about the risks of drug abuse and the benefits of living a drug-free life.

• Let your kids know the immediate effects of drug use, such as doing poorly in school, disappointing the family or negatively impacting their health.

• Model the behavior you want your kids to learn. Your kids pay as much attention to your actions as they do to your words.

For more information on risk and protective factors, visit the National Institute on Drug Abuse at www.nida.nih.gov/prevention/ risk.html.

Research has shown that key risk periods for drug use are during major transitions in children’s lives. Such transitions include movement from elementary to middle school, and from middle to high school. These transitions often lead to significant increases in drug use. One study found the most dramatic increase in drug use occurred between the ages of 13 and 14, when adolescents transition from middle to high school. Similarly, the more often people move in and around a community, the more such movement is linked to a risk of problems with drugs and crime.

Combating substance use among

youth requires diligence and proactive, preventive measures. Here are some specific tips for parents:

• Make clear rules for your kids and enforce them consistently.

• Tell your kids you do not want them using drugs - ever.

• Know where your children are, who they are spending time with, how to reach them and when they will be home.

• Praise their positive behavior. • Help your child learn ways to

say no to drugs so that when drugs are offered they will know how to reject them.

• Open an ongoing dialogue

North Carolina is one of 46 states that are beneficiaries of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, whereby major tobacco companies must pay those states for 25 years to compensate for financial burdens due to tobacco use. To administer these annual payments the NC General Assembly set up three trust funds, one of which is the Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF). The HWTF receives 25% of the annual payment to address the health needs of vulnerable and underserved populations through prevention efforts, including a statewide teen tobacco prevention initiative.

Since 2003, HWTF tobacco prevention and cessation grants have impacted all 100 counties in

North Carolina. Grantees are physically located in 75 counties across the state, and the other 25 counties benefit from the work of statewide grantees. HWTF also funds the highly effective, award-winning TRU (Tobacco Reality Unfiltered) media campaign that utilizes personal stories of individuals directly affected by tobacco, as well as the NC Quitline, a toll free, statewide tobacco use quit line. These collective HWTF funded statewide and community based efforts have yielded the following results:

• There are 53,000 fewer youth smokers than in 2003 when HWTF tobacco prevention programs began.

• Over 28,000 people have been

provided quit help by the NC Quitline, the only free cessation resource for smokers in the entire state.

• The middle school smoking rate in NC has been cut by more than half (from 9.3% to 4.3%) and the high school smoking rate has dropped by one-third (from 27% to 16.7%). These are the lowest rates ever recorded in our state’s history.

In March 2011, HWTF announced the findings of a first ever benefit-cost analysis of its programs by an independent evaluator. The analysis indicates that for every $1 that HWTF spends on programs, an estimated $2.54 is generated in

Continued on page 4

Transitions and Youth Substance Use

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Teens with “Summer Time” on Their Hands

2

Substance Abuse and NC Adolescent Girls

2

ER Visits from Ecstasy Jump 75 Percent

2

Training Opportunity for MS Health/ PE Teachers

3

Marketing the Critical Thinker

3

TRU Photo Voice 2011

4

TRU Club “33” Campaigns

4

TRU Movement in Jeopardy

J U N E 2 0 1 1 S U P P O R T A N D P R E V E N T I O N O B S E R V A N C E S A N D E V E N T S

• National Internet Safety Month (June)

• Home Safety Month (June)

• Last Day of School (June 10)

• National Night Out (August 2)

The Safety Net The Safety Net The Safety Net

Don Novak, School Security Coordinator Jarrod McCraw, Director Kim Bayha, Tobacco Prevention Specialist Lisa Callaham, Administrative Assistant http://sdfs.ucps.k12.nc.us Laura Grier, Tobacco Free Schools Specialist

P A G E 2 Teens with “Summer Time” on Their Hands Summer can be a risky time for teens. More teens try marijuana for the first time during the summer months than any other time of the year. During the summer months, when there is a decrease in activities and supervision, teens are often faced with an increase in peer pressure situations that may lead to first-time drug and alcohol use.

In fact, each day in June, July and August, approximately

6,100 youth try marijuana for the first time, a 40 percent increase over the remaining months of the year. The number of new underage drinkers and cigarette smokers also jumps during the summer months. Studies show that unmonitored teens are four times more likely to use marijuana or engage in other risky behaviors.

Ensuring that teens are engaged in positive activities can be a way to deter youth

from things that are harmful to them, such as drug and alcohol use.

By consistently engaging teens, parents are able to reduce the impact of peer pressure and natural teenage curiosity, and open the lines of communication about the risks of drugs and alcohol well into September and beyond.

