At Washington State University, Kenny Hummel was only a freshman. But Hummel was found in a WSU dorm room last fall, passed out, with his blood-alcohol content at 0.40, five times what is considered legally intoxicated. He died of acute alcohol poisoning. 

At the University of Idaho, Joseph Wiederrick was also only a freshman. But he was found under a small bridge several miles from campus this winter, dead of hypothermia. He’d left a fraternity party at midnight, wandered aimlessly through Moscow for hours, knocking on a few doors, before slipping on a creek bed and soaking his clothes. Toxicology reports indicated alcohol and marijuana in his bloodstream. Read More>>

NEWS  Should parents defuse the “forbidden” and let kids try alcohol in the protected environment of home? In a University of North Carolina study, researchers examined that question. About a quarter of parents of third-grade children in the study said they let their young children taste alcohol in an attempt to keep them from abusing it later on. Forty percent of parents believed that not allowing children to have alcohol would just make them desire it more.  Read More>>

You’ve seen PSAs haranguing you to talk to your kid about drugs and alcohol. But those commercials don’t do a very good job telling you exactly how to talk to your kids.

“You have to have a good relationship with your child,” advises Dr. Adnan Amin of Spokane’s Sacred Heart. That requires learning how to get a teen to talk. Don’t just ask how the day was. (“Fine,” goes the reply.) Instead, ask questions like, “Are there a lot of cliques in your school?” and “How’d your essay turn out?” Text with them regularly. (Contrary to some guides, don’t feel obligated to use dumb TXT abbreviations — that can just seem corny.) Read More>>

NEWS  If alcohol abuse represents the dark side of playing too hard, Adderall represents the dark side of working too hard. A prescription amphetamine prescribed to help kids with ADHD focus on schoolwork, its effects include dramatically increased ability to concentrate for lengthy periods of time. Those effects make it an appealing choice for students struggling with their academic load. Read More>>