Methamphetamine Raises Risk of Death From Fungal Lung Infection: Mouse Study

By Join Together Staff | July 31, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs & Research

Methamphetamine may raise the risk of dying from a fungal lung infection called cryptococcus, a new study in mice suggests.
The infection is caused by a fungus called Cryptococcus neoformans, which generally is harmless in healthy people, HealthDay reports. Methamphetamine can cause gaps in the blood-brain barrier, allowing the fungus to move from the lungs to the brain, where it can cause a deadly infection.
Researchers found injecting meth into mice that were infected with the fungus significantly increased the amount of the fungus in the lungs. Their disease progressed more quickly, and they died sooner, compared with mice infected with the fungus but not injected with meth. Nine days after they were infected with the fungus, all of the mice injected with meth had died, compared with half of the mice not given the drug.
The study is published in the journal mBio.

Investigation Uncovers Fraud by California Rehab Clinics

By Join Together Staff | July 31, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Community Related, Drugs, Government & Treatment

An investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and CNN has uncovered fraud by California rehab clinics that receive government funds to assist clients who are poor and addicted.
According to CNN, these clinics diagnose people with addictions they don’t have, so they can increase client rolls. The clinics recruit mentally ill residents from group homes to attend therapy sessions. They attract patients from the street through incentives of cash, food and cigarettes, and have them sign in for days they do not attend sessions. One clinic billed for clients who could not have attended sessions, either because they were in jail or dead.
The state’s Drug Medi-Cal program paid $94 million in the past two fiscal years to 56 Southern California clinics that CNN says showed signs of deceptive or questionable billing practices. This represents half of all public funding to the program. The findings come from a review of government records and interviews with counselors, patients and regulators.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Health Care Services announced an investigation of 16 substance abuse treatment centers for patients on Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance plan for people on welfare and other low-income residents. The centers are suspected of fraud and hiring providers who have felonies on their records.
According to the department, the clinics billed Medi-Cal for services that were not medically necessary, and charged for services they did not offer. The department is also investigating whether workers hired some employees who had been convicted of neglecting and abusing patients at other health centers. The centers will remain open, but will not be receiving funds from Medi-Cal during the investigation.

More States Protecting Retailers from Being Liable for Alcohol-Related Harms

By Join Together Staff | July 30, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Legal, Legislation & Prevention

In recent years, a growing number of states have passed laws protecting retailers from being liable for harms caused by customers served alcohol illegally, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues from Alcohol Policy Consultations, found an erosion of so-called commercial host liability laws from 1989 to 2011, Medical Xpress reports.
These laws hold alcohol retailers liable for harms attributable to alcohol, which result from illegal alcohol sales to a person who is intoxicated or underage at the time of service. The laws apply in bars, restaurants and clubs, as well as in off-premise locations.
The findings will appear in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“The erosion of commercial host liability in recent decades is a public health failure that directly contributes to the exorbitant human and economic costs of excessive drinking,” lead author James F. Mosher, JD, of Alcohol Policy Consultations, said in a news release. “Alcohol retailers who operate negligently and engage in illegal serving practices should not receive special protection, denying those who are injured their day in court.”
A study published in 2011 found holding alcohol retailers liable for injuries or damage done by their customers who are intoxicated can reduce alcohol-related occurrences including motor vehicle deaths, homicides and injuries, according to a nationwide task force.

Drop in U.S. Cocaine Use Due to Waning Popularity, New Colombian Drug Strategies

By Join Together Staff | July 29, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs

