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The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks welcomes you to the resource center for the Elks National Drug Awareness Program - the largest volunteer drug awareness program in the United States. We are very proud of our dedicated army of volunteers who freely give their time and talents to this most noble cause. The Elks are committed to eliminating the use and abuse of illegal drugs by all members of society and believe that in order to ensure a bright future for our country, it is essential that our children be raised in a drug-free environment.
Click a title to hear public service announcements by Milton Creagh. You can also download the files to your computer.
- Teen marijuana use no longer declining
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Recent declines in marijuana use by U.S. teens appear to have stalled this year and their abuse of prescription drugs remains at worrisome levels, researchers said on Thursday.
The annual survey of U.S. teen drug use, conducted by University of Michigan researchers for the U.S. government, also found continuing declines in cigarette smoking and alcohol use.
Marijuana is the most commonly used of the illicit drugs and its use had been in a slow but steady decrease this decade, but that appeared to halt this year, researchers said.
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- Youth Use of Legal Drugs Eclipses Illicit-Drug Use, Annual Survey Reports
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The War on Drugs has long been cast as a battle against illegal narcotics, but the latest federal data shows that seven of the top 10 drugs being misused by high-school seniors are legal prescription or over-the-counter medications.
Factor in the high rates of use of legal alcohol and tobacco by teens, and the incoming Obama administration will face a very different battle than that waged by the current president and his predecessors since the early 1970s.
The 2008 Monitoring the Future report released this week shows that 15.4 percent of 12th-grade students reported nonmedical use of legal prescription or over-the-counter medications, including 11 percent who misused Vicodin and 4.7 percent who misused Oxycontin. The annual report is based on surveys of about 50,000 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders nationally.
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- SAMHSA Data Shows 1.7 Million Visits to Emergency Departments are Drug Related
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The latest Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report—drawn from a sample of hospital emergency departments across the Nation—indicates that more than 1.7 million visits to emergency departments (ED) were associated with some form of substance misuse or abuse. The 2006 DAWN report, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides the latest estimates on how substance use affects this critical part of the Nation´s healthcare system.
Of the of 113 million ED visits in the United States, DAWN estimates that 1,742,887 were associated with drug misuse or abuse, with illicit drugs responsible for 31 percent of the cases and prescription drugs for 28 percent of the cases.
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- 1 in 5 young Americans has personality disorder
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Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind.
The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. The study also found that fewer than 25 percent of college-aged Americans with mental problems get treatment.
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- Parents Can Stop Drug Abuse
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A recent survey showed that while many parents were concerned about the level of education their children might receive, only half were aware of a drug problem in their child’s school.
Interestingly enough, the number one reason for stress among children surveyed was not who was going to the prom, or what grade they would get on the next test.
It was stress related to drugs, in school, in friends, in peer pressure to use or try drugs.
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- Methamphetamine or Cocaine: Which Addiction Is Worse?
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As scientists study the effects of illegal drugs on the human body, one fact is becoming clear: Methamphetamine is more physically dangerous than cocaine. A new research study, soon to be published in the Nov. 1, 2008 issue of the journal NeuroImage, suggests that methamphetamine enters the brain just as quickly as cocaine but spreads further and stays in the brain longer.
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- Who Uses And Abuses Drugs And Alcohol?
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(WebMD) Are fewer Americans using illicit drugs ? How many people are binge or heavy drinkers?
To answer those questions and more, a new federal government study takes a look at trends in drug, alcohol, and tobacco use across the nation.
The 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings is being released by the Department of Health and Human Services.
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- Pain Killers And Stimulants Less Risky Than Cocaine, More Risky Than Marijuana, According To College Freshmen
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First year college students believe that occasional nonmedical use of prescription pain killers and stimulants is less risky than cocaine, but more risky than marijuana or consuming five or more alcoholic beverages every weekend, according to a new study published in the September issue of Prevention Science, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Prevention Research.
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- Internet drug trafficking skyrockets, experts warn
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STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Drug trafficking on the web has soared as Internet use has become commonplace, presenting far more challenges and dangers than traditional trafficking, experts warned at a conference in Stockholm that wrapped up Wednesday
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- Cannabis linked to earlier psychosis onset
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers from Spain have found a strong and independent link between cannabis use and the onset of psychosis at a younger age. The association, they say, cannot be explained by chance, and is not related to gender or the use of other drugs. It is, however, related to the amount of cannabis used.
"The clinical importance of this finding is potentially high," Dr. Ana Gonzalez-Pinto from Santiago Apostol Hospital in Vitoria, and colleagues write in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, given that cannabis use is extremely prevalent among young people."
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