"Health & Medical News"

By Bob Curley

With federal research showing that its anti-drug media campaign isn’t working with kids, and Congress calling for major cuts in the program, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has unveiled a more modest effort that focuses on an emerging threat — prescription-drug abuse — and appeals to parents rather than youth.

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If all currently illicit drugs were legalized only a relative handful of Americans would try drugs like cocaine or heroin, according to a Zogby poll sponsored by a drug-policy reform group.

A poll of about 1,000 likely voters ages 18 or older found that only 0.6 percent replied “yes” when asked, “If hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine were legalized, would you be likely to use them?” Ninety-nine percent answered “no,” and 0.4 percent said they were not sure.

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Researchers who studied 723 incarcerated youth found a correlation between inhalant use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, Medical News Today reported Oct. 3.

Researchers Stacey Freedenthal and Jeffrey Jenson of the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and colleagues found that a majority of the adolescents who had been serious inhalant users had attempted suicide at least once, and that suicidal attempts and thoughts rose in proportion with the use of inhalants.

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