SAMHSA Report Part ll: My Rant

My eye caught a recent article in the Chicago Tribune written about the recently released SAMHSA report (see my previous blog post for info on some of its findings).

What caught my attention however was a few things the article stated:

1. Parents and Social Services experts were not surprised of the finding from the report that kids are getting their alcohol from adults (parents, relatives, other friends).
2. People don't see this act as criminal behavior (Illinois recently enacted a law that makes serving alcohol at home to under aged kids a felony. Other states are also reviewing their laws in this area).
3. Some parents see this as a "rite of passage".

In addition, the article went on to identify one recent tragic event that spurred Illinois into changing their laws. The event occurred in Deerfield IL, where parents were convicted of allowing under age drinking at a party in their home. That party was blamed for an auto accident that killed two teens.

As a result, a group of activist parents got together to form a coalition to stop under aged drinking. Now here is the eye-opening part: the group had to disband because "parents in the group had trouble agreeing on even basic issues", the Chicago Tribune wrote.

OK, so hear me out here. These parents are obviously affected by this tragedy, form a group, meet, and can't decide what to stand for? Here's a clue: how about: STOP UNDER AGED DRINKING?!

What exactly is there to decide? What, did some parents say: "no, I think I'll let my kid drink when he's 18", or this: "hey, we did worse things when we were their age", or how 'bout this one: "hey, he can fight for our country but he can't drink?".

YES! He can fight for our country, but because that age has shown a prevalence of dangerous behavior when intoxicated, NO, he cannot drink.

Look, until we stop pussy-footin' around this issue, it will not go away. It is a felony in Illinois to allow under aged drinking in the home. The reason for that is because too many kids are getting killed or hurt when that occurs. So lets stop doing it. And no, its not a rite of passage to let them have a beer when they graduate high-school. That rite can be passed once he graduates college and turns 21.

We need to understand that for whatever reason, be it that teens feel they are invulnerable, or maybe they feel like" those bad things won't happen to me", or say "all of my other friends are doing it, why can't I?", we as parents, cannot allow under aged drinking.

Unfortunately, driving drunk is not a victimless crime. Many people affected by a drunk driver are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. When we as parents give the green light to under aged drinking, we too become guilty of whatever crime is committed by the youth. Think about that. Its just not worth it.

New Report From SAMHSA

A new report was just published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It did a study of underage drinking from 2002 to 2006. Much of the press gravitated towards some of the more alarming statistics, like:

• half of the teenagers under the age of 21 had engaged in under aged drinking
• 40% of those underage drinkers (12 to 20) had received the alcohol from an adult
• only 4% took the alcohol from parents homes
  

While this is disturbing news, there was also some good news from the report that many news agencies did not cover: from 2002 to 2006 a downward trend of under aged drinking is apparent. The breakdowns go like this:

• For 12-14 year olds, under age drinking went down from 17.6% to 16.2%
• For 15-17 year olds, under age drinking went down from 52.3% to 48.7%
• For 18- 20 year olds, the trend was slightly up: 71.7 % to 72.2%

Some of these are attributed to campaigns and public outreach programs that teach parents about the dangers of under aged drinking.

We at the Joshua Project believe this is proof that programs like ours can make a difference. Teaching middle school kids about the dangers of under aged drinking as well as informing their parents of such dangers should continue the positive downward trends seen in this report.

If you have a moment, go look at the actual report. It breaks down the drinking by age, by gender, by ethnicity, and others. Much of the data is in graph form to help see trends more clearly. You can see the report here.

Checking Blood Alcohol Level on Your iPhone

Who said technology wasn't cool? I came across a web application that tells you what your blood alcohol level would be based on your gender, weight, type of drink, and time since last drink. Its a website that is targeted to the iPhone (yes, I have an iPhone. Jealous?), but functions regardless of the browser you are using. Here is the site:

http://38i.biz/BAL/

There are disclaimers stating that this should not determine if you should be driving, but at least its a step in the right direction as to the tools that could be available to help make informed decision. There are other tools out there like this, but I liked this one because it gave you options on what you had to drink (ie alcohol level of drink) and also took into account time frame from your first drink. This is not perfect by any means. For example, you cannot tell it you had 1 bloody mary, 2 beers, and red wine for dinner. All those drinks have varying levels of alcohol and this site only assumes you've consumed one type of drink. I'm going to bookmark this site on my iPhone and show it to friends at the bar. This is a good way to raise awareness.

My Friend's Bicycle Trip.

My friend, John P. Lynch (the "P" is for Pain in the arse - his definition, not mine), just completed a bicycle ride from New Milford CT to Lisle (pronounce Lyle) IL, a suburb west of Chicago. He did it just to challenge himself.

He had the where-with-all to document his trip by calling his friends every evening and taking some notes. He recently completed his "journal" of the trip and you can find it here.

http://webpages.charter.net/nokkel17/jpltripjournal.html

I find it interesting that his descriptions of the things he saw and places he went and his experiences are captured quite well in his writing. You feel like you are with him in his journey. He ends his journal by noting the things he learned about the trip.

You know, it takes courage to plan and execute a trip like that. There are so many unknowns, but John was able to do it and pull it off. In addition, the experience he had and the people he met were moments he probably would not have come across any other way. Getting a flat tire, for example, was the only way he could have met Ron, the person that gave him a ride and showed him around Oberlin OH. I give John lots of credit for achieving this solo trip.

Curious to me is, if you ask John P. Lynch what the meaning of life is, he won't be able to tell you. But he will be able to show you. Congratulations John!

