Monday, November 8, 2010

The Great American Smokeout – November 18th, 2010 -- Integrating the discussion into your classroom

The month of November brings us one of the most proactive topics of the year. The third Thursday of November (the week before Thanksgiving) marks an annual event called the Great American Smokeout. The American Cancer Society (ACS) challenges Americans to stop smoking for 24 hours to kick off what they hope will be a change in lifestyle that will last forever. It all began in the mid 70’s when Massachusetts, Minnesota and California presented public challenges for smokers to give up their cigarettes. In 1976, the California division of the ACS successfully encouraged nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. The annual event has flourished, and each year smokers choose this day to mark the beginning of the end of their smoking.
We encourage you to integrate this topic into your classroom discussions. We have provided several ways to do this below.

Here is our new favorite website. The California Youth Advocacy Network is designed for colleges, but we recommend that you scroll down to the bottom of the page where they show 2010 Sample Advertisements and Flyers.
Integrate the discussion: Create your own school advertising campaign to help others learn. Integrate this topic for the week in art, homeroom, health, advisors, technology/media class etc.

Here are some tips from the American Cancer Society (ACS) website:
In 2009 "The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" was signed into law and gives the FDA the authority to regulate the sale, manufacturing, and marketing of tobacco products and protects children from tobacco industry’s marketing practices.

On the ACS website they have a fantastic calculator that can tell a smoker how many cigarettes they smoke per day, month or year and how much it costs them to smoke.

Integrate the discussion as a classroom project for math, health, homeroom etc. One of our schools made a spinning wheel of death using cigarette smoking as a basis for mathematical calculations.

How To Quit
http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GuidetoQuittingSmoking/index

  • Make the decision to quit
  • Set a quit date and choose a help plan
  • Learn how to handle withdrawal
  • Staying quit (maintenance)
 Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have some means of support, such as: 
  • nicotine replacement products
  • counseling
  • stop-smoking groups
  • telephone smoking cessation hotlines
  • prescription medicine to lessen cravings
  • guide books
  • encouragement and support from friends and family members

How To Help A Friend – Many People say “It Is One Of The Hardest Drugs To Quit!”
As a friend or family member of a smoker, you are in an uncomfortable situation. Tobacco smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to at least 15 different cancers including: lung, larynx (voice box), oral cavity (mouth, tongue, and lips), pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, pancreas, cervix, kidney, bladder, acute myeloid leukemia.

You should know that it may take several attempts to quit and relapse is part of the process for some people. Each time they quit they will feel bad about failing. Encourage them to set another date to quit. The sooner they try again and the longer they remain smoke-free each time will ensure their confidence and success.

Integrate the discussion Have a classroom discussion about how difficult it is to help someone to quit. Practice how to use “I” statements and research available methods of quitting in your community. Does your library, counseling or health/nurse office have available information?

Secondhand smoke – “A known human carcinogen (cancer causing agent)”
If the smoker claims they aren’t concerned about their own health, they should consider here is what family members are up against as a consequence of living with a smoker. Secondhand smoke comes from sidestream smoke (smoke that comes from the end of the lit cigarette, pipe or cigar) and mainstream smoke (smoke that is exhaled by a smoker). 
  • In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for:
  • An estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers.
  • About 3,400 lung cancer deaths in non-smoking adults.
  • Other breathing problems in non-smokers, including coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function.
  • Up to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations.
  • Increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma.
  • More than 750,000 middle ear infections in children.
  • Secondhand smoke may be related to breast cancer.
Integrate the discussion: Make a list of all the ways that people can accidentally be around secondhand smoke and a list of all the ways to avoid it. Work as a group to find polite ways to excuse yourself from a smoking person, room or area without insulting the smoker or hurting their feelings.

Pets and cigarette smoke
It’s not just the humans that smokers should worry about; their pets are inhaling the smoke as well. (http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org/smokingpets.htm) has a page explaining the toxins that our pets are exposed to.

