Most of us have seen the television commercials, heard the radio spots, and seen the magazine ads about tobacco and alcohol. But why is it that these ads target youth instead of adults? Is this just the big corporations trying to get our attention and make us feel young if we drink or smoke? Hardly, this is all planned. The advertisements that these companies are putting out are targeting our youth because they are allowed.

An article came out a few years ago from the National Crime Prevention Council, saying that even though some restrictions have been put on tobacco and alcohol companies that they will still find a way to influence our youth with colors and pictures just to name a few. http://ncpc.typepad.com/prevention_works_blog/2006/10/alcohol_and_tob.html .

Another question I’d like to ask our local readers is whether Asheville is portraying the right image for youth as the: Number 1 Beer City in America? I know that a lot of people love beer, and that we as a community are proud of this recent title. To play up the image, we’re seeing even more alcohol at events around Asheville and Buncombe County such as more beer festivals. But is this sending the right message to youth?

 The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that every day in the US:

• 4,000 teens between the ages of 12-17 try their first cigarette
• 30.1% of youth 16 and 17 years old use alcohol http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k5nsduh/2k5results.pdf

As a community we need to ask ourselves what kind of image we are putting out there for our youth today. I survey the room at some of these functions that we put on as a community and notice that if this were a commercial or an ad for alcohol it would sell well, because we are saying that it’s okay to drink after work, to have just a few drinks, and then drive home. The danger in this is that many people don’t know what ‘just a few drinks’ can do to them in creating a habit and impairing judgment. As a culture, we are selling the idea that you can not relax after a long day of work without alcohol; and when you drink why not smoke as well? It’s another way to relax because you deserve it! Are our lives really this stressed and hard that we “need to drink and smoke” after work to relax? What about some healthier alternatives: getting off of work and exercising, dinner with friends or just spending time with your family to relax? How about taking advantage of the outdoors or the creative artful side of Asheville? Why do we credit the alcohol and tobacco industries with helping us relax? As a culture we are becoming more stressed therefore people are turning to drugs and alcohol to cope. And our youth are seeing that model and learning that’s the way to handle stress.

I ask you to write in and tell us how you relax without alcohol, tobacco or any other substance; tell us how you manage to enjoy your time substance free!

Lindsay Carver, BS

Prevention Coordinator

ARP, Addiction, Recovery & Prevention

http://arpnc.org

I’m sure many of you have heard or seen the impressive PSAs (public service announcements) for Above the Influence, which is a national campaign aimed at helping youth stand up to the daily pressures they face. It’s a timeless thought that things have changed and they are not the way they were when we were growing up. If you haven’t seen the attention grabbing ads, check them out at http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/default.aspx?path=nav or on YouTube. You can also get helpful information at the Above the Influence website for youth and those who influence youth, which we all do, to consider on healthy decision making regarding substance use.

So what about you? Are you living above the influence? With New Year’s right around the corner, this is a perfect time to ask yourself whether you can or are willing to try and live above the influence of what many others seem to be doing on New Year’s. Sadly, an MSN article recently ran an article about the link between alcohol and the spike of deaths that occur at this time of year http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Lifestyle/Christmas-Day-fatal-for-some.aspx?cp-documentid=26855438. As adults, how about we ask ourselves what part we have in influencing whether others make healthy decisions about their use of alcohol and other drugs? We can’t ignore the influence we have on youth and their decisions about alcohol and drug use. Kids are going to be noticing what we’re doing to celebrate the holidays and it’s likely they’ll decide that whatever we’re doing is OK for them.

Has anyone read or heard the recent story about the mother in Western North Carolina who had her 2 children ingest cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics? While this is an extreme case, it is not rare. In fact, 25% of 12-18 year olds say their parents allow them to drink on special occasions and 30% report that their first drink was with a family member (examiner.com, 2010) and this is a report on only alcohol. It’s important to consider how we impact what our kids think is fun and how they learn to “party”.. Interestingly, usa.gov http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml reports that drinking less alcohol is one of the top resolutions that people make for New Year’s along with getting a better education, job, getting fit and losing weight. We’re curious, how do you plan to Live Above the Influence in 2011?

Giselle Bango, MS, MFTA
http://arpnc.org/

Prevention Coordinator
ARP Addiction Recovery & Prevention

Do you remember during A Christmas Story, that classic movie about Ralphie, the cute bespectacled little boy who wants an “official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!” If you haven’t seen it, you probably live on Mars or you turn your TV off the whole of November and December every year. During the tire changing scene, Ralphie drops all the lug nuts and they fall down the sewer hole, then he says…in the presence of his dad… a dirty word . They go home, he tells on his buddy by saying to his mom that the OTHER kid taught him the WORD. While Ralphie sits there thinking about the different flavors of soap, his shocked mother calls the other kid’s mom and says, “You’ll never guess what YOUR son taught MY little Ralphie to say.”
Isn’t that the way so many of us parents are?

Since we as parents feel that our children are extensions of ourselves, it is often hard to keep a realistic view of what they are doing or not doing, especially when it comes to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Continue reading →

This is an introduction to an eight-part series on teens and drug use.

Parents have one thing in common: we worry about our kids and want them to live happy, healthy lives. But national data captured in 2009 shows that, by the time teens reach their senior year, more than 43% are regularly drinking alcohol and more than 23% are using illicit drugs.* Although it may seem like an impossible task, parents and families can protect youth from substance abuse. Over the next couple of months we (this blog is being written by a team of substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals) will answer the questions below and provide you with tools that you can use to create the best possible outcomes for your kids.

• Why do kids use drugs?
• What makes some kids use drugs/alcohol and others not?
• What’s the difference between what youth think/do and what parents know about what they think/do?
• What influence do parents really have over their kids use?
• How can you talk to your kid about drugs?
• If your kid is already using, what can you do?
• What can a parent do to help prevent drug or alcohol use?
• Why didn’t the “war on drugs” really work?

Giselle Bango, MS, MFTA
Prevention Coordinator and Substance Abuse Counselor
ARP Addiction Recovery & Prevention