NEWS ARCHIVE 2007
The NSDUH Report - Work Absences and Past Month Cigarette Use: 2004 and 2005
> PDF format (recommended for printing)> Full report on-line
The short report:
Work Absences and Past Month Cigarette Use: 2004 and 2005,
is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH),
conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA's National
Survey on Drug Use & Health is the primary source of information on
the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and
abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population,
age 12 and older.
Highlights:
- Based
on combined data from SAMHSA's annual National Surveys on Drug Use and
Health in 2004 and 2005, worker absenteeism by cigarette smoking status
was assessed among adult workers aged 18 to 64 currently employed full
time.
- Current cigarette smoking (i.e., smoked cigarettes
in the month prior to the survey) was reported by 42.8% of full-time
employed adults aged 18-25, 33.1% of those aged 16-34, 28.8% of those
aged 35-44, and 22.3% of those aged 45-64.
- Among adults
aged 18 to 64 who were currently employed full time, 20.1% missed at
least one day of work in the past month due to illness or injury.
- Among currently full time employed adults, current cigarette smokers were more likely to have missed work on 5 or more days in the past month due to illness or injury than those who did not smoke cigarettes in the prior month.
Getting to the Bottom of how Speed Kills
Allan J. Comeau, Ph.D.
This article was first published April 9, 2007 on sbsun.com
Also
known as "speed," "meth" and "chalk," methamphetamine is an easily
manufactured drug that is very stimulating, highly addictive and
results in potentially serious physical and mental health consequences
for users and, potentially, their friends and families.
Methamphetamine
has consistently been the fastest growing drug of abuse, particularly
in urban communities. According to data from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (NIDA), more than 10 million Americans ages 12 and older
report having tried this drug and more than half a million are current
users (having used in the past month). Hospital admissions studies
reveal that in 1992 only 1 percent of drug-related admissions were
attributed to this drug, while by 2004 the number had increased to 8
percent, with more than 150,000 admissions.
Recently a news item
came across my desk about a study that examined the causes of more than
8,000 strokes in a recent four-year period. Arthur N. Westover and
colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in
Dallas searched a database of more
than 3 million discharges from
Texas hospitals from 2000 through 2003. They assessed the correlation
between strokes and substance abuse, including cannabis, opioids,
cocaine and methamphetamine. They found, among patients with strokes,
that alcohol was the most commonly abused substance, followed by
cocaine, with drugs from the amphetamine class ranking fifth.
There
are two different kinds of strokes, one called ischemic - caused by
blocked arteries - and the other called hemorrhagic, resulting from
bursting blood vessels and the subsequent bleeding into and destruction
of adjacent brain tissue. While experts already were already aware that
substance abuse is a significant risk factor for strokes, no one had
analyzed the data in this way before. When Westover and colleagues
examined the relationship of these drugs to the different types of
strokes, they found that young people ages 18 to 44 who used
methamphetamine are five times more likely to suffer a hemorrhagic
stroke than nonabusers. By contrast, they found that cocaine abusers
were twice as likely to have one or the other kind of stroke than
nonusers. Overall, they found that one in seven strokes of either type
was likely caused by substance abuse, including tobacco.
"Using
amphetamines or cocaine significantly increases an individual's risk
for a stroke," concludes Dr. Westover. Pointing out the public health
implications of substance abuse prevention efforts, he adds, "If we
decrease the number of people who are using these substances, then we
likely can reduce the number of strokes in this younger population. The
implication is that it's preventable."
As rates of
methamphetamine abuse are on the rise, the authors are heading in the
right direction and national, regional and family efforts must be
allocated accordingly.
According to information available at the
NIDA Web site, effective treatment for methamphetamine addiction often
involves a combination of cognitive behavioral therapies and a method
called contingency management, where patients are given rewards when
goals are achieved. They endorse a comprehensive approach, the Matrix
Model, which was developed in collaboration with UCLA's Integrated
Substance Abuse Programs. While there is no medication that effectively
eliminates craving for methamphetamine, a number of medications show
promise and have been effective in individual cases, according to some
of my colleagues.
Readers wanting to follow up on the Westover
research at the University of Texas can find his article in the current
issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Those wishing to contact
the Matrix Institute for information about treatment programs can call
at (800) 310-7700.
Allan
J. Comeau, Ph.D., is a psychologist on the clinical faculty at UCLA and
a former president of the Inland Southern California Psychological
Association. Write him at 2001 S. Barrington Ave., Suite 304, Los
Angeles, CA 90025, or visit www.drcomeau.com.