Sources: Parents. The Anti-Drug and Adolescent Substance Abuse Knowledge Base

Substance Abuse and NC Adolescent Girls New research shows that more and more North Carolina adolescent girls are involved in risky alcohol and drug use. What drugs are NC adolescent girls using?

• 38 percent of high school girls reported drinking in the past 30 days; 20 percent reported drinking binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row).

• 32 percent of middle school girls have drunk more than a few sips of alcohol.

• 53 percent of high school and 18 percent of middle school girls reported using marijuana at least once.

• 17 percent of high school and 9 percent of middle school girls have misused prescription drugs.

What are the consequences of substance abuse?

• Students who use drugs or alcohol often have lower grades and a greater risk for suspensions and expulsions.

• Substance abuse is linked with behavior and attention problems, as well as anxiety and depression.

• Adolescent girls are especially at high risk for having sex or being sexually assaulted when they are using drugs or alcohol.

• 12 percent of 12th graders report driving at least once in the past 30 days when they had been drinking.

Source: NC Department of Health and Human Services

“What's concerning is

that most studies

looking at toxicity in

people or animals look

at a single drug," said

Dr. Thomas Newton, a

professor at Baylor

College of Medicine,

who was not involved

in this study. "We have

no idea what happens

when you start mixing

like this."

ER Visits from Ecstasy Jump 75 Percent increase when the drug is used in combination with other substances of abuse - a common occurrence among Ecstasy users.

This SAMHSA study indicates that 77.8 percent of the emergency department visits involving Ecstasy use also involve the use of at least one or more other substances of abuse.

“The resurgence of Ecstasy use is cause for alarm that demands immediate attention and action,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D.

In another study, Australian researchers discovered that users' brains were at far more risk from the drug than anyone

A new national study indicates that the number of hospital emergency visits involving the illicit drug Ecstasy (MDMA) increased 74.8 percent from 2004 to 2008. According to this new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), most of these Ecstasy-related visits (69.3 percent) involved patients aged 18 to 29, but 17.9 percent involved adolescents aged 12 to 17.

Ecstasy use can interfere with heart rate regulation and produce side effects such as anxiety attacks, hypertension and hyperthermia, as well as brain damage. The variety and severity of adverse reactions associated with Ecstasy use can

had suspected, and also found that ecstasy pills often contain a variety of other drugs. Only half of the pills tested consisted entirely of MDMA. The other half also contained methamphetamine or other chemicals. Some pills had no MDMA at all. The ones that did had amounts that ranged widely, from as low as 25 mg to ten times that amount.

"This highlights a significant public health concern, particularly regarding the existence of pills containing more than 200 mg of MDMA," the authors write in their report of the study, which is published in the journal Addiction. Sources: SAMHSA and Reuters Health

To view the complete fact sheet, go to: www.nchealthyschools.org/ docs/parent/impact- substance-abuse.pdf

• Encourage teens to get a summer job or do community service.

• Help plan activities to keep your teen busy.

• Check in through- out the day to see where they are and who they are with.

• Be aware of what is in your home.

• Have open dialogue.

P A G E 3 S U P P O R T A N D P R E V E N T I O N

Training Opportunity for MS Health/PE Teachers The Health and Wellness Trust Fund is providing resources for a “hybrid” professional development event: a combination of online and face-to-face learning in tobacco prevention education for 1.0 CEU.

Participants will take four hours of interactive electronic instruction in content and teaching strategies for tobacco prevention, then a six-hour workshop in the evidence-based curriculum Project TNT (Towards No

Tobacco). The NC School Health Training Center has created a website for online course information and enrollment. Participants may begin the online module at www.nctobaccofree.org. Teachers will be allowed to work at their own pace to finish the module.

Teachers are then invited to attend a workshop in Project TNT, where they will receive a teacher’s manual

and the training at no cost. Lunch and substitute pay will be provided.

Registration information has been emailed to all middle school health and PE teachers. The workshop is September 7, 2011, at the PDC, room 206/207. With questions, please call Kim Bayha at (704) 290-1522, or email her at kim.bayha@ucps.k12.nc.us.

nicotine addicts. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates that each day more than 4,000 people under 18 try their first cigarette, and that 90% of smokers begin tobacco use before age 20; 50% of smokers begin tobacco use by age 14; and 25% begin their smoking addiction by age 12. In 2006, cigarette companies spent $12.4 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the U.S. (smokeless tobacco companies spent $354 million), more than double what was spent a decade ago. The money spent assists the industry in fostering positive attitudes toward tobacco use among youth, which effectively motivates youth to use.

