Got Drugs? We’ll Take ‘Em! 

On Saturday, April 27th from 10am-2pm, four locations within Marathon County will be taking part in the 6th National Medication Take Back Day. 

Wausau, Colby-Abbotsford, Rothschild and Kronenwetter Police Departments will be partnering with the National Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to collect unwanted and expired medications during their semi-annual drug take back initiative.

Press Release                        Ch 7 Interview

3 Reasons to Use Local Medication Drop Boxes

Protects the Environment - Traces of medications have been found in surface waters throughout the US from landfill run off. Using the local drop boxes ensures that your unused medications are disposed of safely for the environment. 

• Psychiatric drugs prevalent in water, changing fish behavior (FoxNews) Psychiatric medicines that are excreted by humans and find their way into waterways can change the behavior of fish in rivers and streams, scientists report in a new study. Researchers found that wild European perch exposed to the anxiety-moderating drug oxazepam in an experimental pond in Sweden were less fearful and are more aggressive feeders…Read more
• Pharmaceuticals Found in Soil Irrigated with Reclaimed Water (USGS) Many areas of the Nation are faced with water shortages due to significant demand for water. As a result, supplies are being augmented with treated wastewater for uses such as irrigation. In a study recently published in the journal “Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry,” a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists reported that pharmaceuticals in wastewater used for irrigation persist in soil for several months after the irrigation stopped for the season…Read More

Increases Public Safety - Over 70% of persons 12 yrs and up that reported misusing medications got them from family or friends (through gift, sale or theft). Reduce access to medications in your home by strictly monitoring and securing them properly.

• Deadly addiction: Prescription pills emerging as Door County’s worst drug problem (GreenBayPressGazette) …Local prescription drug cases include stealing medicine from an older relative’s medicine cabinet, nurses stealing medication from patients, children selling their own Adderall and Ritalin or their parent’s Vicodin in the local schools. One set of parents had such an enormous prescription drug problem but also felt they were better at prescribing drugs than a doctor, gave oxycodone to their 14 and 9 year-old children, crushing it into their children’s orange juice. Almost all local robberies and burglaries involve prescription drugs, an undercover agent said…Read More
• Study finds many parents underestimate dangers of teens abusing prescription drugs (FoxNews) More parents need to talk with their teens about the dangers of abusing Ritalin, Adderall and other prescription drugs, suggests a new study that finds discouraging trends on kids and drug use…One in six parents said using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs, according to the survey…Read More
  
• Painkiller Abuse Hits New States (Wall Street Journal) Timothy Martin has details of the epidemic in painkiller abuse that has gripped the Southern and Eastern U.S. and that is now taking hold of Western states as well…View Video 

Improves Public Health - Over 2/3 of ER visits for accidental ingestion of medications are in children under the age of 5. Treat medications like any other poison, keep them out of reach of children and pets.

• When Pills and Medicines Get Into the Wrong Paws (Wall Street Journal) …Cases of accidental pet poisonings are on the rise. A new study from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reports that its Animal Poison Control Center, based in Urbana, Ill., handled more than 180,000 calls about poisonous substances in 2012, up 7% from the previous year…Human medications and supplements are some of the most common toxins ingested by pets….Read More

• Parent alert: How kids get into meds that poison them(USA Today) Small children who land in the hospital emergency room after swallowing the wrong medication rarely get the stuff from a medicine cabinet or drawer, a new report suggests. Instead, children take pills or bottles off the floor, out of sofa cushions or from purses, countertops and other easy-to-see spots, says the report, released Wednesday by the non-profit group Safe Kids Worldwide, based in Washington, D.C…Read More

Can’t make it on the 27th? 

There are five permanent drop box locations throughout Marathon County! Rothschild and Kronenwetter Police Departments are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Wausau, Everest Metro and Colby-Abbotsford  are available M-F during regular business hours. 

View PSA here

(USAtoday) When it comes to teens and alcohol, drunken driving is far from the only thing that should concern parents. That’s the message from MADD, whose new analysis of alcohol-related deaths among people 15-20 estimates that 68% of fatalities connected to underage drinking are not traffic related.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving analyzed 2010 data from the FBI, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on deaths related to underage alcohol use. It estimates that 32% of these deaths were traffic fatalities; 30% were homicides, 14% suicides, 9% alcohol poisonings and 15% other causes…Read More

Addiction Recovery: Getting Clean At 22

(Huffington Post – Blog) It was not the first time substance abuse had landed me in the emergency room. But, though I didn’t know it then, it would be the last.

This is not a ‘drunkalogue.’ It is not a retelling of my wildest nights and most desperate days because, in the end, every addict’s story is the same. At first, the substance — whether it’s drugs or food or sex or alcohol — works perfectly. It erases the boy who broke your heart, drowns out the voices saying you will never be enough, numbs the fear that suffocates you — until, first slowly and then all at once, it stops working and all you’re left with is pain a hundred times worse than what you were trying to forget.

