The Sara Bellum Blog

Good news SBB readers, each week more and more of you are visiting the blog. Because more of you are tuning in, we want to make sure we provide you with the most interesting and helpful information. We always take your comments and your messages into consideration, and you’ve already given us great insight. So, we are taking it a step further. In other words, we want more of your feedback!

Here’s how it’s going to work. Each month, we’ll post a specific question on the blog asking for your feedback. The first question is:

Question #1: What would you like to talk about, or know more about, on the topic of drug abuse?

To answer the question, you can either submit a comment by writing your response in the “Leave a Reply” box below, or send us a message. As always, we will read all comments and consider all feedback. The following month, check back with the SBB to see how we’ve addressed your suggestions and to answer the next question.

Your comments and suggestions will help guide the future development of the Blog. For example, if you think there are too many blog posts on nicotine addiction or not enough videos, or if you want to read more about real teens’ stories or see videos on the consequences of prescription drug abuse, we want to know.

We look forward to hearing from you, so let’s get started.

Image Courtesy of Susan Sermoneta

When someone mentions “HIV/AIDS” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

—Something you learned about in health class?
—Or saw on TV?
—Or recall a friend who recently got tested for HIV?
—Or a celebrity who raises awareness about HIV/AIDS around the world?

Here’s some of the science behind HIV/AIDS that you may not know;

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), a disease of the immune system. Currently, there is no cure, but there is treatment. The good news? HIV/AIDS is preventable, and you can protect yourself by knowing how it is spread and using good judgment. Here are some typical questions that you might have, which research has helped to answer:

• How does someone get HIV? HIV is transmitted when an infected person’s blood or other bodily fluid comes in contact with the blood, broken skin, or mucous membranes of someone who is not infected.
• Isn’t HIV just a problem in foreign countries like Africa? It’s true that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is worse in certain foreign countries, but it is also prevalent in the United States. Every nine and a half minutes, someone in the United States is infected with HIV, affecting people of every age, race, and creed. Even teens.
• How many teens really have HIV? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 50,000 young people 13 to 24 years old were living with the virus that causes AIDS in 2006, and nearly half didn’t even know they had it.
• What does drug abuse have to do with it? You’ve probably heard that needle-sharing among injection drug users can spread the disease, which is true. However, using drugs and alcohol also puts people at risk. That’s because when someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, their judgment is impaired, and they’re more likely to make impulsive decisions they normally wouldn’t, like having sex. Since HIV is sexually transmitted, unprotected sex can lead to getting HIV or giving it to someone else. And since so many teens don’t even know they have HIV, they can pass it on without even knowing.

So, now what? Make healthy choices and protect yourself and your friends. For more information about HIV/AIDS, check out our friends over at AIDS.gov.

Image Courtesy of Chris Phillips, ICF Macro

NIDA’s annual DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY, held November 10, was a huge success. The computer-filled room where it happened vibrated with excitement, as more than 40 NIDA scientists eagerly tried to answer as many questions as they could. And questions they got. Teens from around the country sent in some 13,000 questions about drugs–wow, so nice to hear from you!

So what was different about Chat Day this year? Well for one, there seemed to be twice as many questions on marijuana. Maybe that’s because the news lately is full of talk about marijuana (how confusing—some adults say it’s bad for you, and others say it can be used as a medicine!). If you want to know how our scientists answered these questions, check out the CHAT DAY transcript, coming soon to http://www.nida.nih.gov/chat/.

What happens with the questions we didn’t have time to answer? In the next few days, we will be reviewing all of the questions so we can learn more about what teens want to know about drugs. We’re planning on adding what we find out to our teen Web site and we will blog more about it, too. If you think DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY sounds like fun, ask your school to sign up for next year.  Schools will be able to register this summer. We’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, here’s a list of some topics and the percentage of kids who asked about them this year.

