North Country 5th National Take Back Initiative Collection Data

New Hampshire's Participation in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative (NTBI): Five prescription drug take back events have been held nationally since its inception in September 2010. This one-day collection event provides residents the opportunity to dispose of unwanted or expired pharmaceutical drugs from households and residences in a safe, accessible, and convenient manner. This initiative will help to reduce access to addictive drugs by individuals, specifically children. National data for 2011 indicate that 1.9 million persons aged 12 or older were new users of nonmedical pain relievers. In NH, deaths due to overdoses have increased by 500 percent over the last 15 years with 200 deaths recorded in 2011 primarily caused by prescription drugs2.  

In the last two years, public participation has continued to rise with far more communities participating and medications being collected. Nationally a combined total of 1,017.5 tons of medications were collected. For New Hampshire, the number of participating sites has increased from 50 sites to 76 sites and during this most recent collection, 62 police departments and all 10 counties were involved. Additionally, the amount of prescription medications collected has nearly doubled since the first collection.

NTBI Collections to Date: New Hampshire and National Data 

For more information regarding the National Take Back Initiative, including news and safe disposal information, please visit:

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/      

Six young men-five of them teenagers-developed kidney failure after using synthetic marijuana in recent months, health officials in Oregon and Washington report.

The cases have occurred since May. All of the young men were hospitalized, and one was admitted to intensive care to undergo emergency dialysis because his kidneys shut down, according to The Oregonian. The young men have recovered with treatment, the article notes. The long-term damage to their kidneys is not yet known.

Synthetic drugs have been banned in both states. The young men were using a type of synthetic marijuana known as "Spice," which is typically smoked. Side effects of synthetic marijuana can include rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, agitation, seizures, headaches, nausea and vomiting, and sudden kidney damage and failure.

"People need to know that synthetic or designer drugs like 'Spice' or 'synthetic amphetamines' are chemicals that are not safe, can contain dangerous contaminants, and may cause serious harm to users - even death," Oregon Public Health Division Director Mel Kohn said in a news release. "If you become ill after taking a designer drug, seek medical attention immediately and bring the drug in so it can be tested."

According to data from the 2011 Monitoring the Future survey of youth drug-use trends, 11.4 percent of twelfth graders used synthetic marijuana in the past year, making it the second most commonly used illicit drug among high-school seniors.

What's being done about Synthetic Drugs in New Hampshire?: 

As of August 18th, 2012, New Hampshire classified Synthetic Drugs as Schedule 1 "Controlled Substances" and are illegal in the state (see the following memo from New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney: 

http://www.madacnh.org/sites/default/files/Attorney%20General%20Memorandum%20re%20Synthetic%20Drugs%20%281%29.pdf ).  

For more information on Synthetic Drugs, including facts and a PowerPoint Presentation, please visit DrugFreeNH.org:

http://drugfreenh.org/drug-guide/item/76-synthetic-drugs  

To view the Join Together Article, please visit:

 Join Together: Teens in Northwest Develop Kidney Failure from Synthetic Marijuana 

Families strive to find the best ways to raise their children to live happy, healthy and productive lives.  Parents are often concerned about whether their children will start or are already using drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and others, including the abuse of prescription drugs.  Research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has shown the important role that parents play in preventing their children from starting to use drugs.

These five questions, developed by the Child and Family Center at the University of Oregon, highlight parenting skills that are important in preventing the initiation and progression of drug use among youth.  For each question, a video clip shows positive and negative examples of the skill and additional videos and information are provided to help you practice positive parenting skills.    

Questions:

1. Are you able to communicate calmly and clearly with your teenager regarding relationship problems? 
2. Do you encourage positive behaviors in your teenager on a daily basis? 
3. Are you able to negotiate emotional conflicts with your teenager and work toward a solution? 
4. Are you able to calmly set limits when your teenager is defiant or disrespectful? Are you able to set limits on more serious problem behavior such as drug use, if or when it occurs? 
5. Do you monitor your teenager to assure that s/he does not spend too much unsupervised time with peers?  

All are welcome to attend! For more information regarding the Coos County Coalition or the Littleton ATOD Task Force, please contact Diana Gibbs at 259-3700 or at dgibbs@nchcnh.org.