Addicts are everywhere. Sometimes they’re easy to spot — we hurry past them on the street, our heads down to avoid their wild eyes — and sometimes they live among us unseen…Read More

Smoking in Youth-Rated Movies Doubles: Report

(HealthDay)  Smoking scenes in youth-rated movies doubled in number between 2010 and 2012, and have returned to the same level as a decade ago, according to a new report.

The researchers said the increase — which comes just a year after the U.S. Surgeon General warned that watching movies with smoking scenes causes youngsters to start smoking — is a setback for national youth tobacco prevention goals.

The report found that half of youth-rated movies in 2012 delivered an estimated 14.8 billion “tobacco impressions” to audiences, a 169 percent increase from the historic low in 2010. Tobacco impressions are depictions of tobacco use multiplied by the number of tickets sold per film…Read More

Turns Out Teens Know Smoking Kills, but They Don’t Know Jack About Weed

(Take Part) When it comes to teenagers and smoking, there’s some good news and some not-so-good news: The latest survey shows that teens get that tobacco is bad, but they don’t feel the same about pot. In fact, while tobacco use among adolescents is at a record low, the survey found more of them are smoking weed. According to the “Monitoring the Future” survey, just 44 percent of high school seniors think marijuana is harmful; that’s the lowest rate in four decades. And more than one-third of seniors said they’d tried pot in the last year…Read More

There are a number of community events occurring over the next few weeks to bring attention to these very important issues, frequently intertwined with alcohol and other drug abuse. Some of the Women’s Community events include: Denim Day (April 24), Take Back the Night rally (April 25), and Taking Steps Against Violence 5K/10K (May 4).

“Legal high” Benzo Fury may harbor addiction risk

(Reuters) – A party drug available over the Internet and often taken by young people in Britain and the United States may harbor unknown risks because it has both stimulant and hallucinogenic effects…Researchers who analyzed the effect of the drug called “Benzo Fury” on the brains of rats found it had similar effects to some illegal drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine, which can cause hallucinations and are also addictive…Benzo Fury is one of the most popular “legal highs” in Britain and is also sold in the United States, the experts who conducted the study said. Such drugs are mostly synthetic laboratory-designed substances that imitate the effects of illegal drugs such as cannabis, amphetamine or ecstasy…Read More

Ever been in pain? You should care about heroin

(Cincinatti.com) A sharp pain shot from Jason Freibert’s swollen knee as he knelt to install tile in a shower in the summer of 2004. In that instant on the job, Freibert was caught up in two trends building across America: a spike in prescriptions for opioid painkillers – and a dramatic increase in the supply of heroin…Heroin use has exploded in the past decade, fed by sophisticated supply networks focused on mostly white suburban and rural users who have tried prescription painkillers. It has increased even more dramatically since 2010 – when the painkiller OxyContin was reformulated to make it harder to abuse... Read More

Majority of Americans in Favor of Legalizing Marijuana, Survey Finds

(Reuters) – For the first time, a majority of Americans back legalizing marijuana, marking significant changes in public opinion toward the drug, especially among the young, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed on Thursday. The survey showed 52 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, which the federal government deems an illegal drug even as many states have loosened restrictions on “pot” use. Support for legalizing pot has risen by 11 points since 2010 and was up from just 12 percent backing in 1969, when 84 percent of those polled opposed legalization. In the most recent survey, 45 percent of Americans opposed legalization…Read More 

Study Tests Safety of Drug Treatment for Meth Addiction

(HuffingtonPost) — The Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked human tests of what may be the first cure for methamphetamine addiction. The drug also may be the first non-opiate drug treatment for heroin and opiate addiction. In a recent trial, UCLA researchers administered the drug Ibudilast, or MN-166, to 11 non-treatment-seeking meth addicts. The trial, the first of three phases of Ibudilast human testing required for FDA approval, was meant to test the safety of the drug taken in combination with meth. Researchers said the treatment appears to have passed the safety test and eased the addiction… …Read More

 Pushback Against Drug Abuse has three goals…

1. To raise awareness on the scope of the issue – Illicit drug abuse is a threat to public health and safety
2. Ensure adequate resources – Funding for prevention, treatment and enforcement is critical
3. Encourage the community to Pushback – We are ALL impacted, and we ALL play a part in the solution (not just law enforcement alone)

Find out more at www.pushbackdrugs.com

Pushback Against Drug Abuse  – Campaign Marketing Plan

Pushback Against Drug Abuse  - Scope of Problem Factsheet

Video of the May 7th Press Conference:

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Couldn’t make it on the 7th? Join us on Tuesday, June 4th from 1130-1 (212 River Dr) for the next AOD Partnership meeting where we will look at the rising drug trends, hear from those impact by drug abuse, and the Pushback campaign!

