“Drug abuse starts early and peaks during the teen years. This increased risk is partly due to adolescents’ heightened sensitivity to social influences (friends) and their still developing brains, particularly areas critical to judgment and impulse control”. DEA
The websites below cover alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, meth, painkillers, prescription drugs and more.
This Video explains how to administer Naloxone/Narcan when someone overdoses on opioids while on a public school campus. Many schools have Narcan kits already in the schools but this video will assist preparing school personnel when the need arises. Reading the instructions alone can be confusing.
Renee Shaw and her guests explore the issue of substance use prevention among adolescents. The program looks at the importance of messaging, positive youth development, mental health screening, community coalitions, parent education and more. Part of KET’s ongoing Inside Opioid Addiction initiative.
Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others. These drugs are chemically related and interact with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the body and brain. Opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, but because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief, they can be misused (taken in a different way or in a larger quantity than prescribed, or taken without a doctor’s prescription). Regular use—even as prescribed by a doctor—can lead to dependence and, when misused, opioid pain relievers can lead to overdose incidents and deaths. An opioid overdose can be reversed with the drug naloxone when given right away.
Although the rate of prescribing opioids in the U.S. fell from 2010 to 2015, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that doctors in 2015 still prescribed
Prescription opioids are medications that are chemically similar to endorphins – opioids that our body makes naturally to relieve pain – and also similar to the illegal drug heroin. In nature, opioids are found in the seed pod of the opium poppy plant. Opioid medications can be natural (made from the plant), semi-synthetic (modified in a lab from the plant), and fully synthetic (completely made by people).
Get the facts on the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and codeine, and the illegal opioid, heroin. Opioids are a class of drugs chemically similar to alkaloids found in opium poppies. Historically they have been used as painkillers, but they also have great potential for misuse. Repeated use of opioids greatly increases the risk of developing an opioid use disorder. The use of illegal opiate drugs such as heroin and the misuse of legally available pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone can have serious negative health effects. According to the CDC, 44 people die every day in the United States from overdose of prescription painkillers.
In October 2017, the President and acting U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary determined that a public health emergency exists nationwide. Opioids can help in the management of certain types of pain, but they pose serious health, financial, and social consequences when misused.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) – is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Below are just a few of the reproducible publications available from SAMHSA:
Parents & Teachers – Get educational resources and find the latest science-based information about the health effects and consequences of drug abuse and addiction and resources for talking with kids about the impact of drug use on health. National Institute of Drug Abuse
Young Adults – Get the inside information on how different drugs can affect the brain and the body and what you can do to get involved. For more resources, see the NIDA for Teens website.
Learn more(National Institute on Drug Abuse, supported by National Institutes of Health)
Learn more(resources from wholesale central)
List of currently open grant competitions – Application packages are available for grant competitions that are currently open. (Latest closing dates are at the top of the list). Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (U.S. Department of Education)
SAMHSA – This report presents information on the number of children who are living with at least one parent with an SUD related to their use of alcohol or illicit drugs.
KDE collaborates with the Kentucky Center for School Safety to provide training … resources and informational links regarding Safe and Drug Free Schools. … current school safety statutes, which took effect on June 25, 2013.
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America works on behalf of over 5,000 community coalitions from across the country to realize its vision and provide resources against drug abuse in youth populations. (CADCA)
Tips for Parents on Keeping Children Drug Free tells what your children should know about drugs by the time they reach the third grade, ways to help your child stay drug free in the middle and junior high school years, and how to… (Department of Education)
A report published on nicotine addiction has found that smoking cigarettes is just as addictive as doing drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Over the years it has been recognized that smoking and not being able to quit is due to the addiction to nicotine contained in cigarettes. It has been shown that nicotine has an effect on the brain similar to drugs like cocaine and heroin. Back in the 1980′s, it was confirmed by the US Surgeon General that any form of tobacco is addictive, and that addiction is caused by the nicotine. (Health Insurance)
Learn moreTobacco Information and Prevention Source provides educational materials that help to prevent tobacco use among youth, promote smoking cessation, and protect nonsmokers from environmental tobacco smoke. Visitors can order… (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
What is National Drug Facts Week? National Drug Facts Week (NDFW) is a health observance week for teens. The goal of NDFW is to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse. NDFW encourages community based events that give teens a physical or virtual space to ask questions about drugs and get factual answers from a scientific expert. NDFW is an initiative of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), which supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. (National Institute of Drug Abuse)
National Family Partnership is the sponsor of the National Red Ribbon Week Celebration observed in October each year. They help “citizens across the state come together to keep children, families and communities safe, healthy and drug-free, through parent training, networking and sponsoring the National Red Ribbon Campaign. It is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against substance abuse. Show your personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon…” (National Family Partnership)
SAMHSA – The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) measures: use of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco & mental disorders, treatment, and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. The data provides estimates of substance use and mental illness at the national, state, and sub-state levels.