Addicts -- Voluntary or Involuntary?

Addictive Personalities

Much of the established medical community does not accept an addictive personality as a diagnosis used to explain why some people become addicted to alcohol, drugs, activities, and even emotions.

The substance-based addictions, such as alcoholism, as well as nicotine, prescription and narcotic addictions, are more easily explained and identified neurologically. Dr. Alan Leshner, PhD, of the National Institute on Drug Abuse describes addiction instead as "a brain disease" and "a chronic relapsing disease," in that there are visible alterations in the brains of addicted individuals and these effects are long-lasting within their neurological patterns.

Particular drugs, such as crack and heroine cause massive surges in dopamine in the brain, with different sensations ranging from invincibility and strength to euphoric and enlightened states. Use of these substances almost immediately changes particular aspects of the brain's behavior, making most individuals immediately susceptible to future abuse or addiction.

But what about all the reasons people get into addiction? As Dr. Leshner can attest, many people still see drug abuse and addiction as a moral failure and a weakness that needs to be approached solely from punitive actions. These people believe addiction is not a disease but a choice in lifestyle. ("An Interview With Dr. Alan I. Leshner," Frontline, pbs.org)

Leshner says, "Deep in their hearts, many people believe that drug addicts 

did it to themselves, therefore they're bad, 

and the only way to deal with them is to tough it out."

Other people show great compassion for drug addicts. They philosophize that addiction results from involuntary behavior.

Leshner concludes, "Of course, it (addiction) is a combination of the two. Drug use is a voluntary behavior. You do make the initial choice to use the drug. The problem is that, over time, the drug use changes your brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways, and you develop, in effect, another brain state. The person you're dealing with isn't the same person who started using drugs voluntarily. They can't exert the same level of control."

Even if the addict is not using, according to Leshner, the changes in the brain are still there, which is why people relapse. Leshner believes drug addiction should be approached like other chronic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, who succeeded Leshner as director at the NIDA in 2003, observed that the frontal cortical area of the cocaine addict’s brain was disrupted, even after not using for 100 days. Dr. Volkow found

"The disruption of the dopamine pathways leads to a decrease 
 in the reinforcing value of normal things, and this pushes 
the individual to take drugs to compensate."

("Drug Addiction: Choice or Disease," drug-addiction-support.org, 2011)

So, Are Some People PRONE To Become Addicted?

Investigation began long ago and still continues into aspects of psychological makeup that may contribute to addiction. Are there common threads that weave through all addictions, from hard drugs to cigarettes, from gambling to overeating?

One often cited study (admittedly done close to 30 years ago) prepared for the National Academy of Sciences and authored by Alan R. Lang, a psychology professor at Florida State University, concludes that there is no single set of psychological characteristics that embrace all addictions. But the study does see common elements from addiction to addiction.

The report finds that there are several 
''significant personality factors'' 

that can contribute to addiction: 

- Impulsive behavior, difficulty in delaying gratification, an antisocial personality and a disposition toward sensation seeking. 

- A high value on nonconformity combined with a weak commitment to the goals for achievement valued by the society. 

- A sense of social alienation and a general tolerance for deviance. 

- A sense of heightened stress. This may help explain why adolescence and other stressful transition periods are often associated with the most severe drug and alcohol problems. 

Lang and others familiar in the field believe a continuing search for the personality traits that play a part in the development of addictions is an essential part of the broader fight against addiction. ''If we can better identify the personality factors,'' he said in an interview, ''they can help us devise better treatment and can open up new strategies to intervene and break the patterns of addiction.'' (Bryce Nelson, "The Addictive Personality: Common Traits Are Found," The New York Times, January 18 1983)

Implications For Certain Personalities

Wouldn't it make sense that parents, families, relatives, doctors, school officials, enforcement officers, and any others who occupy the roles of guardians look out for certain traits early on in the life of a child? As a retired educator, I know teachers are often faced with class members who exhibit nonconformity, alienation, compulsive behavior, and high rates of stress.

Usually, these students are sent to the principal's office or to the guidance office where they receive the traditional "good person" vs. "bad person" lecture, are given a chance for behavior modification, and are meted out a punishment crafted to improve general behavior and foster discipline. Does this adequately address the true needs of a potentially addicted personality? Will these strategies really prevent and help curtail negative personality traits? I think you and I both know the answers to these questions.

Why can't these personality factors, when evidenced, be used as significant signs of the need...

1. For professional intervention?
2. For medical and psychiatric evaluation?
3. For class instruction in stress reduction, impulsive behavior, etc.?
4. For school programs and activities designed to deal with alienation, nonconformity, etc.?
5. For parental and community education about addiction -- myths vs. realities?
6. For alternative disciplinary measures? 

“No one wants to be an addict. 

All anyone wants to be able to do is knock back a few drinks 

with the guys on Friday or have a cigarette with coffee or take a toke on a crack pipe. 

But very few addicts can do this. 

When someone goes from being able to control their habit 

to mugging their grandmother to get money for their next fix, 

that convinces me that something has changed in their brain.” 

-Dr. Herbert D. Kleber, the medical director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
 

Treatment is the only answer 

regardless whether drug addiction is 

a choice or a disease.

Zombies High On Krokodil

The effects of this drug 

make crystal meth look benign by comparison.

"The average user of krokodil, 

a dirty cousin of morphine that is spreading like a virus among Russian youth, 

does not live longer than two or three years, 

and the few who manage to quit usually come away disfigured."

(Simon Shuster, "The Curse of the Crocodile: Russia's Deadly Designer Drug," Time Magazine, June 20 2011)

Krokodil has roughly the same effect as heroin but is at least three times cheaper and extremely easy to make. The active component is codeine, a widely sold over-the-counter painkiller that is not toxic on its own. But to produce krokodil, whose medical name is desomorphine, addicts mix it with ingredients including gasoline, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine and red phosphorous, which they scrape from the striking pads on matchboxes.

