4 Troubled Teens Blog

Women who use methamphetamine when they are pregnant are putting their babies at risk for structural abnormal abnormalities in the brain, according to a new study from the University of California in Los Angeles.

Researchers had trouble finding women who used methamphetamine but did not combine it with alcohol.

"About half the women who say they use meth during pregnancy also use alcohol," said Professor Elizabeth Sowell, author of the study, "so isolating the effects of meth on the developing brain was difficult."

• Dr. Sowell and her colleagues performed brain scans on 61 children, average age 11 years old.
  
• Thirteen had been exposed to alcohol only, 21 had pre-natal exposure to methamphetamine and alcohol, and 27 were exposed to neither.
  
• Dr. Sowell found that brain regions in the children exposed to methamphetamine were similarly damaged as those in the alcohol exposed children, and in some areas they were smaller or larger.

"The tragedy is that all these developmental problems are 100 percent avoidable," said Dr. Sowell, writing in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Labels: pregnancy, mothers, brain_chemistry, meth

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

In 2005, Montana launched a campaign aimed at reducing meth use in the state by raising awareness about the drug's potentially fatal risks. Three years later, organizers of the Montana Meth Project are seeing - and celebrating - the campaign's impact.

"When the meth project first started its highly visible campaign in September 2005, Montana ranked fifth in methamphetamine abuse. Today, Montana is 39th. In 2008, teen meth use is down 45 percent from 2005... and meth-related crime has decreased by 62 percent."

The campaign was initially funded by an individual donor, but the goal has always been to make it self-funding, officials said. In 2009, organizers plan to push for a $2 million allocation from the state legislature, an amount that they say will be enough to fund the project for two more years. Source: Missoulian News

Labels: meth, awareness, decline

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

The Idaho Meth project has begun using an aggressive and somewhat disturbing ad campaign to try and curb the drug's popularity. The project is based on the Montana Meth Project, which - in two years - has seen adult meth use decline by 70 percent.

"Idaho launched the campaign in January. It includes TV ads, radio ads and billboard spots across the state. 'This is not a pretty drug,' [Executive Director Megan Ronk] says. 'This is not something we can sugar coat.'"

The goal of the ads is to create awareness, and opportunities for parents to talk to their kids about the drugs. The state has committed to running the campaign until meth use is "no longer an issue". Read more at KXLY.com.

Labels: meth, prevention, media

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments