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RITALIN ABUSE
(December 2002) PARADIGM, published by Three Springs, in its Perspectives Article in the Winter 2002 issue, cites research that "Ritalin was listed among the top ten drugs most frequently stolen from pharmacies between 1990 and 1995," and in two different surveys, one of Wisconsin schools and one of a New England liberal arts college, about 16% of the students reported they had used Ritalin recreationally.

CHILDREN IN WELFARE REFORM
(March 7, 2003) The journal, Science, reported a study led by P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale of Northwestern University surveying 2,402 low-income children and their mothers participating in welfare reform in three cities, that assessed the children's cognitive achievement, problem behaviors, and psychological well-being. They concluded welfare reform, and single mothers going back to work, seems to have neither helped nor hurt the children ages 2-4. For the early adolescents, ages 10-14, "the most consistent pattern was that mothers' transition into employment was related to improvements in adolescents' mental health," leading to decreases in early teen drug and alcohol use. The researchers theorized the early adolescents' psychological benefits might come from a self-esteem boost and decrease in anxiety when mom becomes a breadwinner.

COLLEGE HUNT FOR LEARNING DISABLED
(April 13, 2003) The New York Times, in an article titled "The College Hunt," describes the changes that have been occurring in college services for students with a learning disability, who want to go to college. Describing these students as the "fastest-growing group of college applicants," it reports that some have estimated "the number of students reporting learning disabilities or conditions that interfere with academic performance, like attention deficit disorder, has tripled over the last 20 years."

INFORMATION RELEASED ABOUT FAILURES OF NEW JERSEY WELFARE SYSTEM
(April 15, 2003) Court action brought by The New York Times required New Jersey officials to release 2,000 pages of confidential files chronicling the deaths of four children and the sometimes brutal, prolonged abuse of 13 more. Documentation included accounts of a child’s sexual abuse by a homeless foster father; a child beaten so badly with a shoe by a foster mother who had been previously barred from caring for any more children, that that imprints of the laces were found on the child’s body; a three-year-old, HIV-positive child who died slowly, over days, of pneumonia, never having been taken to the doctor by his foster mother who was known by the agency to be a problem; and the death of a fragile days-old infant whose foster parents were never informed of the baby's medical condition. After years of resisting efforts to make files more public, the state made these disclosures in response to an order by United States Magistrate John Hughes, of Federal District Court in Trenton, who ruled that the records could not be kept secret. [More...]

CLAIMS D.A.R.E. IS A FAILURE
(April 15, 2003) MSNBC News, reports on a conclusion by the General Accounting Office that the 20 year old program that is taught in 80 percent of schools districts nationwide and it is estimated receives some $700 million in federal aid and about $215 million by police departments, has had "no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use" and that students who participate in it demonstrate "no significant differences" in their "attitudes toward illicit drug use" compared to children who had not been exposed to the program. [More...]

ONLINE TEST PREP STRIVES TO PROVIDE AN ANTIDOTE TO STATE-SPECIFIC EXAMS
(April 16, 2003) The Education Economy, No. 142, published by Eduventures, Inc., reports that in seventeen states students must pass exit exams in order to graduate, with seven additional states phasing in such exams. Schools, districts, and states are turning to external test preparation resources to augment traditional classroom instruction as a result of the flurry of testing and accountability measures required by the “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB). Companies interested in this new consumer market, hope to capitalize on the test prep delivery, data capture, and reporting efficiencies now available with web-based technologies. The K-12 institutional online test prep market represented less than $25 million in company revenues in 2002, yet it had consumed many times that figure over the last several years in private equity commitments, internal research and development efforts.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS TO TREAT RAGE?
(April 19, 2003) Low-dose dietary vitamin supplements of a well-balanced diet are proving to be preventive medicine against violent behavior, according to a new textbook chapter co-authored by California State University, Stanislaus Professor of Criminal Justice, Dr. Stephen J. Schoenthaler, and Dr. Ian D. Bier, Medical Director of the Dietary Research Foundation in New Hampshire. The book is a medical text titled FOOD ALLERGY AND INTOLERANCES, edited by Dr. Jonathan Brostoff of the Royal College of Physicians in London. This topic is also addressed in “Treatment of Mood Lability and Explosive Rage with Minerals and Vitamins: Two Case Studies in Children,” by Bonnie J. Kaplan, Ph. D., et al., appearing in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacolgy, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2002.

