The 3 Minute Alcohol and Abuse Daily News Review: Brent Shapiro Summer Spectacular and tons of celebrities, College DUI kills 6 & National Drug Survey parent advice

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A Daily Review of Breaking News, Facts and Studies, Stories of Recovery & Tips and Leading Blogs covering the topic of Alcohol and Abuse.

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I watched a movie last night that maybe you have heard of, Letters to Juliet, and I have to paraphrase a great quote from it. It was something along the lines of perfectionism is just another name for being a chicken.

Wow, can I relate to that. I so often will hide behind the idea that something has to be perfect for me to do it, share it, etc, and really there is just a lot of illogical fears behind it instead. Ok, to the news.

Brent Shapiro Summer Spectacular and Tons of Celebrities

If you haven’t heard of the Brent Shapiro Foundation you can visit their website here. They are a great foundation doing great work communicating the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. The organization was founded by Hollywood lawyer Robert Shapiro after his son died from alcohol and ecstasy abuse one night.

The sad part about this story is he had 18 months of sobriety and he thought could experiment again. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this same story and it is perhaps one of the most troubling because in many ways they were over the hardest part of recovery. The first year.

Our minds are so good at convincing us of false realities, especially when it comes to alcohol and drug abuse.

At this event Kelly Osborne was recognized for her overcoming substance addiction in her life. She told RadarOnline.com: ‘I’m really nervous because I have to give a speech and it is always really hard for me to talk about Brent because it makes me want to cry. But we are all here for such a good cause, to spread the word and such a beautiful message.’

If you want more information on this event just google it. It was great to see the number of stars that came out to support this great cause.

College DUI Kills 6 & Parent Advice for College Students and Binge Drinking

You might of heard of the gruesome accident that happened this summer in Fresno, California with 3 young college students and greyhound bus. It was one of the stories that prompted me to do a press release on the important topic of college students and binge drinking. I actually did two interviews on the topic last week and you can read my press release on my other site here, as well as I will be posting the interviews there at a later time.

I wanted to take a second and cover the advice I gave to the radio host last week when I was asked what I would do with my kids to help curb the dangers of alcohol abuse and binge drinking in college. So for what it is worth here is my advice.

Education – This feels so cliche, but have open dialogues with your kids about the topic, prevalence of drinking and current events like this one. Approach with curiosity and not judgment.
Fraternities and Sororities – My parents didn’t allow me to join one my freshman year and I think that was great advice, although I did go on to become a full fledged alcoholic . Regardless my freshman year I drank much less and am convinced it would have been worse at the fraternities I rushed.
Pick the Right University – Not all schools are equal and there is a reason why some schools rank on the top of the party list and others don’t. If you are paying for your child’s education why not only allow schools that are not in the top 20 for partying.
Make Sure They Avoid Boredom – This was covered in another blog last week, but the bottom line is when people are bored they tend to want to drink and use drugs more. Make sure your child joins some extracurricular organizations that keep them busy. Classes are often not enough to keep all students busy, especially depending on the classes and university.

What other advice do you have? I would love to hear it below in the comments.

National Drug Survey Results Released – Revisited

Yesterday I had this in the daily review and said I would come back to it.

Director Kerlikowske released the results of the 2009 National Survey On Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and overall it showed an increase in illicit drugs and that youth attitudes about the dangers have lessened.

What I wanted to specifically come back to was the advice they recommended. Here is what they were quoted saying, and it goes along with what I just discussed above. “There are two things that parents can do, today, to make a difference. First, talk to your kids about drugs. Make sure they know of the harms that can result from drug use and that you don’t approve of them. Second, when you get home today, go through your medicine cabinet and remove unused or unneeded prescription drugs.”

I think that is sound advice, but way too simplified. How you talk to your kids is really what needs to be taught, because that alone can make the difference of reaching them or not reaching them.

That covers the news for today. Thanks for visiting!

Thanks, Dave Andrews