The dramatic decrease in cocaine use in America is due to a number of factors, ranging from changing trends to new drug control strategies implemented by Colombia, according to NPR.
The 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found the number of Americans ages 12 or older who are current users of cocaine has dropped by 44 percent since 2006.
One reason cocaine’s popularity has declined is it simply went out of fashion, according to Peter Reuter, a professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, who researches drug problems. “The drug went out of vogue a long time ago,” he told NPR. “Lots of people experiment with it, but very few of the people that experiment with it in the last 20 years have gone on to become regular users of it.”
Colombia, a major cocaine producer, implemented new strategies to reduce cocaine production after 2008. In 2000, the country grew 74 percent of the world’s coca leaves. Colombia spent billions of dollars to fight drug cartels and coca crops. Starting in 2008, the country’s new defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, began emphasizing drug seizures, and targeting facilities that manufactured cocaine.
The supply of cocaine dropped, the price of the drug in the United States rose, and consumption likely decreased as a result, says Daniel Mejia, Director of the Research Center on Drugs and Security at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced there has been a 41 percent decrease in worldwide cocaine production since 2001, and a 10 percent drop from the previous year. ONDCP says a U.S.-Columbian partnership has contributed to the drop in worldwide cocaine production. Interceptions by the Coast Guard and Defense Department along drug trafficking routes have also led to a decrease in the amount of cocaine entering the United States.

Indiana Poison Center Reports Dramatic Drop in Synthetic Drug Overdoses

By Join Together Staff | July 24, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related & Drugs

The Indiana Poison Center reports major decreases in the number of reported overdoses from synthetic drugs such as bath salts and Spice, according to the Associated Press.
The state passed its first synthetic drug ban in 2011. Since then, there has been an 86 percent decrease in reported overdoses of bath salts, and a 61 percent drop in overdoses of Spice, or synthetic marijuana.
State Senator Jim Merritt, who sponsored the synthetic drug ban, said in a news release, “Synthetic drug use quickly became an epidemic in Indiana, with these products cropping up in convenience stores and gas stations across the state. These drugs provide absolutely no value to society, have dangerous and destructive side effects, and fuel a culture of casual drug use. I am energized to see Indiana’s rates dropping and I pledge to continue this fight.”
People using bath salts have experienced side effects including paranoia and violent behavior; hallucinations; delusions; suicidal thoughts; seizures; panic attacks; increased blood pressure and heart rate; chest pain; and nausea and vomiting.
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, health effects from synthetic marijuana can be life-threatening and can include severe agitation and anxiety; fast, racing heartbeat and higher blood pressure; nausea and vomiting; muscle spasms, seizures, and tremors; intense hallucinations and psychotic episodes; and suicidal and other harmful thoughts and/or actions.

Massachusetts City Reports 95% Success Rate With Opioid Overdose Antidote Narcan

By Join Together Staff | July 23, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Government, Prescription Drugs & Treatment

The police department of Quincy, Massachusetts, the first in the nation to require every officer on patrol to carry the opioid overdose antidote Narcan, reports a 95 percent success rate with the treatment. Quincy police have used Narcan 179 times, and reversed overdoses 170 times since 2010, CBS News reports
In the nine remaining cases, five people were already dead when police arrived, and four people had consumed other substances. Narcan, also known as naloxone, only reverses opioid overdoses. It costs $22 a dose.
Quincy police officer Ryan Donnelly, who has used Narcan to reverse eight overdoses before paramedics arrived, said, “They’re somebody’s daughter or son or father or brother or mother. That’s what clicks in your head.”
Quincy narcotics detective Patrick Glynn, who oversees the Narcan program, says the police have two doses in every cruiser. About 200 officers are trained to use Narcan. “We changed our philosophy,” Glynn said. “It’s just a simple change where we decided that we cannot arrest our way out of this epidemic.”
Narcan has been used for many years by paramedics and doctors in emergency rooms. It is administered by nasal spray. The medication blocks the ability of heroin or opioid painkillers to attach to brain cells. The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy told CBS News it is encouraging other police departments to carry Narcan.
In the past few years, Narcan has been distributed free to opioid users and their loved ones, in a growing number of sites around the country.

