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In the Tampa Bay area, the overdose rate is 23 out of every 100,000 people. That rate is 9 percent higher than the rest of Florida and 50 percent higher than the national average. Florida ranks second only to California in the number of overdose deaths. But the fight against opioids continues.

“Juul is already a massive public-health disaster—and without dramatic action it’s going to get much, much, much worse.”
Winickoff believes that the vape industry is co-opting the national wellness trend—“when, in fact, vaping can cause something called bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung,” he said. Popcorn lung has been linked to diacetyl, an organic compound that some companies use in their e-liquid, and that has been detected as a by-product of e-cigarette vapor. But diacetyl has also been detected in cigarette smoke, at a level hundreds of times greater, and no feasible amount of smoking has been found to cause popcorn lung. (Juul does not use diacetyl in its liquid, and, in tests, the company has found no measurable amounts of diacetyl in the vapor emitted by its devices.)
 

Phoenix House is committed to treating the whole person — and their families — with caring, qualified professionals in the fields of psychiatry, medicine, mental health, social work, education, and recovery support. Their teams of experts address underlying causes of substance abuse and behavioral patterns to guide clients toward lasting recovery.

Vaping is not an issue only for high school students. Gary White, the associate director of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance (HCADA) in Florida, provides vaping and tobacco education to students who have been cited per state statutes. The youngest student he has worked with was only nine. Recently, the organization worked with a 10-year-old boy who had been caught with 12 Juuls in school. (Juul is a popular brand of e-cigarette.) “When he attended our class, we questioned why he had so many Juuls,” says White. “His reply was, ‘A man at my apartment gave them to me. He said he’d pay me a part of the money I made when I sold them.’

Resource Assessment – Hillsborough County Substance Abuse Prevention

Programs and campaigns offering information, training, and technical assistance to improve the quality and delivery of behavioral health services across the nation.

Mission: To provide a place where special needs families can find the answers they need to be successful. Weekly radio show with a variety of information and resources for families with special needs members.  Podcasts are available for free... great information.

Statistics:
·         According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, more than 1,050 people were killed in crashes involving a teen driver in 2016 during the 100 Deadliest Days, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
·         In the Tampa Bay area, when compared to other days of the year, the average number of deaths from crashes involving teen drivers. Ages 16–19, increased by 16 percent during those 100 days. 
·         60 percent of teen crashes are caused by distracted driving
·         The biggest distraction? Other people in the car.
·         Crashes involving alcohol kill one in every 100,000 teens during the summer months.
 
What parents can do:
·        Talk to your teens about the importance of not allowing others to distract them in the car and to be a non-distracting passenger. Remind them that cars have passenger limits based on the number of seats, and to never get into an over-loaded car.
·         Set and enforce reasonably early curfews for teens during the summer months. Sleepy driving can be deadly driving.
·         Agree upon a safe word that your teen can text to you at any time that means “Come pick me up.” Give your teen the option of getting a ride home with mom or dad, no questions asked.
·         Remind them, daily, to not text, SnapChat, Instagram, or WhatsApp and drive.
·         Talk to them, continuously, about the dangers of driving impaired.

Texting one letter could help teens get away from peer pressure or danger.

Do video games cause anxiety? This is a common question without an easy yes-or-no answer. Researchers haven’t found evidence that video games cause anxiety directly; instead, studies continue to show that video games and anxiety are correlated. This means that, rather than having a cause-and-effect relationship, the two relate and contribute to each other.