (nice looking - every day kids) helped internalize the realities of what our own children may be doing when out of the house.

Please visit www.youtube.com and search using key word, drugs, tripping, salvia, XTC, MDMA, ecstasy. The Salvia videos will shock you, as salvia is currently a legal drug, the hallucingenic experiences on the videos are concerning.

Parents, the anti-drug has a useful article fo you on teens and social media.

College students and drug use

While parents are on a mission to ensure their children remain drug free, the vulnerability for drug use when their teens go to college is especially high. IF a parents acts early the results can be significant
" Two-thirds of college students who use illicit drugs (67.5 percent) began using them in high school; seven percent in junior high school. College students who began using drugs in junior high school use them twice as often as students who began using them in high school (6.2 days per week vs. 3.2 days per week) and one-third more often than students who began using them in college (4.0 days per week)." CASA report

The recent drug bust (May 2007) in San Diego reflects the realities of college life. This bust was initiated after the death of a student, included 6 fraternities and involved at least 96 arrests.

Most interesting is the recent report published by CASA, Wasting the Best and Brightest ," The proportion of students who are daily marijuana users* increased 110.5 percent between 1993 and 2005 and the proportion currently using illicit drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy) other than marijuana increased 51.9 percent during that time."

And while slightly dated ( 2007 report), Falling through the Cracks, is an insightful read on the implications of drug convictions and access to college funds.

Parents have the opportunity to get in front of this issue by ensuring their children remain drug free during their high school years, the propensity to experiment with drugs declines with age.

Joseph A. Califano Jr. "If we can get kids not to smoke marijuana before they reach age 21, they are virtually certain never to do so. So let's do more than trumpet the arrest rate. Let's focus on discouraging children and teens from getting involved with the drug in the first place."

Do you wonder what your state laws are for Marijuana?

Wikipedia has a nice summary of states that have decriminalized non medical possession of cannabis in the US.

There are mixed opinions on decriminalization, notably Mass. just passed a decriminalization law in the election this week.

Please note we do not ensure the accuracy of the data.

An inside look at teens battling substance abuse

While we have posted many articles on our Blog, we would like to share a fascinating interview on teens and addictions on National Public Radio. Lana, the teen interviewed shares her story on alcohol and drugs and how the availability of drugs "is way too easy to access any kind of narcotic, you can find it anywhere, you can find it in treatment".

To access the entire catalog of interviews on addiction.

Sniff Dogs Joins Others at Randolf High School to Inform Parents About Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Sniff Dogs participated on Wednesday at an informational meeting for parents of Randolph High School students. The event, sponsored by the Randolph Municipal Alliance Committee, was designed to help parents become more aware of the reality of drug use among high school students and included presentations from law enforcement officers, social workers, and Randolph's Student Assistance Counselor, Mary Alice Thomas.

Julian L. Hill, Jr., an assistant prosecutor with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office who handles the county drug court, emphasized that parents should be vigilant in monitoring their kids' behavior, especially when it comes to their friends.

Several informational tables were set up in the high school cafeteria for parents to browse, including Sniff Dogs.

Drug Testing Pros and Cons

Join Together, an organization dedicated to advancing effective alcohol and drug policy, prevention and treatment has published an informative article on drug testing.

A number of child health experts are attempting to steer parents away from home drug testing kits for their children and toward professional intervention if they suspect a child may have a drug use problem, U.S. News & World Report posted Aug. 6 on its online U.S. News Health section.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2007 issued a statement opposing any home- and school-based drug testing efforts until more research into their effectiveness is conducted. The U.S. News posting lists seven reasons why child health experts say drug testing should be left to professionals; atop the list are concerns that use of home tests will delay the pursuit of professional help, and worries about the reliability of test results (both because of numerous ways for youths to beat the test and the possibility of false positives caused by other medications or poppy seeds).

In addition to this article, Join Together also has an interesting article on drug testing at schools. The Sniff Dogs team hopes to work with our school communities to inform parents of strategies families can implement in the privacy of their homes which would include Sniff Dogs. If you are a member of your local Parent Teacher Organization or other type of community organization in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania or Ohio, we would be happy to participate in your events. We are growing our national network of detection dogs and will keep you posted on our partnerships.

Join Together has also published an article on Sniff Dogs we will work with them to update the quote from Mr. Bernstein as he has clarified his position and support of parental oversight with appropriate communication.

Narconon Leader Says The Need For Sniff Dogs Is Easily Understood

In a press release published today, Narconon of Georgia, a non-profit drug rehab program, advocated the use of drug-sniffing dogs as a way for parents to find out for sure if their teens are taking drugs.

“Who would have thought,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia, “that we would ever see the day that parents would feel the need to hire police dogs to see if their kids have drugs. It seems far-fetched, but it is happening and the reasons are easily understood."

Drug tests can be fooled which can be extremely dangerous. A parent may be content thinking that their teen is not taking drugs, when the actual fact is that the teen is faking the test results. There was a recent report of an overdose when a family thought their son had stopped using opiates because he had a clean drug test. The truth was that he was cheating the test and overdosed and died. He had been using drugs in their presence, but they were looking at the tests, not him.”

