Greetings from CVDAPC

See you tonight at 7 p.m. at the CV High School auditorium for our Community & Family Summit!

Three things of note from our community partners:

From Scott Robertson, program director, Glendale Adventist Alcohol & Drug Services: “Brain Development: Addiction and the Brain” –

1) Recent literature review suggests depression rarely leads to addiction, though addiction often results in depression.

2) Three-quarters of people in the U.S. will be directly impacted in a significant way by someone’s substance abuse problem.

3) The brain’s structure and function both change as a result of a drug dependency – the synapse widen, the neurons appear to shrink apart, and the volume of neurotransmitters declines.

4) One feature of addiction is tolerance. The user’s brain adjusts so larger amounts of drugs are needed to get the same high, and over time, less high. Other features are craving, triggers and withdrawal syndromes

5) Much learning about the brain and addiction came from studies here in Southern California, treating the 1970s-80’s cocaine “epidemic” including UCLA and the Matrix Institute.

Crystal Green of Phoenix House told about Cedars-Sinai’s Teen Line, a confidential telephone helpline for teenaged callers. It operates every evening from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and is toll-free from anywhere in California, (800) 852-8336.

“Teen Line is based on the premise that when teenagers encounter problems, they usually turn first to their peers for advice. Many teens think their parents can’t possibly understand what’s happening in their lives and that their friends might laugh or abandon them. Teen Line provides a safe, confidential place to talk things out with another teen who can understand and will listen, but not judge.” Source: http://teenlineonline.org.

Ann Ortega, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Services invites you to her test run of the talk “Underage Drinking and How It Relates to You” on Wednesday, March 20 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Pacific Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave. Glendale.. Youth’s social access to alcohol is a significant contributing factor to the problem of underage drinking. Hear how adults and parents can help to reduce the risk of underage drinking and its consequences. Aortega@didihirsch.org

Suzy Jacobs is the executive director of the Crescenta Valley Drug & Alcohol Prevention Coalition. You can reach her at suzy@cvdapc.org.

  Suzy JACOBS