Brewers’ Ryan Braun Suspended for Rest of Baseball Season for Drug Violations

By Join Together Staff | July 23, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has been suspended for the rest of the season by Major League Baseball (MLB), for violating the league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, MLB.com reports.
Braun will miss 65 regular-season games, and any potential post-season games. His suspension is without pay. He is the first in a potential group of baseball players to be banned because of their connection with a South Florida clinic accused of supplying performance-enhancing drugs to players, according to Bloomberg.
“We’ve scratched the tip of the iceberg,” MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams told Bloomberg. “There’s going to be a whole lot more suspensions after this.” Other players who might face suspensions include the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and the Texas Rangers’ Nelson Cruz, the article notes. About 20 players could eventually face suspension.
The players are connected with a Miami-area clinic, Biogenesis of America, which is now closed. In January, a Florida newspaper reported Rodriguez and Braun obtained performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis. MLB filed a suit against Biogenesis for allegedly providing performance-enhancing drugs to players, and advising them on how to pass drug tests. The clinic’s owner, Tony Bosch, reached an agreement to cooperate with a MLB investigation.
In January, MLB and its players union announced they reached an agreement to conduct in-season blood testing of players for human growth hormone. Players also will be tested for synthetic testosterone, which is increasingly popular because it washes out of the body fairly quickly after being used.
Major League Baseball was the first major sport in the United States to agree to human growth hormone testing. It reached an agreement with its union in November 2011 to test for the substance, but only in spring training and the off-season. The new agreement expands the testing into the baseball season.

Smoking and Heavy Drinking May Hasten Decline in Brain Function: Study

By Join Together Staff | July 12, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Mental Health, Research & Tobacco

People who are both smokers and heavy drinkers have a faster decline in brain function, compared with those who don’t smoke and who drink moderately, a new study suggests. Smoking and heavy drinking is associated with a 36 percent quicker decline in cognitive function.
The 10-year study of almost 6,500 adults ages 45 to 69 found mental decline accelerates the more alcohol a person consumes, according to HealthDay. The study considered heavy drinking to be more than 14 drinks a week for women, and 21 for men.
“Current advice is that smokers should stop or cut down, and people should avoid heavy alcohol drinking,” lead researcher Dr. Gareth Hagger-Johnson of University College London said in a news release. “Our study suggests that people should also be advised not to combine these two unhealthy behaviors — particularly from midlife onwards. Healthy behaviors in midlife may prevent cognitive [mental] decline into early old age.”
The researchers assessed participants’ mental function, including verbal and math reasoning, short-term verbal memory and verbal fluency, three times during the study.
“When we looked at people who were heavy-drinking smokers, we found that for every 10 years that they aged, their brains aged the equivalent of 12 years,” Hagger-Johnson said. “From a public health perspective, the increasing burden associated with cognitive [mental] aging could be reduced if lifestyle factors can be modified, and we believe that people should not drink alcohol more heavily in the belief that alcohol is a protective factor against cognitive decline.”
The findings appear in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

“Doctor Shoppers” Bought 4.3 Million Prescriptions for Opioids in 2008: Study

By Join Together Staff | July 18, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Healthcare, Prescription Drugs & Research

People who “doctor shop” bought an estimated 4.3 million prescriptions for opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin in 2008, a new study finds. Doctor shoppers, who visit multiple health care providers to obtain prescriptions, represented almost 1 percent of all buyers of addictive pain medications in the United States that year.
The study, conducted by the think tank Abt Associates, is the first national estimate of doctor shopping in the country, the researchers said.
“There’s a hole in our prescription control system in the United States,” study co-author Douglas McDonald told HealthDay. “Lacking a universal health record, doctors have to rely on what patients tell them about what they’ve been prescribed by other doctors.”  This means “doctor shoppers can get multiple prescriptions for the same drug if they lie to their physician,” he said.
The researchers analyzed a national sample of more than 146 prescriptions for opioids dispensed in 2008. They found one out of every 143 patients who purchased the drugs received an unusually large number of prescriptions from multiple health care providers. These patients obtained an average of 32 prescriptions from 10 different doctors.
The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Although many states have prescription drug monitoring programs designed to detect doctor shopping, some people are able to get around the system, McDonald said. “There are patients who have doctored MRI results, they go from doctor to doctor and show this falsified MRI record that shows they have a bone spur in their neck and they are in intense pain.”
Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org, said because the monitoring programs function at the state level, doctor shoppers can avoid detection by crossing state lines. “I could have gotten a prescription in Portland yesterday, and then come to Connecticut and get another prescription,” he said.

