Be Skeptical of the Media

The media likes to make social issues out of instances that have happened once or twice. Sometimes these things aren't even mention until the media brings light to them. In an article by Jacob Sullum he shines like to the media's ridiculous claim that "vodka-soak tampons are 'everywhere.'" This statement was made CBS affiliate in the Phoenix area. A local school resource officer also stated that this no fad "is not isolated to any school, any city, any financial area." Apparently using a beer bong rectally is the same concept of soaking a tampon in vodka. Together both of these methods of getting alcohol to the blood stream quicker is referred to as "butt chugging."

However, the report fails to mention that a Nexis search of "butt chugging"shows that there has been no earlier mention of this term - not even on the show South Park. This is just one example of the media attempting to make fictional information into a social problem. There are many others related to alcohol consumptions through tampons, here are a few:

• March 1991: Anti-drinking groups states that Finnish girls are using vodka tampons so you can't smell the booze on their breath.
• May 2003: Vic Chestnutt mentions in his song remembering a girl with vodka soak tampon in his science class.
• September 2009: Border protection informs in a forum that tampons can be soaked and inserted rectally.
• March 2011: Patriot News mentions vodka soaked tampons, as well as, "pouring alcohol into eyes" and "brushing teeth until bloody then drinking"

These are just a few of the many stories where the media plays a significant role in displaying information in a way to gain popularity. However, all of these way can lead to very harmful situations, including death. By the media shining light on the situation, they are potentially only making it worst, because now individuals are curious and may attempt these forms of consumption. 

Before reading anything related to drugs and substance consumption, please take note on who is writing the article. By doing this you can figure out their objectives and what they have to gain from the article. Also, this will help you understand any bias in the article. 

Overall, your best bet is to STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES!

Alcohol is Suspected to be Cause of Clemson Student Death

Monday evening counselors are on hand for the death of a Clemson student, age 19. The student was found Saturday night "heavily intoxicated" as reported by the Sheriff's office. This is not the first death that alcohol is suspected to be the cause of death at the University. In 2007 a student died from attending a fraternity party.

However, because of these incidents and others the university had increased in alcohol awareness programs. The main group playing a role is Empower Clemson, which a educational program for the university students. Empower Clemson is responsible for having incoming freshmen complete an required alcohol survey. Even better they must also attend an awareness program taught by fellow students.

To remind students of consequence, especially the legal ones, the University is working closely with law enforcement. They currently have a "party registration," in which students can register their parties and are to have two "sober" monitors at the event. Then the police give them two "warnings" before showing up if complaints come in.

As far as the student's death from this weekend, we are still waiting on the toxicology results. For more information regarding this story please visit this link.

Alcohol and substance abuse, is a huge matter on several college campus, that is not taken light. Many students go into college believing everyone drinks, however that is far from the truth. However, college students do have more cases that the general population.

One thing, from the Empower Clemson, that could be used on all campuses is the peer group alcohol awareness programs. Students are more likely to listen when learning from their peers, however some worry about weather not knowledge is accurate. I am sure the students have to go through some form of training and  could offer real life experiences.

Being informed is a very important step in helping to prevent substance abuse problems. Don't be scared to ask for help or knowledge.

Myrtle Beach Zoning Plans

WMBF News discusses the issue of zoning of nightclubs in local neighborhoods. In the article two nightclubs, Club Congo and Groove Ultra Lounge, to be "crime magnets" due to the loud music and drug deals. Both the loud music and drug deals have been known to be going on for years. Some, local neighbors, refer to Club Congo as the danger zone.

The reason that they refer to these two night clubs as the crime magnet is many incidents reports in the past few years. Within the past six years Club Congo has had 600 reported incidents, which include  15 drug and alcohol-related crimes. However, at Groove Ultra Lounge has had 200 incidents, 6 of which were drug and alcohol-related crimes.

One reason that it is important to rezone Club Congo is because it is located next to daycare. Also, these clubs are located near peoples homes, a place where a person should feel safe. However it is hard to feel safe when there are shootings happening often.

Both clubs are current vacant, however there is rumors that a new nightclub plans may come take their places. Everyone around the area means that the violence will come back as well. Currently there is a ordinance that is pending making it  illegal for a nightclub to be located in this local neighborhood.

The one good thing that the local authorities have done correctly is make a record of all calls and reports that have received. By doing this it adds backing to getting a ordinance for the neighborhood.

It is important to understand the correlation between drug and alcohol in relation to crime. That is not to say drugs and alcohol cause violence, however there is a positive relationship.

This article also make one wondering if zoning is the right thing to do or if it is even fair. However, as any social movement, the strength of getting the zoning ordinance passed is based on political power, its appeal to cultural values, and the strength of the opposition.

Drunken Gummy Bears

The article I chose to talk about for my sixth blog was written by Clark Fouraker from “WLTX-Columbia, SC.” The piece is titled “Vodka Gummy Bears Haunting ParentsThis Halloween”. The title definitely has relevance to this time of year, along with the topic of children drug/substance abuse. This article also has the news clip video along with it. The particular news story is discussing how children have recently started to soak gummy bears in the vodka.