HBO's Groundbreaking Television Series: Addiction
14-part series premieres March 15-18
AddictionAction.org is a grassroots partnership to help communities mobilize around it, bringing the hope of treatment and long term recovery to individuals and families affected by addiction to alcohol and drugs.
This
HBO program is part of a multi-platform campaign to educate America
about addiction and its treatment as a brain disease. The program is
made possible by HBO, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National
institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Join Together, CADCA, and
Faces and Voices of Recovery.
Here
are ways you can get started to involve your community in promoting the
show and its message of hope for treatment and long-term recovery:
- Tell family and friends to watch the show:
http://members.jointogether.org/addiction/join-forward.tcl
- Sign up to host or attend an Addiction Action House Party:
http://houseparties.addictionaction.org/
- Find out if there's a community event in your area, such as a Town Hall meeting or special preview screening:
http://addictionaction.org/events/
For more information go to www.addictionaction.org
Related content:
"Documentary Highlights Montana's Meth Problem," NPR Morning Edition, March 13, 2007.TWO STUDIES IN 2007 REACH OPPOSITE CONCLUSIONS
Study 1: Teen Drug Use Declining; Painkillers Still Popular
This article first appeared on cnn.com Dec. 12, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) – Illicit drug use by teens continued to decline gradually overall this year, but the use of prescription painkillers remains popular among young people, according to a federally financed study released Tuesday at the White House.
At least one in every 20 high school seniors has at least tried OxyContin in the past year, the study said.
The survey, by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, looked at the behavior of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders nationwide. The study, in its 33rd year, found that overall drug use is falling, thanks to a drop in the popularity of marijuana and methamphetamines. But it also found that teen use of other drugs, such as cocaine, is holding steady, and narcotics like OxyContin and Vicodin remain in vogue.
Overall, the proportion of eighth-graders reporting use of an illicit drug at least once in the 12 months before the survey was 24 percent in 1996. It now has fallen to 13 percent -- a drop of nearly half.
Among 10th-graders, the rates dropped from 39 percent to 28 percent between 1997 and 2007. Twelfth-graders saw a decline from a peak of 42 percent in 1997 to 36 percent this year.
"The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are quite substantial especially among the youngest students," said Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator for the study, which was financed by the National Institute on Drug Use. It surveyed 50,000 teens.
The drugs most responsible for this year's decline in illicit drug use are marijuana and various stimulants, including amphetamines, methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine.
"The most encouraging statistic relates to the use of methamphetamine, which has plummeted by an impressive 64 percent since 2001," President Bush said.
"One exception to this trend is a rise in the abuse of certain prescription painkillers," Bush said. "This is troubling, and we're going to continue to confront the challenge and the overall direction is hopeful."
At least one in every 20 high school seniors has at least tried OxyContin, a powerful narcotic drug, in the past year, the study said. The popularity of the painkiller Vicodin also remained constant. The percentage of students using Vicodin was 2.7 percent, 7.2 percent and 9.6 percent in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, respectively.
While the use of most illicit drugs has shown declines in the past decade or so, most prescription psychotherapeutic drugs did not. A number of them showed steady increases in use outside of their legitimate medical purpose. These include sedatives, tranquilizers and narcotic drugs other than heroin.
The study also reported an increase in the use of ecstasy. Ecstasy use among teens dropped dramatically in the early 2000s, as concern about the consequences of use grew. However, the proportion of students seeing great risk in using this drug has been in decline for the past two or three years at all three grade levels, and use has begun to increase, at least in the upper grades.
Among 10th-graders, annual prevalence with ecstasy has risen from a recent low of 2.4 percent in 2004 to 3.5 percent in 2007, while in 12th grade it has risen from a recent low of 3 percent in 2005 to 4.5 percent in 2007. While none of the one-year increases were statistically significant for 2007, a clear pattern of gradually rising use is discernible in the upper grades; and their cumulative increases over the past couple of years are statistically significant.
"These prevalence rates are not very high yet, but there is evidence here of this drug beginning to make a comeback," Johnston said. "Young people are coming to see its use as less dangerous than did their predecessors as recently as 2004, and that is a warning signal that the increase in use may continue."