In 2010, between a few hundred thousand and a million people, 

according to various official estimates, 

were injecting the resulting substance into their veins in Russia, 

so far the only country in the world to see the drug grow into an epidemic.

 

 

A Russian Appalachia: Does This Sound Familiar?

 

Shuster reports that Krokodil has spread the fastest in the poorest and most remote parts of Russia, like Vorkuta, a former Gulag prison camp about 100 miles (161 km) north of the Arctic Circle. The winters there last eight months of the year, and ...

 

(a) The young people there are in a constant state of boredom. 

(b) Most of them drink. 

(c) Few of them work, the same as in hundreds of towns and villages across Russia's frozen north.

The final product is often an impure, orange-colored liquid, with this impurity causing skin irritation, a scale-like look, and eventual destruction of the skin.This is likely due to the presence of hydrochloric acid still in the final liquid solution prior to injection, with the red phosphorous playing a role in furthering sickening the user.   

 

According to Shuster, "The 'rotting' (experienced by users of Krokodil) explains the drug's nickname. At the injection site, which can be anywhere from the feet to the forehead, the addict's skin becomes greenish and scaly, like a crocodile's, as blood vessels burst and the surrounding tissue dies. Gangrene and amputations are a common result, while porous bone tissue, especially in the lower jaw, often starts to dissipate, eaten up by the drug's acidity." (Simon Shuster, "The Curse of the Crocodile: Russia's Deadly Designer Drug," Time Magazine, June 20 2011)

 

Some Quick Krok Information

 

1. Desomorphine causes the strongest levels of addiction, and is the hardest to cure.

"With heroin withdrawal, the main symptoms last for five to 10 days. After that there is still a big danger of relapse but the physical pain will be gone. With krokodil, the pain can last up to a month, and it's unbearable. They have to be injected with extremely strong tranquilisers just to keep them from passing out from the pain."

(Shaun Walker, "Krokodil: The Drug That Eats Junkies," independent.co.uk/news, June 22 2011)

 

Not everyone succumbs to the addiction, but those that manage to escape its clutch pay a high price. A former krokodil user named Zhenya says, “I managed to kick the habit, after spending weeks at a detox clinic, experiencing horrendous withdrawal symptoms that included seizures, a 40-degree temperature and vomiting. I lost 14 teeth after my gums rotted away, and I contracted hepatitis C.” (Will Wlizlo, "Tripping On Krokodil," http://www.utne.com/Science-Technology, June 27 2011)

 

2. Krokodil users are instantly identifiable because of their iodine smell. 

 

It infuses all their clothes. There's no way to wash it out, all they can do is burn the clothes.

 

3. The key ingredient for krokodil – codeine pills.

 

There were plans to make codeine-based tablets available only on prescription, but that it was impossible to introduce the measure quickly. Opponents claim lobbying by pharmaceutical companies has caused the inaction.The tablets don't cost much but the profit margins are high. Some pharmacies make up to 25 per cent of their profits from the sale of these tablets. It's not in the interests of pharmaceutical companies or pharmacies themselves to stop this, so the Russian government needs to use its power to regulate their sale.

4. Unlike heroin, where the hit can last for several hours, a krokodil high only lasts between 90 minutes and two hours.

Given that the "cooking" process takes at least half an hour, being a krokodil addict is basically a full-time job.
The short time table causes addicts to be trapped in a full time, twenty-four hour a day cycle of cooking and injecting in order to avoid withdrawal. 

5. Most krokodil users inject the drug only when they run out of money for heroin. 

As soon as they earn or steal enough, they go back to heroin. In other more isolated regions of Russia, where heroin is more expensive and people are poorer, the problem is worse. People become full-time krokodil addicts, giving them a life expectancy of less than a year.

6. Users may have to use it for two or three weeks before becoming aware of the dangerous side-effects and thus realizing that what they were sold was something other than heroin.

 

Why Do People Choose to Become "Walking Zombies"?

Addiction is all-powerful and completely controlling. Also, consider that dual diagnosis is often found: mental illness and drug addiction often occur together. This condition of dual diagnosis presents a challenge to physicians. The patient has two brain diseases that influence one another, and which both need treatment. 

 

Dual diagnosis may stem from developmental changes in the amygdala, 

a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions.

Dual diagnosis is common yet difficult to treat. Addiction of all types -- to nicotine, alcohol and drugs -- is often found in people with a wide variety of mental illnesses, including anxiety disorders, unipolar and bipolar depression, schizophrenia, and borderline and other personality disorders. 

 

In his studies on the subject, Andrew Chambers, MD, cites clinical reports that at least half the people who seek help with addiction or mental-health treatment have co-occurring disorders. Epidemiological data says that from two to five of every 10 anxious or depressed people, and from four to eight of every 10 people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or antisocial personality, also have some type of addiction. (American Psychological Association. "Mental Illness And Drug Addiction May Co-occur Due To Disturbance In Part Of The Brain." ScienceDaily, December 3 2007) 

 

 

 

Teens: Helping Install Brakes

  The Teen Brain - A Stimulating Project Under Development

"It seems almost arbitrary that our society has decided 
that a young American is ready to drive a car at 16, 
to vote and serve in the Army at 18 
and to drink alcohol at 21. Dr. Jay Giedd, chief of brain imaging 
in the child psychiatry branch at the National Institute of Mental Health,

says the best estimate for when the brain is truly mature is 25, 
the age at which you can rent a car. 

'Avis must have some pretty sophisticated neuroscientists,' he jokes." 

(Claudia Wallis, "What Makes Teens Tick," Time Magazine, September 26 2008)

Scientific evidence has shown that the adolescent brain is not equivalent to that of an adult in many important ways. In fact, some legal scholars and child advocates argue that minors should never be tried as adults and should be spared the death penalty. In an official statement that summarized current research on the adolescent brain, the American Bar Association urged all state legislatures to ban the death penalty for juveniles.

