Good morning!

For years, folks have asked us whether methamphetamine is an issue for Long Island and we've been able to say that it's around, but not prevalent, if only because other drugs such as heroin are more accessible and cheaper. Methamphetamine use among teens has declined dramatically nationwide in recent years - even in the Midwest and in rural communities where the numbers were once very high. We've begun to get anecdotal reports, however, that suggest that methamphetamine use among young people is on the rise in Nassau/Suffolk, which only adds to our challenges in addressing an epidemic of abuse and addiction among adolescents. Please learn as much about methamphetamine as you can so that perhaps we can get a head-start on saving our kids from yet another emergent threat.

Here are some helpful links:

Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D, CEAP, SAP
Executive Director

The most recent DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network) Report published by SAMHSA detailed data related to energy drinks and found a sharp increase in the number of emergency department (ED) visits involving energy drinks between 2005 (1,128 visits) and 2008 and 2009 (16,053 and 13,114 visits, respectively), representing about a tenfold increase between 2005 and 2009.

 

Approximately half of the energy drink- related ED visits (52%) made by patients aged 18 to 25 involved combinations of energy drinks with alcohol or other drugs

 

Overall, more ED visits involving energy drinks were made by males (64%) than by females (36%), and visits by males were more likely than visits by females to involve energy drinks in combination with alcohol (20% vs. 10%) or illicit drugs (12% vs. 5%); visits made by females were more likely to involve energy drinks in combination with pharmaceuticals than visits by males (35% vs. 23%). More than two thirds (67%) of visits involving energy drinks were classified as adverse reactions. The study is linked here.

 

This new data confirms what EDs on Long Island have been seeing and supports local moves led by Suffolk Legislator Lynne C. Nowick (R-Smithtown) to better regulate the sale of energy drinks, especially to minors. Kudos to Nowick and her colleagues for leading the way on this important issue.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last Thursday to ban more than 30 synthetic drugs, including "bath salts" and "spice." The Synthetic Drug Control Act would make it illegal to manufacture or dispense the drugs and would also give the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) more authority to put temporary bans on potentially hazardous drugs as they emerge and are being investigated. The bill passed by a vote of 317 to 98, with Long Island Reps Bishop, King and McCarthy voting for the measure and Rep. Gary Ackerman voting against it. Rep. Steve Israel didn't vote.

 

The bill, which is linked here, now moves to the Senate. The bill there is Senate Bill 605 and New York's own Sen. Chuck Schumer is one of 11 co-sponsors. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is not.

 

 

LICADD's professional educators are available to speak at your school, youth group, house of worship or company. We offer more than 25 different workshops ranging in length from 45 minutes to two hours. Underage drinking, painkiller misuse and diversion, alcoholism, addiction as a family disease and parenting workshops are just some of the topics we're ready to discuss. We are accepting speaker requests for 2012 right now.