The US has seen a significant drop in tobacco use, especially in the teen and  young adult markets, as this demographic is much more aware of the dangers of smoking from a very young age. With their consumer base struggling along in the 1^st world, tobacco companies have set their sights on those less fortunate and countries where government regulations are easily bent or bought.

Saudi Arabia, though one of the wealthist countries, has one of the poorest populations. On top of this vulnerable demographic, Arab culture has embraced tobacco products for much of its history. The use of hookah is an important part in the daily lives in the Arab world, and through the centries the use of pipes and cigarettes has creeped into the fold. But a charity called Purity hopes to change that with one catchy slogan and a free wedding. 

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A new study examining the rate of calls to poison control centers around the U.S. found a 76 percent increase in calls related to overdosing of medications prescribed for attention deficit disorder (ADHD). Data was collected from 1998 to 2005 records and was conducted on teens and young adults ages 13 to 19. This study also found prescriptions for ADHD medications rose approximately 80 percent within that same time period.  Approximately 42 percent of these teenagers who called poison control centers had moderate to severe side-effects such as extremely rapid heartbeats and deathly high blood pressure. Cases included four deaths and serious emergency treatments.

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"Say man, you got a joint on ya?....It'd be a lot cooler if you did."

This dialogue from the stoner cinematic monolith, Dazed and Confused is a part of modern pot culture. From Snoop Dogg’s infinite blunt billows to the basement scenes in That 70’s Show, marijuana continues to twist up and blaze in the media, reflecting and/or perpetuating the normalization and celebration of drug use. And while these images of marijuana project the drug as a social ritual, a symbol of hip hop and heavy metal culture, and/or form of rebellion ingrained into the fabric of all things “teen,” “college,” or “slacker,” a recent study published in Substance Abuse, Treatment, and Policy suggests that some teens are smoking weed for medicinal purposes. Is this California head shop hype or are these teens genuinely trying to cope with issues where traditional medicine has come up short?

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In late June, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, giving the Food and Drug Administration new power to regulate the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco. The law is the toughest new measure yet on the tobacco industry designed to stop young people from smoking. It allows the FDA to reduce nicotine in tobacco products, ban candy flavorings, and block labels such as "low tar" and "light." Tobacco companies will also now be required to cover their cartons with larger warnings like the image above that cover up to 50 percent of the face.

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Remember the PBS after school classic, “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?” How could you forget it, right? I mean, EVERYBODY loved them some Rockapella and every middle school kid who hadn’t yet realized that showcasing your nerdery wouldn’t make you any more popular or land you a girl who would let you clasp your hands around her back while you slow dance to “On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men at your first dance, wanted to be on the show (myself included).

As fun as it seemed, the one part that always worried you, was the final challenge: a giant map of a continent on which you had to correctly mark countries with flashing light poles in a given period of time to win. If you were fortunate enough to land the U.S of A, you stood a decent chance of pulling off a victory. If you got Africa, South America, or Malaysia you were totally screwed and you could basically kiss Space Camp goodbye. With that in mind, how many of you could successfully locate Papua New Guinea on a map? I won’t even make you mark it with flashing light poles…

For us first-world-ers, relegating such small, insignificant rocks in the middle of the ocean to “somewhere over there” has become commonplace. In fact, how many people reading this can honestly say that they knew Papua New Guinea has an AIDS problem of epidemic proportions (assuming that you placed your flashindg light pole correctly)?

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This year the US Department of Health and Human Services published some frightening teen obesity statistics. Fourteen percent of our current teen population are at risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure at too young of an age. Type 2 Diabetes has also increased dramatically in teens as a direct result of their obesity. Additionally, they have a very high probability of being obese as adults and further increasing their risk of other serious health problems in the future. We have tried to prevent and control this by methods such as making physical education mandatory in schools and changing the food available to teens in school. Despite what we have tried to do, obesity rates are climbing and an intervention is clearly needed.

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Mad Men returns in August to AMC for its third season, so I’ve been rewatching the first two seasons to get back into that mindset of muted ambivalence that the Emmy-winning show has branded as its own. And while the show has, for the most part, focused on the men, women, and families behind fictional 1960’s advertising firm Sterling Cooper, it sometimes explores the ad campaigns Sterling Cooper creates when its staff isn’t too busy smoking, drinking, screwing, and having existential crises.  The most notable of these campaigns, and the one that set the tone for the entire series, was the Lucky Strikes Campaign featured in the series’ pilot, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”  

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