"For social and biological reasons," it read, 
"teens have increased difficulty making mature decisions 
and understanding the consequences of their actions."

This comes as no surprise to parents of teens."There's a debate over how much conscious control kids have," says Giedd, who has four "teenagers in training" of his own. "You can tell them to shape up or ship out, but making mistakes is part of how the brain optimally grows."

The reality -- 
teens live at risk, 
do not have the ability to live independently, 
and are bound to make mistakes. 

The challenge -- 
adults must reduce risks that threaten teens, 
help teens to live with increasing independence, 
and reduce the number of mistakes they make.  

Society (You and I) Must Help Teen Brain-Lapses 

It might be more useful to help them make up for what their brain still lacks by 

1. Providing structure, 
2. Organizing their time, 
3. Guiding them through tough decisions (even when they resist), and 
4. Applying those time-tested parental virtues: patience and love.

The Limbic System = the Brain's "Tinderbox of Emotions" (Racy Engines Need Better Brakes)

The limbic system is the brain's emotional center. This is where the sex hormones are especially active. Adolescents experience flash points of intense feelings, and they tend to seek our situations in which they can allow their emotions and passions to run wild.

"Adolescents are actively looking for experiences to create intense feelings," says Dr. Ronald Dahl, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh. "It's a very important hint that there is some particular hormone-brain relationship contributing to the appetite for thrills, strong sensations and excitement."

This thrill seeking may have evolved to promote exploration, an eagerness to leave the nest and seek one's own path and partner. But in a world where fast cars, illicit drugs, gangs and dangerous liaisons beckon, it also puts the teenager at risk.


In adolescents, the brain regions that put the brakes on risky, impulsive behavior are still under construction. "The parts of the brain responsible for things like sensation seeking are getting turned on in big ways around the time of puberty," says Temple University psychologist Laurence Steinberg. "But the parts for exercising judgment are still maturing throughout the course of adolescence."

"So you've got this time gap between when things impel kids 
toward taking risks early in adolescence, 
and when things that allow people to think before they act come online."
It's like turning on the engine of a car without a skilled driver at the wheel," explains Steinberg.

 

Some Group Activities Can Encourage Teens To Take Dangerous Risks

Steinberg has been studying another kind of judgment: risk assessment. He has discovered, in an experiment using a driving-simulation game, that teens and adults make safe choices when playing alone.
 

But, Steinberg found, in group play, 

teenagers start to take more risks in the presence of their friends, 

while those over age 20 don't show much change in their behavior. 

"With this manipulation," says Steinberg, "we've shown that age differences in decision making and judgment may appear under conditions that are emotionally arousing or have high social impact." Most teen crimes, he says, are committed by kids in packs. (Claudia Wallis, "What Makes Teens Tick," Time Magazine, September 26 2008)

Blame Drug Experimentation On Changes In Dopamine? 
 
Other researchers are exploring how the adolescent propensity for uninhibited risk taking propels teens to experiment with drugs and alcohol.
 
Traditionally, psychologists have attributed this experimentation to

1. Peer pressure,
2. Teenagers' attraction to novelty, and
3. Their roaring interest in loosening sexual inhibitions.

But researchers have raised the possibility that rapid changes in dopamine-rich areas of the brain may be an additional factor in making teens vulnerable to the stimulating and addictive effects of drugs and alcohol. Dopamine, the brain chemical involved in motivation and in reinforcing behavior, is particularly abundant and active in the teen years.

Why is it so hard to get a teenager off the couch and working on that all important college essay? You might blame it on their immature nucleus accumbens, a region in the frontal cortex that directs motivation to seek rewards. James Bjork at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that teenagers have less activity in this region than adults do.

According to Bjork,
"If adolescents have a motivational deficit, 
it may mean that they are prone to engaging in behaviors 
that have either a really high excitement factor 
or a really low effort factor, or a combination of both." 

Sound familiar? Bjork believes his work may hold valuable lessons for parents and society. "When presenting suggestions, anything parents can do to emphasize more immediate payoffs will be more effective," he says. To persuade a teen to quit drinking, for example, he suggests stressing something immediate and tangible — the danger of getting kicked off the football team, say — rather than a future on skid row. (Claudia Wallis, "What Makes Teens Tick," Time Magazine, September 26 2008)

 Let's Apply This To Scioto County

1. Are parents and guardians assuming teens (especially older 16-19 year olds) are mature enough to handle and undertake MOST adult responsibilities because they are allowed SOME adult privileges?

Yes - adults assume a teenager can make critical decisions that require complex reasoning. The child receives little help and guidance about matters such as substance abuse, sexual conduct and consequences, childcare, finding and building positive relationships, and the real short-term and life-long impact of early behaviors.

Parents and guardians are guilty of diminishing a child's innocence while, instead, rushing him/her toward maturity. We should be structuring a transition that eases a child into independence

2. Do parents and guardians realize their teens will engage in risky behaviors and attempt to cut the risks by (a) providing structure, (b) organizing time,  (c) taking the role of parental guidance counselor, and (d) exhibiting patience and love?

No - If anything, parents are busy in the workforce and rely upon their teens to take adult roles of ever-increasing responsibilities that the children are not prepared to handle. The adults think of this as positive teenage progression, but increased age does not necessarily equate to increased maturity (due mainly to some very important biological factors). Teens tend to be under tremendous pressure at school, at home, and in the community, so they are already under stress to grow up quickly without regard for their relative lack of knowledge and experience.

Teens require both adult help and supervision just as much as younger children. Too often, parents and guardians think they are contributing to their teen's independence by letting the teen organize and structure his/her own time 24/7. The result is often disastrous.

3. Do parents and guardians understand that teens desire thrill-seeking behaviors and teens are especially prone to engage in risk while associating with groups?

No - Adults warn teens to avoid all danger and run with the "good" group. Parental warnings may draw a child's boundaries but warnings do not insure compliance. Also, most parents do not take the responsibility of discovering the personality of the individuals in their teen's peer groups. They rely on second-hand information about their teen's friends and make assumptions based on incomplete information.

