INTERNET YOU TUBE LINKS What the WCTU is all about. (Thank you Maryland WCTU.)

STATE: WCTU of Southern California:

OFFICER NEWS

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REMEMBERING LENOA JONES, Ph.D by Paul B. Scott "DR. LENOA JONES was born on August 15, 1924 in Abilene, Texas, she grew up in Keene, Texas and graduated from nursing at Paradise Valley Sanitarium and Hospital near San Diego.  She married Robert Jones during World War II, a conflict in which he served our nation.  Robert and Lenoa Jones were the parents of Robert Kent Jones who survives. Feeling the need of further education, Lenoa continued her education, gaining bachelor's, master's and finally a doctorate in nursing education.  She pioneered the Second Step BSN program with Pacific Union College by which many registered nurses advanced from associate degrees and diplomas to hold Bachelor's degrees. Following that, she stepped into the role of Nurse Educator at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.  While there, she was also President of ASDAN (Association of Seventh-day Adventist Nurses).  She constantly worked to help others update their nursing skills and education.  She was truly a mentor for hundreds of nurses. Towards the time of her retirement from a long nursing career, Lenoa joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and served a few years as a WCTU of Southern California Vice-president.  I recall her being extremely efficient in board meetings, keeping all on target and on the issues addressed by the agenda. She organized a very successful Spring Rally in Temple City, a state convention in Ontario,visited the Fontana City Mayor at the time of our National WCTU's 125th anniversary, securing a proclamation, hosted our first Alcohol/Drug Workshop with Sarah Ward, and always, constantly, demonstrated a spirit of Christian humility and service. After months of failing health, Lenoa Jones passed to rest on December 26, 2011.  She is survived by her faithful husband, Robert and their son and wife, Robert Kent Jones and Mickie.  May we all be as faithful and ready." "There will be the following in honor of Lenoa Jones: 1)  Visitation at Montecito Memorial Mortuary, Monday, January 9, 2012 from 4 to 8 p.m.   Address is:  3520 E. Washington Street, Colton, CA, 92324.   2)  Graveside service at Riverside National Cemetery, Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 1:00 pm. Address is: 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, CA 92518. 3)  Memorial Service, Saturday, January 24, 3 p.m. at Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church, 520 Brookside Avenue, Redlands, CA 92373." Photo gallery of Dr. Jones.

 

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Paul Scott speaks out, in a 2 second-interview, against alcohol

in Hermosa Beach for the WCTU of So. California.

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TRUSTEE NEWS

 

2011-12 Board of Trustees
(Trustees and Officers)

 

WCTU Youth Worker Verna Kline.

NWCTU Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest 2010. (From So. Calif. WCTU.)

[Link to the National W. C. T. U. website for the latest news or contact
our new 2007 National WCTU President Rita Kaye Wert.]

WORLD WCTU:

39th WORLD CONVENTION
May 3 - 8, 2013
Adelaid, South Australia

(Above from White Ribbon Bulletin, Vol. 107, Number 1, Jan. - March 2012)

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WWCTU Officers meet in Los Angeles, May, 2011

(R- L) President Sarah Ward (USA), Treasurer Dorothy Russell (USA), Organizaton Secretary Margaret Ostenstad (Norway),
Second Vice-President (Norway), Third Vice-President Dr. Dora Coloma (Guatemala), Recording Secretary Anne Bergen (Australia)
& Fourth Vice-President Joy Butler (Kenya).

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WORLD WCTU CONVENTION 2007
Indianapolis, Indiana

 

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From: ARKARBACH@cs.com
Subject: Helen M. Gerrells Stoddard
Date: December 6, 2005 10:22:09 AM PST
To: wctusocal@sbcglobal.net

I am a local historian in Fort Worth, Texas, and am preparing a paper on Fort Worth Women and Social Change from 1880-1940. Helen M. Gerrells Stoddard resided in Fort Worth for several years while teaching at Fort Worth University and then as President of the Woman's Temperance Union of Texas. She was instrumental in passing of legislation in our state for children's and women's rights and establishing a woman's college, now Texas Woman's University which has some of her papers.

She moved to California in 1907 because of ill health but continued her work with W. C. T. U. there in San Diego County and as president of the State organization (1920), according to one biographical encyclopedia housed in our local library. Sources here in Texas have her living in La Mesa and Ramona, and dying in California in January 1941, and buried in San Diego. To the contrary, I have found her death certificate here in Texas and news articles in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with a death date of December 31, 1940, in Dallas, Texas, and listing her as a resident of Brownwood, Brown County, Texas (about 35 miles from her family's home in Indian Gap, Texas) and that she had been living with her daughter in law Mrs. Stella B. Stoddard about 3 years before going into a medical facility in Dallas.

