At Risk Youth

A community group in Redlands, Calif., is shifting its approach to underage drinking. Rather than informing young people about the dangers of drinking, the group is educating adults on the consequences of providing young people with alcohol.

“The RPC [Redlands Prevention Coalition] is working to create a ’social host’ ordinance in Redlands,” the Redlands Daily Facts newspaper reported. “The law could empower police to cite hosts of underage drinking parties with civil or criminal violations. Police could also levy fines for the cost of law enforcement services needed to enforce the ordinance against hosts who do not comply with the law.”

Other cities in the area have adopted similar laws and seen them work. The RPC is currently drafting legislation that it hopes to put in front of lawmakers soon.

Many parents fear having “the talk” with their teens, in part because they assume that in today’s hyper-sexualized society, young people already know all there is to know about the subject.

The truth, according to research by Dr. Sophia Yen, of the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital is that many teenagers get their sexual information from inaccurate websites — and as a result, many teens hold the following six common erroneous beliefs about sex:

Myth #1: Emergency conception is hard to get. (The truth is that the “morning after pill” is sold over-the-counter to anyone over 18 years old, and that nine U.S. states permit the sale of these drugs to minors.)

Myth #2: All forms of emergency contraception cause abortions. (Truth: The Plan B pill prevents sperm from fertilizing the egg, thus preventing, not ending, pregnancy.)

3. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are unsafe for teenagers. (Truth: When used correctly, IUDs are safe for teens.)

Myth #4: Birth control pills cause you to gain weight. (Truth: Research has shown no association between oral contraception and weight gain.)

Myth #5: You should get a PAP smear after you have sex. (Truth: The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that girls get their first PAP either three years after becoming sexually active or when they turn 21.)

Myth #6: You cannot get a sexually transmitted disease from kissing. (Truth: STDs such as herpes can be transmitted that way.)

When it comes to teen drug use, most parents worry about outside influences, such as kids at school, drug dealers on street corners, peer pressure at parties. Few of them realize that the greatest risk to their kids is found in their own medicine cabinets.

Victorville Daily Press staff writer Beatriz Valenzuela reported on this problem in a Jan. 10 article:

“Usually they’re getting the pills from their own home and sometimes the people who supply are getting it from their home and distributing it at school,” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victorville station Deputy Jarry Burns said. Burns is assigned to the School Resource Office for the Victor Valley Union High District.

The trend coincides with a recent report released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which states that nationally 66 percent of 12th graders obtain prescription drugs from a friend or relative. Of those teens, 12 percent reported taking the medications, 21 percent said they purchased them and 33 percent said they were given the drugs.

Easy access to the medication and the fact that they’re more difficult to detect than other drugs or alcohol may be why teens are beginning to favor prescription pills, Burns said.

As it has done every year since 1998, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is calling for greater awareness of the scourge of drug abuse today, June 26, as it observes the annual International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The effort is designed to focus specific attention on the continuing devastation of adolescent and ten substance abuse:

The use of illicit drugs harms individuals, families and society at large. Drugs control the body and mind of individual consumers, the drug crop and drug cartels control farmers, trafficking and crime control communities.

Teenagers and young adults are particularly vulnerable to using illicit drugs. The prevalence of drug use among young people is more than twice as high as that among the general population. At this age, peer pressure to experiment with illicit drugs can be strong and self-esteem is often low.

Also, those who take drugs tend to be either misinformed or insufficiently aware of the health risks involved. (Source: UNODC website)

“The rising use of addictive drugs has become one of the biggest social problems threatening various countries,” Dr Jitendra Nagpal wrote in a June 26 article on the UNDOC observance that appeared on the DoctorNDTV website.

“Adolescent drug use is an important social issue as its development and consequences impact directly on academic achievement, high school dropout rate, early sexual initiation, and troubled interpersonal relationships, among other consequences,” Dr. Nagpal wrote.