A Winning Demographic in the War on Drugs

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January 22-28, 2018 is National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week. This outreach awareness effort was created to help parents and educators get teenagers the information they need to make the right choices, and recent trends show such efforts are paying off.

For teens and young adults, marijuana and inhalants top the list of abused substances, as well as incidents of binge drinking. Fortunately, at least among this demographic, evidence-based prevention programs are making excellent progress. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

This year's Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of drug use and attitudes among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in hundreds of schools across the country continues to report promising trends, with past-year use of illicit drugs other than marijuana holding steady at the lowest levels in over two decades–5.8 percent among 8th graders, 9.4 percent among 10th graders, and 13.3 percent among 12th graders. This is down from peak rates of 13.1 percent for 8th graders and 18.4 percent for 10th graders in 1996, and 21.6 percent for 12th graders in 2001.

Especially encouraging is the reduction of opioid abuse among teens, a problem that continues to plague adults in the nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

For more information on talking with your kids about substance abuse, visit www.drugabuse.gov/publications for downloadable resources.

First Responders and Street Drugs Emergency Care

EMS and other first responders know that responding to street drug incidents is a typical part of their daily routine. To help prepare your crew, 24-7 EMS offers the following course from our comprehensive library of online continuing education courses:

24-7 EMS Online: Street Drugs
This course, featuring Wendy Klein-Schwartz, MD, Maryland Poison Center and University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, teaches responders how to identify signs, symptoms and best practices for treating drug overdoses. The program covers: