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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2007)
TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS Ask Raven Raven will answer your questions about problems associated with alco hol, tobacco, and other drugs. You can call in your questions to the numbers below or mail them to: Raven P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 Dear Raven: I read what you wrote about teen-agers and the brain. What happens to your brain if you keep tak ing drugs? Wondering Dear Wondering: Just as we turn down the volume on the radio when it’s too loud, the brain adjusts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) by pro ducing less dopamine or by reducing the number of receptors that can receive and transmit signals. As a result, dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit of a drug abuser’s brain can become abnormally low and the ability to experience any pleasure is reduced. This is why the abuser eventually feels flat, lifeless and de pressed, and is unable to enjoy things that previously brought them pleasure. Now they need to take drugs just to bring their dopamine function back up to normal. And they must take larger amounts of the drug than they first did to create the dopamine high - an effect known as tolerance. Continued drug use eventually can lead to major changes in the long-term health of the brain. Glutamate is an other neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the brain's abil ity to learn. When glutamate is altered by drug use, the brain tries to compen sate, which can cause impairment in the brain’s ability to learn, retain knowledge and gain awareness. Also, continued drug use can trig ger memory systems. Environmental cues become associated with the drug experience and can trigger uncontrol lable cravings if the person is exposed to these cues, even without the drug. This can be very strong and can con tinue to go on even after many years of abstinence. Raven Prevention News Alcohol/Drugs and Peer Pressure The first thing we’ll talk about is why people use drugs and alcohol in the first place. There are as many different an swers to that question as there are burgers at McDonald’s - and that’s a lot. Some people drink or do drugs to relax, forget their problems, have fun or fall asleep. Others do it because they think everybody else does and they're afraid they'll look clueless or totally out of it if they don’t. But if you peel away the first 16 bazillion layers of the onion, you'll find that most people get into drugs or drinking in the first place because someone they know is into it. The fancy phrase for this process is peer pressure. It means that we feel pressure (either from inside or outside ourselves) to be like other people. Peer pressure isn't a bad thing. It plays a big role in determining who we are and how we dress, talk and act. It’s a main reason that kids in America dress, talk and act more or less alike, instead of looking, acting and talking like people in Lithuania or Katmandu. Still, peer pressure can cause prob lems too because sometimes people in groups act differently and do things they’d never do on their own. Why? Because we all lose at least some of our identity in a group. And the nor mal controls we put on our behavior can crumble before the need we all feel to fit in and be respected by others. Peer pressure isn’t always (or even usually) the obvious stuff they show in TV commercials. (“Wanna try a joint? No? Wussamadda? Chicken?”) More often, it’s hard to even notice, much less resist. But if you want to pull your own strings in life, you need to be aware of it, know how it works and learn how to make choices for yourself in spite of it. Top 10 Reasons to Talk to Your Children About Alcohol 10.75 percent of teen rapes involve alcohol. 9. The risk of rape is four times higher for women age 16-24 than any other age group. 8. 56 percent of girls who are raped are raped by a date and 78 percent of girls raped never tell their par ents about the incident. 7. 30 percent of teen-age girls who are raped are raped by a friend. 6. Alcohol is a major factor in unpro tected sex among youth, increas ing their risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. 5. 3.3 million Americans age 14-17 are considered problem drinkers. 4. Nearly one-third of college men said they were likely to have sex with an unwilling partner if he thought he could get away with it. 3. Underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen-age automo bile crashes, the leading cause of death among teen-agers. 2. Alcohol contributes to youth sui cides, homicides and fatal injuries, the leading cause of death after Narcotics Anonymous Meetings Monday - 7:30-8:30 p.m. Atonement Lutheran Church 2315 N Coast Highway (101) Newport Tuesday - 7:30-8:30 p.m. TLC - A&D Building 565 Old River Road Siletz Tuesday - 8-9 p.m. St. Peter the Fisherman Lutheran Church 1226 SW 13,h St. Lincoln City Thursday - 8-9 p.m. St. Peter the Fisherman Lutheran Church 1226 SW I3,h St. Lincoln City Friday - 7:30-8:30 p.m. Atonement Lutheran Church 2315 N Coast Highway (101) Newport Saturday - 6-7 p.m. Siletz VFW 143 SE Eggbert St. Siletz Toll-Free Help Line - 1-877-233-4287 8 • Siletz News • August 2007 auto crashes. Studies have been found that alcohol can have long- lasting negative effects on the de veloping adolescent brain. And the No. 1 reason ... 1. You love your children enough to protect them. Underage drinking is not a rite of passage. Tribal Children Need You Do you value Siletz Native culture want to preserve If so, please consider fostering for the tribe. The Siletz Tribe needs loving, stable, nurturing homes in all areas. If you are interested, please contact: Shawna Nagunst Foste Care Certifier 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1275, or 541-444-8275 or visit www.ctsi.nsn.us/icw.html
