Parents Have Started To Crack Down On Universities

Drinking on college campuses takes place every day, in the dorms or at house parties alcohol can be a regular part of collegiate life. Millions of young adults are unleashed upon the world and most parents are aware that their children will probably par take in some illicit activities at some point during their college years. The reality is that some students while partying will get caught, resulting in the campus administrators having to punish the students by making them attend a class or two about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Punishment is not very harsh and there is probably no need for it to be. In the past, parents were rarely informed about their children's extracurricular activities.

Due to privacy laws, when speaking with parents, universities are really only allowed to talk about tuition unless the student is underage and received an infraction. Interestingly enough, schools have had this authority for more than a decade and rarely exercised it unless there were multiple offenses or drugs were involved. It seems pretty clear that campus authorities worry a lot less about alcohol than they do drugs. College drinking is on the rise according to researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism most recent figures. Between 1998 and 2005, the report showed increased binge drinking, drunk driving, and alcohol-related deaths.

Parents have started to crack down on universities, demanding to know when their child has been drinking so that signs can be spotted before things get out of hand. "This semester, Virginia Tech joined a growing list of colleges that notify parents every time a student younger than 21 is caught drinking, drunk or in possession of alcohol. George Washington University also tightened its notification policy last year after a student died of alcohol poisoning", according to the Washington Post. A college campus can be the perfect environment for unknown addictions to spread their wings if they go unchecked, the need for universities to communicate with parents is crucial. Campuses work hard to curb drinking but their programs are relatively ineffective.

The vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech, Edward Spencer made a valid point: "Students are more concerned about their parents being notified than they are of the legal consequences". Parents are concerned and they have a right to be, students may be adults, but, it's usually parents paying the tuition. Parents can help colleges with their anti-drinking campaigns; parents can have a huge effect on the habits of their children.

Heroin Drug Abuse Among Teens and Young Adults

Heroin has been sweeping through the suburbs of New York City and is becoming a fast growing trend throughout the northeast. Despite the introduction of cutting agents, chemicals that dilute the strength of the drug providing a bigger yield, toady's heroin happens to be stronger and cheaper than it once was. People are struggling to figure the cause of this new wave of heroin drug abuse among teens and young adults, heroin is commonly thought of only being used by the "low of the low"; this misconception has allowed teen drug habits to progress unchecked, heroin is just such an unbelievable drug for teens to be experimenting with.

Bags of heroin for street purchase are usually marked with a skull and cross bones or words like "Kiss of Death" and "R.I.P". "A bag of heroin can sell for $5 to $25 and induce a six- to eight-hour high, according to officials and former users. Cocaine, by comparison, can cost $40 to $60 for a 30-minute high, while prescription painkillers like Vicodin or OxyContin sell for upward of $40 a pill on the street. The heroin available in the Northeast these days is purer than the kind that ravaged New York City in the 1970s, experts say, and almost certainly as lethal, if not more", according to the New York Times. It is thought that the lethality of the drug plays a large role in teenagers' attraction to it; the idea of cheating death and a sense of invisibility among teens draws many to the drug. According to Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, "recent drug raids of so-called heroin mills have yielded hundreds of thousands of bags at a time, up from several hundred bags a year ago".

People are overdosing and dying all over the northeast, many times before anyone even knew they was an addiction problem occurring. In Nassau County, Long Island 25 people died of overdoses just in the first 6 months of 2009; it appears that the number of heroin related overdoses has been doubling every year, making clear the heroin should be a major concern amongst parents, even those in upper-middle class suburbs. Once the hand of heroin addiction grabs a hold of someone, it unfortunately takes repeated pain and suffering before the addict will even consider the remote possibility of seeking out recovery. Very few people have ever managed to "kick" heroin on their own, treatment is usually the only route to freedom with such a powerful drug; often heroin addicts end up checking into treatment multiple times in their life before sobriety sticks to them.

Patrick Kennedy Will Step Down

Congressman Patrick Kennedy with his late father, Senator Ted Kennedy

"Going forward I will continue many of the fights we waged together, particularly on behalf of those suffering from depression, addiction, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder," Kennedy said in a quote drawn from the video by AFP.

Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, will step down and not seek a ninth term in the House of Representatives. Patrick Kennedy is an ambitious statesman who made the suffering his first priority; his work set the ball in motion for serious health care reform. Patrick struggled for years with drugs and alcohol as well as being diagnosed with a debilitating bipolar disorder. When Patrick found sobriety four years ago he made it his personal mission to completely reform health care in America. Kennedy thanked Rhode Island voters for their continued support despite his dealings with addiction. "When I made missteps or suffered setbacks, you responded not with contempt, but compassion. Thank you for all the times you lifted me up, pushed me forward and filled my heart with hope".

In 2008, Kennedy founded and heads up, the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus; he worked hand and hand with Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici in the creation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Kennedy, in short, has become the voice of the addiction community in a number of ways; he has battled to help the disenfranchised at every opportunity.

Retired Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), commented on Kennedy's decision to step down, "a huge loss for people with mental illness and addiction, as Patrick Kennedy was their greatest champion in Washington". Ramstad co-sponsored the House version of the parity bill; he understands better than most the caliber of statesmen that Rhode Island and the whole nation will be losing. There are many United States citizens that suffer from the disease of addiction, in many ways, it takes an addict to understand an addict; there are not many politicians who have the back of the addicted and mentally disabled. During his career, Patrick Kennedy fought for reforms in: health care, juvenile justice, the parity bill, and he secured the channeling of more federal funding for addiction programs.

"Patrick's courageous admissions of his own struggles with bipolar disease and alcoholism have helped reduce the stigma of these diseases, and his personal recovery has been a great inspiration to many people. Were Patrick Kennedy's uncle, President Kennedy, still alive and were President Kennedy to write a sequel to Profiles in Courage, his nephew Patrick would occupy a full chapter", said Ramstad.

U.S. Army Soldiers With Alcohol Problems

High stress jobs have always been a contributing factor to the amount of alcohol consumed by employees. The military has always struggled with how to handle alcoholism both at home and in war zones. In 2009, over 9,000 soldiers got treatment for alcohol abuse, this treatment consisted of regular trips to a counselor; the number of soldiers needing assistance with their alcohol problems is up from 6,000 in 2003. Multiple tours in Iraqi combat zones have had a direct effect on the number of U.S. Army soldiers with alcohol problems; combat stress has caused the number of diagnosed alcohol problems to double since 2003.

The military offers soldiers the opportunity to seek help for their addictions, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Soldiers who seek help will not have that information put into their permanent records which will keep their career intact. This is a pretty amazing thing, no longer will alcoholism be a cause for promotion denial; having notes of alcoholism in one's record use to keep soldiers from ever advancing career wise. Lots of soldiers discover they have an alcohol problem in the worst of environments; swift action to help these individuals is extremely necessary.

In the 1990's the Army banned the use of alcohol in combat zones; which resulted in fewer alcohol related disciplinary problems with soldiers overall. Unfortunately, those military units that were charged with going back into combat a second or third time found the stress too much to handle, alcohol was an easy solution. Drugs, for the most part, are easy to detect making them an unlikely choice amongst soldiers for stress relief. When soldiers get back from combat, they end up hitting the booze twice as hard as they did before being deployed.

It is great that the military offers some support for those struggling with alcohol. However, it does appear that they would rather sweep alcoholics under the rug than have their records and the military's record smeared. Just seeing a counselor once a week will hardly have any long term effect towards recovery.

Vic Chesnutt's Life Was A Life Marked By Tragedy

In the last year there were many important people who passed away as a result of their addictions. Sadly, one of those people went relatively unnoticed; for whatever reason the name Vic Chesnutt and his death went undetected by many in the media. When it came to high profile deaths in 2009, Jackson, DJ AM, Murphy, and Johnson seemed to get all the attention. Vic Chesnutt is not a name that many people know, he was not some mainstream music star; he had yet to win any Grammys at the time of his death and he never invented any dance moves that would end up going down in history. He did, however, touch the lives of many people throughout the music community - singing songs of sadness and inspiration. Vic Chesnutt's life was a life marked by tragedy, creating an uphill battle for Vic's entire life. Not many paid attention to Vic when he was alive, perhaps more will find comfort in his lyricism now that he has passed on.