Some psychologists, however, say home surveillance, such as global positioning devices, software that can read text messages, and drug sniffing dogs can be damaging to parent-child relations. "There are major repercussions for this type of intervention," said Neil Bernstein, a Washington, D.C.-based clinical psychologist, who said that such snooping "erodes trust and goodwill."

“However,” comments Ms. Rieser, “with all the peer pressure and MTV, it is almost impossible for a teen to escape the opportunity to use drugs. Some of them may simply be using drugs because their friends are and inadvertently become drug addicted through the social drug use. Then the real problems for the family of theft, possible jail time and death begin. “A police dog might be a welcome relief – a good excuse to tell the friends why drugs cannot be around." “Another solution is for parents to learn the signs of drug abuse methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and opiates. They all have their own signs and one can tell by observing if they are in the midst of a drug abuser. However they do it, parents have to know if their child is on drugs. Failing to find out can be fatal.

The text of the entire press release can be found here.

Sniff Dogs on Univision 41 in New York: "Perros De Alquiler"

Yesterday Sniff Dogs was featured on Univision 41, a Spanish language TV station in New York. In the segment, Debbie Kemp conducts a sniff with one of our Labradors, Maggie.

Journalist Mia Carter Highlights Benefits of Dog Drug Detection

Sniff Dogs has received a lot of great press and blog attention from advocates across the world. Recently, journalist Mia Carter wrote about Sniff Dogs for Suite101, discussing the benefits of dog-based drug detection. Mia writes:

There are a few very significant benefits associated with hiring a professional sniffer dog and handler.

First and most importantly, companies like Sniff Dogs and other similar commercial sniffer dog services are not affiliated with law enforcement, which provides parents an opportunity to handle the situation without the intervention of the police department, court system, or the department of social services.

A sniffer dog service enables the parent to handle a potentially life-threatening drug use situation without the embarrassment and the financial burden associated with hiring a lawyer to defend a teen drug user in the event that he or she is arrested. The teen drug user is also saved from the stigma of a criminal record that includes drug charges, which may prevent a recovered drug user from getting a good job in the future.

Dr. Alan Silverman, a family physician in the Boston area, also weighed in on sniffer dog services: "Sometimes, it's not always obvious that a child is using drugs. The parent may only have a vague suspicion and the parent of a suspected teen drug user may not feel comfortable approaching the child without more evidence or proof of drug use. But if you wait for more evidence to arise, this leaves the parent stuck in limbo as an enabler. And meanwhile, the child is using drugs, causing emotional and social damage, and harm to himself or others. A drug detection dog service provides a parent with the proof he needs early on, before things progress to a more serious level. Drug use is not a situation that improves on its own. In the vast majority of cases, if you ignore a teen's drug use, it will only get worse. The key is acting as soon as possible."

Parents who opt to hire the services of a sniffer dog can also avoid the potential damage to their relationship that may occur if the parent wrongly accuses a child, partner or other family member of drug use.

Full text of the article can be found here.

When Should Parents Intervene?

Should parents bring Sniff Dogs into their homes to search for drugs? Doesn't a drug search potentially erode trust between a parent and teen? This week, as Sniff Dogs received an outpouring of media attention, we heard these questions repeatedly.

On the issues of trust and parental action, we like what Neil Bernstein, Ph.D., author of There When He Needs You: How to Be an Available, Involved, and Emotionally Connected Father to Your Son, has to say. On the website Decoder, he writes:

There are no real shortcuts to good parenting, and in fact, the more effort we put into developing strong and open relationships with our teens, the better position we’re in to learn about what they’re up to. So if you’re deeply concerned about your teen’s possible drug or alcohol use, start by telling them why you’re concerned, what you’ve learned, and where you stand. Then, tell them you plan on searching their room, with or without them present, and you will continue to do so as long as you suspect drug use. You can even put them on notice that you are prepared to notify the school, police, or appropriate agencies, if they continue to disregard your concerns. It’s a firm, out front, and often effective intervention.

Parents need to communicate with their teens where they stand on drugs, and take immediate, focused action when teens disregard your concerns.

Red Ribbon Week

Schools throughout the country will focus on drug education and prevention during Red Ribbon Week October 23-31.

Red Ribbon Week is considered National Drug Education and Prevention Week and has been celebrated since 1986 when a Drug Enforcement Agent was kidnapped and killed for coming close to breaking up a drug cartel in Mexico. To honor this heroic agent, and to demonstrate their commitment to drug and alcohol prevention, family members and friends began wearing red ribbons.

Since that time, the National Family Partnership has adopted this week to raise awareness about keeping children drug-free. Each year, more and more communities and schools across America use this week to educate and promote drug-free living, often inviting guest speakers to give presentations. The aim is to equip children and their parents with what they need to build a healthy future unspoiled by drugs and other damaging influences. We applaud the efforts of NotMyKids.org, the National Family Partnership and other organizations sending the message this week that it's important for kids and teens to stay drug-free.