Of course, my paper is focused on her Texas years but I am interested in verifying the California information in sources here. If you have any summary or sources or photos of Mrs. Stoddard, I would appreciate knowing about them and would be glad to supply a biography from my work here.

TWU Woman's Collection does have a copy of Rhonda Jane Jones' thesis Up Rugged and Isolated Paths: Helen M. Stoddard as President of the Texas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1891-1907 (San Jose State University).

Ruth H. Karbach, 3058 Ryan Place Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76110 817-924-9653

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From: ARKARBACH@cs.com
Subject: Re: Stoddard was well known! 1920 Socal State WCTU Pres.
Date: December 7, 2005 3:20:35 PM PST
To: wctusocal@sbcglobal.net

Thanks for all the documents and photo! They were really helpful. It is wonderful to obtain a primary sources to confirm information. Y'all (as we say in Texas) have done a wonderful job of preserving your history.

Stella B. Stoddard, who was the head of the scientific temperance instruction and narcotics department for San Diego County W. C. T. U., was Helen M. Stoddard's daughter-in-law. I am glad you shared information with the graduate student.

Here's some more sources [on HELEN M. STODDARD]:

(1) There is a master's thesis at San Jose State University, 1995, by Rhonda Jane Jones, "Up Rugged and Isolated Paths: Helen M. Stoddard as President of the Texas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1891-1907," that I am looking forward to reviewing at Texas Woman's University's Woman's Collection.

(2) As far as contemporary sources, Helen Stoddard's private secretary and State press woman for Texas W. C. T. U., Fanny L. Armstrong, compiled the book To the Noon Rest: The Life, Work and Addressees of Mrs. Helen M. Stoddard (Butler, Indiana: L. H. Highley, 1909). Copies are at Texas Christian University Library and the Genealogy and Local History Section, Central Library or the Fort Worth Public Library. I have the FWPL one on special loan as it is a rare book; however, I think the TCU one may be available for interlibrary loan if the graduate student has not located one.

(3) The University of Texas at Austin has a scrapbook of the Texas W.C.T.U. from the relevant time period, and the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, has the periodical of the Texas W. C. T. U. "The White Ribbon" in their collection from the Canadian, Texas W.C.T.U. which starts in 1904.

If you wish to contact the archivist for the Helen M. Stoddard Papers at Texas Woman's University, she is Ann McGuffin Barton, Library Asst., TWU Library, P.O. Box 425528, Denton, TX 76204-5528 Phone 940-898-3752, 940-898-3745 Fax. ABarton@twu.edu Ann is incrediably helpful and dedicated to preserving women's history.

Again, thank you for being so responsive and providing such good material.
Ruth H. Karbach

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USE-IS-ABUSE:

(Also see the links at the end of the Contact Section.)

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Ecstasy May Cause Long-Lasting Changes in the Brain, Study Suggests

|December 15, 2011
Ecstasy may produce long-lasting changes in brain chemistry, a new study suggests. The drug can cause a drop in the levels of the brain chemical serotonin for up to two years, according to HealthDay. Serotonin is involved in regulating mood, appetite, sleep, learning and memory.

“We’ve always known that ecstasy produced transient effects, but with the suggestion that there would be recovery over time,” study co-author Dr. Ronald Cowan of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s School of Medicine told HealthDay. “But here we find that these effects may be sustained over time with no evidence of reversal.” He noted the study found an association between the drug and the drop in serotonin, but did not prove Ecstasy caused the decrease.

The study included 24 women, including 14 who used Ecstasy between three to four years. The researchers used brain scans to determine the number of brain receptors for serotonin. The receptor levels increase as serotonin levels go down, the article notes. The women who took Ecstasy had higher receptor levels than those who did not take the drug, suggesting women who used the drug had a drop in serotonin levels.