Chances are the excitement experienced by teens during thrill-seeking adventures will fuel their desire to experiment even more, and they will continue to test their limits. Adults must give priority to safety and even offer alternative activities that provide acceptable thrills. More attention must be given to immediate risks, and this can be accomplished partly through adequate structure.

4. In the face of dangerous teen actions that tend to be fueled by young, lightning emotions, do parents employ advice that illustrates immediate and tangible effects risked by the teen instead of those more akin to the far-off future?  

No - Parents and guardians use this line: "This behavior could ruin (affect you) for the rest of your life." What does that statement really imply to a sixteen year old? The bullet-proof attitude possessed by most teens overrides threats about their future. 

What does matter to a teen is "today" -- the moment. Concrete examples and immediate concerns strike home to teens because they structure their priorities different from adults. Adults must engage in the real world of adolescents and educate themselves to ever-changing risks that threaten their teen. They must be willing to help a teen sort out his/her immediate decisions, all the complications of situations, and the possible effects of both good and  poor judgments.

At-risk Children Need Us All

The National Center for School Engagement promotes programs for "at-risk" youth. NCSE states that the term at-risk youth typically implies a future with less than optimal outcomes. Youth are considered at-risk for a number of reasons. Examples include youth who may be:

* Homeless or transient
* Involved in drugs or alcohol
* Abused sexually, physically or emotionally
* Mentally ill
* Neglected at home or live in stressful family environments
* Lacking social or emotional supports
* Involved with delinquent peers

These at-risk youth are often identified after running away, skipping school, drinking under age, engaging in sexual behavior, displaying disruptive behavior, bullying/harassment, fighting, and committing acts of vandalism. According to NCSE, "These behaviors can be precursors to dropping out of school, acquiring low paying jobs and/or unemployment, and adult criminal behavior." ("At-risk Youth," National Center for School Engagement, schoolengagement.org)

Do we really comprehend the stress 21st century kids are under?  Gang warfare, street stabbings and shootings, proliferation of drugs, binge drinking and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases -- all of these obstacles to a safe, healthy lifestyle put their very lives in jeopardy.

It is evident the youth of today need tremendous help and guidance to navigate successfully the hazardous waters of their lives. Often, the support necessary for enabling them to acquire their needs is lacking in their very homes and communities. What happens when children experience a significant mismatch between their circumstances and needs? In America, so many people depend upon the public school to provide for at-risk youth.

BUT 

Is the school always willing

to accept, 

accommodate, 

and respond to those at risk 

in a manner that 

supports and enables 

their maximum social, 

emotional 

and intellectual growth and development?

AND

Does the school even have 

the capacity and resources 

to support and enable 

these important factors of growth and development?

The National At-risk Education Network believes all schools should reach out to at-risk kids. NAREN provides some shocking statistics concerning youth at risk from a bad start. According to research by the Children's Defense Fund (2008), every day in America ...

• 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect
• 1 young person dies from HIV infection
• 5 children, or teens, commit suicide
• 8 children are killed by firearms
• 181 children are arrested for violent crimes
• 383 children are arrested for drug abuse
• 2,383 children are reported abused or neglected
• 1,153 babies are born to teen mothers
• 2,411 babies are born into poverty
• 2,261 children drop out of high school every school day (1 of every 4 high school freshmen fails to finish high school in four years in the USA — multiply that by 180, and the annual figure astounds!)
• 4,356 children are arrested

This is every day! Multiply these figures (except for the dropout numbers) by 365 if you can bear it. Also:

• 9,200,000 children are without health insurance
• 12,423,000 children live in poverty

No doubt, schools must do a better job of meeting the needs of at-risk kids. Public education has too long concentrated its main efforts on identifying "troublemakers" and "risky prospects" and then removing them from the school setting or dealing them punishment that only reinforces their troubling behaviors. But, let's wake up and understand that schools cannot, alone, significantly change the lives of at-risk students. The best schools can do is provide positive experiences that offer at-risk students many good opportunities to help themselves.

Who Needs To Do What?

Any responsible member of a community understands the vital role schools play in nurturing, protecting, and educating children, but that same person must also understand his/her obligation not only to support education but also to help foster positive personal relationships with youth.

Did You Ever Consider This?

Why is a child at risk? 

The at-risk child is a victim of lacking 

or destructive relationships. 

Every child will develop relationships that influence his thinking and his actions. For a child, these relationships and their related consequences develop as a result of involuntary (his/her very birth) or voluntary (his/her friends and peers) situations.

Consider this: involuntary situations that put a child at risk demand outside assistance. If, for example, a child is being abused by his parents, this abuse must be reported by those who witness it; Children's Services must intervene to save further risk to the child; and law and enforcement must act appropriately and swiftly to assure such horrible behavior will stop and never occur again. We, as a responsible society, demand these obligations from individuals and organizations.

Yet, voluntary situations that put a child at risk are not viewed the same. If, for example, an unhealthy peer group exposes a child to numerous unhealthy relationships, the at-risk child is typically blamed for his/her own willing participation and ignorance for becoming a part of such "a crowd." We, as an unsympathetic society, demand little more than the at-risk child "straighten up" and "find new friends."

Peer group relationships are often not healthy since they are based upon immature people's values. The at-risk child cannot grasp this. Instead, he/she sees the group (peer or friends) as a partial solution to his critical, immediate needs. And, they may be a partial solution. Gangs can offer security and a substitute family

But, a gang or any other peer group can not offer unconditional hope, unconditional love, and unconditional forgiveness. It takes a mature caring adult to offer a genuine and valuable relationship to a teen. Many at-risk youth do not have but desperately seek, such as, a healthy relationship with a mature adult, teacher, mentor or friend. We all must become involved.

