Celebrate #GivingTuesday

After the insanity of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the upcoming Broke Wednesday--we need a break. The United Nations foundation started a great counter to this--called Giving Tuesday.

Although those in recovery are already known for being particularly giving, its nice to see a day set aside for this amid the holiday commercialism. Take a minute to read this and ask yourself what your "community giving" is this season. If you don't have money, then think about volunteering your time. Many kitchens for the less fortunate may need your help. Or become the bell ringer in front of the Big Box stores. Don't let this season go by without giving back to your community--

Whatever your family trouble now--serving others will always bring good back to you. Read about Giving Tuesday" here.

Celebrate #GivingTuesday | The White House: "#GivingTuesday builds on the American tradition of giving back but uses technology to give this greater impact. This commemoration does not seek to coordinate funds toward any particular nonprofit or to direct volunteers to support a specific cause. Instead, #GivingTuesday is intended to encourage Americans to reflect and give back. It’s a collective moment for individual and community action."

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Natural High Natural High – A Drug Prevention Program Inspiring and Helping Youth

This is a site I just discovered aimed at helping kids find their "natural high" as opposed to using and abusing drugs. Probably won't have much of an impact on the action brain chemistry disorder of addiction--but it can make a dent in simple abuse. I don't know though. I think of when I used in high school--I would not have gone to a site like this--I would have thought it lame.

I remember when AA came out with a comic book (sooo long ago) to help kids understand AA and help them into sobriety. All of us young people thought it such a joke--if given the comic book, a teenager in trouble with drugs was more likely to use it roll a joint then to read it. A teens job is to break away from adults and find their own independence, so trying to help them when their "job" is to break away from us is problematic.

I doubt this site would help teens, but I believe it would help pre teens because they want to be older. So material designed for older kids is gobbled up by younger ones. Weird how it works. So this site probably won't help who it was intended to do but it will help the younger ones.

Natural High Natural High – A Drug Prevention Program Inspiring and Helping Youth:

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Man dies after accidentally drinking £34,000 of crystal meth thinking it was a HEALTH DRINK | Mail Online

Here is a sad story about drugs gone wrong--I feel sorry for the daughter here. However, some people think she was murdering her father and the story is suspicious. Others think the media are dolts for blaming this on the series "Breaking Bad." To me, the most interesting part of the story are the comments after the story. Read the story below, but most important, read the comments--incredible!

Man dies after accidentally drinking £34,000 of crystal meth thinking it was a HEALTH DRINK | Mail Online: "A man has died after drinking a massive overdose of liquid crystal meth after mistaking it for a health drink.
Romano Dias, 55, had been given a bottle of what appeared to be a fruit-based drink by his daughter Katee, who had found it in a package delivered to her home.
After downing about half a glass of the liquid he immediately began to feel ill and died shortly afterwards.
Police say that finding the drug in the UK is very unusual, but crystal meth has been brought to the public's attention by the multi award-winning TV show Breaking Bad."

and here's a smattering of the comments--there are over 300! But gives one insight into how people think about drugs.

As for Breaking Bad bringing it to the UK's consciousness, you do know that Breaking Bad was on for 5 years don't you? Think something would have happened before this, that is for sure.

Cute. The police don't know what's obviously going on And the media does a comedy writeup on a TV show to help them cover up their ignorance.

Who in their right mind would drink something delivered to their home addressed to someone else???

Agatha Christie would have been proud.

 The tv program isn't glamourising this drug!! Infact it does exactly what it should be doing!! It shows meth addicts as dirty hollow faced druggies who would steal from their own kids to get a fix. Don't glamourise the "euphoric high" instead show pictures of addicts and what it really does to your body!! It eats your flesh away!!! Disgusting!!! Say no!!!!!!!