Having trouble viewing this email? View as a Web Page

Dear Joseph, We join so many others in our sadness about the tragic, sudden death of “Glee” star Cory Monteith due to an overdose of heroin and alcohol.  Something we admired in Cory over the years was his fearless approach to speaking openly and honestly about his substance use and attempts to change his life course through treatment. By sharing his story with the world, he hoped that his experience could be an example for other young people. In many ways, he did what you, our Hope Share community, do every day. He opened up and broke his silence so that others could find strength and comfort, knowing that they are not alone in their recovery. Cory’s struggle and death don’t make him a hypocrite. It makes him human. And his life and death can still be an example for families, even after his passing. Thank you for your continued commitment to empowering and comforting each other on The Hope Share. We know you join us in remembering Cory. We believe he changed lives, and we believe you are, too. Stephen J. Pasierb, President and CEOThe Partnership at Drugfree.org

Help raise money for those who need treatment Important Music Fest tickets

Hey everyone just wanted to thank anyone who was taking tickets to sell for the music fest. we currently have about 500 tickets on the street waiting to be sold. please do your best to get them out there and if anyone does not have tickets to sell I do have packets of 20 available. we are 8 weeks away from the event and a good time to start getting the word out there in these next two months. the direct ticket link is attached please please please begin to forward that out to your email list. there's still plenty of communication available and remember kids 12 and under are free. although we are about to hit the 30 sponsor mark we are still in need of vendors and anyone who wishes to sponsor the event. any questions give me a call the next volunteer meeting will be in August. blessings today and thank you for all you do for the Kingdom and the Ministry of CLPRM.

Bob Sofronski

Director CLPRM

215-833-2512

Young Children’s Personality Traits Linked to Teen Alcohol Use

Young Children’s Personality Traits Linked to Teen Alcohol Use
By Join Together Staff | July 15, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Alcohol, Research & Youth


A child’s personality traits before age 5 may help predict whether they will use alcohol in adolescence, a new study suggests.

The researchers followed about 12,600 children from the time they were born. Parents were asked about their children’s personalities in the first five years of life; after that, the researchers interviewed both the children and their parents, Fox News reports. By age 15 ½, 4,600 teens were still participating. The researchers were able to statistically extrapolate results from the teens who had dropped out of the study.

They found the personality traits in toddlers most closely associated with teen alcohol use fell into two categories: emotional instability and relatively low sociability, and high sociability, which may lead to “sensation seeking” later in life. The findings appear in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

“This underscores the fact that drinking during adolescence is largely a social phenomenon,” study co-author Danielle Dick of Virginia Commonwealth University said in a journal news release. “However, this doesn’t mean it’s less problematic; we know from other studies that most adolescent drinking is high risk — for example, binge drinking — and can lead to numerous negative consequences.”

She added, “People don’t enter adolescence as blank slates; they have a history of life experiences that they bring with them, dating back to early childhood. This is one of the most comprehensive attempts to understand very early childhood predictors of adolescent alcohol use in a large epidemiological cohort.” She noted the study indicates that troubled children are not the only ones who start to use alcohol. “It’s also the highly sociable kids as well. Parents should be aware of this.”

