cannabisnews.com: More Teens Treated for Addiction, Study Finds





More Teens Treated for Addiction, Study Finds
Posted by FoM on December 29, 2001 at 15:12:56 PT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
Source: Reuters
More U.S. teens are being admitted to centers to be treated for alcohol and drug abuse, a government report released on Thursday shows. But health officials said this could be good news -- an indication that youths are getting treated instead of being left to spiral into addiction.The report, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), shows that the number of adolescents aged between 12 and 17 admitted to substance abuse treatment increased by 20 percent between 1994 and 1999.
``It possibly could be a good news story. It does demonstrate that there are more adolescents aged 12 to 17 that are being admitted to treatment, seeking treatment and getting treatment,'' SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie said in a telephone interview.But SAMHSA spokesman Mark Weber said other surveys, including one released earlier this month, show that teen-age drug use has at best leveled off in recent years and in some cases increased.``From 1992 through 1997 we saw a dramatic increase in the use of marijuana among young people aged 12 to 17,'' he said.Thursday's survey, which covered 1.6 million cases of adults and youths over age 12 who were admitted for treatment at a center, found that most were abusing alcohol -- 47 percent. Sixteen percent were users of opiates, mostly heroin, 14 percent used cocaine and 14 percent marijuana or hashish. More than half the patients abused more than one substance.But for teen-agers the numbers were dramatically different. In 1994, 43 percent of teens treated for substance abuse were marijuana users. In 1999, 60 percent were.Half of them were sent to treatment by the courts, the report, found on the Internet at -- http://www.samhsa.gov/ -- finds.``While we can all be thankful that people who need help are getting it, this report shows some of the real-life consequences of marijuana use,'' John Walters, appointed this month as director of national drug control policy, said in a statement.``From 1992 to 1997 we saw a dramatic increase in marijuana use among our young people,'' Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson added in a statement.``Our fears have become a reality and our children have not only harmed their future but have fallen victim to crime as a result of their addiction. The good news in this report is that more young people are getting help. Treatment can help them end dependence on addictive drugs.''Curie said Americans are beginning to understand that jailing drug users does not help anyone.``Providing treatment for people in need is both compassionate public policy and a sound investment,'' he said.``We are finding more and more how treatment really does work and is effective in ... helping adolescents and adults sustain recovery over time,'' he added.``I think treatment is becoming more acceptable as a way of addressing the problem of substance abuse.''The report also breaks down numbers of people getting treatment by geographical area, which Weber said could help show where the problems are the greatest, and where the best drug and alcohol treatment programs are.``The highest rates of illicit drug use tend to be in the coastal states,'' Weber said. ``Alcohol use is higher in rural areas. There is more Midwestern and rural area abuse of alcohol.'' Source: ReutersAuthor: Maggie Fox, Health and Science CorrespondentPublished: Thursday, December 27, 2001Copyright: 2001 Reuters LimitedRelated Articles:Court: Cure Teen Addict, Cut Crime http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7156.shtmlO.C. Teen Drug Arrests Soar; Treatment Lags http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7001.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by CorvallisEric on December 30, 2001 at 18:47:15 PT
Re: aocp
I agree, it's all about money.
$75 per test in 2001.
$75 per employee per year in 2011.
The Total Employee/Student/Inmate Security System
Combined ID, time record (replaces the ancient "punch clock"), and illegal-drug test. Future models will also test for illegal thoughts.
Instructions:
1 - Place hand on sensor.
2 - Say whether coming or going (improved model available in 2012 will detect automatically).
3 - Wait 2 seconds for green entry light or red termination light.