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5 myths about alcoholics - Per Wickstrom

This is a great article--and Mr Wickstrom does address the common myths about alcoholism. the Five myths he explains in detail are:
Myth #1: “Alcohol is not as addictive as cocaine, heroin, and other drugs.”
Myth #2: “Alcohol doesn’t kill like other drugs.”
Myth #3: “It’s relatively safe to drink while using prescription drugs.”
Myth #4: “The only rehabilitation that works for alcoholics is the Twelve Step (Alcoholics Anonymous) program.”
Myth #5: “You can always tell when someone is an alcoholic.”

If you still belive any of the above, please go to his sucess Site and read this article to find out why it is a myth.

For parents, there are a few more myths that need to be broken:

Myth # 6: If your child is a drug addict, you didn't raise them  in a healthy environment.
Myth # 7: Your addicted child should be treated in a teen center so he or she can relate.
Myth # 8: If your child is still an adolescent they are not really an addict--they are too young to really tell.
Myth # 9: AA is not a good place for you recovering child as their are sexual predators there.

Chew on those for a while-- if you believe any of them, go to Sober Coaching Your Teen and find out why they are myths...

5 myths about alcoholics - Per Wickstrom: "Alcoholism affects the young, the old, the skid row bum, the housewife, the burnt out salesman, the struggling artist, and the corporate CEO – no strata of life is exempt. As earlier stated, in order to address alcoholism, it is often necessary to design a program specifically tailored to each person. Treat people as individuals, and assist them in dealing with their individual problems connected with alcohol and drug abuse."

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Daughter's Heroin Habit Moves Lawmaker To Sponsor Good Samaritan Law

I love good Samaritan laws--I first learned of them when I went to get my CPR--that you could not be sued if you tried to help and the person died. Actually many people were sued for someone ding when they tried to help until the Good Samaritan laws made it into the law books.

Now a lawmaker in Wisconsin is trying to get these laws for drug addicts--or just those who overdose--can you imagine being at a party, one that is hosting illegal substances? Maybe you aren't even using them, but you know others are. You find a person who is obviously overdosed, you want to help, but coffee and a cold shower are not going to save this person. If you call an ambulance, the police come and you may be charged along with the rest of the guests. If you put them in your car and speed to the hospital, maybe they die in your car and you will go to jail.

What do you do? It's a valid question and one your kids might face more often than you know.

We need to support Good Samaritan Laws where and when we can. Read about this one here:

Daughter's Heroin Habit Moves Wisconsin Lawmaker To Sponsor Good Samaritan Law: "Two of the policies he's pushing are somewhat controversial. The first would offer limited immunity for people who call 911 or bring overdose patients to an emergency room. The sensible theory behind the policy is that people are reluctant to report overdoses if doing so could subject them to criminal charges. The other would expand those with access to Narcan, a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose."

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I know when you’re texting |

I really wish we had a good sign like for our students who are drinking!

I know when you’re texting | Ice Age Now:

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Officials fighting drug crisis--heroin in a heartbeat

Here we go again talking about the prescription pills in your cabinet. Anyone who gets pain meds and decides they really like it--when the prescription is cut off, what does the patient look for? They usually look for more meds in the same category--people who really like oxycodone will go for heroin in a heartbeat. Over prescribing is a real problem--but so is leaving them in your medicine cabinet. If kids want drugs, they go after what they can find at home first--then often try to get a prescription for "pain." Girls get cramps, boys pull muscles--depending on who your doctor is, doctors can be the next best medicine cabinet around. Read the story below and stay aware of what your kid takes!

Officials fighting drug crisis - Watertown Daily Times Online : News: ""We are looking at this as a heroin problem, but it really is an opioid problem. They all cause the same withdrawal. They can all be used to stop the withdrawal," Klomberg said. "They will use oxycodone for a long time, but then can't get it and then they switch to whatever they can get their hands on. They are really interchangeable and we shouldn't focus exclusively on heroin."
Overprescribing pain medication is something that doctors across the area struggle with, Meade said. He added it is incredibly hard for a doctor to look a patient in the eye and tell them they are lying when they say they are in pain."

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