ILCAAAP News, September 2006, Volume 69, No. 3

Teen Parties Awash in Alcohol and Illegal Drugs -
Even When Parents are Present

One-third of teens and nearly half of 17-year olds attend house parties where parents are present and teens are drinking, smoking marijuana or using cocaine, Ecstasy or prescription drugs, according to the National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XI: Teen and Parents, an annual back-to-school survey conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

"Teen drinking and drugging is a parent problem. Too many parents fail to fulfill their responsibility to chaperone their kids' parties. They have no idea how drug- and alcohol-infested their teens' world is," said Joseph A Califano, Jr., CASA's chairman and president and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. "The denial, self-delusion and lack of awareness of these parental palookas put their children at enormous risk of drinking and using illegal and prescription drugs."

Parental blinders were found in the survey:

"Parents need to wake up and smell the pot and beer," Califano said. "If your teen is having a party at your home, you should not only be there, but be aware of what is going on. And if your teen attends a party at someone else's home, confirm that the parents will be present and that alcohol and drugs will not. The reality is that even when parents are present at a party, some kids will try to sneak in substances."

The transition from age 13 to 14 is a particularly risky time for American teens. Compared to 13-year olds, 14-year olds, are more likely to be offered prescription drugs, Ecstasy, marijuana, and cocaine.

The CASA survey also reveals that, compared to 13-year olds, 14-year olds, are almost three times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens drink alcohol; two times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens smoke pot; and four times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens use other drugs.

By the time a teen reaches age 17, almost half (46 percent) will have attended a party at which teens were drinking alcohol, smoking pot, or using cocaine, Ecstasy or prescription drugs while a parent was present. Seven out of 10 will have been offered an illegal drug.

For the first time, girls 12 to 17 are at equal or higher substance abuse risk compared to boys of the same age. Ten million 12-to 17-year olds (38 percent) say they can buy marijuana within a day, and 5 million (19 percent) can buy marijuana in an hour or less. Parental separation and divorce are associated with higher teen substance-abuse risk.

Press Release from CASA 2006 Teen Survey, August 17, 2006

Staff Activities

In order to give our readers an idea of how and where their donations are allocated, some of our activities are listed on this page.

Elisabeth Phillips (middle), the new director of the ILCAAAP Teen Board and youth programs, attended the Camp Care-A-Lot 10th Birthday Luncheon in Jacksonville and received an award for the positive impact ILCAAAP has made in the lives of local children. Each summer the ILCAAAP Teen board assists children in learning how to say no to alcohol and other drugs and gives them fun alternatives to destructive lifestyles in this week long residential camp for children ages 6-10 from low to no income families.

ILCAAAP Board of Trustees President, Mike Krost and Executive Director, Anita Bedell, at the ILCAAAP exhibit at the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference of the Untied Methodist Church at the Peoria Civic Center. Professor John Kindt from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, who has done extensive research and writing on gambling issues, was the keynote speaker at the ILCAAAP dinner.

ILCAAAP held a press conference at the State Capitol to oppose the sale or leasing of the Illinois Lottery. Pictured L to R Doug Dobmeyer, Chicago Task Force to Oppose Gambling in Chicago, Paul Black, Assistant to the Bishop, Illinois Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church, Anita Bedell, Executive Director of ILCAAAP, and Karen Brokelsby, Concerned Women for American of Illinois.

The ILCAAAP Teen Board performed the skit and ILCAAAP Teen Board member, Allison Seck, spoke at a Community Meeting on Underage Drinking at Abundant Faith Christian Center in Springfield. To schedule an ILCAAAP Teen Board presentation for your youth group, school, or community, call 877-204-6863.

Legislation Highlights

Candidate Surveys on Gambling

ILCAAAP surveyed Legislative candidates and candidates for Governor and Attorney General to state their position on gambling-related issues. The results are posted on our website

Download a copy of the survey and ask non-responsive candidates their position prior to the election.

Gambling Expansion in the Works

Slots at racetracks, Account Deposit Wagering, and privatization of the Lottery could come for a vote in the Veto Session (November 14-16, and November 28-30).

