Learning About Drugs From the Inside
3 Comments 
Sharlett, pictured here, recently completed an internship at NIDA, where she learned the facts about drug abuse and addiction from NIDA scientists and then helped spread the word to others.
My name is Sharlett, and I’m from Washington State. Recently, I completed an internship for NIDA in Washington, DC. I worked behind the scenes with the communications experts, which means I was involved with organizing and publicizing different cool events and publications that NIDA offers you.
One of my most interesting projects was helping to spread the word about National Drug Facts Week, which occurred last November. One of my biggest tasks was to promote the “National Drug IQ Challenge en Español”—to encourage teens, their parents, and friends to take the quiz and test their knowledge about drug abuse and addiction. This was the first year the Challenge was offered in Spanish, and everyone has been really excited about it.
I am thrilled I got to be a part of such a great organization. I was offered the chance to work for NIDA in late July, and I knew right away it was an awesome opportunity. Every day, I got to use what I learned in college to promote drug awareness and help teens stay safe. I think it is crucial to make facts about drugs easily available to teens to counteract all the myths that are floating around.
Before coming to NIDA, my knowledge about drugs and drug abuse was very limited. I knew that drugs harm the body and that they can lead to illness or even death. I knew that one of my favorite comedians, Chris Farley, died from a drug overdose in 1997. I began to form perceptions and beliefs about drug abuse, but my “drug IQ” was very basic. After working at NIDA for just a few weeks, I learned some surprising new facts like:
Drug addiction is a disease. Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain—they change its structure and how it works.
Marijuana can be addictive. The changes from using marijuana or any drug are different for each person. For marijuana, about 1 in 11 people who use it become addicted, and that rate goes up if you start young and if you smoke a lot. To learn the facts about marijuana, check out the booklet, Marijuana: Facts for Teens.
Not all drugs are illegal. Tobacco and alcohol are both addictive drugs and can cause serious health problems. Similarly, prescription drugs, which are meant to help people with health problems, can become addictive and are being abused at high rates among all age groups, including teens.
If more people knew the facts, they could better understand drugs and their consequences. I know I do. The next National Drug Facts Week starts January 28, 2013. I’ll be watching the National Drug Facts Week Web site to see what new and interesting things NIDA has to offer.
With Science and Songs, Students Celebrate National Drug Facts Week
The second annual National Drug Facts Week was in full swing on November 2 at the House of Sweden at a hallmark event for NIDA’s 2011 health observance in Washington, DC.
More than 100 high school students from 7 schools in the District of Columbia and Baltimore, MD, attended the “Drug Facts Rally” headlined by NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., and Grammy-nominated R&B recording artist Mario Barrett. Other students participated in the event via Skype from the Baltimore Mayor’s office.
Ask Anything
Attendees had the unique opportunity to interact directly with Dr. Volkow, asking their most pressing questions about drugs and addiction during an energetic Q&A session. Dr. Volkow also answered two questions submitted from students in Sweden. (To read other questions from high school students and the answers direct from NIDA scientists, read NIDA’s 2011 Drug Facts Chat Day transcript.)
After speaking with NIDA’s Director, the students broke into small group sessions to show off their knowledge in a Jeopardy-style trivia game with peer health educators from the George Washington University Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Education.
Using Music To Send a Message
One of the day’s most memorable moments came when Mario Barrett took the stage. He surprised an attendee who had been invited to sing a few lines from one of his songs by joining her in the second verse.
Originally from Baltimore, MD, Mario grew up with a mother who was addicted to drugs. He was exposed to violence, gangs, and drugs on a daily basis. Eventually, he rose to the top of the R&B charts with songs like “Just a Friend 2002” and “Let Me Love You.”
With a goal of giving back, he uses his Mario Do Right Foundation to mentor and support the children of substance abusing parents. He strives to create a support system that he didn’t have for much of his childhood.
T-Shirt Contest Winners
Miss DC International, Dr. Allison Hill, a certified pharmacist, attended the event to help announce the winners of a t-shirt contest sponsored by international fashion retailer H&M and the Mentor Foundation USA. The contest challenged District of Columbia high school students to design a slogan to express what motivates them to stay drug free now and in the future.