A Group That Believes In Helping

Non-toxic Youth Alternatives is a group that believes in helping at-risk youth. The group believes in values communicated through relationships from caring adults as well as providing positive and constructive activities for teens.The activities offer alternatives for teens tempted to become involved in destructive behavior. Read about their strategies here: http://www.nontoxicteencenter.com/mission.htm

Here is the belief of Non-toxic Youth Alternatives:


"Teens cannot be forced to make healthy decisions but they can be offered an alternative to dangerous and destructive choices. When a healthy relationship is begun many teens will choose the value rich relationship over the negative temptation. Young people want to feel loved, accepted and valued. The Non-Toxic Teen center is a place this can be realized and experienced."

The group believes values are determined by what we believe is valued by God. 

There are four areas dealt with in this mission of value (quoted from their site):

1. Teens are highly valuable.

"Despite failings in character, wrong choices or willful rebellion, teens are highly valuable. Value does not nullify responsibility but it does force the mature adult to see each person as God sees him or her- Valuable. Value is not based upon performance but upon the very existence of an individual."

2. Genuine Relationships are Highly Valuable.

"Through unconditional love and acceptance trust and value are communicated. Relationships don't just happen, and they do not naturally nurture themselves. A genuine relationship is one where the caring adult seeks to look beyond the teen's life resume, and instead gazes at each teen as an individual, as possessing intrinsic value and a life whose story is just beginning to be written."

3. Positive Alternatives are Highly Valuable.

"Unless a young person is actively involved in a number of extracurricular school activities (and this is no guarantee) the time available to begin a harmful habit or the temptation to partake of a dangerous activity are overwhelming."

4. Quality is Highly Valuable.

"Parks, Malls and the city streets have become the place most frequented by teens. In these areas little or no supervision is available and the opportunity to be involved in destructive activities is overwhelming. In order to compete with these exciting avenues of potential destruction any type of alternative program must be of a high quality. The facilities provided by Non-Toxic are clean, neat and contemporary offering many different types of games and activities and positive alternatives. Adult supervision is always present."

Bulletproof : The Risk-Taking Teen

I was in a seminar recently and the group discussion centered upon why teenagers take risks and experiment with drugs. You know, the kind of precociousness that can lead to early substance abuse. Marker ink was soon filling up the flip charts as the brainstorming got intense.

Although never a dabbler in the drug scene (Alcohol doesn't count, right?), I had thrived on plenty of other risky behaviors as a teen. I had something to add, so I raised my hand and searched for appropriate words to describe feelings and behaviors I could still vividly recall from decades past when piss and vinegar drove many of my actions. I wanted to share this with the scholarly group.

I said, "As a teenager, I wanted to have adventures every weekend, the kind that brought me close to the edges of forbidden territory - road trips, drinking soirees, concert and dance experiences, hopeful sexual flirtations, back-road parties, involvement in all kinds of pranks and tricks, and scary midnight mysteries bordering on raunchy stupidity."

Many of the people at the seminar pretty much passed my comments over, probably choosing to ignore them as the ramblings of a once-rebellious, wanton soul. After all, admitting to my teen desires for dangerous activities requiring sex, risk, and rock'n'roll didn't seem to fit the more nondescript lists that read "loneliness, peer pressure, and increasing student responsibilities."

But, I hold my ground in the belief 

that the adrenaline/testosterone-driven needs

for peril and novel adventures 

create situations that make drug experimentation 

(yes, including alcohol consumption) 

attractive to 21st century teens. 

When I was sixteen, my own teenage fumblings and inexperienced direct assaults toward ecstasy fed my early fantasies and fueled my further quests for ever-hotter realities. Fast cars, dangerous girls, 3.2% beer, rock music, dark nights, and the need to race my internal motor ever higher "just for kicks" made teenage camaraderie FUN and even USEFUL. My daily dopamine fixes were "rewards" for finding new adventure: they felt good, strong, and RIGHT.

Now, getting back to the seminar experience, 

I must confess I don't know the answer to this question: 

"What safe, structured, drug-free, alternative activities 

could fulfill a teen's desire for peril and genuine adventure?" 

This question seems contradictory in nature -- safe with peril and structured with genuine. It seems to me that most answers -- be they sporting activities or perilous simulations -- deflate much of the air from the balloon of acquired social impact and real experience. After all, don't we commonly associate fear, fun, romance, and "hanging out" with spontaneity and whimsy?

Damn it, I want the kids to have fun 

as they have a gradual transformation 

from innocence to experience. 

I just don't want them to step over the line of reason into dangerous,

life-threatening, drug fueled, often criminal and destructive behaviors.

But what may be at work here is a crucial gap between what young people rationally know and what knowledge they use in making decisions—a gap that fills in gradually as they learn more from the outcome of each decision.

Risk taking in itself is normal and even necessary for learning to live in the world, 

but it becomes a problem when carried out in excess, 

or when it persists in the face of clear warnings about significant, needless danger.

This is one reason that practice with risk-carrying situations, especially talking them over beforehand with people an adolescent trusts, can be very helpful. Forethought and discussion also put decisions into better context, enabling a teenager to take into account the thoughts of people close to them but detached from the immediate situation. 

The National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, which surveyed more than 12,000 high school students throughout the country, has noted that feelings of “connectedness” (feeling close to people at school, fairly treated by teachers, and loved and wanted at home) helped significantly to lower an individual’s likelihood of emotional distress, early sexual activity, substance abuse, violence, and suicide.

Alarmed by the rising toll of accidents and violence among teenagers, the Federal Government and private foundations have embarked on a major new program of research on why teenagers take so many foolish risks - and how such dangerous behavior can be curbed.

From acrobatics on skateboards to sex without contraceptives, teenagers are notoriously reckless. Research suggests a combination of hormonal factors, an inability to perceive risks accurately and the need to impress peers help explain this. All of these influences seem to peak in the years between 10 and the mid-20's.

