Youth Leadership Project News

The Colebrook Academy Chapter of SADD Unveils their Community Project!  

The Colebrook Academy Chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Group recently applied for a youth grant through our Community Substance Abuse Prevention Program's Youth Leadership Project. The group plans to use the $1,000 grant funds to address underage alcohol use in the Colebrook area.

The group proposes to implement a social norms campaign in which they have incorporated the motto "In the Great North Woods, We have better things to do!" to combat the perception that drinking is a "mainstream" activity in the North Country. The project will encompass tourists as well as Colebrook area youth as its target audience to help change this perception.

The group held a logo design contest in order to have tee shirts created to promote their campaign. Two winning designs were selected amongst the submissions- one for the front of the shirt promoting the Colebrook Academy SADD group and their purpose created by Marion Fuller (depicted below) and one for the back of the shirt created by Luke McCoy (also depicted below) showing healthy, alternative activities that tourists and residents could engage in rather than drinking alcohol.

The group recently hosted a luncheon at the Colebrook Academy to unveil their project to key members of the Colebrook business community to gain support for their project. The group unveiled their campaign tee shirts and introduced the project and its goals to the luncheon guests. The group asked the business owners to help promote their message by allowing them to sell their tee shirts at their establishments in order to spread their message to tourists as well as area residents. Many businesses will have the tee shirts on display and expressed strong support for the project. The funds raised through tee shirt sales will allow the group to host various healthy activities such as snow shoeing days and other outdoor adventures.   

The Colebrook community has been very receptive to this project thus far and the SADD group has shown extreme dedication to promoting their message. We are happy to have such a wonderful group taking part in our Youth Leadership Project, helping to further our efforts to "create healthier communities for our children and families."

Colebrook Academy student, Marion Fuller, designed the front logo for the SADD group's tee shirt.

Middle School student, Luke McCoy designed the back logo for the SADD group's tee shirts.

Members of the Colebrook Academy SADD group unveil their community project to local business owners at their project unveiling luncheon at the Colebrook Academy. Pictured here is the community banner that will be put up to promote the group's message.

• The Coos County Coalition is planning to hold a Strategic Planning Session regarding future Coalition efforts. 
• The Strategic Planning Session will be held on Wednesday, March 16th, from 9am to 1pm at the UNH Cooperative Extension Conference Room at 629 Main Street in Lancaster, NH. Lunch will be provided.
• The session will be conducted by UNH Cooperative Extension Associate Professor and Community and Economic Development Specialist, Dr. Charlie French. For more information on Dr. French, please visit: http://extension.unh.edu/staffbios//index.cfm?fuseaction=display.detail&employee_id=166 .
• We would like all interested parties to attend and help in this planning process to revamp the Coalition's mission, focus, and objectives.
• To register, please visit: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=rpe8ludab&oeidk=a07e3c38smc4f9f28fe  

Please be on the lookout for email communication regarding the session.

Thank you!

Alcohol Infused Whipped Cream?

Adopted from TIME. By Meredith Melnick-Published November 29, 2010

 

Four Loko is so last season. There's a new faddish booze-infused product whipping up interest from public-health experts: alcoholic whipped cream.

According to a report in the Boston Herald, products like Cream and Whipped Lightning are appearing on liquor store shelves all over the country. They look innocent enough: they are canisters of whipped dairy, like the Reddi-wip used on top of ice cream sundaes and waffles. But unlike the standard variety, the alcohol-charged "whipahol" Cream packs a 30-proof wallop. That's 15% alcohol by volume, containing about as much or slightly less alcohol as drinks like Bacardi Mojito and Bailey's Irish Cream. Another brand, Whipped Lightning ranges from 16% to 18% alcohol by volume, equivalent to the alcohol contained in three or four beers - that is, if you ingest the entire canister.

Although alcoholic whipped cream isn't likely to get kids as wasted as quickly as Four Loko did - not without first causing a stomachache - public health experts fear that the boozy whip targets young consumers. It comes in flavors like chocolate, raspberry, orange and cherry. Cream's MySpace page recommends adding the product to drinks like Jell-O shots - a staple at college parties.

Compared with the alcoholic energy drinks that were recently declared illegal by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, whipahols are somewhat less accessible to underage drinkers: for one thing, it costs about $13 per canister and it is sold in liquor stores, rather than convenience stores. (Cream is also available for purchase online.) 

Whipahol is not considered a food and is thus not regulated by the FDA; as a result, manufacturers are not required to reveal nutrition information on the packaging beyond alcohol content.

Kick Butts Day:
March 23rd, 2011

Kick Butts Day (KBD) is the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids' annual celebration of youth advocacy, leadership, and activism. KBD is a day of activism that empowers youth to take action against tobacco use at more than 2,000 events from coast to coast, encouraging youth to "Stand Out...Speak Up...and Seize Control Against Big Tobacco."