AOD Partnership June Meeting Promo Flyer

Carrying this warning and another “not to refresh for 48 hours”, Zannie is the latest synthetic drug going viral across the internet. Sold online, this potent CNS depressant (phenazepam) is a long-lasting high that has unknown long term impact on the body. Short term effects: hiccups, dizziness, loss of coordination, drowsiness, and amnesia which can be quite pronounced at high doses. Abrupt stoppage following prolonged use results in: restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, seizures, convulsions, and death. Ingested through a variety of methods (inhalation, injection, rectal, cigarette “dipping”) this drug is sold in both a liquid and powder form and is similar to Xanax and Valium.

For a copy of a narcotics alert about Zannie, click here

Kidney Damage linked to Synthetic Marijuana

According to a recent CDC report, acute kidney injury has been linked to synthetic marijuana use in at least 6 states. This drug, purchased illegally over the internet, was added to the DEA’s scheduled drugs list and made illegal in all 50 states in 2012 (WI passed similar legislation in 2011).

For a copy of the CDC Alert, click here

Teen narrowly escapes death after smoking synthetic marijuana (CNN.com) 

Hospital staff removed Emily Bauer’s breathing tube and stopped all medication and nourishment at 1:15 p.m. December 16. Only morphine flowed into her body, as the family waited by her side in her final moments.

But the next morning, she was still alive…click to view the video

Prevention Works!

(stopalcoholabuse.net) The percentage of adolescents ages 12 to 17 who perceived great risk from having five or more alcoholic drinks once or twice a week increased from 38.2 percent in 2002 to 40.7 percent in 2011. During the same period, the rate of binge alcohol use among adolescents decreased from 10.7 to 7.4 percent. SAMHSA Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2013).

The NSDUH Report: Trends in Adolescent Substance Use and Perception of Risk from Substance Use

This was also a great activity to inform both teens and parents about Big Tobacco’s tactics and new ‘other tobacco products’.  These ‘other tobacco products’ targeted specifically to youth include Snus, chewing tobacco, dissolvables, and little cigars. With their candy like flavoring and packaging these fruit-flavored products are very appealing to youth.

This group of students stood up to Big Tobacco and they are hoping the messages they displayed will help their peers make the right decision.

Click here to view the WSAW Story about Kick Butts Day

Tuesday, March 12^th

Click here for an executive summary, WI snapshot & Marathon County report

Report highlights: 

• Excessive alcohol use costs WI over $6.8 billion annually
  • Marathon County pays over $152 million

• Every man, woman and child in WI “pays” approx. $1200 annually (family of 4 = $4800)
  • Marathon County residents of all ages pay $1,137.05
• Alcohol taxes cover only 1% of the burden
  • WI has one of the lowest alcohol tax rates in US – Beer tax hasn’t been raised since 1969 (year we landed on the moon!)

*NOTE: Excessive alcohol use is defined as binge drinking (more than 5 servings for males, 4 for females per occasion), “heavy drinking” (more than 2 servings for males, and 1 serving for females per day), any underage drinking (<21), and alcohol consumption by pregnant women.

**NOTE: For a copy of the full Burden of Excessive Alcohol Use in Wisconsin visit: http://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu/publications/other/burden-of-excessive-alcohol-use-in-wi.pdf

3 Statewide Policies “Proven” to Reduce Burden of Excessive Alcohol Use

• Sobriety Checkpoints – 38 states and the District of Columbia allow sobriety checkpoints.
• “21 means 21” – Ending the parent/guardian exemption – Only Wisconsin and some parts of Texas allow parents to buy alcohol for their under 21 year old to consume at a bar or restaurant.
• Alcohol taxes – 48^th in beer tax, 42^nd in wine tax, 36^th in spirits

 *Click here for more information on these policies

Local Media Coverage of Press Conference

• WSAW – Ch 7
• WAOW – Ch 9
• Wausau Daily Herald 
• WSAU (550AM)
• NPR – All Things Considered (3 1/2 min clip)

Follow up article: Wausau Daily Herald (reprint from Green Bay Gazette) Get Tougher on Excessive Drinking

Decreasing the Burden of Underage Drinking

We hope you can make it to our next AOD Partnership Council meeting on Tuesday, April 2^nd from 11:30-1 at 212 River Drive, Wausau, for a mini-forum on the impact of alcohol on teens and young adults, including the adolescent brain and a local woman living with alcohol-induced dementia, who began drinking in her teens.

Meeting Agenda             Meeting Minutes (2/5)           Promotional Flyer .pdf

Parents Who Host .wav

Parents Who Host PPT Presentation

Handouts

• SAMPLE Graduation Letter
• SAMPLE Social Host PPT
• SAMPLE Social Host Fact Sheet
• SAMPLE Social Host/Parents Who Host Flyer/Postcard
• SAMPLE Social Host/Parents Who Host Newsletter
• FDL – DFC Postcard
• FDL – Prom/Graduation Letter
• FDL – Social Host Brief

Word .doc or other formats available upon request.