The more Ecstasy the women took, the higher their receptor levels, the researchers report in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

[From Join Together.com]

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SPICE AND BATH SALTS from Connie Bennett & Laura McCormick San Diego WCTU BATH SALTS: A new designer drug known as “bath salts” has become increasingly popular and increasingly scary. The people who make these things have skirted the laws that make these types of things illegal. While several states have banned the sale of bath salts, ultimately it will have to be a federal law that labels these as a schedule 1 drug, which means it has no medicinal value but a high potential for abuse, and declare them illegal." Make no mistake: These are not bath salts like those you would use in your bath but by marketing these as bath salts and labeling them ‘not for human consumption,’ they have been able to avoid them being specifically enumerated as illegal.” Though they come in powder and crystal form like traditional bath salts — hence their name — they differ in one crucial way: they are used as recreational drugs. People typically snort, inject or smoke them. SPICE/K2: According to former San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy William Perno (co-founder of PASS, People Against Spice Sales), “the herbal incense products, known as “Spice,” are being sold in flavors like cotton candy, juicy fruit and pineapple express, making them more attractive to children.” He went on to explain that “it’s not marijuana and it’s not synthetic marijuana. It is a unknown toxic chemical that’s sprayed on anything that is flammable. These drugs are dangerous, if not more dangerous, than cocaine, crystal meth, LSD, and PCP.” The drugs started turning up regularly in the United States last year and have proliferated in recent months, alarming doctors, who say they have unusually dangerous and long-lasting effects. Reference: San Diego WCTU

"U.S. House Votes to Ban Synthetic Drugs Including "Bath Salts" and "Spice" December 9, 2011 - "The U.S. House voted Thursday to ban more than 30 synthetic drugs, including "bath salts" & "spice." The Synthetic Drug Control Act would make it illegal to manufacture or dispense the drugs." [From: JoinTogether@drugfree.org]

Legislation Banning “Bath Salts” and “Spice” Stalls in U.S. Senate

"Military Spreads Awareness of Dangers of Synthetic Drugs."

 

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Parents, Officials Protest Marijuana-Shaped Candy

October 11, 2011

Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Marketing And Media, Parenting, Prevention & Youth
Parents and officials are protesting the appearance of candy shaped like marijuana leaves in stores around the country. The candy, labeled “Pothead Ring Pots,” and “Pothead Lollipops,” are made by Kalan LP, a novelty supply company based in Landsdowne, Pennsylvania.

The candy is being sold in 1,000 stores nationwide, according to the Associated Press. Andrew Kalan, president of the company, says the candy promotes the legalization of marijuana.

An angry parent in Buffalo, New York, brought the candy to the attention of the City Council. One Council member said he would refuse to grant licenses to stores in his district that sold the candy, as well as the synthetic marijuana known as K2.

The marijuana-shaped candy does not contain any illegal ingredients, according to the AP. The packaging contains the word “Legalize” and shows someone smoking marijuana.

“It’s the whole idea that it promotes drugs and the idea that, here, you’ll look cool if you use this — which is what gets these kids in trouble in the very first place,” said Jodie Altman, Program Supervisor at Renaissance House, a treatment center for drug- and alcohol-addicted youth near Buffalo.
Hershey stopped making Ice Breakers Pacs in 2008, after police in Philadelphia said the candy looked too much like bags used to sell powdered drugs.

[By Join Together Staff : from Join Together]

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"Adult Smoking Rate Drops to 11.9 Percent in California July 14, 2011 The rate of smoking among adults in California has dropped to 11.9 percent, a record low. Smoking rates have decreased among all age groups and ethnic groups, and among both men and women, the Mercury News reports. Men, people ages 25 to 44 and African Americans have the highest smoking rates, according to the newspaper. The new smoking figures represent a 50 percent decline from 1988, when the state’s Tobacco Tax Initiative went into effect. The initiative, also known as Proposition 99, introduced a 25-cent tax on each cigarette pack sold in the state. Part of the taxes pay for the state’s tobacco control program. According to the California Department of Public Health, smoking among high school students decreased from 14.6 percent in 2008 to 13.8 percent in 2010, while smoking among middle school students dropped from 6.0 percent in 2008 to 4.8 percent in 2010. [from drugfree.org]

 

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"News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2011