The Illinois Racing Board concluded a series of meetings in July on the state of the industry and possible cures. Some of the proposed "cures" include video slots (electronic gambling devices) at racetracks, which would transform the tracks into land-based casinos, and Account Deposit Wagering, placing bets by phone, wireless devices, and through the Internet.

The Governor's office hired a consultant to prepare for the sale or lease of the Illinois State Lottery. If the Lottery is sold, a private company will expand gambling to increase profits-Keno, Video Lottery (similar to slot machines), and Internet gambling. These fast forms of gambling are highly addictive. Legislative approval is needed.

Gubernatorial Candidate Judy Baar Topinka proposed a land-based casino for Chicago and more than doubling the size of existing casinos as the "centerpiece" of her candidacy to help fund education. This is a huge expansion of gambling. In order to pass this legislation, other gambling interests may add slots at the tracks and addition casinos onto the proposal.

Contact the Governor, Legislators and candidates to tell them of your concerns about gambling expansion and ask their position on these issues prior to casting your vote.

New Alcohol-Free Sports Channel

A new sports television network operated by the Big Ten athletic conference and Fox Cable Networks won't have ads for beer or other alcoholic beverages-a historic move praised by the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. That campaign, a grassroots movement spearheaded by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and backed by top health groups and coaching legends, has been calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its member conferences and schools not to expose its young fans to beer ads on televised games.

"This landmark deal recognizes that the reputations of universities and the values of sports are fundamentally incompatible with alcohol marketing to young people," said George A. Hacker, director of CSPI's Alcohol Policies Project. "It also proves that alcohol revenue isn't necessary to run a profitable sports television venture. The Big Ten, its commissioner Jim Delany, and Fox deserve a great deal of credit for this pioneering move."

Reprinted with permission from Center of Science in the Public Interest, Thursday, July 29, 2006

Beer and Liquor Sponsorship at NASCAR

Logos on Cars, at Tracks - Even on Toys - Confuse Young Kids About Drinking and Driving. Nascar has five alcoholic-beverage "premier" sponsors, making alcoholic beverages the largest Nascar sponsor category among all other consumer goods sponsors.

According to Nascar, 58 percent of 2-to-11 year-olds and 50 percent of 12-to-17 year-olds are Nascar fans, and Nascar is the second most popular televised sport among 7- to-11 year-olds, behind NFL football. Yet Nascar counts Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing, Diageo/Crown Royal, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam among its sponsors. Anheuser-Busch and Crown Royal are each name sponsors of various racing events, and liquor-brand sponsorship is expanding rapidly.

Among other strategies to lure young people in its brand, Nascar has been aggressively building its audiences of young people by actively encouraging Hollywood to develop racing-themed movies. It premiered the G-rated cartoon film, Cars, at Lowe's Motor Speedway and plans a Nascar-related morning cartoon for children's television. At least with the toy cars bearing beer logos, Nascar realizes it may have a problem: The boxes' fine print indicates the toy "is intended for adults of legal drinking age," though elsewhere, in a warning about choking, it says it is not intended for children under 3.

"The Federal Trade Commission should take a hard look at how alcohol marketers are using Nascar to appeal to young people," said George Hacker, Center for Science in the Public Interest, alcohol polices director. "Car races are a strange place for kids to learn about alcohol, drinking, and driving."

Reprinted from CSPI Newsroom, Center for Science in the Public Interest, July 12, 2006

American Drinkers Drink More, and More Often

A new Gallup Poll finds that American who drink are drinking more often and in greater quantity, WebMD reported Aug. 1.

The survey found that while about the same number of Americans are drinking, those who do consume alcohol are drinking on more occasions and downing more drinks at a sitting.

In the past decade weekly drinking has risen from 54 percent of drinkers to 71 percent, and the average drinks consumed per week has jumped from 2.8 in 1996 to 4.5 in 2006.

Gallup reported that 41 percent of those polled cited beer as their favorite drink, compared with 33 percent who said wine and 22 percent who said liquor.

