January 23, 2017
Communications Coordinator, ATTC Network Coordinating Office
Teens are bombarded with conflicting messages that can leave them feeling confused and unsure of who to ask for information about drug use. With 12.9% of 12th graders reporting abuse of prescription drugs in the past year and 21.3% reporting use of marijuana in the past month, there is no better time than now to help teens understand the serious consequences of drug and alcohol use (data is from the Monitoring the Future Study: Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs).
Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day: January 26
So far, almost 2,000 National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week activities will be taking in the United States and beyond--that includes places like Myanmar, England, Ghana, and Pakistan. Many of these sites are schools will be participating in Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day. This allows students to pose questions to NIDA scientists such as NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow and NIDA Deputy Director Dr. Wilson Compton. Take a look at the transcript from Chat Day 2016 to get an idea of some of the questions presented.
The 2017 National Drug and Alcohol IQ Challenge
The National Drug and Alcohol Fact Week/NIDA for Teens website offers lots of great tools for increasing teen (and adult) awareness of the science behind drugs. Try out this interactive quiz and see how you score. You can also take this interactive challenge in Spanish!
ATTC's Build up Your Teen Treatment IQ
And if you want to stay informed on teen's substance use treatment needs, be sure to visit the ATTC Network's Build Up Your Teen Treatment IQ project. This project offers regular webinars on evidence-based practices and prevention and treatment approaches to use when working with adolescents. All the webinars are recorded and available for viewing at any time.
Did you take the 2017 National Drug and Alcohol IQ Challenge? How did you score?