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IN THE NEWS...
August 2008
We attended and assisted at a Humanity Philanthropic Foundation Narconon Youth Drug Prevention Workshop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Nine First Nations Tribe representatives attended. A lot was covered in the two day workshop. From ethics to happiness to how to study. Valuable information was given out in order to assist in the PREVENTION of drug abuse amoung youth. There were a number of teenagers in attendance, and they did the workshop program along with the adults.
From it, much interest was generated. Not only in continuing the education process, but in how to handle those individuals who are already addicted to drugs and alcohol. Another workshop will be held in October, in Sasatchewan, for another group of First Nations Tribes who wish to do help their youth and anyone else that may be at risk for drug addiction.
June 2008
The Humanity Philanthropic Foundation is holding one of their Youth Drug Prevention Workshops for Aboriginal youth in Bismark ND, on June 25 and 26, 2008.
The workshop provides for Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) and will encompass training adults to deliver the program to youth. Delivered by well known speaker, Nancy Newman, the program includes training in ethics, learning improvement (the three barriers to study), and The Way to Happiness Booklet. The purpose is to keep young people off of drugs and to understand how to get to the youth before they turn to drugs. If you are interested in attending this excellent workshop call 727-442-0861.
May 2008
CANADA - The Government of Canada has announced that it will provide funding, in excess of $200,000 for a drug treatment and intervention program for Aboriginal youth with drug and gang involvement.
On May 23, 2008, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada annouced this funding in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
"This Government recognizes that illicit drugs undermine healthy families and safe communities and fuel organized crime," said Minister Nicholson.
The funding is intended to help steer youth away from illicit drugs and drug related crime, including gang involvement.
The National Anti-Drug Strategy is a collaborative effort involving Health Canada, Public Safety Canada, and the Department of Justice.
This initiative will provide a drug treatment intervention program for youth being held in custody in the Manitoba Youth Centre.
April 2008
In USA TODAY, they reported that neary half of over 5 million college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol, at least once a month. It was reported that this is an increasingly urgent problem across the nation.
Abuse of prescription drugs and marijuana was reported as "increasing dramatically".
Amazingly it was reported that in a study by CASA, 22.9% of students "meet the medical definition for alcohol or drug abuse or dependence". From USA TODAY.com
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In case you wonder why your teens think that drug abuse is not really a bad thing, read some excerpts from the UN report below.
March 17, 2008...
THE U.N. REPORT ON DRUG USE - Annual Report 2007 (@incb.org)
The International Narcotic Control Board Annual Report -- Press release #2:
CELEBRITY "ENDORSEMENT" OF DRUG-RELATED LIFESTYLES IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT WHEN IT COMES TO THE ISSUE OF DETERRING DRUG USE AMONG YOUTH, WHO ARE OFTEN MOST VULNERABLE TO THE CULT OF CELEBRITY AND ITS ATTENDANT GLAMOUR.
Under section I of the Annual Report - The principle of proportionality and drug-related offences. Point #49 on page 11 of the the report states:
Celebrity drug offenders can profoundly influence public attitudes, values and behaviour towards drug abuse, particularly amoung young people who have not yet taken a firm and fully informed position on drug issues. Cases involving celebrity drug offenders can also profoundly affect public perceptions about the fairness and proportionality of the response of the justice system, especially if there is a less lenient response to similar or lesser offences committed by non-clebrities.
Under Section F - Recommendations - sub secton (e) on page 14:
Offences by public celebrities. The authorities of criminal justice and treatment programmes should ensure that public celebrities who violate drug laws are made accountable for their offences. Cases involving drug-abusing celebrities who are treated more leniently than others breed public cynicism and may lead to youth adopting a more permisssive attitude towards illicit drugs.
March 5/08 -- Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime wrote in a posting called Rebels without a clue:
Coke snorting fashionistas are not only damaging their noses and brains - they are contributing to state failure on the other side of the world. Amy Winehouse may adopt a defiant pose and slur her way through songs like 'Rehab'. But does she realize the message that she sends to others who are vulnerable to addiction, and who can not afford expensive treatment? Are such stars who flaunt their drug use aware of the damage caused by the trafficking of cocaine from South America via Africa to Europe? One song, one picture, one quote that makes cocaine look cool can undo millions of pounds worth of anti-drug education and prevention.
Yet why is this behaviour socially acceptable? If Ms. Winehouse or Kate Moss advertised fur coats or blood diamonds, there would be a backlash. And yet when they are poster girls for drug abuse nobody seems to care.
The media deserves much of the blame. The entertainment industry puts a gloss on the latest drug scandal and uncritically spins the story for all its worth. Notoriety sells .......
To read more of Mr. Costa's comments go to: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/costas-corner/index.html
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From March 8, 2008... Circulating on email...
Latest Drug in Middle School - Dusting 'Dusting'
First, I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.
I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs.
I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them.
On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM.
I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said so.
Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. IT KILLS YOU.
The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you're breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing 'the hit.' That’s why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open. The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. And that's why it’s more accepted. There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
After Kyle died another story came out. A probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this 'new' way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.
We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some 'professionals' do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it. April 2 was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus.
This Officer is asking for everyone who receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers!
This message is true - go to www.snopes.com
for more info about it and search ‘dusting’.
From February 2008....
STOP NEEDLESS DEATHS
LEDGER'S DEATH EMPHASIZES NEED TO HELP THOSE CAUGHT
IN RELIANCE ON ADDICTIVE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
When a well-liked celebrity dies, the shock wave that rolls through society may generate a life-saving review of one's assumptions and priorities. For example, with the death of basketball player Len Bias in 1986, millions of people suddenly became aware of the risk of heart attack from the use of cocaine. With actor Heath Ledger dying in New York with supplies of six prescription medications in his apartment, the best thing that may result is a re-examination of one's reliance on prescription medications.
The use of prescriptions to put us to sleep, make us more alert, calm panic attacks, make more compliant students, or "take the edge off" daily living have become so commonplace as to seem harmless. What may be forgotten is that each drug is toxic to some slighter or greater degree, and each drug comes with a list of undesirable side effects and risk of overdose. There are no signs of intentional overuse by Mr. Ledger, however the risk of death is just as high from accidental overdoses as it is for those who abuse illicit drugs.
According to CNN, the six prescription medications in Mr. Ledger's apartment were: Zopiclone, Diazepam, Lormetazepam, Temazepam, Alprazolam and Donormyl. Zopiclone, sold in the U.S. as Lunesta, is used to control insomnia. Diazepam is marketed as Valium and is used as a sedative and to help insomnia. Loremtazepam is sold in the U.K. for treatment of severe insomnia. Temazepam, which may be known to some under the brand name Restoril, is a strong sedative and helps induce sleep. Alprazolam is known by its trade name Xanax and is used for anxiety and panic attacks. Donormyl is a drug made in France that is used for severe insomnia.
Every drug in the list has addictive properties. Some are widely abused in the U.S. and Europe. Side effects from these drugs include agitation, loss of memory, confusion and respiratory depression.
Overuse of prescription drugs, whether accidental or intentional, can result in disaster. In 2006, seven million Americans ages 12 and older were current abusers of prescription drugs.
Source: Narconon News - Volume 8 Issue 9
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