COLUMBUS, Ohio - The holiday season has officially started, and one group is encouraging Ohio parents to make a special effort to check in with their teens to help them avoid risky behaviors.

With days off school, parties and distracted parents, experts say underage drinking tends to increase during the holidays. Rick Birt, president and chief executive of Students Against Destructive Decisions, said alcohol is the most widely used substance among teens, with 14 the average age for a first drink. He encouraged parents to set ground rules to manage expectations, and to not make discussions about risky behaviors as "one and done."

"We've talked with parents all across Ohio who try to have regular, routine check-in," he said. "Maybe when you're driving 'em to the bus stop, go beyond the 'How's school?' conversation; dig into the 'How are you feeling?' The more that you talk with your young person, the more able they are to have that ongoing conversation with you."

Because risk-taking is a typical part of teenage development, Birt recommended avoiding scare tactics. He said the best conversations focus on education about healthy choices and how to make smart decisions in the face of peer pressure.

Other important topics to touch on, Birt added, include the illegal use of prescription medications, tobacco and marijuana. With medical marijuana legal in Ohio as well as efforts to legalize recreational use, Birt said, teens may have misconceptions about its dangers.

"The marijuana of today is not the marijuana from the '60s and '70s," he said. "It's been genetically modified and is much stronger. It is different depending on how it's ingested - whether it's smoked or used as a dab, or used in an edible or in some other way."

Birt also noted that it's important to keep a check on a teenager's mood.

"While the holidays are full of lights and glamour and special moments, and while we're oftentimes more together during the holidays, we don't always feel that way," he said. "They can be lonely seasons for many young people. There's anxiety, and all sorts of other things that come into play."

Parents who are concerned about a teen's mental health can contact their primary-care physician. Online resources are available, too, at nami.org, ohiosadd.org and preventionactionalliance.org.


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Texas may soon join other states with legalized fentanyl test strips, used by those with drug addictions to detect the presence of the often lethal opioid known as fentanyl.

Support for more harm-reduction measures appears to have bipartisan support ahead of the 2023 legislative session, which begins this week. Right now, the strips are still classified as drug paraphernalia, making it a crime to possess them.

Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University, is encouraged Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled his support for the change.

"They're another tool that can reduce risks," Neill Harris contended. "They don't encourage risk. They're not a drug themselves, so there's not any sort of abuse potential related to them."

Abbott has also said he wants to make Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, more readily available across the state. Until now, Texas lawmakers have argued fentanyl test strips and other harm-reduction tools facilitate drug use.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports overdose deaths involving fentanyl in Texas rose almost 400% from 2019 to 2021, accounting for more than 1,600 deaths in fiscal year 2021. Neill Harris believes more needs to be done to address the issue.

"Test strips are not going to prevent every single overdose," Neill Harris acknowledged. "To me, if they prevent one overdose, then that makes them worth it. We need many, many things to tackle this crisis. It can't just be one thing."

She is urging lawmakers to adopt broad legislation on the issue, because experts are already seeing a rise in non-fentanyl opioids implicated in drug overdoses, which could potentially be detected with strips-testing.

"Rather than having to go back to the Legislature every two years to legalize some new drug-checking technology for whatever the new crisis of the day is, I think it would be much more prudent for the Legislature to allow for other drug-checking tools," Neill Harris added.

West Virginians could soon be able to purchase naloxone, brand name Narcan, without a prescription.

Earlier this month the Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked the application for an over-the-counter spray version of the overdose reversal medication submitted by Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions.

Advocacy groups said they are balking at the price, which has skyrocketed over the past few years.

John Kennedy, director of Musicians for Overdose Prevention, expects an over-the-counter price tag of at least $100, which he said is cost-prohibitive for people who need it most, and for nonprofit groups working to distribute Narcan at the community level.

"At 80 to $90, a Narcan kit, someone who's a user, they can't afford that," Kennedy pointed out. "If we're distributing 2,000-3,000 kits a year, which we are, that's into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we can't afford that either."

According to data from Health Affairs, Narcan nasal spray has a list price of around $150. In a news release, Emergent BioSolutions -- which has not yet confirmed a cost if an over-the-counter spray were approved -- said so far, millions of doses of prescription Narcan have been distributed across the U.S.

Kennedy believes the high cost is aimed at getting local and state governments to pay for stocking large quantities of the medication in health departments, fire stations, and ambulances. He noted states and municipalities have received hundreds of millions of dollars from opioid settlements.

"Emergent BioSolutions is positioning themselves to kind of move the funds from one big pharma company, which is Purdue through the governments, and now we're moving it directly into the pockets of another big pharma company," Kennedy contended.

He also pointed to the growing presence of fentanyl mixed into illicit drugs as a reason to ensure widespread and affordable access to naloxone.

"Now fentanyl is in pills, in meth, in cocaine and just about every powdered substance," Kennedy added.

According to the CDC, more than 1,300 West Virginians died of a drug overdose in 2020.

Boston's 'Mass and Cass' area, with its large homeless population and open-air drug market, remains a trouble spot for city officials, but staff at the nearby Engagement Center say they are making inroads and helping drug-overdose survivors get the help they need.

Researchers interviewed 59 overdose survivors, more than half of whom were living on the street, to find out what was preventing them from getting treatment.

Jeff Desmarais, research and evaluation scientist at Institute for Community Health, said a lack of basic amenities, such as housing and access to a cell phone or proper ID, made a big difference, but that it also came down to a personal touch.

"Having staff that really care about folks and treat them with respect and dignity was one thing that folks were drawn to and helped them engage in and stay in care," Desmarais said.

More than half of Black and Latinx overdose survivors said they had encountered some form of discrimination in trying to access city health services. A lack of available treatment beds due to staffing shortages is also preventing people from getting clean.

The opioid epidemic, along with a lack of affordable housing and COVID, have all contributed to the increase in homelessness in the 'Mass and Cass' area. The Engagement Center offers the nearby population help to find housing, medical care, jobs, or even just a warm cup of coffee and a shower.

Yailka Cardenas, associate bureau director for recovery services with the Boston Public Health Commission, said some staff at the center have experienced addiction and homelessness themselves and can meet people where they are.

"No matter what they come to us with," Cardenas said, "we always try our very best to come up with a solution, and they feel very supported that even if we can't figure it out that day, we will figure something out for them within a timely manner."

Cardenas said personal relationships go a long way in helping people get clean, and that the Engagement Center can serve as a model for other day facilities serving similar populations. She said survivors, many of whom experience instability and trauma on a daily basis, report feeling safe and welcomed at the Engagement Center, which is the first and most important step in helping them change their lives.