Among the study's other findings:
• Amphetamine use peaked in the mid-1990s among eighth- and 10th-graders, but since then, use has fallen by more than one-half among eighth-graders to 4 percent and by one-third among 10th-graders to 8 percent this year. Amphetamine use peaked a little later among 12th-graders and has fallen by about one-third to 8 percent this year.
• Use of methamphetamine, called "meth," has been declining since it was first measured in 1999. Annual prevalence is now down by about two-thirds in all three grades from what it was in 1999.
• Marijuana still remains the most widely used of all the illicit drugs. The decline in 2007 in the annual prevalence of marijuana use among eighth-graders fell from 11.7 percent in 2006 to 10.3 percent in 2007. Tenth-graders showed a modest continuing decline in marijuana use, while 12th-graders showed no further change this year after a significant decline in 2006.
• Cocaine was the one stimulant that did not show a decline this year. Between 2 percent and 5 percent of the eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders surveyed said they had tried it in the 12 months before the survey. Crack use, which previously declined in all three grades, showed no further decline this year.
• The study tracked a fairly sharp increase in the use of anabolic steroids by male teens in the late 1990s, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Since those peak years, the annual prevalence rate has dropped by more than half among the eighth- and 10th-grade males -- to 1.1 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively -- and by 40 percent among 12th-grade males to 2.3 percent this year.
• The number of U.S. teens who smoke has shown significant declines in recent years, particularly among those in their early teens. The rate of teens who reported smoking in the 30 days before the survey is now down by two-thirds among eighth-graders to 7 percent from the peak level reached in 1996 of 21 percent. Study 2: Teen Drug Use Worsening
This article was first published Aug. 16, 2007, on www.time.com
As
teenagers say drug problems at school are getting worse, many parents
are expressing doubts about ever making such schools drug free, and a
majority of parents are seemingly less concerned about drug dangers, a
new study says.
The percentage of teens who say they attend
high schools with drug problems has increased from 44 percent to 61
percent since 2002, and the percentage in middle schools has increased
from 19 percent to 31 percent, according to the survey to be released
Thursday by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse.
And such activity is not easily hidden: The
study has found that eight in 10 high schoolers and 44 percent of
middle schoolers have witnessed illegal drug use, dealing or
possession, or have seen students high or drunk on school grounds.
Thirty-one percent have witnessed this activity at least once a week.
According
to the study, 17 percent of high school students say they could buy
marijuana somewhere on their campus in an hour, while 37 percent say
they could do it in a day, reports CBS News national correspondent
Byron Pitts.
Some 13 percent of teens said they had tried
marijuana, and 4 percent said they had used it in the past month. (Such
survey results are often understated because respondents are hesitant
to admit such drug use.)
The group calls institutions where
illicit drug use is so rampant as "drug infested," and says popular
kids who attending such schools are five and a half times more likely
to use drugs than the same teens at drug-free schools.
"Those
kids who consider themselves among the most popular were likely to get
drunk at least once a month, likely to use drugs, likely to smoke
marijuana," Joseph Califano, the center's chairman and president, told
CBS News Early Show anchor Harry Smith. "The world these kids are
living in, that's cool. We've got to change that."
"It has become such a commonplace experience for teens that their concern about it has come down," said Califano.
And
with drug use becoming embedded in the high school experience, despair
and denial are increasingly characterizing parents' attitudes.
Of
parents queried in the survey, only 11 percent said drugs are their
child's biggest concern. Asked how they'd feel if their kids smoked
pot, 48 percent of parents said they were more worried about sex, 52
percent about shoplifting, and 82 percent about their child driving
while intoxicated.
Califano, a former Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare, recommends that parents pull their kids out of
schools where drug dangers are high.
"Parents refuse to send
their kids to a school when asbestos is there." Califano told CBS News
correspondant Barry Bagnato. "They'd refuse to send their kids to
school if it were infested with rats.
"They've got to start
saying, 'I'm not going to allow this situation to continue where my
kids have to go to a school where drugs are used, kept and sold, or
where they're going to see classmates that are high or drunk," Califano
said.
The survey also found:
- About six in 10 parents of teens at schools with a drug problem say they believe the goal of making that school drug free is unrealistic.
- Most parents (86 percent) say drinking is a big part of the college experience, but only 29 percent think their own teens will do a lot of drinking in college.
- Students who consider themselves popular were more likely to use drugs, drink or smoke than students who do not view themselves as popular.
- The survey found 24 percent of teens named drugs as their number one concern, down from 32 percent who listed it as a top concern in 1995.