Driving the new research effort is a chilling fact: adolescents are the only age group in which mortality has risen since 1960. Three-quarters of adolescent deaths are caused by accidents, homicide and suicide, all of which indicate a lethal propensity for risk-taking. Accidents alone account for 60 percent of those deaths. PLEASE NOTE: STATS TAKEN FROM ARTICLE DATED 1987)

''The three biggest killers of young people are essentially psychological,'' 

said Lewis Lipsitt, a developmental psychologist at Brown University. 

''They are dying of their own reckless behavior.''

Dr. Lipsitt organized a meeting of scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health to draw up a research agenda on risk-taking by teenagers and what to do about it. The meetings are part of efforts by the Government and foundations to identify teenagers most likely to take dangerous risks and to find ways to head off the peril. (Daniel Goleman, "Teen-Age Risk-Taking: Rise In Deaths Prompts New Research Effort," The New York Times, November 24 1987)  Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/24/science/teen-age-risk-taking-rise-in-deaths-prompts-new-research-effort.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Teens and Traits: Most Likely To Take Dangerous Risks

1. One of the major deficits in the thinking of teenagers, particularly in early adolescence, is in evaluating the probabilities of a risk - luck vs. reality.

''Often, if a teenager does something several times - like not breaking his neck when he does something stupid, or not getting pregnant after sex without contraceptives - he will assume it becomes less risky each time, not more so,'' Dr. Hamburg said.

2. Teenagers are also prone to exaggeration. 

Dr. Hamburg said, ''Adolescents tend to grossly over- or underestimate based on their immediate experience. When they say, 'Everyone's doing it - why shouldn't I?' they wildly overestimate the actual numbers. And, by the same token, they wildly underestimate the safety of the dangerous things they do.''

3. What seems a clear danger in the eyes of an adult, may seem safe, or safe enough, to the teenager. 

Dr. Lipsitt and other researchers say teenagers can seem to live in an orbit all their own, in which the reasonable imperatives of the adult world have little, if any, relevance.

4. The ability to evaluate risk seems to be skewed in many teenagers. 

For instance, when they were asked to anticipate what risks become more or less dangerous over time, they saw addiction from drug use and pregnancy from unprotected intercourse as becoming less rather than more likely, according to Charles Irwin, a pediatrician at the University of California at San Francisco.

5. Perception of some risks may fade in the face of peer pressure. 

For example, when it comes to using condoms, the major concerns of adolescents are not the risks of pregnancy, but rather such matters as whether they think their peers use condoms and whether condoms are inconvenient or might make them look ''silly,'' according to Nancy Adler, a health psychologist at the University of California at San Francsico, and a colleague of Dr. Irwin.

6. So-called "bad girls" had already started smoking and experimenting with drugs and were exposed to other risks - such as riding in cars going too fast - far more than other girls their age. 

Dr. Adler said that the risks that these ''bad girls'' took included drinking, fighting, hitchhiking, arguing with strangers, seeking entertainment in high-crime areas and carrying a knife.

A hallmark of the most reckless girls, Dr. Adler found, was their intent to become sexually active in the next year. This intention was far less common among girls who engaged in few risky behaviors.

7. So-called "macho boys" in the same age group, a cluster of activities set the most risk-prone youths apart from their peers, but no single marker emerged. 

The activities included drinking, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, riding on motorcycles and getting knocked unconscious.

8. Biology, too, seems to push some adolescents to take more risks than others,

According to studies of sensation-seeking by Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, a psychologist at the University of Delaware, sensation-seeking is a personality trait that includes the desire for thrills and adventure, the enjoyment of physically risky activities and the need for sensory and social stimulation such as loud music or parties.

According to Dr. Zuckerman, there is a direct relationship between how people score on a personality test for sensation-seeking and how fast they say they drive on an open highway. People who have the lowest sensation-seeking scores drive, on average, at 55 miles an hour. As the scores rise, so does the average driving speed; in the highest range it is over 75 miles an hour.

9. Another biological factor in sensation-seeking may be monoamine oxidase, or MAO, an enzyme that regulates levels of some brain chemicals such as serotonin, which regulates mood. 

People with low levels of MAO can have very high or very low levels of serotonin, among other chemicals.

Sensation-seekers tend to have low levels of MAO, according to research by Dr. Monte Buchsbaum, a psychologist at the Univeristy of California at Irvine. People with low MAO levels, Dr. Buchsbaum found, tend to smoke and drink more than others and are more likely to have a criminal record. Although MAO levels have not been tested in younger teenagers, Dr. Buchsbaum found that among those he tested the lowest levels were in college-age people and that levels tended to rise with age.
 
''People in their late teens are at double biological risk, because of the combination of high hormone and low MAO levels,'' Dr. Zuckerman said.

 

Smart Kids Use More Drugs? Research

 

Who would have thunk it?

"A new British study finds children with high IQs 

are more likely to use drugs as adults 

than people who score low on IQ tests as children."  

(Jennifer Bixler, "High IQ Linked to Drug Use," CNN News, thechart.blogs.cnn.com, November 14 2011)

This data come from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which has been following thousands of people over decades.  The kids' IQs were tested at the ages of 5, 10 and 16.  The study also asked about drug use and looked at education and other socioeconomic factors.  Then, when participants turned 30, they were asked whether they had used drugs such as marijuana, cocaine heroin, amphetamines, ecstasy, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and crack in the past year. (Dr. James White, "Intelligence Across Childhood In Relation To Illegal Drug Use In Adulthood: 1970 British Cohort Study, Journal of Epidemiol Community Health, November 14 2011)

The study defined high IQ as a score between 107 and 158 and an average IQ is commonly known as 100.

The authors used data from a large population-based birth cohort with measures of lifetime cannabis and cocaine use, parental social class and psychological distress at 16 years; cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and polydrug use (more than three drugs) in the past 12 months; and social class, educational attainment and gross monthly income at 30 years. All members of the cohort with IQ scores at 5 or 10 years were eligible to be included in the analyses.