Contact: Jeffrey Ventura
(301) 796-2807

"FDA unveils final cigarette warning labels New labels will help prevent children from smoking and help adults quit The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today unveiled the nine graphic health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and in every cigarette advertisement. This bold measure will help prevent children from smoking, encourage adults who do to quit, and ensure every American understands the dangers of smoking. The warnings represent the most significant changes to cigarette labels in more than 25 years and will affect everything from packaging to advertisements and are required to be placed on all cigarette packs, cartons and ads no later than September 2012. “President Obama is committed to protecting our nation’s children and the American people from the dangers of tobacco use. These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation’s past, and not our future.” Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, responsible for 443,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and costs our economy nearly $200 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity. These warnings, which were proposed in November 2010, were required under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which was passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by president Obama on June 22, 2009. The FDA selected nine images from the originally proposed 36 after reviewing the relevant scientific literature, analyzing the results from an 18,000 person study and considering more than 1,700 comments from a variety of groups, including the tobacco industry, retailers, health professionals, public health and other advocacy groups, academics, state and local public health agencies, medical organizations and individual consumers. Each warning is accompanied by a smoking cessation phone number, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which will allow it to be seen at the time it is most relevant to smokers, increasing the likelihood that smokers who want to quit will be successful. When implemented in September 2012, all cigarettes manufactured for sale or distribution in the United States will need to include the new graphic health warnings on their packages. The introduction of these warnings is expected to have a significant public health impact by decreasing the number of smokers, resulting in lives saved, increased life expectancy, and improved health status. “The Tobacco Control Act requires FDA to provide current and potential smokers with clear and truthful information about the risks of smoking – these warnings do that,” said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. The FDA action is part of a broad Obama Administration strategy previously announced by HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. “Ending the Tobacco Epidemic: A Tobacco Control Strategic Action Plan” outlines specific, evidence-based actions that will help create a society free of tobacco-related death and disease. For more information on graphic warning labels and hi-resolution images visit www.fda.gov/cigarettewarnings" ###" [Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news]

 

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"17 Attorneys General Call on Pabst to Stop Marketing Blast to Young Drinkers

April 22, 2011

Calling the new fruity alcoholic drink Blast by Colt 45 “binge-in-a-can,” 17 attorneys general are asking the drink’s maker, Pabst Brewing Co., to stop marketing the beverage to underage drinkers and to significantly reduce the number of servings of alcohol in each can."

[Join Together at The Partnership at drugfree.org]

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"Hospital Visits Due to Ecstasy Use
Climb 75 Percent Between 2004 and 2008

March 29, 2011

Emergency room visits related to use of the illicit drug ecstasy rose 74.8 percent between 2004 and 2008, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HealthDay News reported March 24.

A new analysis from SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) showed that ER visits related to use of ecstasy jumped from 10,200 in 2004 to 17,865 in 2008. The drug is addictive, and can cause, "anxiety, agitation, recklessness, increased blood pressure, dehydration, heat stroke, muscle cramping, blurred vision, hyperthermia, heart failure, and kidney failure," according to The DAWN Report released March 24. Use in a crowded dance parties can increase its cardiovascular risks.

"It remains to be determined how severe the long-term neurotoxic effects may be on the brain," said Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, of the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "There is no reason for anyone to believe that the use of this drug is safe at some dose -- the risk is consequential at any dose."

Most patients -- 69.3 percent – treated for ecstasy use were between the ages of 18 and 29, but 17.9 percent were between the ages of 12 and 17. The majority of patients (77.8 percent) used ecstasy in combination with one other drug (31.3 percent); two other drugs (15.0 percent); three other drugs (14.0 percent); or four or more other drugs (17.5 percent).

The March 24 DAWN Report also noted that trend data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed an increase in ecstasy use among adolescents between 2004 and 2008 (from 1.0 percent to 1.4 percent), as well as young adults (from 3.1 percent to 3.9 percent).

"The resurgence of ecstasy use is cause for alarm that demands immediate attention and action," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. in a press release. "The aggressive prevention efforts being put into place by SAMHSA will help reduce use in states and communities, resulting in less costly emergency department visits related to drug use."

[from Join Together]

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"Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence: WHO

By Stephanie Nebehay Stephanie Nebehay – Fri Feb 11, 7:03 am ET

"GENEVA (Reuters) – Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.

Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.

Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.

Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health."

"The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading risk factor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.

In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.

Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO.

"Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.

Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.

DISEASE AND INJURY

Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.

Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver.

"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.

Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.

Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.

In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.

Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.

One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.

Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events.

"Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.

Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.

But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol."

[from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110211/hl_nm/us_alcohol]

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Help Support Children of Alcoholics Week

February 13 to 19, 2011

An estimated 25 percent of all children in the United States (about 27.8 million) are affected by or exposed to a family alcohol problem. SAMHSA supports the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) during its Children of Alcoholics (COA) Week. COA Week celebrates the recovery of the many thousands of children (of all ages) who have received the help they needed to recover from the pain and losses suffered in their childhood, and it offers hope to those still suffering from the adverse impact of parental alcohol and drug addiction.