Through this news story/article, there were different experts speaking about the subject. They were brought up in the video clip along with the article. The first one mentioned was Jill Michel, an employee of Palmetto Poison Center.

Her statement consisted of,

“It's very concealable. You have it in a baggie, and it looks like a candy," and, "they're eating these, and they don't know how much alcohol they're ingesting until it's too late."

The other expert to discuss this particular topic was Dr. Diane Hardley from St. Johns University. With her statements, she put into even more detail the discussion of the way the children/teenagers will go the extent of soaking things such as gummy bears in liquor to just get away with it and hide it from authorities. Along with the statements of the experts, they also had a video attached to the article online. The video was a combination of the actual news cast and experts talking, along with having a video of the actual vodka filled gummy bears being made. With the video, it showed teenagers actually making the filled gummy bears step by step.

This is just a sad scenario/social problem and is affecting children and teens all around the world. Even though this might seem like a very simple thing and when looking at this news story/article, we tend to think, “How and why would they want to come up with things like this?” Even though we as a society might not be able to prevent things from having a part in our day to day lives, it is definitely something we can attempt to prevent by speaking to our children/teenagers about it. With awareness of this particular social problem, I do think we can at least attempt to do more to prevent issues like these with just simply bringing about awareness such as having news stories/ news articles such as this.

Student Athletes Held to a Higher Standard

It is no new news that University of South Carolina Quarter Back Steven Garcia was dismissed from the football team this past Tuesday. In this article by ESPN, they state the reason for Garcia's dismissal was do to testing positive for alcohol and marijuana. Which was a direct violation of his contract to stay on the team.

"Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right and we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions," Eric Hyman said in a statement.

However, this is not Garcia's first run in with alcohol problems in his college football career. This past April he arrived to skills seminar under the influence. Also, during the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta he ran into a few issues, that began this long downward spiral. When asked if by the media if he had an alcohol problem Garcia stated "negative, no."

Many make arguments that Garcia had too many opportunities. However, no matter how many chances he was given, this is a good example of how ones actions with drugs and alcohol can have long term consequences. Now Garcia, can no longer play college football and also unlikely to be drafted to an NFL football team. This also, goes to show that when one is a public figure and many are looking at that one the societal standards are raised higher.

This semester USC has provided several cases of the importance of understand drinking and drugs -especially with underage drinking. Which leads to the point that many argued in favor of Garcia that he does not drink more than the average college student. However, that is not the principal of this situation, the principal is when you have other obligation and they require you to have a zero tolerance for alcohol and drugs, you must weigh out the consequences. As show through Garcia's dismissal you can lose opportunities of a life time, that many only dream of having.

There are many other consequences that could have happened. It is important to know that it only that it only one time use of illegal/legal substance for these consequences to happen. The worst case scenario is the lost of ones life. So please before partaking in any substance make sure you think about the consequences.

Police Presences in Five Points (Columbia, South Carolina)

In an article by The Daily Gamecock, the University of South Carolina student run newspaper, discuss the new improvements that police chief Randy Scott has made in his first year. Within the first year Scott has increased the police presence in the Five Points, an area which is well known to many USC students to partake in underage drinking.The number of cops in the area on any given day is about eight and can swell up to as many as 30, for celebrations and home football games.

Scott has also created a hospitality team, which goes into places that sell alcohol in the Columbia area. He has created several other changes, however they do not pertain to drugs and alcohol.

At an ceremony, given this past Wednesday, in Scotts honor he stated that his efforts over the past year have decreased the numbers of arrest, while increasing the disciplinary programs use.

“We get no benefit from sending someone to jail and [giving them] a criminal record,” Scott said. 

Also, to fight the underage drinking problem of students at the university, Scott has increased referrals to the Office of Student Conduct. Therefor allowing the university to deal with the issue verses given the student a criminal record, as stated before. The increase of police in Five Points, however has created a large discussion among student of the university. Many students say that Scott is just trying to ruin a good night out with friends.

Overall, the presence of the cops in Five Points have done their job, even if students do not like it. The use of fake identification is illegal regardless if you want to drink underage or not. By cracking down they have begun to kill two bird with one stone. Truthfully, they have begun to kill three issues that have surrounded the area for years. The third issue being the party atmosphere of the school.

The cops are not trying to ruin a good time, they are trying to regulate the laws that have been apart of society for years. These laws, that have been broken time and time again, which have been back by data from when the drinking age was 18. It is important to know what is going on with drugs and alcohol in your area. Understanding the laws helps to prevent the many issues that surround them.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The article I chose to talk about for my third blog was written by Yasmin Rammohan from the “Chicago Tonight: WTTW), the piece titled “Pregnancy and Alcohol”. The main discussion was brought up from the book, “The Mystery of Risk: Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy and the Vulnerable Child” written by author (and the head local physicians) Dr. Ira Chasnoff. The main focus of the book and the discussion with in the article is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and how it affects the children through the toxins from the drugs and alcohol consumed by the mother’s in these particular cases, along with neglect and trauma the children are exposed to because of it. The many different risks of fetal alcohol syndrome were discussed throughout the article. Within the article posted online, there are also two videos shown of Dr. Chasnoff himself.