Cats are known to get cancer from licking the tar off of their fur when cleaning themselves.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075305.htm

 Californians Unite
California proudly has the second lowest smoking rate (12.9% of adults smoke – CDC 2009) in the country. With positive and gentle encouragement we could be the leaders of the nation in smoke free communities. If you have a loved one who is not ready to quit, plant the seed and put it on the calendar to quit the next time the Great American Smokeout or World No Tobacco Day comes around.
 If you have a loved one who is ready to quit smoking, they don’t have to wait another year to quit. In an attempt to reduce the 5.4 million yearly deaths from tobacco-related health problems, World No Tobacco Day (sponsored by the World Health Organization since 1987) is observed around the world on May 31st.
http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/

Other references for help:
American Heart Association - Telephone: 1-800-AHA-USA-1 (1-800-242-8721)
Internet Address: http://www.americanheart.org/

 American Lung Association - Telephone: 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872)
Internet Address: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/
National Cancer Institute -Telephone: 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)
Internet Address: http://www.cancer.gov/

Smokefree.gov -(Info on state phone-based quitting programs)
Telephone: 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669) - Internet Address: http://www.smokefree.gov/





Monday, November 1, 2010

How Do We Explain Prop 19 To Our Kids?

As the California election approaches on November 2, 2010, we’ve had a lot of questions about prop 19. Miles To Go tries very hard to not discuss politics and legalization of drugs in the classroom, but we’re overwhelmed with questions about proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. Many teachers and parents are confused about what to do, and their students and children are just as confused, so in this blog we will attempt to explain what we know about the proposition. We must urge you, however, to keep this in mind: We are drug PREVENTION specialists, not legal specialists, and WE ARE BIASED.


Proposition 19 wants to legalize marijuana to help with California’s budget problems, and its proponents believe it will cut off funding to violent drug cartels and redirect law enforcement resources to more dangerous crimes. Proponents also say that it will control cannabis like alcohol. The proposition allows local governments to regulate marijuana related activities; it permits local governments to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes; and it authorizes various criminal and civil penalties.

The “No on 19” organization argues that the proposition is filled with gaps and flaws that will cause serious unintended consequences with public safety, in the workplace, and with federal funding since marijuana use remains illegal under federal law. We wanted to give you an idea of who is against this proposition, but the list was so long that is took up over 50 pages, so here is the link: http://www.noonproposition19.com/endorsements/leaders

Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana:
We often get the question, “Which is safer: driving high or driving drunk?” Of course, neither is safe. Driving under the influence of marijuana is not safe, because a person’s response rates are slower and impaired. The list of Police and Highway Patrol organizations against this proposition is extraordinarily long. Patrol officers lament the fact that there are currently no field sobriety tests that can effectively demonstrate operational impairments caused by marijuana use; and since current drug tests for marijuana only reveal past use, not current intoxication, there will be no way for them to effectively remove stoned drivers from the roads the way they do drunk drivers via the use of breathalyzer testing.

The questions we raise are:
Do you want people under the influence of marijuana driving on the road with the rest of us?"

NIDA link about drugged driving:
http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/driving.html
http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/marijuana4.html#driving


ABC news and Good Morning America recently put this idea to the test – watch/read the report here:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/driving-high-road-experiment-fuels-marijuana-legal-debate/story?id=11961862
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/test-driving-californias-proposed-pot-law-legalize-marijuana-car-drive-journalists-11966509


From the NO on 19 FAQ: The initiative expressly omits any definition of what constitutes being “under the influence” of marijuana. No driver over 21, including bus, taxi, light-rail train operators, and everyday commuters can be required to be drug-free while operating a vehicle. Although the initiative says you cannot use marijuana while driving, it appears completely permissible to use marijuana just prior to getting behind the wheel. This also opens up a tremendous liability question for employers who operate transportation companies or have company vehicles. They will no longer be able to require employees operating these vehicles be drug free.


Marijuana for 21 and older:
Proponents of Yes on 19 argue that like alcohol, marijuana will not be available to anyone under the age of 21. We can barely keep a straight face at this argument--we all know that kids can get alcohol!