Chesnutt, a songwriter known for his dark folk music with a touch comedic relief, died on Christmas day in Athens, Georgia. Vic spent several days in a coma that was caused by an overdose of muscle relaxers. When one looks at the surface of this story it does not seem like anything new, another musician loses the battle against drugs and alcohol or they end up taking their own life for a number of emotional reasons. Vic's story is a little bit different and makes one ask the question, "Was Vic Chesnutt overlooked by society?". Vic Chesnutt was born in 1964 in Georgia, at the age of 18 he was involved in a car accident that ended up placing Chesnutt in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Although he was paralyzed from the neck down, he found that he could move his hands enough to play simple cords on his guitar; he invested all of his energy into songwriting. The first two albums Chesnutt ever created were produced by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. "Chesnutt gained national prominence thanks to 1996's Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, which featured Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Garbage and more bands covering his songs to raise money for the Sweet Relief charity, which aids musicians in need of health care", according to Rolling Stone.

At the end of the day, Health Care is what this story is really about. At the time of Chesnutt's death, his medical problems ended up making him a critic of the American health care system. Chesnutt was one of the fortunate Americans to have health insurance; but, he still found himself with $35,000 in medical bills which weighed on the singer heavily. Despite releasing 17 records in his career, Vic was not a rich musician; there is very little money and even less respect in the indie-music scene. It is believed by many that Vic deliberately overdosed because he could no longer deal with the health care system that he was bound to and the insurmountable debt that came along with that system.

He was certainly passed over by Insurance companies, my peers, and even myself; the music industry kept Chesnutt alive and ultimately played a part in his death. I hope that you will take the time to listen to the power of just one of Vic's songs.

"I guess the very emotional nature of my songs attracts emotional people, and they become quite, um, emotional. They come up to me after the shows, and I don't know what to say to them. I dont want to be an asshole or anything, but I think I do my best communicating alone in my room, when I'm writing songs. But I do appreciate them very much. If it wasn't for them, I would've killed myself a long time ago."

Rip Torn Heading To Rehab After Arrest

There is nothing humorous about the disease of addiction, as funny as circumstances may sound - at the bottom of every drunk-a-log is an alcoholic suffering. Long before Rip Torn decided to break into a Connecticut bank his life had begun spiraling out of control, an alcoholic history had been established. He has had DUI arrests in the state of New York and just last year he was given probation in Connecticut for another drunk driving case. The icing on the cake when it comes to Torn's rap sheet came when the "Men in Black" actor broke into a Litchfield Bancorp branch in Salisbury; court records stated he was carrying a loaded gun when he committed the crime, Torn was so intoxicated he thought he was home, which is why he took off his hat and boots placing them by the door upon entering the bank. Torn smelled like alcohol when he was asking the State Troopers arresting him why they were taking him out of his home. What seems almost comical is just another example of the loss of control that comes with alcoholism. Rip Torn may be heading to rehab after this arrest!

"Officers found a loaded .22-caliber revolver in Torn's pocket, according to court records, and a breath test showed his blood-alcohol content as 0.203 percent - more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for driving in Connecticut", the AP reported.

Rip Torn's list of charges:

• criminal trespass
• carrying a gun without a permit (His permit to carry a firearm in Connecticut had expired in October 2007)
• carrying a gun while intoxicated
• burglary
• criminal mischief

A. Thomas Waterfall, Torn's attorney said, "The history here is clear that there's an alcohol issue that needs to be addressed", to Bantam Superior Court Judge John W. Pickard on Monday. Waterfall couldn't be more on point, Rip Torn is in desperate need of treatment. It seems like that will be part of his sentence along with heavy fines, community service, and even some possible jail time. It seems pretty clear from the reports that Torn had no malicious intent when committing the crimes that he probably doesn't remember anything about. Torn is scheduled to return to Litchfield Superior Court on Feb. 17; the 78 year-old actor needs help and maybe this event will encourage him to surrender - finally.