Findings in the study:

1. By the age of 30, around one in three men (35.4%) and one in six women (15.9%) had used cannabis, while 8.6% of men and 3.6% of women had used cocaine, in the previous 12 months.

2. A similar pattern of use was found for the other drugs, with overall drug use twice as common among men as among women.

Now, factor in intelligence:

3. Men with high IQ scores at the age of 5 were around 50% more likely to have used amphetamines, ecstasy, and several illicit drugs than those with low scores, 25 years later.

4. Women with high IQ scores were more than twice as likely to have used cannabis and cocaine as those with low IQ scores.

5. The same associations emerged between a high IQ score at the age of 10 and subsequent use of cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, multiple drug use and cocaine, although this last association was only evident at the age of 30.

6. The findings held true, irrespective of anxiety/depression during adolescence, parental social class, and lifetime household income.

"Although most studies have suggested 

that higher child or adolescent IQ prompts 

the adoption of a healthy lifestyle as an adult, 

other studies have linked higher childhood IQ scores

to excess alcohol intake and alcohol dependency in adulthood," write the authors.

Why the Link Between High Childhood IQ And Illicit Drug Use?

"We suspect they may be more open 

to new experiences 

and are more sensation seeking," says White.

The authors point to previous research, showing that highly intelligent people are open to experiences and keen on novelty and stimulation.

Other research has also shown that brainy children are often easily bored and suffer at the hands of their peers for being different, "either of which could conceivably increase vulnerability to using drugs as an avoidant coping strategy," explain the authors.

The following graph shows a similar association between childhood intelligence and the latent factor for the consumption of psychoactive drugs among Americans.  The data come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.  The childhood intelligence is measured in junior high and high school, and the adult drug consumption is measured seven years later, and constructed from indicators for the consumption of 5 different types of psychoactive drugs (marijuana, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth, and heroin).  The association is not monotonic, but nevertheless, “normal” (90 IQ & 110), “bright” (110 IQ & 125), and “very bright” individuals consume more psychoactive substances than “very dull” or “dull” (75 IQ & 90) individuals.

(Satoshi Kanazawa, "Why Intelligent People Use More Drugs," The Scientific Fundamentalist, October 31 2010)

"The human consumption of psychoactive drugs, 

such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, 

is of even more recent historical origin 

than the human consumption of alcohol or tobacco, 

so the Hypothesis would predict that more intelligent people

use more drugs more frequently than less intelligent individuals."

("Why Intelligent People Tend To Use More Drugs," http://newzc.net)

The use of opium dates back to about 5,000 years ago, and the earliest reference to the pharmacological use of cannabis is in a book written in 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. Opium and cannabis are the only “natural” (agricultural) psychoactive drugs. Other psychoactive drugs are “chemical” (pharmacological); they require modern chemistry to manufacture, and are therefore of much more recent origin. Morphine was isolated from opium in 1806, cocaine was first manufactured in 1860, and heroin was discovered in 1874.

"The fact that the consumption of psychoactive drugs 

has largely negative health consequences

and few (if any) benefits of any kind 

is immaterial to the Hypothesis. 

It does not predict that more intelligent individuals 

are more likely to engage in healthy and beneficial behavior, 

only that they are more likely to engage in evolutionarily novel behavior." 

("Why Intelligent People Tend To Use More Drugs," http://newzc.net) 

Better Defining the Drug Abuse Levy

The noun definition may be generally understood as "the act of making distinct, or clear." We employ this simple act to find meaning and significance of words, phrases, idioms, processes or any alien concept we encounter. As we attempt to discover the exacting nature of something, we define it to determine essential qualities that both characterize it and distinguish it from anything else.

The Formal Definition

A formal (some call it logical or Aristotelian) definition is based upon a concise, logical pattern that includes as much information as it can within a minimum amount of space - usually a well-constructed sentence. The act of formulating a formal definition may lead to a thesis statement for an extended definition.

Definiendum = genus + differentia.

A formal definition consists of three parts.

A. The term (definiendum) which is the word or phrase to be defined
B. The class (genus) of the object or concept to which the term belongs.
C. The differentiating characteristics (differentia) that distinguish it from all others of its class

For example:

Water (term) is a liquid (class) made up of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio of 2 to 1 (differentiating characteristics).

Even if we don’t state logical definition in precisely this way, we should still have it clearly in mind. This is so the concept doesn’t shift to something else without us noticing it (this can happen easily), and so our readers will be able to reconstruct the logical definition from what we do say. It’s safest and most considerate of our readers to state the logical definition outright, usually near the beginning of an extended essay. 

The Extended Definition

There are reasons why extended definitions are made by writers.

1. One is that when the writer thinks or fells that the real definition of a particular term is distorted in the minds of the public, here extended definition is needed as replacement for the real definition.

2. Another is that it is used in removing confusions as well as to make the context more precise. 

3. Extended definition is also use to set up an ideal meaning that is in contrast with the other meaning that merely reflects an existing fact.

Any definition helps clear misunderstanding. More often than not, an extended definition informs -- by clarifying something that is complex, by bringing the reader to a fresh appreciation of something familiar or taken for granted, by expressing feelings and relating experience, or by serving a persuasive purpose to point out a conclusion about a controversial issue. 

Writing an extended definition usually requires the use of many sources as tools that will help us explain the term to our readers. This means considering all of the various sources of information that can help define the term adequately (for example, description, process narration, causal discussion, and classification). The key to writing a good extended definition is to choose the sources of definition to help readers understand the term being defined.

 

Notice the number of difference sources used in this example:

Often Employed Sources:

Analysis: The subject may be separated into different parts and those parts could be described separately. For example, if the topic is love then the many types of love could be explained individually. The writer may start with platonic love, then romantic love, unrequited love, and first love.

Comparison: By comparing the subject to something else, it might make it more lucid to the reader. If the topic is Communism, then comparing it to capitalism or socialism, may make the concept of communism much clearer.

Details: providing the reader with the physical and internal attributes, conceptual background and traditional thoughts of the subject is another way of making it more apparent to the reader.