Yes on prop 19 says in their FAQ’s that “(marijuana) has fewer harmful effects than alcohol and is not physically addictive with no long term effects on the body.” We feel it would be better to say that marijuana has different detrimental effects, as it seems to be a matter of opinion which detrimental effects are worse. Unfortunately, saying that marijuana is not “physically addictive” is nothing more than lying by omission, and a pure misstatement of the science. Marijuana addicts approximately 9% of its users, unless they start smoking in their middle teens, when the addiction rates almost double, to 17%. Whether the addiction is physical or psychological hardly seems to matter if it is your child entering drug treatment for their addiction to marijuana. Finally, “no long term effects on the body” seems to ignore the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery when it says that “known consequences of habitual marijuana smoking include an increased prevalence of chronic cough, sputum production and wheeze, as well as a higher frequency of acute bronchitis.” We guess that no “long term effects” as it is used here means that if you STOP using marijuana, they will go away, and yet nowhere do they seem to be suggesting that their intention is that people actually stop.

The questions we raise are:
Will legalization for people over 21 increase the usage rates of people under 21?


Here is a link to Lance Armstrong’s website Livestrong that has a series of simplified articles on the subject: http://www.livestrong.com/article/29994-marijuana-physically-addictive/


NIDA’s series on addiction:
Science of Addiction: http://www.nida.nih.gov/scienceofaddiction/

Marijuana Research Reports: http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/default.html

Info Facts: Marijuana (scroll down to addictive potential) http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html

Tax Money
Currently, the polling shows that most voters are opposed to proposition 19, and the majority of California’s newspapers are against the proposition. The Sacramento Bee conducted an Ad Watch analyzing the current Yes on 19 commercial which concluded that the commercial was “Mostly misleading.” According to the Bee, it would not generate the “billions” of tax revenue dollars claimed because the math was based on inaccurate per ounce tax numbers.

A Rand Corporation study said, “Legalizing Marijuana in California Will Not Dramatically Reduce Mexican Drug Trafficking Revenues.” http://www.rand.org/news/press/2010/10/12/

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, “The federal government will ‘vigorously enforce’ federal marijuana laws and that any retail establishment selling recreational pot would be admitting to a federal crime by the very act of paying taxes.”

‘Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens.’”

Roger Salazar, No on Prop 19 spokesman stated, “Let’s take stock of where we are:

• No revenue guarantees: The California Board of Equalization says that it cannot determine how much, if any, revenue would be generated by Proposition 19 because it neither establishes a regulatory framework nor does it impose any taxes on marijuana.

• No controls: Prop 19 contains no prohibition against driving after smoking marijuana meaning anyone, even school bus drivers and heavy equipment operators, can smoke up right up until they get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

• No reduction of illegal drug trafficking or violence: The Rand report released earlier this week notes that legalizing marijuana in California would not appreciably influence the Mexican drug trafficking organizations and the related violence.

“This sets up a situation where the Feds could withhold billions in federal education funds while cracking down on California’s marijuana industry. It begs the question: Why would anyone vote for this mess of a proposition?”

The questions we raise:
Kelly is concerned with the long term repercussions of addiction, brain and lung damage. Who will pay for the costs of health care in the long run? It seems that while other countries have shown successful models for decriminalization and taxation, there are still no long term studies on health care costs. Here are several links to the annual cost of alcohol abuse in California, which runs in the billions of dollars.

http://www.cspinet.org/booze/2005/pdf/Cost_of_Alcohol_Abuse_California_(March_2004).pdf
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/20090505140503.html
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa11.htm
http://www.marininstitute.org/site/campaigns/charge-for-harm.html

Jonathan is concerned that Proposition 19 will add to our confusion, not reduce it. The current war on drugs is a money burning mess, but this proposition does nothing to change that. Our ultimate goal is to keep drugs out of the bodies of adolescents and teens, but nothing here will move us closer to that goal. The legalization of marijuana in some form or another is probably a foregone conclusion in the long run, but we worry that it will lessen in the teen mind the perceived risk of using the drug, and further open young people up to the questionable role models some adults currently provide with their unhealthy use of tobacco and abuse of alcohol in front of seriously impressionable kids.