During this annual celebration of hope and healing, NACoA would like citizens and organizations to spread the word on how frequently children are affected by a parent's suffering from alcohol/drug addictions. Here are some ways to make a difference during COA Week 2011:

Speak out as an organization and as an individual. Advocate for the children and families affected by alcoholism and other drug dependencies.
Stimulate a proclamation. Join with other groups in your town or state to persuade the mayor, governor, or state legislators to make an official proclamation of COA Week 2011. Announce the event with as much fanfare as possible, including a kick-off press conference and as much TV or radio coverage as you can attract. Work with the public affairs office that serves the official who will be signing the proclamation. (View sample proclamation.) Arrange a radio interview for a local authority or call NACoA (1-888-554-2627) to help get a national authority.
Distribute prepared materials. Celebrate COA Week 2011 with a simple information distribution campaign. Use material already developed, such as posters, pamphlets, and publications, and visit websites as well as the offices of organizations whose work is like yours or otherwise well suited to the messages of COA Week.

Become an advocate of support and assistance for the children of alcoholics. [From SAMHSA]

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"Relaxed Attitudes Toward Alcohol And Youth
May Increase Risk Of Binge Drinking In College"

"Should parents allow their teenage children to drink alcohol? Restaurants in Germany can legally sell alcohol to a teenager after his sixteenth birthday, and French children drink wine with dinner in the home starting at an early age. But U.S. parents who try to follow this relaxed European example, believing it fosters a healthier attitude towards alcohol, should be careful about giving alcohol to their children -- it may increase the likelihood that they binge drink in college.

That's the latest finding of researcher Caitlin Abar of the Prevention Research and Methodology Center at Pennsylvania State University. At this year's meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, she suggested that parents practice a zero-tolerance policy in the home and said that there is no scientific basis to the common belief that prohibiting alcohol turns it into a "forbidden fruit" and encourages abuse.

In 31 states, parents can legally serve alcohol to their underage children. Though U.S. teenagers drink less often than adults, they tend to drink more at a time -- on average, five drinks in a sitting -- according to Ralph Hingson of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. About 87 percent of college students try alcohol, and 40 percent say that they regularly engage in some type of binge drinking.

To see if parents prohibiting alcohol might be an underlying cause of binge drinking, Abar surveyed almost 300 college freshmen and compared their drinking habits to their parents' attitudes towards alcohol. Those students whose parents never allowed them to drink -- about half of the group -- were significantly less likely to drink heavily in college, regardless of gender.

Moreover, "the greater number of drinks that a parent had set as a limit for the teens, the more often they drank and got drunk in college," said Abar. Whether the parents themselves drank, on the other hand, had little effect on predicting their children's behaviors.

Further research is needed to confirm the preliminary study, said Abar. For one thing, she did not separate students who specifically drank with their parents at meals from those whose parents allowed their children to drink both inside and outside of the house.

A previous study in 2004 by Kristie Foley of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina showed that teenagers who received alcohol from their parents for parties were up to three times more likely to binge drink within a month, while those who drank only with the family were less likely to binge. So the context in which a parent provides alcohol may be
key.

The difference could also be due to some other factor -- parents who prohibit their children from drinking may simply provide more structure in general, for example.

Furthermore, the sample of college students is not necessarily representative of the entire U.S. population, said Alexander Wagenaar, a social epidemiologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville who has charted the effects of raising the drinking age for nearly three decades. The survey group in Abar's sample was composed almost entirely of white students who lived on campus.

Wagenaar finds the data convincing, though, because previous research uncovered a similar effect in low-income African-American and Hispanic students. A 2007 study of 1,388 children by Kelli Komro of the University of Florida showed that schoolchildren who were permitted alcohol in the home by their parents in sixth grade were up to three times more likely to get drunk and almost twice as likely to drink heavily (five or more drinks) at ages 12-14.

Researcher Margaret Kerr of Orebro University in Sweden discussed her own experimental evidence in favor of prohibiting alcohol in the home. She and her colleagues have designed a no-drinking intervention program that, in a pilot study published in a scientific journal earlier this year, cut teen drunkenness by 35 percent."