Reprinted from Join Together August 2, 2006

Early Drinking Linked to Higher Lifetime Alcoholism Risk

Data from a survey of 43,000 U.S. adults heighten concerns that early alcohol use, independent of other risk factors, may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol problems. Those who began drinking in their early teens were not only at greater risk of developing alcohol dependence at some point in their lives, they were also at greater risk of developing dependence more quickly and at younger ages, and of developing chronic, relapsing dependence

In results that echo earlier studies, of those individuals who began drinking before age 14, 47 percent experienced dependence at some point, vs. 9 percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older. In general, each additional year earlier than 21 that a respondent began to drink, the greater the odds that he or she would develop alcohol dependence at some point in life. While one quarter of all drinkers in the survey started drinking by at 16, nearly half (46 percent) of drinkers who developed alcohol dependence began drinking at age 16 or younger.

New findings showed that among all drinkers, early drinking was associated not only with a higher risk of developing alcoholism at some point, but also within 10 years of first starting to drink, before age 25. Early drinking was also associated with increased risk of having multiple episodes of alcoholism. Further, among respondents who had had alcohol dependence at some point, those who began drinking young had episodes of longer duration and with a wider range of symptoms than those who started later.

The recently released 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey-conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-found that among high school students nationwide, 26 percent had drunk alcohol (other than a few sips) for the first time before age 13.

The authors conclude that the studies results support the need to take measures to delay alcohol consumption by underage youth. Dr. Hingson said, "This analysis suggests that interventions that delay drinking onset may not only reduce the acute consequences of drinking among youth, but may help reduce alcohol dependence among adolescents and adults".

U.S. Dep. of Health and Human Services NIH News, National Institutes of Health, July 3, 2006

The Addictive Potential of Marijuana

The addictive potential of alcohol, cocaine, heroin and even gambling is generally understood by most people, but the perception persists that marijuana is not in the same addictive category.

The doggedness of this myth may be attributable to the campaign to legalize the drug, as well as the comparatively subtle costs of marijuana addiction.

But there is no debate among American researchers, who have been documenting and studying marijuana addiction for more than two decades.

Now Cambridge University Press has combined the results of their federally funded studies - most already published in peer-reviewed journals - in a new book called "Cannabis Dependence."

The book offers substantial scientific evidence of what Marijuana Anonymous members know first hand -- that the euphoria induced by THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be addictive. Studies show that between 2% and 3% of U.S. marijuana users become addicted within two years of first trying the drug, which is scientifically known as cannabis. About 10% of those who try it become addicted at some point.

Now, addiction-treatment statistics are showing dramatic growth in marijuana-related problems. A study issued by the University of Maryland's Center for Substance Abuse Research examined the drug of choice for Americans seeking treatment for addiction during the decade that ended in 2003. It found that the percentage of addicts who cited marijuana as their primary problem more than doubled to 16% from 7%, while alcohol fell to 41% from 57%. Among illegal drugs, only opiates ranked higher than marijuana as a problem for treatment seekers.

Marijuana's rise in the ranks of problem drugs may reflect a big spike in usage. The number of Americans age 12 and older using marijuana at least once a month jumped to 14.6 million in 2004 from 10.1 million in 1996, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

To study marijuana addiction, the contributors to "Cannabis Dependence"-- a group of researchers at universities across the U.S. -- published newspaper advertisements offering treatment to people unable to quit using the drug. Invariably, hundreds stepped forward. The typical volunteer was a white-collar man in his thirties who smoked marijuana daily and didn't much abuse alcohol or other drugs. "Their substance of choice is marijuana," says Roger A. Roffman, an editor of "Cannabis Dependence" and a University of Washington professor of social work.

The researchers found that the overall rate of addiction among marijuana users is slightly lower than for imbibers of alcohol. But among people who use marijuana daily, the rate of addiction is significantly higher than among daily drinkers. Addiction is diagnosed when a person experiences at least three of seven indicators such as failure to control usage, preoccupation with the drug and inability to quit without suffering symptoms of withdrawal.

The addictiveness of marijuana is underappreciated in part because legalization advocates tend to play down the problem. But a bigger factor may be that marijuana addiction typically doesn't kill, wreck careers, ruin health or otherwise wreak the sort of tragedies that make headlines. Although studies suggest that marijuana can cause neurological cardiovascular damage, that evidence remains inconclusive and largely connected to smoking the drug, which isn't necessary. Marijuana-enriched olive oil can deliver a powerful high.

