ANTI-DRUG UPDATE - February 18, 2009

 NEW YEAR.  RENEWED FOCUS.  FREE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO HELP PARENTS RECONNECT WITH THEIR TEENS

 **Media Campaign Offers Resources to Help Parents Combat Teen Drug Use**

As 2009 is well underway, organizations like yours are encouraged to urge parents to renew their focus on strengthening relationships with their teens.  Research shows that teens who have a close relationship with their parents are less likely to use drugs and alcohol and engage in other risky behaviors.  ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has a number of resources, available free of charge, to help you educate parents in your community.

 Although overall teen drug use has declined in recent years, it is more important than ever that we work together to prevent more teens from using drugs.  Too many young people are still using illicit drugs and abusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs.  Please act now by taking advantage of the many FREE resources available to you, including anti-drug posters, postcards for teens, and print materials for parents.  You may order the following materials, and many others, by visiting www.TheAntiDrug.com/Resources/ or calling 1-800-788-2800 to place bulk orders free of charge: 

• Navigating the Teen Years: A Parent's Handbook for Raising Healthy Teens, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is packed with useful tips and expert advice on how parents can tune into their teens, set rules and expectations, and monitor them through their adolescent years. [PHD1127]

• The Teen Years: A Roadmap for Parents is an interactive CD-ROM that provides in-depth information about how your teen is developing throughout adolescence and offers expert advice for parents on how to best guide their teen through this transitional time. [AVD228] 

• Keeping Your Teens Drug-Free: A Family Guide specifically addresses the importance of family as a drug deterrent and notes simple techniques that even busy parents can use to help prevent drug use. [PHD1114]  Versions specifically written for African American [PHD1116] and Hispanic [PHD1115] parents are also available.  

• The Abuse of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs, a valuable brochure for parents, is a guide to preventing prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse among teens, highlighting signs and symptoms of abuse as well as steps parents can take to safeguard and properly dispose of their medications. [POTC-8]

If parents in your community need more information on the signs and symptoms of drug use, advice on how to bridge the parent-teen generation gap, and how best to talk to teens about drugs, they can visit the Advice section of the Media Campaign's Web site for parents, www.TheAntiDrug.com/Advice. 

Finally, please encourage parents in your community to sign up for TheAntiDrug.com's Parenting Tips e-Newsletter, a regular e-mail notification with advice and strategies to help keep teenagers healthy and drug-free, at: http://www.TheAntiDrug.com/Newsletter.asp.  

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ANTI-DRUG UPDATE (formerly Media Campaign FLASH) is your source for the latest news on the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.  Feel free to forward this information to your community partners and announce this information on your Web site or in your organizational newsletter.  Sign up for the ANTI-DRUG UPDATE here: http://www.TheAntiDrug.com/Resources/Form.aspx.  Free materials from the Media Campaign are available to distribute in your community by visiting www.TheAntiDrug.com/Resources or calling 1-800-788-2800.

ABOUT THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN: Since its inception in 1998, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has been authorized by Congress to reduce and prevent teen drug use.  For more information on the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, visit www.MediaCampaign.org.