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Arizona Drug Rehab and Alcohol, News
Study Finds Abuse Of Both Drugs Among Phoenix, Arizona-Area Teens Above National
Averages
Phoenix, Arizona - A new health education campaign launching in the Phoenix,
Arizona area today seeks to respond to data from the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America® (PDFA) that finds usage rates of methamphetamine and Ecstasy among
Phoenix, Arizona-area teens are above national averages.
The campaign unveiled today by the Partnership - with support from the Partnership
for a Drug-Free Arizona, the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AzAAP) and Consumer Healthcare Products Association® (CHPA) - is dedicated
to reducing methamphetamine and Ecstasy use among teens in the Phoenix, Arizona
area. The campaign consists of a pediatrician-driven media outreach effort designed
to educate parents and teens about the dangerous health consequences of these
drugs, and includes an intensive public service advertising campaign in the
Phoenix, Arizona market. Phoenix is one of two U.S. cities where the campaign
is being introduced.
"The disturbing number of teens in the Phoenix, Arizona area who already
are experimenting with these drugs makes this a health problem that must be
addressed," said Dr. Peggy Stemmler, president of the AzAAP, a key partner
in the new health education campaign. "Pediatricians are in a unique position
to help close the gap between perception and reality about the real consequences
of these drugs."
In the Phoenix, Arizona area, 14 pediatricians will serve as primary spokespeople
for the media communications effort. Campaign coordinators believe the voice
of the medical community will resonate with parents in particular in order to
motivate them to take an active role in persuading their teens not to use these
drugs. HMA Public Relations, a local public relations agency, will coordinate
media efforts for pediatricians participating locally.
"More than one of every three teens in the Phoenix, Arizona area has been
offered Ecstasy or 'meth,' and teen use of both drugs is above national averages,"
said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership, the national non-profit
organization best known for its media-based drug education campaigns. "Phoenix
needs the facts about the real risks of using these drugs if we're going to
turn those numbers around."
The Partnership is providing the local effort with hard-hitting public service
ads for television, radio, print and Internet, as well as with research to measure
the impact of the effort. PDFA's state affiliate, Partnership for a Drug-Free
Arizona, has an ongoing drug prevention speakers bureau program and will continue
to provide brochures and other resources to parents and teens who want more
information. Drug-Free Arizona also has provided local pediatricians with brochures
that they can use in their offices.
"This campaign represents the collaboration of resources and expertise
at the national, state and local levels to address an issue critical to Arizona
families," said Rick Romley, Maricopa County Attorney. "Everyone involved
in a child's life needs to understand the dangers kids are facing with these
drugs so they can be part of helping them make good decisions."
The campaign is funded by a grant from CHPA, the trade association representing
U.S. manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines and nutritional
supplement products. CHPA has been involved in combating methamphetamine abuse
for many years, with a particular interest in ensuring that over-the-counter
medicines are not diverted to manufacture the drug. The Phoenix, Arizona Division
of the Drug Enforcement Administration also is supporting the effort. The campaign
is slated to run in Phoenix, Arizona for at least two years.
Survey of Local Teens & Parents Reports Disturbing Findings
Top-line findings of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's study include:
- 13 percent of Phoenix, Arizona-area teenagers report having used methamphetamine
(meth), compared to nine percent of all teens nationwide; 13 percent report
having used Ecstasy, compared to 11 percent of all teens nationwide;
- 33 percent of teens report having been offered methamphetamine, and 35 percent
report being offered Ecstasy;
- 61 percent of teens report knowing someone who uses Ecstasy, and half (50
percent) report knowing someone who uses methamphetamine; and
- Just one to two percent of Phoenix, Arizona-area parents surveyed (one percent
for Ecstasy, two percent for meth) agree that it's possible their kids may
have tried these drugs.
"Survey data also show parents and teens underestimate the specific health
risks of these drugs," said Pasierb. "Risk-related attitudes correlate
strongly with trends in drug use; for example, when teenagers see greater risks
associated with a particular drug, use of that drug declines. Unfortunately,
the opposite holds true as well, so the time is right for a concerted intervention
to reverse the trends we're seeing in Phoenix."
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant. Often called "speed" or
"crystal," meth is a crystal-like, powdered substance that sometimes
comes in large rock-like chunks. Meth is usually white or slightly yellow, depending
on the purity. The drug can be taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked. Once
a threat largely in the American southwest, production and use of the drug,
which is cheaper and longer lasting than cocaine, has moved steadily eastward
in recent years, finding willing users in a generation unlikely to remember
the phrase, "speed kills." Long-term use and/or high doses of methamphetamine
can bring on full-blown toxic psychosis, often exhibited as violent, aggressive
behavior.
Ecstasy -- chemically known as 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA --
is a psychoactive drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties.
It can be extremely dangerous, especially in high doses. Usually taken orally
in pill form, the drug accelerates the release of serotonin in the brain and
provides users with an intense high, characterized by feelings of love and acceptance,
as well as a general sense of well being, decreased anxiety and enhanced sensitivity
to touch. Ecstasy can cause dramatic increases in body temperature, muscle breakdown,
and kidney and cardiovascular system failure, as reported in some fatalities.