Yet if marijuana addiction were benign, thousands of Americans wouldn't be seeking to kick the habit each year. In treatment, many express a sense of being unable to move forward in their personal and professional lives while in a constant state of marijuana intoxication. Often, marijuana addiction damages relationships. Its illegality can get a user arrested.

Then there are the symptoms of withdrawal: "irritability, anger, nervousness, sleep difficulty, change in appetite, physical discomfort," says Alan J. Budney, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences addiction specialist.

The typical absence of dramatic consequences can make marijuana addiction difficult to break. The memory of brushes with death, jail and destitution can help keep a heroin user or alcoholic from relapsing. But the more subtle costs of marijuana addiction are easier to forget. Research shows that staying clean is just as hard for marijuana addicts as for heroin addicts, says Robert S. Stephens, chairman of psychology at Virginia Tech University and "Cannabis Dependence" editor.

Reprinted from Monday Morning Report, Volume 30, Number 14, July 24, 2006

Gambling: As the Take Rises, So Does Public Concern

A modest backlash in attitudes towards legalized gambling has taken hold among an American public that spends more money on more forms of legal gambling now than at any time in the nation's history.

Seventy percent of Americans say that legalized gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can afford, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Similarly, 71% of the public today - down from 78% in 1989 - approves of lotteries as a way for states to raise revenue. Public support for other forms of legalized gambling, such as casino, off track betting on horse racing and pro sports betting, has either been stable or declined since 1989.

These findings come at a time when gambling has become more pervasive, with a record number of casinos operating across the country, with online gambling gaining fast in popularity (albeit from a small base), with several celebrities going public with their gambling problems and exploits, and with poker tournaments having become a new form of television entertainment.

Despite all this, the survey finds that fewer people now (23%) than in 1989 (34%) say that they enjoy making bets; it also finds a decline, compared with 1989, in the overall percentage of people who report that they made a bet of any kind in the past year. Betting on horse racing and pro sports, in particular, has dropped off.

However, the survey also finds a sharp increase since 1989 in some high profile forms of betting--including casino gambling and slot machines.

Reprinted with permission from Pew Research Center, May 3, 2006.

Pray for the Children
Drug-Free & Safe

October 20-22, 2006

People of all faiths are asked to pray that children will be drug-free and safe. Distribute this prayer in your church and pray for the children in your community.

Adult Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your children all around the world. You have created them in your image and likeness. Help us to guide, affirm, and love them so they are equipped to make healthy choices for their lives Help the children experience your great love for them deep in their hearts. Send your Spirit upon them to comfort, heal, protect, and enlighten all their decisions. Amen

Pray it Forward involves youth committing to pray for a friend who is struggling by saying the following prayer. The friend in turn can pray for 3 more people. Pray It Forward cards are available from ILCAAAP or on the web site www.prayforthechildren.net

Youth Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and mercy. I pray for my friend and others who struggle with pressures of loss, tough choices, relationships, poverty, special needs, drugs and violence. Give all young people the strength not to give up. Help adults understand how to reach out and support us. Lord send your Spirit to my friend and others to comfort and protect them. Help us support each other. Amen

Red Ribbon Week

October 21-28, 2006

Red Ribbon Week is an opportunity for churches to raise awareness of substance abuse, its impact on families, and to promote a drug-free lifestyle. Contact Illinois Churches In Action (877-204-6863) or visit the web site www.ilcaaap.com for ideas for churches, church bulletin inserts, and sermon starters.

Churches Giving to ILCAAAP/Illinois Churches in Action

May 13, 2006 - August 15, 2006

Giving to ILCAAAP/Illinois Churches in Action - Century Churches

Donations of $100 or more

Church Conferences & Church Organizations Giving to ILCAAAP/Illinois Churches in Action

Organizations Giving to Illinois Churches In Action for Youth Programs

Memorial Gifts
To Help The Living

In Remembrance of
Uncle Marion
by
Patsy Hebron
Matthew Deffley
by
ILCAAAP Board Members and Staff

In Honor of
Sister Pauletta Overbeck, O. P.
by
Anonymous

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