In the News

“Pass It On. An Evening with Bill W. and Dr. Bob”: Performances Benefit Affiliates

Several NCADD affiliates have and will be putting on performance of an inspirational (and often hilarious) live stage performance called ""PASS IT ON...AN EVENING WITH BILL W. & DR. BOB".

"Pass It On" is designed to educate and celebrate sobriety - while serving as the centerpiece for fund raising events which support recovery.

Most Teens Surveyed Say Classmates Drink, Use Drugs on Campus

Teens3 CASAColumbia's 2012 back-to-school teen survey reveals that 86 percent of American high school students say that some classmates are drugging, drinking and smoking during the school day and almost half know a student who sells drugs at their school.

The survey also reveals that 52 percent of high school students say that there is a place on or near school grounds where students go to get high during the school day.

Thirty-six percent say it is easy for students to use drugs, drink or smoke during the school day without getting caught.

Males Who Drink Underage Up to Three Times More Likely to Abuse Prescription Drugs

young man Using demographic and clinical data from the 2006-2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a team of researchers led by Dr. Lynn Fiellin, associate professor of medicine at Yale University, has found that early alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use are all associated, to varying degrees, with a two- to-three times greater likelihood of subsequent abuse of prescription opioids.

With partial support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the study by Dr. Fiellin and her colleagues found that 57 percent of young adult prescription drug abusers had abused alcohol during their teens.

Imaging Study Sheds New Light on Alcohol-Related Birth Defects

baby feet A collaborative research effort by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Duke University, and University College of London in the UK, sheds new light on alcohol-related birth defects.

The project, led by Kathleen K. Sulik, PhD, a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at UNC, could help enhance how doctors diagnose birth defects caused by alcohol exposure in the womb. The findings also illustrate how the precise timing of that exposure could determine the specific kinds of defects.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is at the severe end of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). First described in 1972, FAS is recognized by a specific pattern of facial features: small eyelid openings, a smooth ridge on the upper lip (absence of a central groove, or philtrum), and a thin upper lip border.

Guest Commentary: Magical Thinking

Stl logo2 After a protracted silence from the federal government regarding substance abuse issues, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has cited addiction as a "public health issue," stressing a need for more accessible rehab programs with the suggestion that recovery be considered a priority strategy.

As refreshing as it was to hear the president's top drug policy adviser make this kind of recommendation, he does so in a climate of continued apathy, ignorance and politicized stigma.

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