Get away to the Caribbean with IRM! | In Recovery Magazine

I love the folks at InRecovery Magazine. This Cruise looks to be fun and inspiring. There are meetings and workshops hand picked by the people at InReocvery and it sounds fabulous!  Entertainment inlcudes  Recovery Films, Comedy Show, Meetings, Special ‘In This Life’ Tours, swimming with stingrays and sharks plus great snorkeling, other entertainment, dancing, and  LOTS of FUN-FUN-FUN. Looking for something different this Dec? I reccomend this getaway and the people sponsoring it.

Get away to the Caribbean with IRM! | In Recovery Magazine: "Travel with us to the Western Caribbean from Houston — including stops at Cozumel, Harvest Caye, Belize, Banana Coast-Trujillo, and Honduras. Join us on this fabulous seven-day cruise vacation on the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Norwegian Jade” December 5-12, 2015."



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Social networking leading to drug abuse among kids worrying parents

Although this article below is from India, talking about how social media is affecting addiction--it affects us here in the U.S. too--However, you often hear that this drug or that drug is increasing in use and parents are concerned and kids are in trouble--this event or that supply is worse than ever. The media gives us headlines designed to scare us. Addiction to any particular drug goes up and down, but the rate of addiction remains pretty steady, about 1 in 10 of us are in trouble with mind affecting chemicals and this includes our kids.



You need to reamain diligent as you would with anything your kids take up--but I don't think social media is much worse then the tail gate parties of the past.

Social networking leading to drug abuse among kids worrying parents - The Times of India: ""There is a very close nexus between social networking sites, drug supply chain and drug abuse among children. Children active on social sites come across online drug suppliers and ultimately due to curiosity because of their age (adolescence) they get into addiction. Drug use and abuse is changing briskly in our society, and in present day it is one of the biggest challenges for us as our young are getting easily exposed to drugs online and abusing it. Children are placing order online and the consignment is reaching them at their doorstep." "

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Liberation Programs Receives $20K Grant for Addiction Treatment for Pregnant or Parenting Women

I have mixed feelings on women taking kids to treatment--while its true that they are relunctant to go to treatment without their kids--I always suspect the women use kids as an excuse not to seek treatment. If you are constantly tending to kids, you are lessl ikely to tend to your recovery. I used to advise young monthers to get someone in the family to take care of the kids for severalmonths in early reocvery--gave the mom's  a better start. But keeping kids in a safe environment with Mom--could work, and of course that depends on the staff and the program too.

Liberation Programs Receives $20K Grant for Addiction Treatment for Pregnant or Parenting Women | Greenwich Free Press: "The program also provides special services for children and is unique to the State of Connecticut since it is the only program of its kind where mothers can bring two children up to the age of 10 to stay with them while they are in treatment."



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Parent warns of dangers of teen drug and alcohol use

So often parents think their kids are "just experimentng" but experimentation can turn ugly fast. More than about 80% of the time this is true--kids do experiment and they do grow up just fine. But for 10% of them, it progresses into an agressive addiciton. How can you tell the difference? You don't want to over react for every little infraction that may be "normal" if not infuriating for you..so how do you tell if they are growing up in a normal and chaotic fashion or if they are headed for addiciton hell? Take this test. Click Here  Abnd read this mothers story below.

P.E.I. parent warns of dangers of teen drug and alcohol use - Local - The Guardian: "Her son had been rushed to hospital with alcohol poisoning.

“He was binge drinking near the Confederation Trail. He and a friend passed out cold and were left there by the rest of the group who were afraid of getting into trouble,” she told The Guardian"



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Drug-Testing Kits Provided to Parents to Start Dialogue with Kids

I have always supported the use of drug testing kits. Kids like to claim "Its an invasion of my privacy!"  But actually, someone using drugs in MY house is an invasion of my rights! I have a right to respect myself, my home, and my kids...and knowing what they are doing is part of the respect and central to protecting them.

Drug-Testing Kits Provided to Parents to Start Dialogue with Kids | Parenting: "The "Give Me a Reason" pilot program has developed a drug-testing kit that aims to educate moms and dads about why kids use drugs and alcohol, help them protect their children, give tips on how to communicate with their kids, and provide tricks to spotting and dealing with substance abuse. It's a partnership among the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, Mayor Steve Williams' Office of Drug Control Policy and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area."

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The Parent Blame Game | In Recovery Magazine- My Story

I ran across this article again. I wrote it last year for In Recovery Magazine. It's my story with my daughter and the basis for the book from my brother and myself, Sober Coaching Your Teen, as well as the rewrite of Young, Sober, & Free from Hazelden.. If you are a parent and have an addicted child or one experimenting--read my story. Don't let this happen to you.

The Parent Blame Game | In Recovery Magazine: "“Repeat that. He said the joke’s on me?” She nodded. Alcoholism and addiction runs in our family. In fact, it is very aggressive within the Marshall family. My mother, father, uncle, brothers and cousins all suffer from this destructive brain chemistry disorder. Today, most of us are clean and sober. The few who aren’t are in the process of destroying themselves or have already died from the disease."

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Teens teach teens about drug abuse

I like the concept of Drug Story Theater, and we know that peer talking to each other works pretty good--but in this case I would be cautious. Kids may be more likely to listen to other kids, but once they walk out of the theater, they are more likely to listen to the guy beside them--and not remember the story on stage. it's the way of things. Still, this is a lightly better approach than having kids lectured by adults...



You can read about it below.

Teens teach teens about drug abuse - News - The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - Quincy, MA: "atos, 17, is reading the words from a script, but the story is familiar. Like all the vignettes featured in the Drug Story Theater production, it’s the staged version of what the actors themselves experienced.
The concept came to Dr. Joe Shrand years ago: Many schools have assemblies about drug use, but adults telling kids what not to do just doesn’t have the same impact as teens talking to other teens about real-life experiences."



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