[From ScienceDaily, June 11, 2009]

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“Kids See Smoking as Riskier than Alcohol or Other Drug Use”

“About 70 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds see great risk in smoking a pack of cigarettes or more daily, compared to 40 percent who saw great risk in binge drinking and about 34 percent who perceived great risk in smoking marijuana monthly, according to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The report, drawn from findings in the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, also found that roughly half of adolescents believed that using cocaine monthly or trying LSD once or twice was very risky.
Researchers said that while risk perception was relatively constant across age groups when it come to smoking, it varied more widely in regards to other substances.

"We are on the right track with cigarette smoking and need to keep raising awareness among teens about the dangers of other substances," said SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "Understanding that perception of harm is a strong predictor of potential substance use among young people can help guide the development of substance prevention messages."

[January 1, 2010; from jointogether.com]

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"Binge Drinking Affects Even Sober Brain, Study Finds

"August 14, 2009

Research Summary

Self-reported binge drinkers performed worse on cognitive tests compared to non-bingers, even when they were sober, the Los Angeles Times reported Aug. 11.

Researchers at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain said the findings hinted that binge drinking could affect the brain in ways similar to that observed among alcoholics.

"We found that healthy young university students -- meaning those with no alcohol use disorder, alcohol dependence or associated psychiatric disorders -- who engaged in binge drinking showed anomalies during the execution of a task involving visual working memory, despite correct execution of the task, in comparison with young non binge drinkers. They required greater attentional processing during the task in order to carry it out correctly," said researcher Alberto Crego. "Healthy adolescents and young people who partake in intermittent consumption of large amounts of alcohol -- otherwise known as binge drinking -- even only once or twice a week, and who do not display chronic alcohol consumption or alcohol dependence may nonetheless suffer alterations at the electrophysiological level in attentional and working memory processing."

The study, which compared 42 binge drinkers to 53 other students, was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

This article summarizes an external report or press release on research published in a scientific journal. When available, links to the sources are provided above." [from jointogether.com]

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"Alcoholism Among Pre-Teens Often Unnoticed, Untreated

"July 26, 2009
Email . . . News Summary

Most alcoholics start drinking during their teen years, but the disease can also strike those who begin using alcohol at a younger age -- and the problem often goes unrecognized, experts say.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported July 16 that Mary Brennan of suburban Chicago began drinking at age 10 with friends of her older brother; by 15, she was bringing vodka to school in Gatorade bottles and getting drunk every day. Her father, a single parent, didn't recognize the problem, even after she overdosed and nearly died.

The underage-drinking rate in the U.S. has remained steady in recent years, but some research indicates that youths are starting to drink at a younger age. One study, from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, concluded that about 10 percent of nine-year-olds had consumed more than a sip of alcohol. And research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicates that children who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to have drinking problems than those who start drinking at age 21 or later.

"A third of kids ages 12 to 17 had their first drink before 13," said Susan Foster, director of policy research for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. "That's about 6.4 million kids, many more than there have been historically. Very young drinkers are a huge concern."

"We've received calls from parents of kids as young as 8," said Cole Rucker, CEO and cofounder of the Echo Malibu treatment center. "Every year, alcohol use shows up in younger and younger kids."

Young drinkers often get started with alcohol use by getting drinks from friends or family liquor cabinets. Polls have shown that youths ages 13 and up say it is easy to get alcohol from adults -- and sometimes their own parents, who may themselves have drinking problems.

"The traditional thinking is that risk factors for alcohol abuse show up in adolescence," said Robert A. Zucker, Ph.D., director of the Addiction Research Center at the University of Michigan. "But, actually, they can show up earlier -- in children 9 or younger, even in preschoolers."

Few treatment programs exist for very young alcoholics, who rarely get adequate services, such as intensive inpatient care."

[from jointogether.com]

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"Alcohol's Effect on the Brain is Rapid, Detrimental

"June 22, 2009
Research Summary

Researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany have found that it takes only six minutes for a change in brain cells to occur after drinking the equivalent of about three glasses of beer or two glasses of wine, Science Daily reported June 15.

Researchers gave 15 healthy subjects (eight male and seven female) enough alcohol to produce a blood alcohol level of 0.05 to 0.06 percent -- sufficient to impair driving but not severe intoxication.

Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), the researchers found that the concentration of creatine, a substance that protects brain cells, decreased as the amount of alcohol increased. Chloine, a component of cell membranes, was also reduced. Lead author Armin Biller of Heidelberg's Department of Neuroradiology said that the reduction in chloine probably indicated that alcohol triggered changes in the composition of cell membranes.

