Energy Drinks Linked to an Increase of Stimulant and Alcohol Use
Energy drinks have become popular with young people in recent years and aside from the effects of the high caffeine content they may seem harmless, but are they? A study published by the Journal of Addiction Medicine conducted with college students showed a direct association between energy drink consumption and subsequent nonmedical use of […]
How Marketing Influences the Rise and Fall of Drug Use Amongst Youth
Does advertising work to influence the use of drugs, alcohol or tobacco? Let’s look at how cigarette use has dwindled over the last several decades. Starting in the 1960s, advertising began to be used to reduce tobacco use and thereby save lives. In response, teen use between 1997 and 2013 dropped from 37% to […]
Another Kind of Peer Pressure: Insistence on Silence
Encouraging Teens to Look out for Their Peers We all know that youth are dealing with a lot of peer pressure. Few kids are immune to this invisible force that can be subtle in its manifestations but brutal in its effects. The simple desire to be liked or fit in with a group of […]
How Did American Teens End Up Addicted to Heroin?
Just fifteen or twenty years ago, it would have been unheard of for a high school student to use or be addicted to heroin. That was a drug seemingly reserved for those “degraded, marginal characters” – the ones dubbed “junkies.” For middle-class families in cities or suburbs, heroin was a subject that seemed a […]
What Impact Will Marijuana Legalization Have on Our Next Generation?
Millions of young people are now growing up surrounded by the fact of legal marijuana. Maybe it’s medical dispensaries in their state. Maybe they routinely smell pot smoke drifting through their backyards. Maybe their parents have used the drug for as long as they can remember. Though it’s not a topic of much discussion, it’s […]