Wood County Prevention Coalition
Uniting For A Drug-Free Community Since 2004
Chronic depression in young teens tied to marijuana use later
19 July 2017 Medical News Today
Although they often occur together, the relationship between depression and marijuana use in young people is unclear. Now, a new study that examines the cumulative effect of depression in young teenagers finds that it is linked to a higher likelihood of developing marijuana-use disorder as they reach adulthood.The study is the work of a team from the University of Washington in Seattle, and their findings are published in the journal Addiction.
Depression, also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, is a common but serious illness that affects mood, thinking, and behavior.
Depression is more than just feeling a bit sad now and again. It diminishes many aspects of daily living, such as sleeping, eating, working, enjoying hobbies, and socializing.
Major depression is a common mental disorder among teenagers in the United States. National estimates for 2015 suggest that 3 million young people aged between 12 and 17 had experienced "at least one major depressive episode in the past year." This figure represents 12.5 percent of that age group in the U.S.
People with cannabis- or marijuana-use disorder often have symptoms of withdrawal when they stop using the substance. In some cases, it can take the form of a severe addiction.
It has been suggested that 30 percent of marijuana users "may have some degree of marijuana-use disorder."
The likelihood of developing marijuana-use disorder is four to seven times higher in people who start using the drug before the age of 18.
Dependence on marijuana develops when the brain adapts to the drug and reduces its own production of, and sensitivity to, similar compounds called endocannabinoid neurotransmitters, which it produces naturally.
The researchers behind the new study note that over the past decade, use of marijuana has overtaken tobacco use among U.S. teenagers. Marijuana and alcohol are now the two most commonly used substances in this age group.
Is your child's use of electronics an addiction or a bad habit?
BY Andrea Guthmann
Chicago Tribune July 20, 2017
In her quest to find out what makes people happy (and write a book on the matter), comedian Paula Poundstone discovered that the digital era surely complicates things.
Human interaction is what brings long-lasting happiness, she concludes in her book “The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search For Human Happiness,” and yet a Pew Research Center study showed that 89 percent of Americans used a cellphone during their most recent social gathering. Digital devices, it seems, are everywhere you look.
“I was in New York City for a couple days and couldn’t get over how many people are walking around with headsets,” Poundstone says. “These people have chosen to live in a city packed with people, then they go through the trouble of avoiding people.”
For Poundstone, the pervasiveness of modern-day electronics has affected her personally. She talks in her book about her 19-year-old son’s digital addiction.
“Thomas just wouldn’t do anything other than play on his computer and phone. I’d lock digital devices up in my safe, but he’d outsmart me.” An avid gamer, he reached the point in which she couldn’t even get him out of bed in the morning to go to school. “Little did I know he’d been up all night playing video games on a laptop that he’d been able to take home from his private school.”
Is the digital era dooming younger generations, surrounded by devices practically from birth, to addiction?
Poundstone sought outside help. Thomas was sent to digital detox at Outback Therapeutic Expeditions, a wilderness therapy program for adolescents, then to a therapeutic high school, where no electronics are permitted and students live outdoors in tents.
Greg Burnham is clinical director at Outback, where teens come for eight to 10 weeks to live outdoors in a remote area of Utah, in an electronics addiction treatment program called Unplugged.
“There’s a clear change that happens in the brain when you’re addicted to video games, which is what we mainly deal with,” Burnham says. How much is too much? “If a kid’s gaming or using social media more than six hours a day, I’d say they’ve crossed the line into something unhealthy.”
How safe is Vaping?
July 7, 2017 by Ryan Hatoum MedXpress
On the heels of another damning statistic against tobacco—it kills more than 7 million people each year, the World Health Organization said recently—come questions about whether vaping is a healthier substitute.
The idea that they could be stems from the fact that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices can supply nicotine without tobacco or other additives and byproducts, like smoke, that are in a traditional cigarette. A 2014 survey of 19,000 e-cigarette users found that 88 percent believed e-cigarettes were at least safer than regular cigarettes and 11 percent believed e-cigarettes were harmless. More recently, a report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only 22 percent of adults believed secondhand vape aerosol caused "a lot of harm" to children.
The public, it seems, has warmed up to vaping, but that doesn't mean the practice is safe, say two UCLA doctors.
"The way a regular cigarette is constructed is very well-known, whereas these vaping products haven't undergone the rigorous testing of other consumer products," said Dr. Michael Ong, associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and chair of the California Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee. "They're so new that it hasn't been clear how they should be regulated."
Vaping entails using a device that heats liquid and nicotine (or another substance) so the user can inhale the byproduct. Vaping devices come in the form of e-cigarettes, vape pens, and even electronic hookahs. They typically generate a plume of vapor that mimics smoke.
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule requiring all vaping devices to undergo testing and regulation that will evaluate "ingredients, product design and health risks."
Such testing is still in progress, but many local governments are already moving to treat vaping like tobacco cigarette smoking.
RSVP to the next WCPC Community Meeting!
Wood County Prevention Coalition Meeting
Friday, Sep 29, 2017, 08:30 AM
Wood County Educational Service Center, 1867 N Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH
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About Us
Our Vision: Helping youth be drug-free, productive and responsible citizens.
Our Mission: We are a coalition of compassionate community members working together to coordinate high quality programs for the prevention of youth substance abuse in Wood County.
Email: mkarna@wcesc.org
Website: wcprevention.org
Location: 1867 Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, United States
Phone: (419)-354-9010
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Twitter: @woodpccoalition