The researchers also found that the day after the subjects had consumed alcohol, their brain metabolism had reverted to what it had been prior to the experiment. However, Armin warned that, "The brain's ability to recover from the effect of alcohol decreases or is eliminated as the consumption of alcohol increases. The acute effects demonstrated in our study could possibly form the basis for the permanent brain damage that is known to occur in alcoholics. This should be clarified in future studies."

The study found no differences between male and female subjects, suggesting that the brains of female and male subjects reacted to alcohol consumption the same way.

This study was published online in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism." [from jointogether.com]

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"Even Patients with Severe Liver Problems Benefit from Abstinence

"April 21, 2009
Email Research Summary

Abstinence from alcohol has a more profound effect on survival rates than the degree of cirrhosis among patients with alcohol-related liver disease, according to researchers who said that stopping drinking at any stage will benefit liver patients.

Science Daily reported April 15 that drinking status was the most important factor in determining the long-term survival of patients with alcohol-related liver disease. Patients who quit drinking within a month of being diagnosed with cirrhosis, for example, had a 72-percent chance of surviving for seven years, compared to 44 percent for those who continued to drink.

"This study clearly confirms the commonsense knowledge amongst hepatologists that the single most important determinant of long-term prognosis in alcohol-induced cirrhosis is for the patient to stop drinking," said lead researcher Nick Sheron of the University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital in the U.K. "At the most simplistic level, the successful management of alcohol-induced liver disease comprises two components; firstly to keep the patient alive long enough for them to stop drinking and secondly to maximize their chances of continued abstinence."

The study was published in the May 2009 issue of the journal Addiction." [from jointogether.com]

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"A Drink a Day May Increase Your Cancer Risk

February 25, 2009

Consuming as little as one alcoholic drink per day may increase the risk of several types of cancer in middle-aged women, according to a new study published online yesterday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study involved more than 1.2 million British women, making it the largest study ever to look into the role of alcohol use in women's cancer risk. During the seven-year follow-up period, 68,775 women in the study were diagnosed with cancer. Cancer risk increased as the consumption of alcohol rose, and the kind of alcohol the women drank didn't seem to make a difference. Moderate drinking, the study suggests, accounts for about 13 percent of cancers of the breast, liver, rectum, and upper respiratory/digestive tract in women, HealthDay reports.

Alcohol consumption affects more than cancer risk; in fact, in some women, alcohol may protect against heart disease and fractures—if it's not abused. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis reported last year that alcohol use and alcoholism are on the rise in women, though not in men."

[http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2009/02/25/health-buzz-alcohol-use-and-cancer-risk-and-other-health-news.html]

 

 

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Cancer Risk Falls 70 Percent When Smokers Quit

March 27, 2007

A study of half a million adults concludes that quitting smoking lowers your risk of dying from lung cancer by 70 percent, researchers say.

The George Institute for International Health reported that the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration also found that the risk of dying from lung cancer was about 20 times higher among female smokers than among men.

"If interventions only focus on prevention, then 160 million current smokers will die before 2050, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in China," warned lead researcher Rachel Huxley, director of The George Institute's nutrition and lifestyle program. "There are huge numbers of lives to be saved through campaigns to alert current smokers to the dangers of their habit. Effective action in Asia would help to head off a significant part of the projected one billion deaths from smoking that will otherwise occur around the world this century."

The study was published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Reference:
Huxley, R., et al. (2007) Impact of Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Lung Cancer Mortality in the Asia-Pacific Region. American Journal of Epidemiology, doi: 10.1093/aje/kwm002. [from jointogether.com]

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"What Alcohol Does to a Child
By CHRISTINE GORMAN
Posted Sunday, May 28, 2006

"Alcohol and pregnancy don't mix. Fortunately, most women who drink cut their consumption dramatically once they realize they are carrying, and the number of children who develop the severest alcohol-related effects is relatively small: from 0.5 to 2.0 per 1,000 live births in the U.S. But doctors still don't know what harm--if any--comes from light to moderate drinking during pregnancy, which is why they caution expectant mothers not to drink at all.

The wisdom of that advice grows with each new study on the topic, as a paper released last week reminds us. Just one drink a day (12 oz. of beer or 4 oz. of wine) during the first three months of pregnancy is associated with a 2-point drop in overall IQ by the time the child is 10, according to a report in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The effect shows up most clearly in certain visual tasks--like fitting pieces of a puzzle into an empty space--and was strongest among African-American children.