The following students, all from the César Chávez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy–Parkside, won the competition:
1st place: Damani Johnson
2nd Place: Temple Reed
3rd Place: Tina Starr
Each attendee received a t-shirt featuring Damani Johnson’s winning slogan, which read:
Front: I’M > DRUGS
Back: I’M GREATER THAN DRUGS
BREATHE IN COMMON SENSE,
EXHALE IGNORANCE
STAY POSITIVE, TEST NEGATIVE
STAY DRUG FREE
Besides the t-shirt and loads of facts about drug abuse and healthy choices, attendees also had the opportunity to take away photos of the event. Students also could visit a video booth to give a shoutout about why they are drug free and what they learned during the day to shatter the myths about drug abuse.
Now we want to hear from you as well. Hit the comments below and tell us your personal slogan against drug abuse or give us a shoutout about why you’re drug free.
Embassy of Sweden Event Partners
Teens Help Shatter the Myths About Drugs
In communities across the country, students, teachers, and parents joined forces in NIDA’s second annual National Drug Facts Week from October 31 to November 6, 2011.
From Knoxville, Tennesee, to Siskiyou County in northern California, to La Plata, Maryland, teens gathered in school and neighborhood events to get real about drugs and addiction. In addition, teens from 71 schools from coast to coast participated in an online Drug Facts Chat Day event and submitted more than 10,000 questions to NIDA scientists.
Following are some examples of other events held around the country in honor of National Drug Facts Week.
Creating PSAs in Tennessee
In Knoxville, TN, the Metropolitan Drug Commission produced a series of public service announcements (PSAs) that Comcast Cable will air for free throughout the fall and winter.
Five teens posed questions to experts on camera to help shatter the myths about alcohol and other drugs. Topics were chosen based on the top five most commonly abused drugs in Knox County, where Knoxville is located. Those drugs are marijuana, alcohol, prescription drugs, tobacco, and inhalants.
View the PSAs:
A Painted Bridge and Real-Life Stories in California
Students from a leadership class at Mt. Shasta High School in Siskiyou County, CA, painted a “grafitti bridge” to honor those who had lost their lives to drug addiction. The goal of the project was to encourage teens to get the facts about drugs, tobacco, and alcohol by visiting the NIDA for Teens Web site.
In addition, a panel of speakers spoke to teens about how their lives were affected by drug addiction and the toll it took on themselves and their community. Leon, for example, crashed his pickup truck while driving drunk 6 years ago and was in a coma for 9 days. He suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him with speech, coordination, and memory deficits.
The Siskiyou County Office of Education and the local public health department also sponsored a poster contest entitled, “It’s a Fact.” They received close to 500 student entries. A kindergartener from Butteville Elementary School, was one of 16 winners. In all, 800 posters were professionally printed and posted around the county.
Facing the Facts at Juvenile Drug Court in Maryland
The city of La Plata, MD, applied the messages of National Drug Facts Week in a completely different way.
A crowd of more than 50 family members came to witness as two teens “graduated” from Juvenile Drug Court and had their records cleared. The teens participated in therapy and counseling in an intervention program designed to offer treatment and a chance for a clean start for nonviolent offenders who are chronic drug users between age 14 and 17.
Invited speaker Stanley Goodall, a counselor who worked with both graduates, recalled the changes that the two teens experienced and how their lives are much different now than when he first met them. “We thought the young man would be a casualty,” Mr. Goodall said. But now, with a clear record and a strong sense of purpose, he intends to join the U.S. Marine Corps.
What ideas do you think would work to share the facts about drugs and addiction at your school or in your neighborhood? What would inspire you to host an event next year so that you can make a difference?
Read about more 2011 National Drug Facts Week events.
GRAMMY Contest: Teens Sing Stories of Addiction
Three teens used music to turn the destruction of drug abuse and addiction into music and hope.
The winners of the second annual MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundation’s Teen Substance Abuse Awareness through Music Contest featured compelling stories of addiction and recovery. Two entrants wrote their submissions while in treatment; a third wrote a song about how his sister’s addiction affected the whole family.
Who Won?