The North Country Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition supports KBD and encourages youth to actively engage in the activities in order to raise awareness and support the anti-tobacco messages contained in the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Groups who are partaking in the Campaign are asked to register their events so the KBD team knows you're out there and can offer any needed assistance. To register your event and to obtain a Kick Butts Day manual containing many great activites/ideas that groups may choose to take-up, please visit http://kickbuttsday.org/.

Bath Salts- Next Big Drug Menace?

Adopted from the MEDTOX Email Alert on January 28th, 2011

The MEDTOX Drug Abuse Recognition (DAR) Hotline has been peppered with calls about ingestion and abuse of bath salts over the last several months. The first Hotline calls were fielded in June of 2010; volume hit a peak this month. Abuse of bath salts and particular strains of powdered plant food has now been reported by a number of media outlets, as well as by state and federal law enforcement agencies. This activity is real and it represents a notable public safety threat. Readers should be sensitive to this substance abuse and be prepared for bad outcomes for some users. Our staff believes the problem warrants a special "be on the lookout" advisory for our readers.

Ivory Wave, Red Dove, and Vanilla Sky are the more common forms of these products. Nominally marketed and sold as bath salts, these substances are not intended for human consumption. These products are nothing more than compounds or mixtures of esoteric designer drugs. These powders usually contain methylmethcathinone (aka: mephedrone or 4-MMC) and/or methylenedioxypyrovalerone (aka: MDPV). These drugs are powerful mood-altering stimulants that can provoke effects that are not unlike cocaine and methamphetamine. By sporting a stamp or advisory on their packaging that says "not for human consumption," manufacturers have skirted federal drug control laws. These drugs have no known medicinal use in the United States. As a result, they would likely fall into DEA Schedule I if they were the subject of regulation and enforcement.

Methylmethcathinone (4-MMC) is a designer drug take-off of the primary ingredient in a plant-based stimulant found in Africa called Khat. 4-MMC acts as a central nervous system stimulant by manipulating transporter systems involving dopamine and norepinephrine. The drug is alleged to have some modest ability in causing users to feel more social and interactive. MDPV, on the other hand, is a more brazen stimulant drug. Users of this drug point to powerful energy boosts and activity while high. When taken in larger doses, MDPV can lead to muscle spasm and a dystonia seen with methamphetamine abuse. As time wears on with an MDPV high, users may begin to engage in meaningless repetitive motions and behaviors (tweaking). Some high dose users have experienced hallucinations and profound paranoia.

In combination, these drugs can have added stimulant effects. DAR symptoms will present as a classic case of C.N.S. stimulant influence. Pupils will be dilated, quite possibly so dilated that they could be classified as "rimmed." Reaction to light will be slow. Heart rate and Romberg internal clock will be accelerated outside the range of normal. Blood pressure and body temperature will be elevated. Skin will appear flushed and the mouth will be dry. Speech will be fast and thoughts and dialog will jump back and forth between subjects and discussions. Because these are both powerful stimulants, there is the potential for seizures and other nervous system disorders when these drugs are taken. There is substantial potential for chronic, even addictive, use of these drugs.

Although these drugs are packaged and bear some resemblance to bath salts, they are relatively easy to prepare and ingest to get high. The white bath powders can be snorted or smoked. Preparation of these salts is quite similar to preparation of powdered methamphetamine or cocaine for "snorting." In fact, insufflation is the most common method of ingestion for these compounds. There have been reports of some users who have resorted to smoking the drugs, which is the swiftest way of pushing a drug into the bloodstream. The length of a high can vary substantially. Experiences so far tend to indicate a rather modest span of effects that last for 3-4 hours. Users report that when a high starts to abate, those effects drop off very quickly. Afterwards, users also report feeling out of sorts, slightly blue, or depressed. This experience is routinely cited by cocaine and methamphetamine users who can often feel wrung out or exhausted following extended periods of use.

4-MMC may also appear as a stand-alone product in certain brands of foreign made plant food. Coming from places such as Russia and Cameroon, these substances are typically packaged in small plastic baggies for individual use. Like the bath salts, the plant food drugs are ostensibly branded "not for human consumption." But they too are prepared and snorted in a fashion identical to ingestion of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Abusable bath salt products pose a threat to patients and participants in drug court and drug rehabilitation programs. Although technically legal to possess, their use as mind-altering substances will violate terms and conditions of treatment and probationary agreements; use of these drugs may also be a trigger to relapse. Apart from readers recognizing the physical signs and symptoms of someone who may be abusing 4-MMC and MDPV, there are a number of labs that can provide forensic drug testing services for these substances.

(Readers interested in more information about 4-MMC and MDPV and bath salt drug testing may do so by responding to Mr. Andrew Gilberts by email at agilberts@medtox.com)