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