If you’re wondering why with all the billions of dollars spent on the war on drugs, seeing how that money is spent might shed a little light on things. The new White House Drug Policy pages give a breakdown, state-by-state, on federal grants to deal with drug problems. If the money were more wisely spent, there’s a good chance the alcohol and drug addiction problem wouldn’t be half of what it is. That money needs to go toward drug rehab and prevention.

Let’s just have a look at the money spent preventing kids from drinking and taking drugs, and let’s take Tennessee as an example.

Tennessee gets $107 million to combat the drug problem. Where does it go?

The Department of Health and Human Services gets $65 million, about $27 million goes to the Department of Justice for law enforcement, prisons, and so on, and about $3.4 million is spent by the Department of Housing and Urban Development on shelters. There are also several other, smaller, activities.

What’s missing? Educating kids. It’s a well known fact that children who drink or take drugs in elementary school, high school and college are more likely to become alcoholics and drug addicts as adults. If you can stop them from drinking and taking drugs while they’re still young, there’s a good chance they won’t turn out to be drinkers or druggies at all.

Kids who drink are four times more likely to become alcoholic adults than those who don’t.

So, how much goes to the Department of Education to educate kids and help prevent them from taking drugs and alcohol? Under $6 million – out of $107 million.

And of that $6 million, only $425,000 goes to Alcohol Abuse Reduction Grants, and $375,000 goes to Grants for Coalitions to Prevent and Reduce Alcohol Abuse at Institutions of Higher Education. That’s about $15,000 for each of Tennessee’s 25 public colleges and universities.

Tennessee is on the list of top ten states for drug addiction overall and is the top state for non-medical use of pain relievers (e.g. OxyContin, methadone, hydrocodone, etc.). It also has a drug-induced death rate 30% higher than the national average.

Someone needs to take a look at what the money is being spent on and start preventing the state’s alcohol and drug problems. And for those young people who are already abusing alcohol or drugs, a good drug rehab program will set them straight so they don’t continue. Helping kids now will make huge changes in everyone’s future.

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One of the most disturbing things about drug addiction is the effect on kids.  A recent news story highlights  why parents with kids need to run, not walk, to drug rehab

The mom in this story was pulled over to the side of the road by police in a simple traffic stop.  She had her kids with her – boys aged 14 and 11. The police searched the 14-year-old and found that his mother had stashed heroin in his pants

Mom said she was a single parent and transporting drugs just one time to pay the rent. When officers looked into it, they found out she’d been selling drugs for a while. They charged her with several things – including child endangerment – and her kids were taken away from her by social services.

Imagine how these kids must have felt and what kind of life they’ve had. And how badly set  up they are for the future. Unless these kids have relatives that take them in, they’ll wind up in foster homes. They may even wind up separated, in which case they’ll also lose each other.

If you know a mom using drugs, do the kids a favor and help get her into drug rehab.

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A recent study found that whether or not a person turns to alcohol to relieve stress depends on how early they started drinking. Parents who instill good habits in their kids may avoid the horror of their kids becoming drug addicts or alcoholics who need drug rehab to be able to live a normal, productive life.

The results of this study are completely logical. If kids are raised to put things away when they’re finished using them, eat a good diet, save money, and so on, they tend to carry the things they’ve learned into adulthood.

Also, if kids are taught to work out solutions to problems rather than taking drugs or alcohol to ‘forget’ them, they will grow up with that life skill. It will not only help them confront life instead of escaping from it, it will also help them create the life they want.

Kids who turn to drugs or alcohol when under stress will never really learn those skills and their lives could be miserable. They may not do street drugs but, eventually, they could wind up with a prescription drug addiction – which may be even worse.

It’s also important that parents set a good example. In fact, the ‘do as I say not as I do’ approach doesn’t work very well at all. If parents are solving their problems with drugs – sleeping pills, antidepressants, painkillers, tranquilizers and so on – that teaches the kids that that’s how adults cope.

If you want your kids to face up to life and use their head to make it better, teach them the basic skills they need to do that, and set a good example.

It will really pay off for you in the end.

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A recent study showed that 40% of high school kids have tried marijuana. Many are probably not using it enough to need drug rehab yet, but, still, nearly one out of two kids is a lot.

Who’s most likely to NOT use marijuana?

• Those getting A’s in school
• Those participating in sports or other extra-curricular activities
• Those who live in a two-parent household

When raising your kids, you might want to take the above into consideration.

Many people think of marijuana as completely harmless. But studies have linked marijuana use to several physical, mental and emotional problems;

• high levels of anxiety
• depression
• wanting to kill yourself
• aggression
• psychotic symptoms
• tobacco use
• nicotine dependence
• other substance abuse
• poor sleep
• respiratory problems
• cancer
• learning, memory, and intellectual functioning problems
• poor school performance
• school dropout

And things get worse if the usage continues beyond adolescence into young adulthood and beyond.

“There is considerable evidence that it’s not just an innocent sort of thing,” said the lead author of the study, Ty S. Schepis, a professor at Texas State University in San Marcos. “This is a period of strong change in the brain. We’re very concerned that marijuana alters the ways in which adolescent brains normally mature, particularly among heavy users.”

Parents who think of marijuana as a harmless right of passage and know or suspect that their kids are using it might want to familiarize themselves with more of the research and get addiction help for their kids before further damage is done.