Buckfast Tonic Wine Symbol of Scotland's Entrenched Drinking Problems

Alcohol has been a part of society in the United Kingdom since ancient times. The drinking age in the UK is 5 years of age in private, 16 in public with a meal and accompanied by an adult, and 18 years old otherwise. One's ability to procure alcohol with such ease plays a part in the number of alcohol related incidents and high rates of alcoholism. What particular alcohol is taking the brunt of the blame for the drinking problems in the entire country of Scotland? The New York Times reports that, "Buckfast Tonic Wine has emerged as a symbol of Scotland's entrenched drinking problems at a time when it is urgently debating how to address them". Buckfast Tonic Wine had a role in 5638 police reports in Strathclyde, Scotland between 2006 and 2009, according to the BBC. Buckfast is a sweet wine infused with caffeine, allowing consumers to be drunk and not pass out that being the typical route for an inebriated person; it has been given nicknames "Wreck the Hoose (House) Juice", "loopy juice", Coatbridge Table Wine, and my personal favorite "Who're you lookin' at?".

Buckfast is not some new 21st century drink, it's made by Benedictine monks at an abbey in England and it gained popularity early on in the 20th century; the tonic was commonly prescribed by doctors for down-in-the-dumps miners and sold at local drugstores. The drink is 15 percent alcohol by volume, the recipe calls for as much caffeine as eight cans of Coke. Unfortunately, Buckfast is not the cause of alcoholism, removing the drink from the shelves will just steer the consumer towards a bottle of something else. Five years ago Scotland's Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, called on liquor stores to limit or ban sales of Buckfast; Jamieson claimed that Buckfast was directly “related to antisocial behavior". Her plan backfired when protesters surrounded her during a speech chanting "Don't Ban Buckie" - Buckfast sales only increased.

The Scottish government said in a recent report, "for a large section of the Scottish population, their relationship with alcohol is damaging and harmful - to individuals, families, communities and to Scotland as a nation". The key word in the above statement is "Alcohol", not one kind in particular; pointing out one brand of booze and creating a scapegoat will not fix the problem. Education and treatment are the surest way to promote healthy living in any society. Singling out "Buckie" will only create spike in sales. Alcohol is Alcohol!

Campus Drinking Is A Growing Concern

Every year campus drinking is a growing concern, universities and colleges across the nation battle alcohol and underage drinking. Incidents that occur on campus are likely to have involved alcohol. A study released last year by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that there were 1,825 alcohol-related deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students in 2005; the statistic consists of not just the rare but widely reported alcohol-poisoning deaths tied to parties and hazing, the majority of deaths are a result of drunk driving and falls where the head is injured. Stanford feels like the system they have in place to combat underage drinking works, despite new laws in Santa Clara County. The new ordinance allows the police more ease when citing people hosting parties where underage drinking takes place. Fines will be imposed up to $1,000 and anytime the police are called in will add to the cost. Jean McCown, Stanford's Director of Community Relations said to the SF Chronicle, "We already have a significant commitment to curbing underage drinking and require that on-campus parties be registered, we were concerned that the county rules would send those parties underground and out of sight".

The majority of Stanford's students, around 95 percent of the 6,600 undergraduates, are younger than 21. Naturally, many of those students live on campus in university-owned housing. Stanford is the landlord and they would be considered liable if the police show up to houses with underage drinking. Stanford is not a well known drinking campus and has never had incidence of alcohol poisoning that resulted in death, but, drinking is still an active past time and students are still cited every weekend on campus.

Stanford was given a stay on the ordinance which was passed last year, after presenting their program to the Board of Supervisors. The 12 month stay gave Stanford a chance to prove that a permanent exemption was warranted. "We already had a program on board that our students understand and believe in", said Ralph Castro, director of the university's Substance Abuse Prevention Project. Despite their "successful" program, Stanford had no choice but to tighten its alcohol policies on campus for 2010.