The latest in the Grand Theft Auto series shook the entertainment industry last week with record shattering sales. The game sold over 6 million units, and it pulled in more money during its first week release than the highest box-office opening to date. It’s no surprise that the game’s release is controversial – every GTA release rubs someone the wrong way with its graphic, crude content. With this particular game there’s a feature giving you, the gamer, the choice to drive drunk. The game’s creators said, “. . . we believe the mature audience for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game’s content.” MADD released a statement saying, “Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke.”

Even if the game really were only played by adults aged 18 and over, is it sophisticated or disrespectful? Is it just a game that quenches an adult’s entertainment needs? Or do such games trivialize the consequences of poor decision making?

Alcoholism - With it comes severe, detrimental penalties for the drinker. Yet, what many overlook are the effects of alcohol on family and friends.

Spouses, siblings, parents, children, friends and loved ones are all adversely affected by the destructive choices made by alcoholics. They bear witness to these destructive decisions, sometimes on a daily basis, and are incapable of changing them. It can happen to any family, anywhere. Even Julie Andrews recently revealed her troubles with an alcoholic father while growing up in England. Those with a close relationship to an alcoholic also need support so they can maintain their sanity while positively encouraging their loved one’s recovery process. There are groups, such as Al-Anon and Alateen  doing just that – creating a community and helping others who are dealing with alcoholism indirectly.

Dealing with the unpredictable roller-coaster ride of heavy drinking and its aftermath can be traumatizing. Personal recovery is possible, though it does take a concentrated effort. Al-Anon uses the original twelve steps from Alcoholics Anonymous, but adapts them to be relevant to those who deal with the negative effects of alcoholism and are not alcoholics themselves.

Just as AA urges alcoholics to admit that they had become powerless over alcohol, the first step for family and friends is to accept that they had no power to force someone else to stop drinking. The choice is not theirs to make. These poor choices aren’t their fault, either. Making threats, planning schemes, and begging are all futile efforts. Feeling like it is their responsibility to make their loved ones change their habits and choices can cause exhaustion, stress, and depression.

The first step helps them to let go of the alcoholic’s problem. It shows them the power of their own actions and choices over their own lives. By focusing on how to be their own personal best, they’ll start to find solace by getting their own lives into a manageable state again.

Heavy drinking can weigh heavily on the hearts of those living with or in a close relationship with an alcoholic. It’s true that drinking makes alcoholics do some crazy things they wouldn’t do when sober. It’s important to realize there are equally damaging choices friends and family can make, as well.

Most often, poor choices are made as a rash emotional response instead of a rational decision. For example, spouses and children who are frightened and confused may choose not to defend or protect themselves from an abusive or violent alcoholic. Fear can drive people to support hiding the alcoholic’s addiction from other friends and family. Covering up their behavior or making excuses for them can prolong those behaviors, because they feel no consequences for their actions.

Before taking action, think through what you’re going to do and why you’re doing it. Determine if you’re making the decision solely based on an emotional response like fear, confusion, anger or frustration. If so, identify alternatives and seek out an objective perspective. Sometimes all it takes is another point of view to help make sense of a stressful situation. The important thing is you’re making rational decisions about the appropriate course of action, instead of becoming part of the insanity – you can distance yourself from it by remaining rational.

There is nothing like watching someone you truly care for make unhealthy, self-destructive choices. Dealing with a friend or family member who is suffering from a drug addiction can be especially challenging if they do not want to seek the help you know they desperately need. It’s even more painful to realize that as long as they do not want to change, they won’t. Doing drugs is a choice. Getting help is a choice. So, the key to helping someone with their addiction is to support them in making healthy choices.

To encourage someone to make the right decision and to get help or go into a rehab facility, try an intervention. Sit down with them and let them know how worried you are. Make every effort to tell them you care and show how you’ll be supportive throughout the whole process. Let them know that you’ll be there as little or as much as they want you to be.

In very severe cases, when the addict displays suicidal symptoms or is causing harm to others, forced hospitalization is possible. However, it is more likely that the individual will be treated for the psychological and mental health issues, not the drug addiction.

Knowing that a person’s behaviors will not change until the individual wants to make those changes for their own self, do you think loved ones should be able to commit those suffering from addictions into a drug treatment program against their will?

A new study that was sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA) found that addicts that saw images of drugs, such as cocaine, and drug paraphernalia began to have cravings. And what is amazing about this is that the images were only shown for 33 milliseconds–not enough time for the person to be aware that he or she even saw the image. The limbic systems of the addicts became stimulated, which was observed through  fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging. This system is deeply involved with emotions, such as pleasure.

