Drug Rehab and Alcohol Rehab

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8563528.stm

The above link refers to the premiere of the first Mexican opera to deal directly with the country’s drugs conflict in Mexico City.

“Out of the last 20 years, I would say, this is the one opera that is telling us a story that is not only on everyone’s mind, but also in the headlines. It is how Mexico is perceived outside as well,” Jose Arean, Musical Director.

Do you think that this type of genre should be banned or encouraged in the arts?Â

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Legal-Highs-Frank-Campaign-Is-Not-Eough-Says-Family-Of-Drug-Death-Girl-Hester-Stewart/Article/200909315385088?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15385088_Legal_Highs%3A_Frank_Campaign_Is_Not_Enough%2C_Says_Family_Of_Drug_Death_Girl_Hester_Stewart

The above link is to an article published on the Sky News website that refers to the death of 21 year old, Hester Stewart, who died a few hours after using GBL. GBL is currently legal, although is reported to be classified as class C later this year.

The family has criticised the home office and the ‘Crazy Chemist’ Talk To Frank campaign and state that this young woman would still be alive if she had been aware of the dangers.

There are two points here, one the pointless loss of a young life and the other wider picture: Whist it is clear that classifying drugs as illegal does not stop people from using them, conversely, does classifying drugs as legal make people think they are safe (or at least safer than their illegal alternatives?).

If this is the case then when is education going to change? Isn’t it about time that alcohol and other legal drugs, such as OTC pain killers are considered in the substance abuse equation more readily?

Do you think campaigns like the Crazy Chemist are effective or widespread enough ti actually make a difference?

 

Is there enough information available to children and parents about legal and illegal drugs? There is plenty of information available on the internet, but is that enough to educate parents and their young children about the reality of developing a drug or alcohol addiction? Should there be more education in schools and if so, what age should children first be experiencing lessons about addiction? Would you say that 8 years old is too young or that 14 years is too old?

 

How could we go about implementing more information for children whose parents have an addiction: crisis lines, on line info, school welfare etc…

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mindenhancing-drugs-are-they-a-nobrainer-1708988.html

The link above directs you to an article published by the Independent that addresses the issue of mind altering drugs and their place in academia. Whilst the article discusses various drugs that are now becoming popular amongst students, all of which are used widely in other areas (for example Ritalin, used to treat children with ADHD) the main gist revolves around a highly debated suggestion from John Harris, director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics. The distinguished Professor of Bioethics says it is time to embrace the possibilities of ‘brain boosters’ and chemical cognitive enhancement.

Do you think it is fair that healthy students take mind enhancing drugs to concentrate harder in exams? If yes, then who should the drugs be made available to? And if no, then what’s the difference between taking performance enhancing drugs in the context of studying and getting extra help in the form of tuition?

Regardless of the answer to the above questions, is it too late anyway as all these drugs are easily accessible on the Internet and it would seem that at least some of the world wide population of students have been embracing the concept of mind enhancing drugs for years…

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/17/young-people-alcohol

Above is a link to an article published in The Guardian that explores young people’s perspectives of teenage drinking – if it’s going to be talked about so much in the media then we might as well know what the actual people the media is discussing think about their national portrait ‘as a bunch of booze-addled louts’?

The key points raised by the group of 17 young people that were invited to share their opinions by The Guardian and Drinkaware at a youth roundtable, included:

• Young participants thought the media portrayal of young people and alcohol was exaggerated. Nevertheless, many worried about friends, and how much some of them were drinking.

However, perhaps the most salient thing about the opinions of these young people, is the fact that they have all had vastly different experiences of alcohol consumption and hold varied opinions on what would work to improve the stigma of teenage drinking, and moreover and how new schemes to reduce alcohol related problems in our youth population could be implemented. This emphasises the need for a more modern strategy to deal with teenage drinking – as the policeman quoted by Jack, one of the young people involved in the debate stated, ‘We know you are going to drink and take drugs but do it somewhere quiet, do it nicely. If you do get drunk, call us. We will help’.

We can’t ignore the fact that our young people are started to drink earlier and earlier and that more than just a pint is consumed, but we can start to do is face facts and talk honestly to work out what help young people need – whatever it is, it certainly isn’t more stereotypes.

 

This week sees Radio 1 launch Drug Week – offering an accessible and informative debate about drug use in the UK. The link below refers to a Newsbeat page discussing the shift in young people’s drug habits. Whilst the article advises that there has been a drop in the use of hard drugs (i.e. heroin and crack) and that more young people than ever are getting addiction treatment, it also emphasises that party drugs (i.e. cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis) are getting stronger and taking them is increasing risky, especially when mixing multiple drugs together. This implies that whilst one problem is decreasing a bigger one is increasing.

 “Alcohol is cheaper and more available, cannabis is far stronger, cocaine is half the price it used to be and you can get half a dozen ecstasy tablets for £10,” according to Howard Parker, Professor Emeritus at Manchester University, who coined the term ‘ACCE’ last year.

Not to mention the fact that alcohol abuse is at record levels across the population and that the statistics publish recently quite possibly do not include thousands of young people who abuse legal prescription drugs, albeit attained by illegal means.

The facts are that drug use in this county, whether legal or illegal, is a big problem and we need a new approach to support our young people – ‘just saying no’ is no longer a valid preventative measure. It seems that taking drugs is part of the teenage culture and we need more understanding if we are going to nurture our young people to make more informed decisions about what drugs they use and how they use them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/the_p_word/newsid_8084000/8084968.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7399192.stm

Are drinkers ignorant about what they drink or are regulations and production methods changing so fast we can’t keep up - do you know how much you can drink and then get behind the wheel of your car without being put behind bars?….get yourself educated about your drinking.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107214.php

The above article taps into how we think about drinking…do you know how may units you consume in a week and more to the point how many units we are advised to limit ourselves to drink…. and what effect this has on our health?

The equation for working out how many units we drink is -

Multiply the volume (in millilitres) by %ABV then divide the result by 1000.

Units = (volume (ml) x %ABV)
1000

(If the drinks container gives you the volume in cl, not ml, add a 0 on the end and put into the equation).  the World Health Organization recommends a week allowance of no more than 14 units for women and 21 units for men - do you know what you’re drinking?