Michael Phelps caught doing drugs!

Michael Phelps has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history. He admitted yesterday that he participated "regrettable" behavior that showed "bad judgment" after a photo of him smoking what appears to be marijuana from a bong was published over the weekend.

Marijuana is not seen as a competition enhancing drug so he will not likely face suspension or severe consequences from the Olympic Commission.
"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said in a statement released by Octagon, his management firm. "I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public - it will not happen again."

The photo shows Phelps with his hat on backward "hitting" a bong at a college party. It is unclear the affects such a powerful role model will have on teens that look up to him. It obviously is not positive when one of the worlds most identifiable athletes is shown doing drugs, we'll just hope that his quick public apology and show of regret will help.

Addicted Teens Share Their Secrets - Secrets Untold

Secrets Untold - Addicted Teens Share Their Secrets

Every teenager has secrets that they keep from their parents. No matter how hard parents try to have open communication with their kids, there are some secrets that are untold. I recently looked up this topic on the Internet and found an audio snippet on NPR on the subject (“Teens Share Their Secrets”). I have also added some of my own secrets from working with teens and from my own personal experience.

Some of the revealing things that teens keep from their parents are as follows:

• they stole the family car
  
• they are not a virgin
  
• they feel too much pressure from their parents to succeed
  
• they don’t like being compared to the standards of their siblings
  
• they lie about being at the library or other places, when they are really with their boyfriend or girlfriend
  
• they sneak out at night
  
• they keep secrets for their siblings, such as sexual activity/drug use
  
• they have hidden tattoos and piercings
  
• their friends do drugs and they go to parties with drug use
  
• they buy/sell drugs at school
  
• they are gay or bisexual
  
• they steal money from their parents
  
• they use money that their parents give them for drugs or other illegal things
  
• they are failing school/may not graduate
  
• they hide drugs at home
  
• they use household items as drug paraphernalia

If you want to hear their voices firsthand, click here .

If you need help with your addicted teen, click here .

Serving Your Head on a Silver Platter

As a kid my parents talked to me about drugs, sex and their expectations regarding these matters. It went something like this, "If I ever catch you doing ____ I will serve your head on a silver platter. The image of my head on a silver platter was firmly set in my mind. The list of what I should not do was quite clear.

As a parent I have a similar and growing list of what I do not want my kids involved in. Today's dangers can seem far more threatening, the losses far more serious and sometimes very permanent and even more tragic. When I read the news I am terrified by stories of children with household inhalants, the internet's myspace pages and sexual predators, school shootings, prescription drug abuse, cough syrup abuse, date rape drugs, sorting out the potential threats to your children is downright frightening.

Add on to this the firsthand experience seeing a number of the brightest minds of my generation lost to addiction, death or more subtle still, the individuals stifled by recreational drug use slowly eroding their potential, stealing their ambition and drive, and ultimately undermining their character development therefore weakening them for the challenges life naturally brings.

My desire for my children to be free from these dangers only grows.

• How do we protect them?


• How to we let them know how important is it for them to stay safe from these dangers?


• How do we tell them that listening to us on this subject is so very important?


• How do we warn them that ONE foolish decision, that only takes a moment to make, can affect them for the rest of their lives?


• How do we alert them to a world with these dangers without instilling unnecessary fear?

As much as I distinctly remember the "silver platter threat" I also remember thinking, "Geez I can't do this, I can't go there, I can't stay out with my friends ... what do I get to do!"

In retrospect, I wonder if my parents had discussed topics such as drug use and sex in terms of what they wanted for me, instead of in terms of fear and what they didn't want for me?

Instead of saying: "If you are caught doing drugs I will serve your head on a silver platter." What if you shared your dreams for your child and made it repeatedly clear that drug use and risky behavior can and will steal it all away.

I don't want you to ____(smoke pot for example) because:

• I want you to be healthy.


• I want you to have friends who encourage you to be the best that you can be.


• I wish for you to be truly free.


• I want you to develop the gift of self-discipline (defined as the ability to take action regardless of your emotional state).


• I want you to be proud of who you are.


• I want you to be truthful (especially with yourself).

... just to name a few.

Drug Abuse - Cocaine

• 
  
  Teen addiction is generally used to make up for something that is missing or not visible in a teen’s life. It generally meets the needs of an addicted teenager who knows no other options. This could result in depression, general unhappiness, or a simple inability to deal with everyday situations that occur in real life.
  
  Cocaine is a quite common weapon of choice for troubled/addicted teens. No matter how cocaine is taken, whether it is snorted or smoked, it is highly dangerous and in some instances has killed some users when it (cocaine) has been mixed with alcohol. Serious health problems can evolve from using cocaine such as: major heart conditions, including heart attacks, respiratory conditions, nervous system breakdowns, including strokes, as well as extreme digestive complications.
  
  According to www.wrongdiagnosis.com 91% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioral disorders due to use of cocaine required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03).
  
  Additional stats that are highly startling are as follows from www.drug-statistics.com
  
  
  
  
• 1 out of 4 Americans between the age of 26 and 34 have used cocaine in their lifetime
  
• According to the Minnesota Institute for Public Health and Drug Resource Center, 5,000 adults in the United States try cocaine for the first time each day. (1985)-
• Today it is estimated that 22 to 25 million people have tried cocaine at least once. Conservative estimates indicate that there are over two million cocaine addicts in the United States today.
  
• Contrary to earlier belief, high dose use of cocaine can be detected as long as 10 to 22 days after last use.
  
• Near half of all drug related emergency room visits are due to cocaine abuse.
  
  
  
  Hopefully, if more information about cocaine addiction is voiced more extensively, it will educate the population and possibly prevent future rising statistics.
  
  Andrew C

Nancy Reagan

Nancy Reagan. My involvement with Visions and my work with teens in their efforts in recovery can all be traced, I believe, to Nancy Reagan.

I was only two years old when the first lady of our nation began championing the “Just Say No” generation into action. There were endless public service announcements and nationwide elementary school campaigns in effort to stop the next wave of drug users from making the same mistakes our parents did. sThere we were, smack dab in the middle of the decade of self-indulgence, signing sobriety pacts years before we would start wearing deodorant.


The first lady’s anti-drug movement was about as effective as all the other trickle-down syndrome policies of the Reagan administration. Fast-forward ten years and those same children were doing the same drugs we were warned about. The ‘Just Say No’ moniker, as much a part of Saturday morning as cartoons and
fruit loops, gave the impression that the disease of alcoholism and addiction was a question of will. We were made to believe that fighting this progressive and fatal affliction was so simple. “Would you like onions on your burger?” No thanks. “Would you like to trade self worth and the innocence of childhood for jails, institutions, or death?” No thanks. As we now know, there is a lot
more to it than that.


For most people, these questions are that simple, but for people like me and the brilliant young people I have the gift to work with; it takes a complete psychic change as brought forth from working the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. This is why I do what I do. It is my wish to dispel the myth of willpower as a solution to our disease, and usher a new era of tolerance and understanding in
the fight that Nancy lost.