www.recoverywalks.org Saturday, September 21, 2013 Click here to register for or donate to the Walk! National Recovery Month Baseball Game YOU Could Throw the First Pitch!         A Recovery Walks Team Captain is throwing out the first pitch at the Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves game on September 6 (for tickets click here). YOU could do the same at next year's National Recovery Month Baseball Game. And that's only one of the prizes. PRO-ACT has announced that it will award this Grand Prize again on September 21 to the Team Captain whose team raises the most in donations for Recovery Walks 2013. They will earn: The honor of throwing out the first pitch at the 2014 National Recovery Month Baseball Game! A pre-game tour of Citizens Park for four (4) people Four (4) complimentary field-level seats Their picture on Phanavision An electronic disc showing them throwing the first pitch in September 2014 Deadline for the winning team donations total is the day of Recovery Walks 2013, September 21. The winning total will include all donations made up to and including the day of the Walk. The names of the winning team captain and team will be announced from the stage on September 21, 2013. Recovery Walks! 2013 Team Captain Kickoff Meetings         Some of our Recovery Walks 2013 Team Captain Kickoff events are listed below. We will be announcing others shortly.         Attend one of these meetings and learn everything you need to know about being an effective Team Captain for Recovery Walks! 2013. You will learn how to register your team easily online and fundraise effectively through the use of e-mail, Facebook, and sponsorship forms. We will give you helpful tips on how to organize your team including having a team banner and team t-shirts, and identifying a meeting place. Philadelphia Recovery Training Center (PRTC)   Location: 444 N. 3rd Street, Suite 307, Philadelphia, PA 19123   Dates: July 18 from 12 noon-1:30 pm or July 24 from 5:30-7:00 pm   To register: Call Kim Doughty (215-923-1661) or e-mail her here Philadelphia Recovery Community Center (PRCC)   Location: 1701 W. Lehigh Avenue, #6, Philadelphia, PA 19132   Dates: July 17 from 2:00-3:30 pm or July 30 from 6:00-7:30 pm   To register: Call Sean Brinda (215-223-7700) or e-mail him here Southern Bucks Recovery Community Center (SBRCC)   Location: 1286 New Rogers Road (Veterans Highway), Unit D-6, Bristol, PA 19007   Dates: July 22 from 6:00-7:00 pm or August 3 from 10:00-11:00 am   To register: Call Annika Odhner (215-788-3738) or e-mail her here Central Bucks Recovery Resource Center (CBRRC)   Location: 252 W. Swamp Road, Bailiwick Unit 12, Doylestown, PA 18901   Date: July 30 from 6:30 pm-7:30 pm   To register: Call Jeanne McDermott (215 345-6644 x 3120) or e-mail her here   Order Your Team T-shirts Now!              We're anticipating 18,000-20,000 people at PRO-ACT's Recovery Walk on September 21. How can you make your team stand out among them? Design and order team t-shirts for your walkers--select the color of the shirt and the lettering, your team name and anything else you wish.         We have made arrangements with Ayers Promotions for you and your team to customize the look of your group; however, all questions, orders, and payments must be made directly with Ayers (not with PRO-ACT). To order t-shirts, contact Karen:   Phone: 215-822-2366 or e-mail her here Ayers Promotions - 900A Old Bethlehem Pike, Colmar, PA 18915; Web                                             Deadline for ordering: Tuesday, September 3 Pricing for customized team t-shirts (S, M, L, XL)*   12-24 shirts $9.50 each   25-48 shirts $8.50 each   49-71 shirts $8.00 each   72-143 shirts $7.50 each Larger sizes are available for a small surcharge:   Size 2X - additional $1.50 per shirt   Size 3X - additional $2.50 per shirt  *Pricing includes   Choice of t-shirt color and one-color print (2-color print, add $1 per t-shirt)   Recovery Walks! "legs" logo with 2013 on the front of the shirt (over the heart)   Team name on back in one-color print (2-color print, add $1 per t-shirt)   Other options are available but pricing must be discussed directly with Karen or Ayres *Shipping (if needed) is additional A Special Thanks to Our Top Sponsors!  A complete list of our sponsors can be viewed here

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. 252 West Swamp Road, Unit 12 Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901 215-345-6644 www.councilsepa.org

Study Links Assault Injuries, Guns and Substance Abuse in Youth


By Join Together Staff | July 10, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Alcohol, Drugs,Research & Youth


Teens and young adults who are treated in the emergency room for injury from an assault, who own or carry a gun, are more likely to have problems with substance abuse and aggressive behavior than those without guns, a new study finds.


Researchers from the University of Michigan Injury Center studied 689 teens and young adults who were treated in an emergency room for injuries from an assault. They found 23 percent reported they owned or carried a gun in the past six months. Those with guns were more likely than those without them to use illegal drugs or misuse prescription drugs, the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics. They were also more likely to have been in a serious fight in recent months, and to approve of retaliation after an injury, PsychCentralreports.