STUDY: CHANGES PERSIST AFTER HEAVY STIMULANT ABUSE
(April 21, 2003) The Community Anti-Drug Coalition, reported a study appearing in the March 2003 issue of the journal, Archives of General Psychiatry supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Researchers found in a study of sets of twins in which one twin never used, and the other abused stimulants, that the twin with a history of stimulant abuse performed significantly worse on several tests of attention and motor skills than did the sibling who had never used. They reported that the changes can persist for at least a year, suggesting that stimulant abuse can result in long-term residual neuropsychological effects. [More...]

INFORMATION ABOUT KIDS LAW
(April 23, 2003) Mubarak Awad, National Director, National Youth Advocate Program, Washington, DC, reports, KIDS LAW: A Practical Guide to Juvenile Justice is an “invaluable guide to the many aspects of the juvenile justice system.” The author, attorney John Biggers, 520-292-9070, has developed juvenile justice programs in scores of schools, is a frequent speaker at national conferences and workshops, has practiced criminal and civil in Arizona and Illinois for 30 years, and is available for speaking engagements. According to Youth Today, “the book raises numerous legal questions and concerns that youth have when dealing in criminal and civil areas of law, either because of their own actions or the actions of adults in their lives."

STUDY EXAMINES METH LINK TO HEART FAILURE
(April 25, 2003) The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America reports a preliminary study of hospitalized crystal methamphetamine (meth) users that showed a significantly higher rate of cardiac dysfunction in these patients than in nonusers. The results of the study, done by researchers at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), were reported at the 52nd Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, in Chicago, Illinois. The researchers, who believe meth to be a significant source of damage to the heart that potentially causes long-term damage, feel a larger prospective study is needed.

GATES $24 BILLION TO REDESIGN SCHOOLS
(April 28, 2003) The Washington Times reports the goals of the $24 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to radically redesign failing public high schools into smaller, more academically rigorous institutions in predominantly black and Hispanic communities in which less than half the students graduate." In further explaining the goal, administrator of the Foundation, Tom Vander Ark, wrote, "this coming September, about 3.5 million young people in America will begin the 8th grade. Over the succeeding four years, more than 1 million of them will drop out.... Another 1.5 million will muddle through with a collection of credits that fail to prepare them for college, work, or citizenship." Expectations of the Foundation are for the students to "have the opportunity to read, write, and think about things that matter. This requires extended projects, large blocks of time, and fewer 10-pound glossy and politically correct textbooks.”

PENN STATE PROSECUTES ILLEGAL FILE SWAPPERS
(April 22, 2003) ArcaMax On the Net reports, Penn State University has caught some 220 students who were illegally sharing files online by using direct-connect file sharing methods to circumnavigate the university's weekly bandwidth limits. According to the online version of the campus paper, The Collegian, though the students can still use the university's computer labs, their dorm-room Internet access has been shut off. Clifford Rodack, network administrator for the university's residence halls, sent a letter to the implicated students informing them of the federal punishments for illegal copying, including fines of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years in prison for "flagrant cases of infringement." The students' fates will be decided by the university's Judicial Affairs Committee, university officials said.

FRESH AIR FUND CHANGES LIVES
(May 2003) For more than 125 years, The Fresh Air Fund, 800-367-0003, has sent more than 1.7 million disadvantaged children to Fresh Air Fund camps or on summer visits with host families in small-town communities or the suburbs. This year, the fund hopes to provide a similar experience for more than 10,000 needy children, 6,000 visiting volunteer host families in suburbs and small towns in 13 states, and 3,000 attending five Fresh Air Camps in upstate New York. In addition to recreational activities, the camps provide career counseling, test preparation, writing instruction and other educational support. This fund needs to receive financial support, either on their website, or sent to: The Fresh Air Fund, 633 Third Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017. Volunteer families who are willing to open their hearts and homes to a disadvantaged child for two weeks or more this summer are encouraged to call.

NASPE'S SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS HIGHLIGHT SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH
(May 12, 2003) Amy Lange, 202-745-5116, informed us that the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (NASPE), an organization of physicians, scientists, and allied professionals throughout the world dedicated to the study and the management of cardiac arrhythmias, held their NASPE/Heart Rhythm Society's 24th Annual Scientific Sessions on May 14-17, 2003, in Washington, DC with more than 100 sessions and new studies. One of the highlighted sessions was “Why do people (including athletes) with normal hearts experience sudden cardiac death?”

FOR-PROFIT INSTITUTIONS POSITION FOR THE ALLIED HEALTH BOOM
(May 2003) Eduventures, Inc., reports: “The federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has projected that healthcare jobs will grow at nearly 30 percent over the next ten years, more than double the national average job growth rate for all employment categories over this period… A significant percentage of allied health professionals are educated at for-profit institutions, particularly two-year and less-than-two-year career colleges specializing in associate's degrees. In addition to providing diplomas, associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees, many programs prepare pre-professional students for securing licenses in one of nearly 100 specialized allied health certifications. In this way, for-profit colleges and universities are anxiously positioning themselves to connect outcome- and job placement-oriented students with employers in need of qualified professionals.