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Comment #7 posted by aocp on December 30, 2001 at 09:02:32 PT
Re: CorvallisEric
Maybe they'll be so baffled they'll just pee-test everyone every day.Ahhhh ... the litmus test for what makes a true believer in a nation being "drug-free". (assuming you believe "drugs" means "illicit drugs") These idiots have always told me that this method is going too far. Whatever. Apparently, they don't believe in their own rhetoric when this would blatantly "solve" the problem of illicit drug use. Then again, my company has to drop $75/urinalysis, so maybe it's all about the MONEY!!! Ya think? Make drug testing all the time for everyone (sans politicos and their associated exemptees) cost effective and maybe they'll do it. Time will tell.
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Comment #6 posted by CorvallisEric on December 30, 2001 at 01:12:53 PT
surveys
I came across this little gem from Michael Fumento (medical-politics writer, mixture of libertarian, anti-environmentalist, Republican apologist - doesn't seem much interested in drug policy). This is part of a 1996 partisan rant about Peter Jennings. Couldn't find an original source for the "Thermidor" survey.
... anybody who knows anything about polling knows that when questions are asked regarding illegal actions or even actions that are just frowned upon, the persons surveyed often don't tell the truth.
For example, during the energy crunch in the early 1970s, everybody was supposed to be scrimping and saving every drop of gasoline and every watt of electricity. A pollster asked respondents a series of questions about their efforts to do so. But the pollster also cleverly inserted a "control" question to see if the respondents weren't fudging.
The pollster asked people if they had installed a Thermidor on their cars to save gasoline. Many said that, oh yes, they certainly had. In fact, Thermidor is a way of cooking lobster. It's tasty, I'm told, but saves no gasoline.
So it's a foregone conclusion that more kids are using drugs than the polling data indicate. [link below for full article]
An extension to the Thermidor Theory would be that the extent of lying correlates with the perception of disapproval ("risk perception" in some drug surveys). Of course, there could be a counter-effect of some kids exaggerating their misbehavior, but I suspect that the dominant motivators are fear and approval.If Reefer Madness increases in the current administration we might see an interesting paradox: lower marijuana-use survey numbers and higher treatment admissions. Maybe they'll be so baffled they'll just pee-test everyone every day.Side note: when I spell-checked correlates at dictionary.com, this was one definition:
2. To establish or demonstrate as having a correlation: correlated drug abuse and crime.
Fumento on Peter Jennings and poll data
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Comment #5 posted by null on December 29, 2001 at 21:11:42 PT
robbie
thanks for the link. :) God bless Doonesbury. I hope that is going out in syndication across the U.S. I hope all the kiddies read it in the funny pages while Dad eats doughnuts and sips on his coffee with a touch of Bailey's in it... ;)
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Comment #4 posted by null on December 29, 2001 at 21:08:48 PT
translation...
Our fears have become a reality and our children have not only harmed their future but have fallen victim to crime as a result of their addiction. In plainspeak: "We criminalized use and equated it to abuse. We guarantee we'll ruin your future since marijuana won't do it alone."The average age of our current Congress is 54.4. Congress is full of baby boomers. Apologies to many of the boomers (especially the ones here!) but: What a generation of hypocrites!! Apparently the late 60's / early 70's never happened.
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Comment #3 posted by Robbie on December 29, 2001 at 19:36:08 PT
Doonesbury Medi-Fruitcake series
This is the entry for Saturday the 29th:http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/cx/uc/20011229/db/db011229l.gif 
Doonesbury 12/29/01
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Comment #2 posted by Robbie on December 29, 2001 at 18:57:38 PT
I think its more than that MikeEEEE
I think the reason those numbers jump is that kids are doing more things like ecstasy and/or managing heroin or cocaine use. Or, it could be that our zero-tolerance nanny state has simply caught more kids doing pot, which shoots up the numbers of kids going into "treatment" for marijuana addiction.
Democratic Underground
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Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on December 29, 2001 at 17:35:51 PT
War
But for teen-agers the numbers were dramatically different. In 1994, 43 percent of teens treated for substance abuse were marijuana users. In 1999, 60 percent were.They're supposed war for the children isn't working. As long as prohibition continues kids will find it easier to get marijuana.
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