We all know that not getting enough sleep can have its consequences, such as mood swings and tiredness. Remember those instances of sleepy mornings where you snapped at a friend because you only got 6 hours of sleep, instead of your regular 9-10? Yep, we’ve all been there, especially if a Starbucks wasn’t around the corner for a quick fix. But what if I told you that not getting enough sleep may possibly lead to drug use?

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Living on the streets is a dangerous and unhealthy situation for even the most hardened adults, but what about the kids who live out there? The homeless youth population in America is a very serious problem, obviously, but findings from a recent study shed light on the details of the at-risk behaviors these youth are partaking in. Indeed, these youth are at more risk of violence, infectious disease, mental health problems, and substance abuse than their non-homeless counterparts. 

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At age 15, how often did it fly to ask your mom or dad for a beer? While good parenting and common sense would immediately give your parents a pat on the back for flashing you the evil eye in response to you for daring to ask them for even a sip of an alcoholic beverage of any sort, a recent study suggests that parents should perhaps occasionally say yes to a casual drink or two with their teen. Dr. Mark Bellis and a team of researchers examined drinking habits of 10,000 British teens aged 15-16 and found that youth who drank moderately at home with their folks were less likely to binge drink.

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According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, teen dating violence runs across all race, gender, and socioeconomic lines.  Unfortunately when it comes to age, The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that teens are at much higher risk of intimate partner abuse when compared to adult rates. For this reason, public health experts have begun focusing prevention efforts as early as junior high. But is there a model for partner abuse that deals with young people and can be easily replicated?

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Substance abuse is a lot like fashion. It has a sort of ebb and flow about it, dictated by trendsetters that may banish a substance one day only to revive it later. Case and point: inhalants. I know, I know – that’s sooooo 1994.

A new U.S. study published in the May 2010 edition of Pediatrics suggests that one-third less teens are using inhalants to get high, as measured between 1993 and 2008. However, the picture that the rate decrease paints may not be all that accurate. The numbers are based on some 35,453 reported cases of inhalant abuse; meaning that the folks who didn’t wind up being discoered quivering, sans pants in the fetal position in their grandma’s laundry room by their dad who subsequently called poison control, are not accounted for.

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 Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! It’s complete and total annihilation as Illinois teens take on ‘the system’ in all out sticker warfare! Underage drinking is in for it! Don’t miss out!

Ok, so maybe preventative campaigns aren’t the most exciting thing in the world, particularly in the eyes of teens who constantly strive for social acceptance. In the great state of Illinois, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) - a statewide group of high school aged advocates who promote healthy decision-making through various school chapters - has implemented Project Sticker Shock. Noble idea, okay name, but not very "shocking."

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Riding high on 2009's legislative victory, which will allow The Food and Drug Administration to regulate the ingrediants used to make tobacco products, the FDA has entered 2010 swinging. On Thursday, March 18, the FDA announced that it will place heavier restrictions on how tobacco products can be marketed, with a focus on curbing marketing strategies that the tobacco industry uses to lure in children and teenagers. The new guidelines will not be enforced until June 22 of this year, but tobacco companies are already stamping their feet like the kids they want to brand. But are these new rules vapid politics as usual? Empty threats? Or is the FDA actually going to take on the $89 billion dollar per year tobacco giants? 

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