NIDA News: NIDA’s Chat Day, More Questions on Marijuana
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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?
wow thats verry intersesting
thisw website was very helpful for my project on street drugs. My frineds and I are very interested in all of your articles. Keep up the good work! And thank you(:
thisw website was very helpful for my project on street drugs. My friends and I are very interested in all of your articles. Keep up the good work! And thank you(:
if people say that drug addiction is also affected through genes wouldn’t you think being pregnant while taking drugs would affect the baby in appearance and the body of the child may want to feed of the drug too… Think about it.
this says nutin bout pcp. dis is un helpful for me project. tanks alot.
Ok… listen. Marijuana is awesome, and should be legal =) Many drugs are dangerous though… i agree. I did a report on them.
can u tell me the classfication,effects on the body, how the drug enters the body , whats the nick name and medical uses alcohol has on people for my project
@ddog, sure, and you can go to the NIDA website to find out more. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. Alcohol affects every organ in the drinker’s body and can damage a developing fetus. Getting drunk can mess up brain function and motor skills; heavy use can increase risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver disease. For more info, check out: The Cool Spot – for kids 11-13 and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
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nice site
I hope you don’t get paid for this SHI*
Talk about ecstasy
Nuthin bout’ PCP, tanks alot i’m gettin’ an F on my project
@???????????????: Here’s some info on PCP. You can search on keywords next time.
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very cool . good site
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teens nowadays are taking a lot of risk. parents should really keep an eye on this.
Edwin J. Peters
Library technician
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“DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY” sounds interesting
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You might be a very smart person!
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