“This study zeroes in on a high-risk population of assault injured youth that has not been studied in this way previously,” lead author Patrick Carter, M.D., said in a news release. “The high rates of substance use, fighting and attitudes favoring retaliation, combined with the fact that so many of these youth had firearms, increases their risk for future firearm violence, as well as injury or death. But, our findings also provide an opportunity for public health interventions that could decrease their future firearm violence risk.”

DAILY MEMOIRS OF A RECOVE-REE JULY 8

At some point in life we get stuck by a disappointment or a heart break. If you truly think about it, it doesn't matter what it is you use to deal with that heart ache. Some use drugs, food, gambling etc. It's funny how people can experience the same type of heart ache but use different ways of dealing with it. We must have good coping skills and if we haven't been taught any that's one reason some of us might use to the point of getting numb and going through life in a blur. WE must not let the painful moments of life shut us down and keep us from moving on and finding success in life. The definition of insanity is....Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! We must get out of our mold and create a new one. Do not let your past determine you future. Take your past and make it a part of your future by learning and growing from it. REMEMBER JESUS LOVES YOU!

Blogging Myself Sober | The Fix

Blogging Myself Sober | The Fix

DAILY MEMOIRS OF A RECOVE-REE JULY 3

At some point in life we get stuck by a disappointment or a heart break. If you truly think about it, it doesn't matter what it is you use to deal with that heart ache. Some use drugs, food, gambling etc. It's funny how people can experience the same type of heart ache but use different ways of dealing with it. We must have good coping skills and if we haven't been taught any that's one reason some of us might use to the point of getting numb and going through life in a blur. WE must not let the painful moments of life shut us down and keep us from moving on and finding success in life. The definition of insanity is....Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! We must get out of our mold and create a new one. Do not let your past determine you future. Take your past and make it a part of your future by learning and growing from it. REMEMBER JESUS LOVES YOU!

By Joseph Dickerson

GOLFING FOR RECOVERY

Charity Golf Tournament at Hidden Creek Golf Club!

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Hansen Foundation: www.hansenfoundationnj.org Hendricks House & Hansen House: www.hendrickshouse.org Hidden Creek Golf Club: www.hiddencreekclub.com

Follow on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 The Hansen Foundation, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are a friend of The Hansen Foundation. Our mailing address is: The Hansen Foundation 523 S. Leipzig Ave. PO Box 1020 Cologne, NJ 08213 Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

DAILY MEMOIRS OF A RECOVE-REE JUNE 26

Our little boy seems to always be sick and we can get so caught up in the right here and now and then worry, panic and anxiety take hold.  Though it will be difficult we need to try and not focus on the immediate circumstances.  We have to get ourselves to a point where we realize that there are people in the world who I am sure have worse situations then our own.  My favorite book "Bible" states that the Lord is faithful and he has plans to bring good into our lives and to prosperous us.  When we are going through the toughest trials of our lives if we can just take a moment and look past the immediate circumstance we will find some of Gods greatest gifts.  We must make a stand and trust Him and let not the fear worry and panic over take any situation that we face.  He has a plan and a purpose.  Trust in Him with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your path.  REMEMBER JESUS LOVES YOU!

Don’t Just Talk to Your Teen: Put it in Writing

Having trouble viewing this email? View as a Web Page





Dear Joseph,

As a dad, I know firsthand that it’s not always easy to talk to kids about anything, let alone drugs and alcohol. The conversation can go downhill quickly. But making sure your kids know your expectations when it comes to substance abuse is important. It could serve as a critical prevention tool.

To help me start my conversation with my own teenage son, I decided to put the details of our discussions about drugs and alcohol into writing. By signing a contract, my son promised to stay safe, avoid drugs and alcohol and be open and honest with me. This wasn’t one-sided, however: I promised to support him, listen to him and help keep him safe.





Our written contract became an incredibly useful tool for my family. Your own agreement can contain whatever terms you’d like. When you set boundaries and expectations when it comes to drugs and alcohol, and educate teens about the dangers of this behavior, they will be much less likely to use in the first place.

Best,

Jerry Otero
Parent Support Specialist
The Partnership at Drugfree.org