Together We Can Make a Difference

Parents have more power than they realize to keep their kids off of drugs

Posted: Thursday, Mar 1st, 2012 BY: Kelly Hill What are you willing to do to protect your child from drug abuse and addiction? Steve Johnson, clinical director of Encompass, asked that question in a recent Chronicle article, which is supported by a quote regarding the power of parents: “Parents think they have no impact on their children, but in fact they have more power than they know.” Prescription drug use continues to increase among youth, and marijuana use is at the highest national rate among 12th graders since the mid-1980s. Studies show drugs alter the brain, especially during adolescent years

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Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know

Overview Medicines play an important role in treating many conditions and diseases, but when they are no longer needed it’s important to dispose of them properly to avoid harm to others. Below, we list some disposal options and some special disposal instructions for you to consider when throwing out expired, unwanted, or unused medicines.

Looks like candy but it’s Not!

There is a drug going around the schools …It’s known as Strawberry Quick …or strawberry meth …it looks like pop rocks that kids eat, smells like strawberries &… also comes in other flavors like chocolate, etc….. Please tell your children not to take candy from anyone even a classmate because this drug that looks like pop rocks is actually crystal meth rocked up with strawberry flavor & can kill them.

America’s Youth Have Voted!

Number of sixth through twelfth grade students across the nation participating in this year’s Big Bowl Vote: 40,000 (and counting) Number of participating states: 42 Top 10 FAVORITE Commercials Middle School Students (6th-8th grade) 1. M&M’s: Just My Shell 2. Doritos: Dog Buries Cat 3. Doritos: Sling Shot Baby 4. Bud Light: Rescue Dog Wego 5. Skechers: Dog Race 6. Coca-Cola: Fingers Crossed 7. Coca-Cola: Nice Catch 8. Chevy: Apocalypse 9. VW: Dog Strikes Back 10. Dannon: John Stamos High School Students (9th-12th grade) 1. M&M’s: Just My Shell 2. Doritos: Dog Buries Cat 3. Doritos: Sling Shot Baby 4.

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Teens Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana

By Join Together Staff | February 23, 2012 Filed in Drugs & Youth According to a recent study, nearly one in five (19 percent) of teens say they have gotten behind the wheel after smoking marijuana. As reported in USA Today, the national study of nearly 2,300 11th- and 12th-graders was commissioned by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). It showed that a growing percentage of teens do not see marijuana use as a distraction while driving, with 70 percent of teens saying it is “very” or “extremely” distracting, down from 78 percent in 2009. Stephen Wallace,

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Elder Substance Abuse: Be Careful!

Co-authored with Kimberly A. Williams) Gladys became a drug addict at the age of 82 when the pain of arthritis got to be too much for her and she became dependent on opiates to get through the day and to sleep at night. Frank became a dangerous, problem drinker at 66 after he retired from his job as a maintenance man in a local school. Every day he drove to a bar where he hung out with a few buddies and drank a few too many beers before he drove home. Samuel grew up during the era of drugs, sex

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Bill Gate’s Rules

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. RULE 1:   Life is not fair – get used to it! RULE 2:   The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel

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Binge Drinking Puts the Brain, and Life Itself, at Risk

11/7/2009 SATURDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) — Nearly half of students at four-year colleges do it regularly (and, it’s not sex). Rather, it’s binge drinking — downing five or more alcoholic drinks at a sitting. “People have a hard time identifying alcohol as a drug,” said Jenny Hwang, associate dean of students and director of the counseling center at Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y. In fact, she said, heavy drinking is glamorized as a rite of passage in college years. But it’s a dangerous rite. The death toll from alcohol has been rising among U.S. college students. According

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Drive by the Rules. Keep the Privlege.

A Comprehensive Approach to Teen Driver Safety

It’s not just good parenting, it’s a matter of life and death. You need to talk to your kids about traffic safety early and often – before they reach driving age. When your teenager begins driving, we recommend that you set rules and then clearly outline the consequences of breaking the rules. We know that getting through to your teen can be tough, but research tells us that teens listen to their parents, and that you influence your kid’s driving habits. Remind your teenager that driving is a privilege – a privilege they will lose if they don’t drive by

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