Compared to 30 years ago, today’s teenagers are drinking and smoking less. If you’ve got a teenager those kinds of stats are encouraging news, but unfortunately it’s too early to let your guard down completely. According to a new study more kids are using marijuana than before and start smoking at a younger age. The cause of the spike is still unclear, but John R. Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR), says mixed messages about pot’s dangers are likely to play a role.
Have you found drugs in your child’s room and are unsure what to do? Here’s more advice from Dr. Knight.
To learn more about how marijuana’s softening reputation could impact your kids, read this interview with Dr. Knight. If you are concerned about your child’s substance use, contact a member of Dr. Knight’s team for help in scheduling an appointment.
A new study published in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests that the majority of college students who post on Facebook about drunkenness and dangerous drinking habits are also at a higher risk for alcohol abuse and dependence.
The message seems fairly obvious, but the real interesting takeaway of the study is the researchers’ suggestions about how that information could be used. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 5, 2011
John Knight, MD
On your way to work this morning you many have noticed a billboard or ad on the T, informing parents about the danger—and prevalence— of underage drinking. The signage is part of the “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign, a national program urging parents and other adults to be more proactive in stopping underage drinking. Boston is the first to launch the campaign citywide, and with good reason; underage drinking is declining nationally but remains a very persistent problem here, particularly among the large number of college students who call the city home for nine months out of the year.
Educating adults about the dangers of underage drinking is no coincidence either. According to a national government survey 69 percent of underage drinkers get their alcohol from older family or friends. Clearly some of the people providing this alcohol, whether they do it knowingly or not, aren’t aware of how serious a problem underage drinking really is. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 8, 2010
The alcoholic energy drink Four Loko has been in the news lately because of its high alcohol content and popularity with young drinkers. Here John Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR), comments on how parents can talk to their teens about the potential danger of Four Loko.
John Knight, MD
If you read the papers or watched the news this weekend there’s a good chance you saw media coverage about the alcoholic energy drink Four Loko, which has been making headlines for its role in the hospitalization of college students, prompting local universities to issue warnings about its potency and was even banned by the state of Michigan. According to reports, the product’s high alcohol content has earned nicknames like “blackout in a can” or “liquid cocaine.” Full story »
A study released in the May issue of Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests children whose parents restrict access to R rated movies are considerably less likely to try alcohol than peers of the same age who are allowed to see restricted films.
Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement calling on pediatricians nationwide to be knowledgeable about teenage drinking, preventative measures to stop it and treatment options for adolescent substance abuse. The statement included information on how alcohol can interfere with the developing teenage brain, and the strong correlation between early alcohol consumption and alcoholism later in life.
John Knight, MD, director at the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR) at Children’s Hospital Boston, says both parents and pediatricians should do more to combat adolescent alcohol use— especially in the coming months as the weather gets warmer and the prom/graduation season starts for many of the country’s teenagers.
“We have data that suggest if doctors spend if one or two minutes discussing the negative effects of alcohol with their adolescent patients, there is a dramatic decrease in the number of kids who start drinking. You can reduce the prevalence of drinking from 40 percent to 20 percent,” he says.
“But parents have a lot of influence over their children too, even if they think they don’t, and therefore they need to set a model of behavior, especially with younger kids.” Full story »
The federal government’s annual report monitoring kids’ alcohol and drug abuse has been released. The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that while use of cigarettes, methamphetamines, cocaine and binge drinking is down the use of prescription drugs and smokeless tobacco is up. Marijuana use is holding steady.
John Knight, MD, director of The Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASER) at Children’s says those findings aren’t particularly surprising. What we do need to worry about, he says, is that the survey also reports that adolescents’ perceived harm of marijuana is way down.
What exactly does that mean? Knight says that when adolescents think a drug has little or no harm, they are much more likely to use it. So, be ready for marijuana use to jump along with other drugs. “Marijuana is a gateway drug that leads kids towards all kinds of other drugs,” Knight says. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 1, 2009
In some cultures, it’s the norm to give kids a sip of wine or beer with dinner (Italians, for example, traditionally serve wine at the family dinner table). But recent evidence suggests the practice is not as innocuous as it seems. A study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research finds that genetic predisposition to alcohol dependence may kick into gear when kids take their first drink at an early age. The researchers reveal that the younger an individual is when they take their first alcoholic drink, the greater their risk for alcohol dependence and the more relevant genetic factors become.
John Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research, hopes that this study brings attention to a troubling problem. “The brain is more susceptible when young,” he says. “There are greater opportunities for a longer period of time to cause damage to the brain.” Full story »
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The federal government’s annual report monitoring kids’ alcohol and drug abuse has been released. The 
In some cultures, it’s the norm to give kids a sip of wine or beer with dinner (Italians, for example, traditionally serve wine at the family dinner table). But recent evidence suggests the practice is not as innocuous as it seems. A study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research finds that 