ENVIRONMENTAL CUES CONTRIBUTE TO COCAINE RELAPSE
(May 8, 2003) The Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America, reports “real-time monitoring of dopamine activity in the brain shows that in rats the mere anticipation of receiving cocaine may cause significant increases in dopamine levels. This finding may help explain why, in humans recovering from cocaine addiction, cocaine paraphernalia, surroundings, and other factors associated with drug use can elicit an intense craving for the drug, often resulting in relapse to use. This study, published by Dr. Regina Carelli and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, appeared in the April 10 issue of Nature.”  [Complete summary...]

EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA USE IN MID-TEENS STUDIED
(May 8, 2003) The Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America, reports scientists from the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found lasting cognitive deficits in those who started to smoke marijuana before age 17. Individuals who started using marijuana at age 17 or younger, while the brain is still developing, performed significantly worse on the tests assessing verbal functions such as verbal IQ and memory of word lists than did those who started using marijuana later in life or who had used the drug sparingly. There were virtually no differences in test results among the individuals who started marijuana use after age 17 and the control subjects. Youth who use marijuana before their mid-teens may show long-term deficits in certain verbal skills, for reasons that are not yet clear. Dr. Harrison Pope and colleagues published the study in the March 2003 issue of the journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence. [More...]

SAMHSA OFFERS NEW FAMILY-ORIENTED WEB SITE
(May 8, 2003) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) developed the new website: A Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy & Drug Free. The site is an effort to enhance the bond between children ages 7 to 18 and the adults who influence their lives: parents, foster parents, grandparents, extended family members, guardians, and mentors. It offers suggestions for better communication as well as other tips that aid in prevention, including a mental health dictionary, drug-related facts and information, and related resources, presented in a user-friendly style for all audiences. Join the listserve online.

AMERICAN TEENS ARE TIRED
(May 9, 2003) THE WEEK publication reported a Harris interactive poll that found 64% of high school students say they don't get enough sleep, 58% often have difficulty waking up in the morning, 53% feel tired during class, and 42% daydream during class.

CONFERENCE ON SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT & TREATMENT
(May 10, 2003) Roger B. Graves, Ph.D., announced: Judith Becker, Ph.D., Robert Longo, MS, LPC, David Thornton, Ph.D. and Bill Marshall, Ph.D., world recognized experts in the assessment, treatment, and management of sex offenders, are presenting in a powerful conference, In Spirit of Change 2003. It is scheduled for this August in Anchorage, Alaska, in order to foster dialogue and interest on what works in treatment, with presenters describing examples and strategies for treatment success, and introducing directions for enlightened public policy. People are encouraged to come for the conference, and bring their families for a vacation too!

HOPE IN ACTION CONFERENCE IN BOSTON AREA, JUNE 13-15
(May 12, 2003) Stephanie Kendall, Hope Magazine, 703-276-3254, announces, “more than 600 citizens and activists from New England and the rest of the U.S. are expected to attend the Hope in Action Conference, to be held June 13-15, 2003 at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The three-day event will focus on child advocacy, education reform, violence prevention, environmental awareness, community building, peace and nonviolence issues and corporate ethics. Keynote speakers include: Francis Moore Lappe, food activist and author, Patch Adams, physician and clown, Judy Wicks, social businesswoman and restaurateur, and Geoffrey Canada, noted child advocate.

MEDITATION CAN CHANGE ONE’S EMOTIONAL SET-POINT
(May/June 2003) The Psychotherapy Networker, reports that an increasing body of research indicates each person has an emotional set-point, a predisposition to feel a certain way, and a baseline to which they quickly return. A new study, combining modern brain imaging with ancient meditation, conducted by neurobiologist Richard Davidson, University of Wisconsin’s Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, shows that a gloomy person’s emotional set-point can actually be changed. In Davidson’s study, half the workers in a high-stress job at a biotech plant in Madison, Wisconsin, were trained to meditate by an expert in mindfulness meditation. The results, which appear in the upcoming issue of the Journal Psychosomatic Medicine, shows that brain waves of the workers who learned to meditate shifted to the left prefrontal cortex, previously shown to be consistent with positive feelings. Also, “their reactions to a flu vaccine indicated that their immune systems are stronger than their non-meditating workers.”