The apparent racial gap is puzzling--and ultimately inconclusive. Although other studies had shown similar effects of moderate drinking among pregnant Caucasian women, this one did not, says Jennifer Willford, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-author of the report. The gap does not appear to reflect differences in income or drinking patterns, Willford says, since the two groups were comparable in this particular population. And in her previous research, Willford says, she has found problems in learning and memory among 14-year-olds--both black and white--whose mothers drank during pregnancy.

As you might expect, the effects on IQ and cognitive abilities became more pronounced if moms continued to drink throughout their pregnancy or consumed more alcohol. Conversely, the children of women who stopped drinking during pregnancy fared better than those of women who did not.

Of course, to stop drinking during pregnancy, you have to know that you're pregnant in the first place. But as another study in the same issue of Alcoholism points out, younger women are more likely to drink heavily than older women and are more fertile--and therefore more likely to become pregnant.

About 45% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, says Dr. Raul Caetano of the Dallas campus of the University of Texas School of Public Health, a co-author of the second paper. A month may pass before a woman even realizes she is pregnant. "If you want to drink and you are sexually active, the best thing to do is to use contraception," Caetano says. "That's what I say to my daughter." And the best time to quit drinking is from the moment you--and your partner--decide you would like to conceive a child.

From the Jun. 5, 2006 issue of TIME magazine"
[link sent by Alice Peterson]

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FDA, FTC Target Alcoholic Energy Drinks

November 17, 2010

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) simultaneously notified makers of popular caffeinated alcoholic beverages that such products are unsafe, unapproved, and misleadingly marketed, The Washington Post reported Nov. 17.

Large brewers like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors stopped selling similar caffeinated alcoholic beverages in 2008, after several states’ attorneys general argued that they were unsafe and were inappropriately marketed to young people.

Smaller companies stepped into the breach, marketing drinks such as Core High Gravity, Moonshot, Four Loko, Joose, and Max. The drinks have become popular with young people, especially on college campuses, where they have been dubbed “blackout in a can.”

In Nov. 2009, the FDA sent a letter to about 30 manufacturers of these drinks, stating that the addition of caffeine to alcoholic drinks had not been approved and that it would evaluate its safety. It asked the drink makers to submit information on the safety of caffeine as a food additive.

On Nov. 17, 2010, the FDA notified four companies -- Charge Beverages Corporation, New Century Brewing, Phusion Projects Inc., and United Brands Company, Inc. -- that the addition of caffeine to their alcohol drinks was unapproved and unsafe, effectively making the manufacture and distribution of caffeinated alcoholic beverages illegal.

"There is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, deputy commissioner at the FDA.

The FDA's letters cited recent scientific studies showing that when combined, alcohol and caffeine posed an elevated risk to the health and safety of consumers, especially younger drinkers. In response to criticisms of that research made by United Brands and Phusion Projects, FDA officials wrote that, "[T]here are currently no studies or other information that refute the safety concerns or otherwise affirmatively establish the safety of caffeine directly added to alcoholic beverages."

Simultaneously, the Federal Trade Commission warned the four companies that their marketing practices for the drinks were potentially deceptive.

"Consumers might mistakenly assume that these beverages are safe because they are widely sold," said the FTC's Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, David Vladeck. "In fact, there is good reason to believe that these caffeinated alcohol drinks pose significant risks to consumer health and safety. Consumers -- particularly young, inexperienced drinkers -- may not realize how much alcohol they have consumed because caffeine can mask the sense of intoxication."

The FDA's letters made no mention of recent incidents in four states where young adults were hospitalized or died after consuming caffeinated alcoholic beverages. The FTC letter explicitly cited the incidents as a factor in its decision.

Manufacturers were given 15 days to act, or face seizure of their products or even a court order barring them from selling it.

A day ahead of the FDA and FTC's announcements, on Nov. 16, Phusion Projects Inc. said that it would remove all additives, including caffeine, from its product Four Loko, according to The Boston Globe.

The founders of Phusion Projects stated in a press release that they "still believe, as do many people throughout the country – that the combination of alcohol and caffeine is safe," citing commonly-consumed drinks like rum and cola, or Irish coffee. The press release did not mention the hospitalization incidents that have been linked to the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages.

Phusion Projects' founders added, "[I]f our products were unsafe, we would not have expected the federal agency responsible for approving alcoholic beverage formulas – the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) – to have approved them."

The FDA acknowledged the TTB approvals in its Nov. 17 letters to all four companies, but stated that the matter was unrelated to the need to have food additives approved by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

[from <http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2010/fda-ftc-aeds.html>]