The first video is of Dr. Chasnoff discussing different signs and symptoms you can look for in children. According to this video, the three main criteria he says to look for are, “poor growth, deficits in nervous system, and changes in the in the structure of the facial features” (Chasnoff). It is stated that children are very well susceptible to suffer from issues such as damage to their “developing nervous system” (Rammohan), according to the first video with Dr. Chasnoff, these are also the children that seem to be normal when looking for these three major symptoms, but at the same time they are also more at risk as far as developing behavioral problems and other things of that nature.

"This damage may lead to learning and memory deficiencies, and behavioral problems, from temper tantrums in early childhood to acts of physical and sexual violence in later adolescence” (Rammohan).

After talking about the different risks of fetal alcohol syndrome, Dr. Chassnoff also mentioned, within his book, how ““risk is not destiny” (Chassnoff) for those children. He discusses how they can come out of these situations through “alternatives” that help the children such as giving them a successful school experiences, getting them away from negative situations like gang activity and drug abuse. All of this can happen with help and investment from others in their society in some cases. Even though examples weren’t given in the article, I feel that solutions such as getting them in better families and better environmental situations would tremendously improve these children’s lives.

In the second video within the article, Dr. Chassnoff discusses more in detail about the book, “The Mystery of Risk: Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy and the Vulnerable Child”. In one of the statistics he states that “20-30 percent of woman use substances during their pregnancy”. This statistic is rather shocking to me and shows how horrible of a problem it is! He also discusses the “nature vs. nurture” effects to children that have been exposed to substances such as alcohol, and how the environment can help change the long term outcome of a child suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. Throughout the rest of the second video there were comments from different readers/critics expressing how they felt, all which seemed to be fond of Dr. Chassnoff’s work.

It brings to your attention the number of families that are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome and other situations similar to it. Not only is this the problem of several families, but also discussing how we all, as ‘society’, (knowing it is a social problem) can possibly help this situation would be a great improvement in any way. Even though this wasn’t written by a local author, these cases are still happening all throughout the country, world, etc. and can definitely affect us all in one way or another.

Unsuspected influence on teenage alcohol consumption

Ask a parent whom they believe that largest source of peer pressure on the teen comes from and you will find they place the blame on best friends and girlfriends or boyfriends.  In an article recently posted in the Los Angeles time, research shows that another group of people have a larger impact on the likelihood of a teen consuming alcohol.


The best friends of a teens significant other is shown to be the biggest influence in a teens alcohol consumption according to a study done by the American Sociological Review.

"A friend's recent history of binge drinking increased a child's likelihood of doing the same (over and above his or her established drinking patterns) by 30%. And romantic partners mattered too: If the guy or girl  your kid likes has recently gotten blasted, your kid was 32% more likely than he or she already was to binge-drink too."

While this article was printed in the L.A. it holds truth to teen parents across the country.  It challenges the typical point of view parents hold about their teenagers friends and encourages them to turn their eyes to another source of influence.

Drugs: Are They Worth It??

Drugs; Are they worth it?

http://www.thestate.com/2009/10/05/968672/francis-recovery-is-an-everyday.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Goldstein

This article, from TheState.com is about how celebrity disk jockey, Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, lost his life-long battle of drug addiction. Goldstein grew up with an addicted father who was in and out of prison and who eventually died from complications from AIDS which he developed because of his drug use. Goldstein started using drugs, mainly crack cocaine, in his late teens/ early twenties. After fighting his addiction, Goldstein remained drug-free for years until he got caught back up into the vicious cycle of drug use and abuse. The article from Wikipedia mentioned how his broken home while he was growing up is what influenced his personal drug use and eventual death through overdose (www.wikipedia.org-linked at top). The article goes on to describe how “addiction is a chronic disease” and how “those in recovery are constantly confronted by challenges” (www.thestate.com- linked at top).

Many drug users believe that drugs only affect the mind for short periods of time and don’t do any harm to either the mind or the body. Sadly, this is very untrue.

I work in a hospital in the midlands area in the medical intensive care unit. Drug overdoses and alcohol poisoning are very common in my department. I have had patients who drank their whole lives and come to us with yellow eyes, yellow skin, hair falling out, and dying because their liver is shutting down.

I have had other patients that have come to the ICU because they have tried to kill themselves while high. These patients end up on suicide precautions and depending how violent they are while detoxing, they must be restrained and detained. Long-time drug users that come to us usually must be sent to a facility that handles mentally handicapped people. Some get help at these facilities and leave them to live productive lives in our society. Yet others must live at these handicapped and mental facilities for the rest of their lives because they are too much of a danger to themselves and to others to release them.

Drugs may not seem too bad when you light up that joint or open another beer, but that then leads to addiction which could either lead to a life in a psych ward or a slow and very painful death. So ask yourself the next time you’re in that situation; is it worth it?

Please take the time to look at the links below. They are very short videos but they show a shocking view of some drugs and their effects on the body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJIjWlLa8MU&noredirect=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af3RjDntlhs&feature=fvwp&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZig2DYx58&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhyUogSrtvU&feature=related