The 1st place winners were Harvie and Amanda, two teens currently in treatment at the Phoenix House Academy in Los Angeles, CA. Their entry, an original song entitled “Like a Phoenix in the Air,” chronicles their feelings about being teens in drug treatment and their desire to rise above their addictions “even with a broken wing.” The song ends with the lyrics “Cuz I may fall one hundred times before I sleep, but I promise you I’ll get back up tomorrow.”
The 2nd place winner, Kevin Simmons, wrote “My Life” while at the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations, a residential center in Spokane Valley, WA. Kevin told his story of addiction and recovery through powerful lyrics that included, “My life was over until I got sober, but I found another way to get through life.”
The 3rd place winner is 14-year-old Grant Davis, a student at Silver State High School in Carson City, NV. In his entry, “Just a Child,” the young lyricist referenced his experience growing up in a family dominated by his older sister’s struggle with addiction. He created a haunting but hopeful composition that included the lyrics, “You were not supposed to be in charge of the world created for me.”
Composers of all three winning entries will have the opportunity to attend the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards Backstage Experience, a special backstage tour that includes watching artists rehearse for the live GRAMMY Awards show early in 2012. Also, the winners will have their musical entries posted on the GRAMMY 365 and MTV Web sites, as well as on the Above the Influence campaign site. They will each receive a small cash award from the Visions Adolescent Treatment Center in Malibu, CA, and a certificate from NIDA acknowledging their role in spreading the word about health about substance abuse.
How Do You Cope?
In a video essay, 2nd-place winner Kevin added, “Whenever I have a bad day I go to my room with a pencil and paper and write down how I feel.”
What do you do to cope with stress, anxiety, or when you’re just feeling low? Tell us in the comments what works to help you through life’s rough patches.
Visit NIDA’s Web site to listen to the winning songs. Read the official press release.
Using the Internet To Learn the Science About Drugs
The Internet is teeming with blogs about everything from food to shopping to high-tech gadgets. Anyone and everyone can start a blog, and while many bloggers try their hardest to get the facts right, mistakes do happen. When considering a post about a new fashion trend, that may seem harmless; but what about blogs that include information about prescription drug abuse or the effects of inhalants? In that case, wrong information can be dangerous—even deadly.
NIDA works hard to give teens accurate and reliable information on the Internet and encourages teens to ask questions about drugs and drug abuse. NIDA even sponsors a major Internet-based event every year called Drug Facts Chat Day where high school students from around the country can ask questions directly to NIDA experts.
Also, you can always ask questions here, in the SBB comments. Recently, SBB received a bunch of interesting new comments on last year’s post about NIDA’s National Drug Facts Week, “Get the Download on Drugs: Help Us Shatter the Myths.” Apparently, a teacher assigned students to read this blog post to help them answer particular questions.
Here are some sample comments (we didn’t edit these at all):
——————————————————————————————————————–
@baloghperiod3:
Question 5 – The best way to get the message out to teens is on TV because not all teens have a computer or an account, but most teens have a TV and watch it all the time at home. You can have a TV show where the they dedicate an episode to not doing stuff like, smoking and drinking!!
——————————————————————————————————————–
@muellerperiod5:
Question 4- If an athlete uses steroids to improve they’re performance, I do think that is cheating. Because, they would be stronger than everyone else, it just wouldn’t be fair, that person could hurt others, and they would make the people who aren’t on steroids feel bad because they wouldn’t be doing as well as the person who is. Using steroids, or any other type of drug, comes with consequences. I think that the athlete who is using steroids should be kicked off the team as their consequence. I bet someone who doesn’t use steroids would do even better than the person who is.
Question 5 – I think Social Networks would be the best way to get the message out to teens. I think that because, most kids are on Facebook and Myspace and Twitter or just on the computer. Most teens wouldn’t pay attention to adults when they say drugs are bad, but since it’s on Facebook or Twitter, they would be more likely to pay attention.
——————————————————————————————————————–
SBB is proud to provide this science-based blog (and resource!) for teens.
So, how can you tell if the Web sites you visit offer reliable information?
To answer the questions, you can either write your response in the “Leave a Reply” box below, or send us a message. We read all of your comments and feedback.
NOTE: PDF documents require the free Adobe Reader. Microsoft Word documents require the free Microsoft Word viewer.
Flash content requires the free Adobe Flash Player.
National Institute on Drug Abuse | National Institutes of Health | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