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There are many forms of child abuse, all of which are treacherous, in my opinion. But, what do you call drugging children to make them be more relaxed, quiet and sleepy? There was an article this week about his very subject, which stated that it’s an “unrecognized form of child abuse”. I’d say that I have to agree.

Giving babies cough syrup, or even more popular, Benedryl, to calm them and make them stop crying, is not only dangerous, but just plain wrong. The article talked about a woman who gave her infant cough syrup to put the child to sleep.

The baby wound up in the intensive care unit and almost died. The article went on to say “in this case, it was not an intentional overdose, it was a lack of information”. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you probably shouldn’t give cough syrup to an infant. It clearly states on the label how old a child should be to administer it. Plus sleep is not its intended used.

Unfortunately, there are some “uneducated” folks out there who are practicing this same type of medicating to “soothe” their children. I read another article a little over a month ago about a couple who continually gave their 14 month old baby methadone (a synthetic drug usually prescribed to heroin users to help in the process of overcoming their addiction) to help the baby sleep. And, the outcome; the baby died.  And by the way, this isn’t the only article that I’ve come across about parents giving their babies methadone.

This isn’t limited to babies though, it can happen with older children as well. Some people are experimenting with the effects of marijuana on children who have been labeled autistic as well as obsessive, compulsive disorder (OCD). Hello? Really?

Let’s NOT drug our children to shut them up. If they’re crying and upset, there’s something wrong. It’s an alert to us as parents that we need to fix something for them, or perhaps just soothe them. And, if it takes a label like “child abuse” to stop parents and get them educated on the harmful effects of drugging children, then I say so be it. Not to mention the path it could lead a child down as they get older and figure out that there are other drugs out there and start abusing them. Then the only hope will be a good drug treatment center.

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This week, I came across a headline about a young man who died from a drug overdose. Since I read mostly drug-related news headlines and the stories that are related, I see quite a few articles like this during any given week or month. But, why did this one jump out at me? Because the young man’s mother taught him how to use drugs starting at the age of 14 or 15!

It was reported that the Wisconsin mother smoked marijuana and crack-cocaine as well as used heroin with her child. How sickening is that? And, to top it off, she’s now left without a child and facing a jail sentence. She attributes her behavior to substance abuse and mental health issues.

Many people in the world are faced with substance abuse problems. The effects of these problems are reflected in the news stories that are about drug violence, trafficking and tragic overdoses. But when parents are involving their children into the mix, it brings it to a whole new level.

Apparently there were witnesses who told the investigators of the overdose death about the drugs she was doing with her son. Why on earth didn’t anyone get them help? Were they scared? Were they fellow drug users? Did they feel like it wasn’t their place to intervene? A plethora of questions fill my mind. But, what I do know, is that if they would have spoken up, it’s possible that the boy would still be alive today. And both the mother and son could have received help to live healthy drug-free lives.

If you know anyone who is either abusing drugs or alcohol, or if, god forbid, they’re giving drugs to their children, it’s important that you speak up. Get them some help by contacting a drug rehab center or addiction specialist, before it’s too late.

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Recent studies have proved that pot smoking at a young age can lead to problems with harder drugs and alcohol abuse as adults. The studies have gone on to show that even occasionally indulging contributes to this phenomenon. This is the “gateway drug” theory, and unfortunately, it appears to be true.

Teens who start smoking pot around ages 13 or 14 are more likely to move on to drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and heavy alcohol consumption. This should be a warning to all parents, no matter how unlikely you think your child is to partake. Kids hang out with all kinds of influences and could be doing things that you don’t know about.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any special trick to getting your kids to stay away. But, being honest, having an open line of communication and keeping your children active in positive groups and activities can be one way of combating the drug scene.

If you do suspect that your child is using drugs, don’t wait and hope that they “grow out of it”. Be up-front. Tell them about your concerns. You could be saving them from a life of addiction, social problems, job troubles, family issues and possibly death.

Kids who have drug and/or alcohol issues should be addressed and, if needed, go to a drug rehab program. They’re much more likely to get past the addiction and be able to live drug free, productive lives.

Pot is a hot topic right now, with all of the medical marijuana laws and California considering making it legal for recreational use. I sincerely hope that these studies are taken into consideration. Things could certainly take a tragic turn for the worse!

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If you want to educate your kids about the dangers of drugs, it’s a little hard when you don’t understand much about them yourself. StopMethAbuse.com provides a video that educates parents about drugs. Check it out – Truth and Secrets Revealed About Drug Abuse.

Even parents who took drugs when they were younger sometimes don’t realize how the scene has changed. They’re looking for certain signs and, not seeing them, think their kids aren’t involved. But did you know, for example, that kids hide drugs in drug parphernalia in felt-tip pens? Probably not. And did you know that there’s a legal drug on the market that can be bought over-the-counter in tobacco shops that causes hallucinations more severe than LSD? Probably not.

The video includes info on drugs like heroin and cocaine, but also covers tobacco and alcohol. Arizona kids have a serious alcohol problem. According to an official survey 24 percent of eighth-graders, 39 percent of 10th-graders, and 47 percent of 12th-graders drink.

However, considering that nearly half the adults in Arizona think it’s okay for kids to drink under parental supervision, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Does it never occur to the parents that if the kids are drinking at home they’re probably also drinking elsewhere? And what about others’ kids? How do they get home safely from the home where drinking was allowed?

If you don’t want your kid to end up in an alcohol or drug addiction treatment center, watch this video. Kids whose parents talk to them about drugs and alcohol are 50% less likely to use them. But you’d better know what to say. This video will help.

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