While it is probably fair to say that practically every American adult uses a form of social media in their day to day, teenagers and young adults spend more time on sites like Twitter and Facebook than any other age group. Social media sites have become, arguably, the most common method of communication between young...Read More

The teenage years are typically a time for making new friends, stepping outside of one’s elementary school comfort zone. Trying to find out where you fit in the social hierarchy of life can be a real challenge, especially when you consider that at the same time one is changing both physically and mentally. When you...Read More

Just a few decades ago it was practically unheard of to require both employees and potential employees to submit to drug testing, even for government jobs. Today, it is the polar opposite, with drug testing requirements in practically every field, especially those involving salary pay or working with heavy machinery. It is quite common for...Read More

If you have gone to the cinema lately, you may have noticed a billboard for I Saw the Light about America’s first country music superstar Hiram King “Hank” Williams Sr., who sometimes went by the alias Luke the Drifter. The film drew its story line from the book Hank Williams: The Biography by Colin Escott,...Read More

Drunk Driving Every adult knows the risk they take when they get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol. The best case scenario is dodging a bullet and making it home in one piece. After that it gets severely worse, with a DUI that is often accompanied by heavy fines and jail time. For...Read More

Substance use disorder has the power to bring people to despair, affecting them both mentally and physically. Without treatment, many people who find themselves looking up from the bottom will choose a permanent solution to a temporary problem – suicide. The link between substance abuse and taking one’s life is complex; and while the reasons...Read More

Marijuana has long been considered by many, right or wrongly, the “gateway drug;” the drug first used that leads to the use of other mind altering substances. While that may be true in some cases, research tells us that true gateway drugs are alcohol, followed by tobacco. Marijuana is actually comes in third when it...Read More

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, as it has been every year since 1987. In 2016, the theme is: “Talk Early, Talk Often: Parents Can Make a Difference in Teen Alcohol Use.” Alcohol Awareness month is sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) who, according to their website, hope to increase:...Read More

In the United States, it probably goes without saying that we put a huge emphasis on preventing teenage substance misuse and abuse, as is evident by our high legal drinking age as compared to other western democracies. In both middle schools and high schools across the country zero tolerance policies are at play, which can...Read More

It is often said that addiction does not discriminate; people from all walks of life are affected by the disease. What’s more, children and teenagers can be touched by addiction as well, and if it is left untreated it can drastically change the course of one’s life. Researchers from Northwestern University followed 1,829 teenagers who...Read More