Help for Youth

This user-friendly resource allows visitors to:

• Learn the science behind how drugs affect bodies and brains.
• Hear audio versions of each page while seeing a highlighting of the words being read.
• View interesting videos about drug abuse and addiction including: “Why Are Drugs So Hard to Quit?” and “Anyone Can Become Addicted to Drugs”.

“Easy-to-Read Drug Facts” is based on research about how adults with reading levels between the fifth and eighth grades use websites. The website uses simple language, navigation, design and features to address many of the common barriers to accessing information. It’s an ideal resource for anyone interested in learning more about drug abuse.

Originally, the mission of the SADD chapter was to help young people say “no” to drinking and driving. Today the mission has expanded. Students have told us that positive peer pressure, role modeling and environmental strategies can prevent other destructive decisions and set a healthier, safer course for their lives. That is why SADD has become a peer-to-peer education, prevention and activism organization dedicated to preventing poor decisions, particularly underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, teen violence and teen suicide.

This year, millions of school children around the world will benefit from D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). This highly acclaimed program gives children the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence. D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful it’s now implemented in over 75% of our nation’s school districts and in 41 countries around the world.

Since 1975, the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey has measured drug, alcohol and cigarette use as well as related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year and past month; for some drugs, daily use is also reported. Initially, the survey included 12th graders only, but in 1991 it was expanded to include 8th- and 10th-graders.

The Cool Spot was created for kids 11-13 years old by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The NIAAA is the lead U.S. agency supporting research into the causes, prevention and treatment of alcohol problems. It’s a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One goal was to give young teens a clearer picture about alcohol use among their peers. Teens tend to overestimate how much kids their age really drink. When they learn more accurate information, some of the pressure to drink can subside.

Our mission is to raise public awareness about the impact of alcohol misuse and abuse, and to provide realistic solutions that promote positive change. What we do is NOT about prohibition. It’s about exploring ways to reduce the negative consequences associated with alcohol and to challenge ourselves to not simply accept things as they are.

Homes4Hearts.org is the website for the Carson City Foster Family Coalition. Their mission is to help support and recruit foster and adoptive families in the Carson City area.

This was created for the “National Youth Anti-Drug Media” Campaign (a program of the Office of National Drug Control Policy). This campaign reflects what teens across the country have told us is going on in their lives.

The goal is to help you stay above the influence. The more aware you are of the influences around you, the better prepared you will be to stand up to the pressures that keep you down. We are not telling you how to live your life, but we are giving you another perspective and the latest facts. You need to make your own smart decisions.

This organization is an awareness group that aims to educate the public about prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and medical devices that have the potential to cause patients serious harm. Their website is continually updated with drug recall news, recent FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approvals, drug interactions, side effects and current developments in the medical field.

Nutrition and fitness are extremely important for the growing bodies of children, adolescents and young adults. Never has this been truer than during the last few decades, when the rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and other health problems have become more widespread among younger people. Obesity is at the root of most of these health concerns.

To address the growing cost to society associated with underage drinking, Congress gave funds to the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to fund the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program. This program provides funding, training and technical assistance to states in an effort to help develop comprehensive and coordinated ways to enforce underage drinking laws.

Drugs and alcohol have a greater effect on teens than on adults. The signs of addiction can be difficult to understand, and many teens don’t realize the long-term damage drugs have on their bodies because the short-term side effects fade. Help is available for teens who have questions about drug abuse or who think they’re suffering from addiction.

A young person’s brain isn’t the same as an adult brain. For starters, according to research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, the adolescent brain is inherently vulnerable to risk-taking activities. That’s because the parts of the brain that control behavior and place emphasis on future harms over current risks is still growing and changing during the teen years. That built-in need to take risks can make teens slightly more vulnerable to experiment with drugs, and it can also make these teens a little less likely to respond to treatment programs which are made for adults.

That’s why it’s vital for teens to enroll in treatment programs that are made just for them. And there are certain things that teen programs simply must have.

Click here to view University of Pittsburgh research (external link).

A common phrase from pro-marijuana individuals and organizations is that using marijuana is safer than using alcohol. At first glance this statement seems true, given how much more we know about the negative effects of alcohol use than we seem to know about marijuana usage harm. However, rather than rely on individual opinions or personal experiences, we reviewed some recent research that compared marijuana and alcohol use outcomes. Key results from each of the recently published comparison studies, along with a summary of findings with recommendations, are presented in this new article.

Click here to read the article comparing marijuana and alcohol safety today (external link).

Affordable Colleges Online offers student resources including extensive guides to help students with their mental health.

Click the following resources to learn more about these topics:

Student wellness (external link)

Substance abuse (external link)

Suicide prevention (external link)

Ohio University students took a look at addiction and the heroin epidemic in Southeast Ohio. The article using the button link below is the first in their series of stories chronicling the situation and what steps are being taken to combat it.