Parents and Teens – Reducing Alcohol Risks What’s a Parent to Do?

Outline – Discussion Items  Stats – Alcohol and other drug use  Why do teens use?  Risks of use  Preventing use  Reducing harms  What's a parent to do?  Contacts

Student Drug Use Survey (2007)  The survey asked junior and senior high school students (Grades 7, 9 and Levels I and III) about their experiences with substance use, gambling and associated risk behaviors  The survey report is based on the responses of 3848 students in the randomly selected classes

Prevalence of substance use  Alcohol – 52.0 (50.9)  Cannabis – 29.5 (29.3)  Cigarettes – 16.9 (15)  MDMA – 7.2 (6.2)  Cocaine – 5.3 (4.0)  LSD – 4.2 (3.9)  Inhalants – 4.4 (3.7)  Methamphetamine – 2.4 (1.9) (The number in brackets refers to the Atlantic average)

Trends

Level III students – Alcohol/Cannabis  79.9% reported alcohol in previous 12 months  55.1% reported five or more drinks at a sitting in previous 30 days  45.5% reported drunkenness in 30 days before survey  47.2 % report cannabis use in previous 12 months with 17.5% less than daily and 8.6% daily users

Level III Students – Other Drugs  Past twelve months:  LSD (8.5%)  Amphetamine (4.7%)  Methamphetamine (3.0%)  Ecstasy (14.2%)  Cocaine (8.1%)  Steroids (1.2%)

Driving Behavior  16.3% of drivers with a license drove within one hour of drinking alcohol  16.9% rode with a driver who had been drinking  29.5% of drivers with a license drove within an hour of using cannabis  22.2% rode with a driver who had been using cannabis

Sexual Behavior  56.1% of grade 12 students report intercourse in the past year  46.3% of grade 12 students report unplanned sex after using alcohol/other drugs in past year

Where do teens get alcohol?  57.8% - Friend bought / offered  16.6% - Parents offered  10.3% - Got at home without permission  6.9% - Bought him/herself  5.0% - Other adult offered

Why do teens use?  Boredom  Curiosity  Excitement  Positive Expectancies  Peer influence  Social norms – Everyone else drinks  To be more social  Celebrations  Coping  To deal with emotions

Risks of Alcohol / other drug use  Overdose  Choking to death  Sexual Decision Making  Consent and sexual assault  Risky sexual behavior  Impaired driving  Largest cause of death for ages 15 – 24  4 Canadians killed each day (40% between 15-25)  Risk-taking behavior  Increased risk for violence, suicide, self-injury  Provinces with a legal drinking age of 19 had a rate of alcohol- related major injury of 9 per 100,000 among 18 year olds

Preventing Use  Brain development critical from ages  Not fully mature until mid-20s  Alcohol affects teens differently then adults – greater risks for consequences  Accidental injury increased due to excessive risk taking and poor impulse control  Each year of delayed use – lower odds of future alcohol dependence by 14%

Reducing Harms – As Host (MADD Canada, 2006)  Ensure children and their friends understand expectations about drinking/behavior and driving  Have a clear and limited invite list  Plan who will be supervise and monitor guests  Check premises for hazards  Do not serve, provide or make alcohol available to any person under 19  Don’t let drinking be the focus of the event  Make food available  Provide non-alcoholic drinks  Serve drinks – rather than having an open bar  Do not allow unlimited/unsupervised access to alcohol – even at BYOB  Stop alcohol use long before the event is to break up

Reducing Harms – As Host (MADD Canada, 2006)  The main person running/supervising the event should be sober  Do not provide or make alcohol available to guests who are intoxicated  Take reasonable steps to defuse situations if guests are endangering selves or others  Arrange for intoxicated guest to be taken home or stay the night  You may have to verbally insist that intoxicated guest not attempt to drive home

What’s a parent to do?  Role model healthy substance use patterns  Shape appropriate attitudes  Parent communication/relationship  Know your teens’ friends  Think twice about providing alcohol  Remember the impact of parent rules and expectation – permissive parenting increases use  Consider legal issues and parent liability issues  Providing alcohol to intoxicated individuals  Liability as an occupier (premises/conduct of entrants/activities on premises)  Illegal to provide alcohol to minors

Contacts  RNC Drug Awareness Service  Const. Gary Crocker ( )  Eastern Health - Mental Health & Addictions Program  Outreach, Promotion/Prevention ( )  Youth Outreach Program ( /4161)  Adolescent Addictions Services ( )  Family Education Session ( )