Media literacy allows one to recognize how a message tries to influence them, and the better the skill the less of an impact the media messages will have on an individual. On a broader level, media literacy can be viewed as a form of protection or “inoculation” against unhealthy behaviors shown in the media. Educating youth to filter and critically analyze tobacco industry media messages will help reduce youth tobacco initiation. A recent study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that adolescents who are skilled in interpreting media messages about tobacco may be

less likely to ever use a tobacco product. This study also notes that students who demonstrated an understanding of the sharp contrast between the actual effects of tobacco use and positive media portrayals of tobacco use were more likely to not use tobacco. The data suggests that youth with higher media literacy skills may be less likely to try or use a tobacco product. Accordingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement on media education in September 2010 which asserts that “children in the new millennium need to develop a new form of literacy which can help them understand and decode a variety of different media, and urges parents to teach children critical viewing skills.”

In the last fifty years, the media have become a pervasive force in our society. They are not just a vehicle for sharing values and points of view, but teach them as well. It is our duty to help today’s youth critically assess how the mass media normalize, glamorize and create role models for unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors such as tobacco use.

Today’s youth are bombarded with messages from media, not just on television, radio and print but on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and many other digital venues that were not available to most adults during their adolescent years. Industries are finding new and innovative ways to market their products, especially those specifically targeted to youth. Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders has stated that tobacco industry advertising attempts to persuade children “that they are slim, they are sexy, they are sociable, they are sophisticated and they are successful. The teenager gets an image, and the tobacco companies get an addict.” With cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies spending billions of dollars each year to market their products, it seems imperative that parents and community members take advantage of “teachable moments” to educate youth on how to decipher the plethora of media messages thrown at them.

Tobacco companies must attract a new generation of tobacco users to survive; it is a simple marketing rule. The industry loses customers either due to death or a user quitting tobacco. These specific losses give way to tobacco companies producing large marketing campaigns to entice new users and capture long-term

Marketing the Critical Thinker

Key Questions in Analyzing Media Messages

• What story is being told? • From whose perspective

is it presented? • How it is captured? • How is it edited? • What type of music is

used? • Whose voice do we hear? • What is the message? • Who created the

message and why are they sending it?

• Who is speaking? • Whose viewpoint is not

heard? • Which lifestyles, values

and points of view are represented in the message?

• Who owns the medium? • What is our role as

spectators?

Sources: www.consortiumformedialiteracy.org www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateand community/ countermarketing/manual/index.htm www.medicalnewstoday.com www.americanheart.org www.tobaccofreecenter.org

TRU Movement in Jeopardy (cont.)

financial benefits, resulting in a total annual cost savings of more than $137 million overall. The Teen Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative, which is HWTF’s flagship program, showed a strong return on investment of $8.35 for every dollar spent on the initiative. The HWTF’s tobacco prevention programs save the state money in the long run by preventing youth from starting to use tobacco and helping those who use to quit.

The NC House budget bill that passed last month included language to abolish the HWTF. As the NC House and Senate work to finalize a 2011-2012 state budget bill, advocates are actively working to save the HWTF and the TRU Movement from being abolished. If HWTF is abolished, the state’s investment in tobacco prevention, along with other preventive health programs, will be severely diminished, putting our youth at risk and costing the state even more in the long run.

For more information, go to: www.ncforhealth.org or www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/budget/2011/H200-CSLExf- 13.pdf

TRU Photo Voice 2011

The Union County TRU Advisory Council, which consists of student leaders from our high school TRU clubs, created a photo voice exhibit for statewide TRU week (photo voice is a strategy used to present problems and solutions to promote community change). The teens met monthly and explored the meaning of a photo voice project, photography techniques and possible themes for their exhibit. They then took photos on their own using the theme “What does tobacco look like in my life?” As a group, the teens reviewed and selected the best photos and created narratives to accompany each. The photo voice exhibit was displayed at the Union County Public Library March 25-April 4, and was also made into a video so that a broader audience could view it. Please visit the Tobacco Free Schools web page to view “TRU Photo Voice 2011 - The Impact of Tobacco through the Eyes of Youth” at http:// sdfs.ucps.k12.nc.us/tfs/news/jump.php?news_id=9434

TRU Club “33” Campaigns

http://sdfs.ucps.k12.nc.us Developmental Asset #13 Neighborhood Boundaries

Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring young people’s behavior. Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets® are common sense, positive experiences and qualities that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring,

responsible adults. www.search-institute.org/assets

TRU Club members from Piedmont Middle School and Marvin Ridge, Weddington, Parkwood, Piedmont and Porter Ridge high schools creatively raise awareness at their schools about the fact that 33 people die every day in North Carolina due to tobacco use.