XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.transgendered, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: froid@sane.org   
      
   Krill  wrote in news:sog6ik$tgc$7@news.dns-netz.com:   
      
   > Lee wrote   
   >   
   >> Liberal parents who smoke dope smoke little boy peeders.   
      
   We know science-based sex education works. We need to apply a similar   
   strategy to drug abuse prevention.   
      
   As Chalkbeat recently reported, a growing number of students are using   
   cannabis, even as schools work to deter use with vape detectors and   
   suspensions for violating the rules. The Chalkbeat article included my   
   perspective on teens and cannabis because I’m a psychiatrist who   
   researches addiction.   
      
   I also have two sons. About five years ago, when my older son was in high   
   school, I attended a parent association meeting about the problem of   
   vaping in school bathrooms and stairwells. As parents and educators   
   discussed the issue, I realized that it was time to consider the issue   
   from a psychiatric perspective.   
      
   After this meeting, I began leading drug-information seminars with   
   parents, educators, and students at my son’s New York City high school.   
   Soon, other high schools invited me to speak, and my school-based work on   
   drug and vaping prevention continues to this day. My goal is to change the   
   way we talk about drugs with teenagers by focusing on why people use   
   drugs, what gets them into trouble, and how to know when to get help.   
      
   In these seminars, I explain the phenomenon of self-medication, or when   
   people use drugs to reduce psychiatric symptoms. For example, nicotine   
   improves attention and has antidepressant effects. As a result, people   
   with ADHD or depression are much more likely to be smokers, including e-   
   cigarettes. Cannabis, meanwhile, can reduce anxiety, sadness, and   
   agitation.   
      
   Research shows that teenagers experiencing these symptoms are more likely   
   to use THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, compared to students   
   who don’t have a psychiatric disorder, and they use it more often. That   
   helps explain why vaping at school is so hard to eliminate: Drug use that   
   reduces psychiatric symptoms is deeply rewarding, and punishment doesn’t   
   change this.   
      
   Can anything be done? Research shows that science-based sex education   
   reduces sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies, and sexual   
   violence. It’s time to apply a similar approach to curbing teen drug use.   
   This includes teaching parents, educators, and students to recognize self-   
   medication and problematic drug use so that it can be addressed in a way   
   that changes behaviors.   
      
   Now that many states, including New York, have legalized recreational   
   marijuana use for those 21 and up, it’s especially important to discuss   
   the risk of cannabis without exaggerating the harms.   
      
   When I speak at high schools, I start with the science. I explain that   
   American teenagers are the fastest-growing cohort dying from overdoses.   
   It’s important for them to know that alcohol can cause a deadly overdose,   
   and the risk increases when cannabis and alcohol are used together. The   
   perils, of course, transcend cannabis, and I make clear how even   
   experimenting with opioids can quickly prove fatal. Learning to recognize   
   the signs of an overdose and to administer naloxone to reverse an opioid   
   overdose can save lives.   
      
   I then describe the symptoms of psychiatric disorders and how drugs make   
   people feel better in the short term. I clarify that self-medication isn’t   
   a solution because drug use doesn’t treat the underlying problem. For   
   example, the anti-anxiety effects of cannabis wear off when the drug wears   
   off. On the other hand, treating a psychiatric disorder with counseling or   
   medication provides a long-lasting benefit.   
      
   Self-medication increases the risk of developing a drug problem, which is   
   the loss of control over use. The warning signs include use that   
   interferes with schoolwork or grades (including using drugs at school);   
   giving up sports, extracurriculars, artistic passions, or part-time or   
   volunteer work — and replacing those activities with drug use; craving a   
   drug; using it alone, and needing more of a drug to get the same effect. I   
   tell teens that it’s common for people to feel as if they have control   
   over their drug use even when they don’t; that’s because drug use that   
   increases over time begins to feel normal.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)