30%:   General questions (like “What’s the worst drug?” or “Why do kids take drugs?”)
20%:   Marijuana
10%:   Nicotine
8.5%:  Alcohol
8.5%:  Illegal street drugs like cocaine, meth, LSD, PCP, and ecstasy
5.0%:  How do I get help for a friend or family member?
< 3%:  Steroids, Inhalants, Rx Drugs, Pregnancy (questions like “Are drugs bad for the baby?”)

Ok, so what would you or your friends have asked about?

November 10th is NIDA’s annual DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY! In case you haven’t heard of it—more than 40 NIDA scientists and science writers sit down at computers and answer questions sent in live from high school students from all over the country. Last year, 11,000 teens sent in their questions! To actually ask a question on the CHAT your school has to register in advance. But even if you haven’t registered, there’s a lot of interesting stuff to read by just observing Chat Day, on November 10, 8 am to 6 pm EST. You’ll see factoids and quizzes (test your “drug IQ”) and links to other sites.  And if you are curious to know what kids ask about, the transcripts from the 2007 and 2008 CHATS are also posted.

What do you think the most popular questions were? Last year teens asked a lot of questions about marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol (yes alcohol and cigarettes are drugs too).  They also wanted to know what the “worst” drugs are, and what happens if someone who’s pregnant uses drugs. There were also lots of questions about the effects of drugs on the body, and teens asked how they could find help for friends who had problems with drugs.

The most important thing to know about NIDA’s DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY is that the scientists just want to give teens the scientific facts about drugs— no lectures.

So if you’re near a computer (which you are if you are reading this!) take a look at NIDA’s DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY webpage.  See if the question you would ask is being asked by someone else. And next year, ask your teacher to register, so your class can post questions directly to NIDA scientists!

Lots of teens have questions about drugs. Each year, NIDA scientists spend a day chatting online with high school students and answering their questions.

At the last Drug Facts Chat Day, soccerstar0 asked:

“On average how old are kids who start using drugs?”

Research shows that drug use often starts in the teen years. You might have heard that, but here’s something you may not know—the science shows that the younger you are when you start using drugs, the more likely you are to get addicted later on. Doing drugs can also cause problems with friends, in sports, and in school.

Let’s face it—when someone tells us not to do something, that sometimes makes it seem more exciting. But drugs can really do some not-so-exciting things to your body. NIDA researchers discovered that drugs can literally change the way your brain works. And since your own brain won’t finish growing until you’re 25, you probably don’t want to mess with that process by doing drugs.

Last February, NIDA held its first “Covering Addiction” Roundtable discussion for college journalists. Fifteen students from universities around Washington, D.C. picked the brains of NIDA scientists and professional health reporters, asking them about careers in science and health journalism. The student journalists got tips from pros who have worked for ABC News, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post on how to write about sensitive health topics like drug abuse and addiction.

Overall, students said they got a lot out of the experience, but some said they would have liked more time for questions about addiction and the health effects of drugs. So to follow up, here are some answers to common questions about drug use in college.

-Is everyone using illegal drugs in college?

No. Many college students drink alcohol, but most of them are not using other drugs.

-How common is drug use in college?

It really depends on the drug. The most common drug used in college is alcohol (yes, it’s a drug).  A survey asking college students about their past-month drug use found that about 2 out of 3 drink alcohol, and about 1 in 5 students smoke cigarettes.  Marijuana comes in third, with about 1 in 6 students smoking it in college.  (Interesting fact: full-time college students actually use less tobacco and marijuana on a regular basis than people of the same age who don’t go to college.) As for other illegal drugs, very few college students are using them. For example, fewer than 1 in 100 college students have ever used heroin or steroids.

-How do you know?

NIDA’s Monitoring the Future Survey asks middle school students, high school students and high school graduates about drug use. If you want to see the real data for yourself, you can go to the Monitoring the Future website and look at all the 2007 results for college students.

-Stay tuned…

If you’re studying for a journalism career in college, or planning to study journalism when you go, stay tuned! We’ll announce the next college journalist roundtable here at the Sara Bellum Blog.