What this means is that we understand addiction, cravings and triggers better. Drug rehabs can better prepare their clients for life outside of drug and alcohol treatment. And the addict can at least be aware of one of his or her triggers. In addition to these reason, addicts often cannot figure out what happened to them to cause a craving. This can help them with their recovery.

The United States government just published a new report that links teen marijuana use to worsening depression in teens. Often what happens is that a teenager has an undiagnosed mental illness, such as depression, that goes untreated and the teen used drugs to self-medicate. The point of this study was make two things very clear: 1. teen depression is a big problem and 2. marijuana is not safe and its use amongst teens is another big problem. The study also shows that teens that abuse opioids were 228 times more likely to get depressed. This is a major find in the war against drugs because it can help parents to determine if their child is using drugs.

The authors of the study advise parents to seek professional help if they notice their teen acting depressed and to know where their teen is at all times. Setting limits seems to be a good things for parents to do. Rules such as no hanging out at friends’ houses without adults present can help keep teens drug free. Assigning punishment and reinforcing it might also help kids to stay on the right track.

Are there any other ways that parents can help their teens and young adults to stay drug free?

Singer Amy Winehouse is in need of long term drug rehab once again. Winehouse was arrested recently over drug offences after the police received footage of her allegedly smoking crack. This is just one of the many drug-related run-ins she has had recently. She checked herself into rehab in January after a British newspaper received footage of her using multiple illegal substances. But rehab did not last long and before she knew it, she was accused of head-butting a man on April 23rd. And she was arrested with her husband in Norway under suspicion of possessing cannabis.

Even Winehouse’s mother-in-law thinks she’s out of control. Blake Fielder-Civil’s mother wants him to stay away from the troubled singer when he is released from prison.

Amy Winehouse would benefit from an extended stay in a treatment facility. She has not seemed to take her rehab seriously and would most likely benefit if the courts would order her to go for an extended period of time. What do you think?

After a fatal overdose in 2007 on the campus of San Diego State University, police and the DEA launched an investigation into the drug activity on that campus. What they ended up discovering shocked them all. Dozens of students, some in graduate school, were dealing drugs. Then a second fatal overdose happened in February. The police arrest around 100 people, 75 of them were students, for dealing drugs and they may face charges for the two overdose deaths.One of the students arrested was a month shy of getting his Master’s in Homeland Security.

The DEA confiscated 4 pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of marijuana, 350 ecstasy pills, 1 shotgun, 3 semi-automatic pistols and $60,000. The drugs are estimated to have a street value of $100,000. The agents made 130 drug purchases before the raid.

What I want to know is, are drugs this readily available at all colleges or are students like these unusual to find?

Most people have already heard the traditional speech about how drinking at a young age is a terrible decision. In drug and alcohol prevention talks, everyone mentions that teens are in their mental and physical developing years. Studies have shown that alcohol is not good for growing bodies. Yet, surprisingly enough, there’s still more to discover about how alcohol can dramatically change a young person’s life. Reuters recently reported on one of these new findings: Early exposure to alcohol may lead to heavy drinking later in life.

The lab study was performed with teenage rats. According to the study, it only took three exposures to alcohol at an adolescent age for the rats to build up a liking for the drink. The rats that were given the most to drink in the beginning went on to become the heavy drinkers.

It’s interesting to note that the study didn’t just test the rodents on their behavior towards alcohol. The scientists also tested the rats to see how they respond to stress and to also determine their “novelty-seeking behavior” level. Surprisingly, rats who liked to try new things weren’t necessarily the ones who became heavy drinkers. According to the tests, stress and a desire for excitement did not correspond with drinking choices and behaviors. One scientist involved with the study said, “This suggests that there are other characteristics that we as scientists should be looking for, that are related to the early experiences of drinking.”

What could those other characteristics be? The future insights will be fascinating to know, and hopefully they will also lead us to additional methods to help impede teen alcoholism.

For teens who aren’t smoking, drinking, or doing drugs, going to school can be one of the hardest things in the world. It’s because that’s when you see it: real teens, not movie stars or celebrities, doing terrible, illegal things to their bodies. It’s not just the “outcasts” or the “bad kids” anymore. It could be the straight-A student or even your best-friend for the past three years. Does it ever feel like you’re the only one not getting high?

On the flip side, if you are a teen engaging in substance abuse, have you ever wondered what life would have been like if you hadn’t given in?

If so, take a look at this article in the Hawaii Reporter written by eighth-grade student, Janae Rasmussen. She asks the same questions that many young adults ask and talks about why she believes teens her age turn to drugs. Sometimes just reading about other teens who have decided not to do drugs makes it easier to say no because that’s when you realize you’re really not alone.