Negation: Pointing out what the subject is not, may make what it is clearer to the reader. An essay on Hinduism I read started by stating that Hinduism was NOT Christianity, and then began pointing out the dissimilarities between the two religions. This was a very effective beginning.

Examples and Anecdotes: when explaining a very abstract concept, the best way to make your meaning clear is by giving examples. When defining “truth” for instance, a well placed story highlighting the truthfulness of a person may make a greater impact than a theoretical rambling on what truth could or could not mean.

Origins and Causes: discussing the background of a topic may also help. If you are writing about “fire” such as, then theorizing on how fire may have been discovered will add interest to your essay.

Results, effects, and causes: topics such as “Racism” or “Poverty” cannot be truly discussed without describing the effects that they render on the human psyche. Similarly topics such as “Pollution” and “Global warming” lack poignancy if the results and causes are not mentioned.

The Scioto County Drug Abuse Prevention Education Levy

The November request for a prevention levy has been defeated. Perhaps better definition could insure more votes at the polls the next time the levy is on the ballot. To make the distinctions necessary to gain more support, those in favor of the levy will work to clarify any issues voters have they may have caused them to reject the much-needed preventative measure.

These facts were widely available to voters before November:

The Scioto County Coalition for Drug Prevention has been formed to promote awareness of the importance of drug prevention education. The coalition consists of citizens in Scioto County who are interested in the future of Scioto County and would like to see more funding available in the county for prevention education to Save Our Kids

The ADAMHS (Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Services) board is proposing a $1 million levy for 5 years. The levy will generate $950,000 per year for prevention education. The money will go to all Scioto County schools.

The levy will cost 10 cents per $100.00 of property value/$1.00 per $1000.00. $4.17 per month for the owner of a home valued at $50,000.00

Currently there is less that $3.00 per child available in Scioto County for prevention education in the schools. With a continuing risk of drug abuse among youth, prevention education needs to start at a young age. Drug abusing youth have powerful influence over other youth. Scioto County is the epicenter for prescription drug abuse. It is the #1 cause of accidental death among our young people.

Families who have an addicted loved one or who have lost a loved one would be saved from pain and suffering associated with addiction. Prevention education will "save our kids" from experimentation with drugs, overdose, and academic and behavior problems, tobacco use and teen pregnancy.

Prevention education that is integrated into a community can save taxpayers money by: reducing crime and incarceration; reducing long term health care of babies that are born affected; the need for less addiction treatment; and by reducing other costs associated with drug abuse including lost wages.

How will the levy dollars be spent? Engage the schools, community, and faith-based groups in prevention education activities.

·         Evidence Based Curriculum for drug use prevention will be implemented

·         Educational materials/equipment to support the curriculum will be purchased

·         A Certified Prevention Educator will be placed in each school district throughout Scioto County

·         A Prevention Education program would align the county with State and Federal initiatives for additional funding

 

When Asked In Open Forum on Facebook, 

People Said They Needed Better Definition 

With The Following Comments:

Person 1:  I would like to see the schools bring in former addicts to tell their stories, being allowed to talk openly about their pasts, and answer questions from the students without having to be censored (aside from any detailed sexual events and the use of extremely foul language). Will the levy allow this to be done? How? 

Person 2:  I feel the major items missing were how much money and who would control the money and who actually gets the funds. (Some more detail on administration of funds.)

Person 3: After taking to some that a lot of people did not know enough details about it. Some people aren't on Facebook, don't get the newspaper and I think if your family hasn't been touched by this disease, you have a tendency to look the other way. 

Person 4: Did not The Ohio State pharmacy give curriculum to the counselors in the schools already? Locals have told me their concerns, not wanting to support Detroit, dope Boys, out of town, even out of state. We the people can not take care of it all. Why not the drug companies?

Person 5: Whatever happened to health class? Why don't we try to get the schools to teach it themselves?

Person 6: Let the schools do it? With all the cuts, fewer teachers, less time, more planning for increasingly higher stakes (for the teacher and school funding) testing, larger class sizes, schools should shoulder that responsibility too. Give me a break. Rest assured that we talk to kids about these behaviors, but to place the responsibility directly on schools is asinine. It takes a village, including the school, not just the school.

Person 7: I never saw anything that gave a detailed plan of how the money would be spent and what type of program would be implemented to educate the youth of our county. Our children recently graduated from high school and said that their classes had the benefit of the D.A.R.E. program and other programs advocating drug and sexual abstinence, and they still had many classmates trying drugs, using drugs on a regular basis, having sex and making babies. They feel as if these programs in the schools did not have the impact that family and church values taught from a young age had. What are you proposing that will be different and better than what has gone before?

Person 8: Maybe the issue was that "drug abuse prevention" is somewhat vague. I spoke to a lot of people who said they simply didn't know what the money would actually go towards, or who would be in charge of it.

Person 9: Being a part of the team and protesting against the pain clinics, a local group of people did, in fact, want to volunteer, who had many ideals to go to the schools different from Dare. The counselors took over. Yes, many addicts, wanted to share their stories with students. They are educated in the field and also grew up in alcoholic homes. After asking the counselors to remember us, we waited 1 year and a half, but a team of community members did not call once before Ohio Stare got the curriculum ready. Months later the counselor center got involved. 

Please, let's further engage ALL the public and extend our definition of the Scioto County Drug Abuse Education Levy. With the expertise of the Scioto Rx Drug Task Force Action Team, the Counseling Center, and others, we can provide answers to any questions people ask. 

I am dedicated to providing the county with a detailed definition of program and of purpose that will facilitate a positive response and lay the groundwork for a new vote soon. 

In the meantime, 

let's wear those funky green silicone bracelets 

to remind everyone that our work towards prevention is ongoing. 

I'd love to see everyone in the county 

keep a green band around their wrist until Scioto County 

commits to drug abuse education. 

Please, Save Our Kids.