Personal Responsibility

Here is an interesting post from a blog I follow called Zen Habits. The author asks "how can you take more personal responsibility?" He notes that in one of the reality TV shows he follows, one of the participants blames someone else or something else for their problems. Rarely does the responsibility rest with him.

I think one of the reasons I really like blogs and blogging is because not only can you get insight from the post you are reading, but the responses you get can be equally if not more insightful. The best part about this post from Zen Habits, are the responses. There are some good pearls of wisdom out there.

http://zenhabits.net/2008/06/ask-the-readers-how-can-you-take-more-personal-responsibility/

As I have stated before, personal responsibility is a Joshua Project charter, and I will continue to identify interesting lessons, posts, information around this area because I believe it not only frees you from false arguments, but it will also lay the foundation to a truer path - truer to you, and your goals.

Sleep Deprivation Mimics Being Drunk?

There was a longer-than-usual segment on 60 Minutes on Sunday that discussed how sleep deprivation can hamper cognitive ability. At one point in the segment Leslie Stahl talked about how sleep deprivation mimics, to some degree, someone drunk, and that sleep deprivation can affect the emotional centers of the brain (called the amygdala) and hampers its connection to the frontal lobes (which control rational thought and decision making). This means that emotional thoughts were not being kept in check or balanced by the more rational part of the brain.

Boy, if this does not sound like someone that has had too much to drink, huh? Don't we all know folks that have had "a few too many" and then start saying things they probably would not be saying otherwise? The affects seem to be very similar.

Leslie Stahl also mentioned that the decision making part of the brain is temporarily diminished or shut down, which leads to irrational decision making.

This is why The Joshua Project focuses its energy on prevention and why self responsibility is key to modifying behavior. Once a person is in a different state (drunk, or sleep deprived) we can no longer expect them to make rational decisions. That's not to excuse anyone of their actions (we all must be held accountable for our actions). That is to say, however, in order to reduce problems like drunk driving, we need to educate folks with tools and techniques before they put themselves in a position of diminished rational thought.

This is also why our soon to be launched program like Cab Angels will allow the bartenders and restaurant owners to call the cabs and not the patrons. The hope is that the restaurant/bar owner will coax, prod, nudge the patron to go along with that decision.

Here is the link to the sleep deprivation study:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/14/60minutes/main3939721.shtml

The Meth Project

Here is a help site for those thinking about experimenting with Meth, those that have tried it, or those that think their loved ones are using it. It is a program started by Tom Siebel (yes, the Tom Siebel - the businessman who started Siebel Systems before it merged with Oracle). This program started in Montana with great results, and now is expanding into Illinois, Idaho, Arizona, and Wyoming. Its main focus is on prevention.

Their approach is the following (taken from their website): The Meth Project's core message, Not Even Once®, speaks directly to the highly addictive nature of Meth. Every day, people are faced with the decision to try Meth. Many perceive benefits in using the drug, but little-to-no risk. This is the root of the problem. The goal of the Meth Project is to arm teens and young adults with the facts about methamphetamine so that they can make well-informed decisions when presented with the opportunity to try it.

http://www.methproject.org/index.php

Three Rules for Developing Courage

Here is a good article on the three rules for developing courage. It is from a blog of a local doctor whose blog I read regularly: Dr. Mercola. The article is written by Brian Tracy. In short. the three rules are:
1. Everyone is Afraid.
2. Fear is diminished as you confront it. The more you confront your fears, the less fear you have.
3. Do the things you fear and death of fear is certain.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/01/02/courage.aspx

So, what does that have to do with my blog? Well, its about courage. Self responsibility is a Joshua Project charter, and many of us growing up remember how peer pressure sometimes made us do things we did not otherwise want to do. Peer pressure can be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Doing the right thing when the rest of your friends are doing something different takes courage. Theodore H. White once said: To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.

Here is a cool quote from Maya Angelou:
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

This is one of my favorite quotes about courage. It hangs in my office. It's by Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

We all need to continue to teach these virtues to our kids. Its about teaching them to do the right thing in the face of everyone else doing something different. Or to continue on a path that no one else understands, and to continue on that path despite what anyone says. We must have them understand the fear they may feel when they "stand up" for what they believe in, and that at times, it will be difficult, but that doing so builds true character.

Welcome to the Joshua Project Blog

Hello World!

This blog is associated with The Joshua Project. A non-profit (501c3 designation pending) designed to alert people to the dangers of abusive drinking and drug abuse. We work to promote self responsibility and to try to educate young folks about the responsibility of choices and that each choice has consequences: good and bad.

The Joshua Project was started when my friend Cheryl lost her son in a car accident when Josh accepted a ride with a drunk driver. The goal of our charity is to keep this tragedy from happening to others.

Some of the programs we are currently working on include programs that will teach young folks about peer pressures. We are also adding educational links to our web site (www.jpx3.org) and we will soon be starting a pilot program called Cab Angels.

The Cab Angel program will work with local restaurant and bar owners in partnership with local cab companies to offer free rides to restaurant/bar patrons that have has too much to drink and should not be driving. This program will be funded by The Joshua Project. We will be launching a pilot of this program in the Batavia Illinois area with the restaurant that employed Josh over summers: O'Brians in Batavia Illinois.

To learn more about our cause, or to donate, please go to www.jpx3.org.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss current issues and/or news items found on the internet around the topics of drinking and driving, self responsibility and drug use. We will also attempt to identify programs that would assist victims of drunk driving and drug abuse and hope to eventually create an area where people can come to learn more about existing programs for knowledge and assistance.

The blogger (yours truly) is the Treasurer and Secretary of The Joshua Project.