One hundred and six stu-

dents, along with 21 adults,

came together for YAK

night on Friday, March 14th.

The Boys and Girls Club

generously allowed YAK

members to use their facility

at Black Lake Campus to

host their event.

Students spent the evening

playing dodge ball, basket-

ball, video games, ping

pong, scooter games, and

other activities. The menu

for the event included pizza,

fruit, veggies, cookies, pop-

corn, ice cream, and of

course pie (because the date

was 3.14).

Funding from Wellspring

Community Network al-

lowed YAK to buy t-shirts

for everyone who attended

YAK night. Students and

staff enjoyed using fabric

markers and puff paint to

decorate their shirts. Each

shirt became a unique piece

of wearable art.

YAK night has been a fun

tradition for the past several

years. High school students,

staff, and community mem-

bers look forward to spend-

ing an evening relaxing and

playing together in a safe

and comfortable environ-

ment.

YAK Night Brings Together 106 Students

Volume 6, Issue 8

Prevention

Newsletter April 2014

GSA Hosts “Day of Silence” to end at YAK Night Ilwaco High School’s Gay

Straight Alliance (GSA) hosted

a “Day of Silence” on March

14th.

According to the GLSEN web-

site, “The National Day of Si-

lence is a day of action in

which students across the coun-

try vow to take a form of si-

lence to call attention to the

silencing effect of anti-LGBT

bullying and harassment in

schools.”

Ilwaco GSA members designed

a t-shirt for club members to

wear on the Day of Silence.

GSA members also carried

cards to give to others explain-

ing the intent behind the Day of

Silence.

During YAK night, as a cele-

bration to break the silence, the

GSA hosted a yelling contest.

Students crab walked across the

gym while yelling continu-

ously. Many students and a few

staff members took the oppor-

tunity to see who could crab

walk the quickest while yelling

the loudest. It was a very fun,

high energy event!

Ilwaco Middle/High School

Mindfulness Help-

ful in Recovery

2

E-Cigarettes Not

Helping to Quit

2

Impaired Driving

on the Rise

2

What are Inha-

lants?

3

Inhalant use De-

creasing

3

Salvia can Cause

Hallucinations

3

More YAK Night

Photos

4

Inside this issue:

Photo: Students and staff mem-

bers decorate YAK Night shirts

Prevention Newsletter Page 2

An approach to meditation called

“mindfulness,” which teaches self-

awareness, can be effective in prevent-

ing relapses of drug and alcohol abuse,

a new study suggests. Mindfulness

meditation aims to help people under-

stand what drives cravings, and to bet-

ter deal with the discomfort they create.

Researchers at the University of Wash-

ington studied 286 people who had

successfully completed a substance

abuse treatment program, and ran-

domly assigned them to one of three

groups: mindfulness meditation, a 12-

step program, and a traditional relapse-

prevention program.

They found a treatment program that

incorporates mindfulness meditation

was more effective in preventing re-

lapses over the long term, compared

with traditional addiction treatment

approaches. One year after treatment,

about 9 percent of participants in the

mindfulness program reported drug

use, compared with 14 percent of those

in a 12-step program, and 17 percent in

a traditional relapse-prevention pro-

gram.

About 8 percent of participants in the

mindfulness program also re-

ported heavy drinking after one

year, compared with about 20

percent in the other two groups.

Researcher Sarah Bowen noted

about 11 percent of people in the

United States with substance

abuse problems seek treatment

annually, and between 40 to 60

percent relapse. Many traditional

relapse prevention programs include a

12-step program that emphasizes absti-

nence. Others are based on cognitive-

behavioral therapy, which teaches peo-

ple to confront and deal with particular

situations, such as refusing alcohol and

drugs.

ing the Future survey found that just over

one out of every four (28 percent) high

school seniors either drove under the

influence or drove with someone under

the influence of alcohol or other illicit

drugs, with the percentage of seniors

driving after smoking marijuana almost

three times more than alcohol impaired

drivers.

While alcohol impaired driving rates

among youth have declined in the United

States, drug impaired driving appears to

be on the rise. Research indicates illicit

or prescribed drugs are associated with

an increased rate of motor vehicle

crashes, making current excessively high

rates of drug impaired driving a signifi-

cant public health concern. A recent

study examining data from the Monitor-

Impaired Driving Becoming a Significant Public Health Concern

“Mindfulness” Meditation Can Help Reduce Addiction Relapse Rates

A study of smokers finds those who

also use e-cigarettes are no more likely

to quit smoking after a year, compared

with smokers who don’t use the de-

vices.

Researchers at the University of Cali-

fornia, San Francisco, studied 949

smokers, 88 of whom also used e-

cigarettes. Those who used e-cigarettes

didn’t smoke fewer regular cigarettes

after one year, compared with those not

using the devices, the researchers re-

ported.

“Our data add to the current evidence

that e-cigarettes may not increase rates

of smoking cessation,” the researchers

wrote. “Regulations should prohibit

advertising claiming or suggesting that

e-cigarettes are effective smoking ces-

sation devices until claims are sup-

ported by scientific evidence.”

Smokers Who Use E-Cigarettes Not More Likely to Quit

Volume 6, Issue 8 Page 3

Inhalants are ordinary household products

that are inhaled or sniffed by children to get

high. There are hundreds of household

products on the market today that can be

misused as inhalants.

What do they look like?

Examples of products kids abuse to get

high include model airplane glue, nail pol-

ish remover, cleaning fluids, hair spray,

gasoline, the propellant in aerosol whipped

cream, spray paint, fabric protector, air

conditioner fluid (freon), cooking spray and

correction fluid.

How are they used?

These products are sniffed, snorted, bagged

(fumes inhaled from a plastic bag), or

“huffed” (inhalant-soaked rag, sock, or roll

of toilet paper in the mouth) to achieve a

high. Inhalants are also sniffed directly

from the container.

What are their short-term ef-

fects?

Within seconds of inhalation, the user ex-

periences intoxication along with other

effects similar to those produced by alco-

hol. Alcohol-like effects may include

slurred speech, an inability to coordinate

movements, dizziness, confusion and delir-

ium. Nausea and vomiting are other com-

mon side effects. In addition, users may

experience lightheadedness, hallucinations,

and delusions.

What are their long-term ef-

fects?

Compulsive use and a mild withdrawal

syndrome can

occur with long-

term inhalant

abuse. Additional symptoms exhibited by

long-term inhalant abusers include weight

loss, muscle weakness, disorientation, inat-

tentiveness, lack of coordination, irritabil-

ity, and depression.

After heavy use of inhalants, abusers may

feel drowsy for several hours and experi-

ence a lingering headache. Because intoxi-

cation lasts only a few minutes, abusers

frequently seek to prolong their high by

continuing to inhale repeatedly over the

course of several hours. By doing this,

abusers can suffer loss of consciousness

and death.

the most potent, selective and naturally

occurring hallucinogen when smoked

— rivaling the potency of the syn-

thetic hallucinogens like LSD.

This drug is a psychoactive hallucino-

gen that can cause dramatic and some-

times frightening mind-states. Depend-

ing on dosage, a user’s reaction can

vary from a subtle, just-off-baseline

state to a full-blown psychedelic ex-

Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive

mint, used in traditional spiritual prac-

tices by the Mazatec people of Mexico

and is legal in both Mexico and the

United States. However, three states

have banned the leafy green, making its

possession — like that of heroin or

cocaine — a felony.

Salvinorin-A, the active property of

salvia divinorum, is considered to be

perience. It has

been reported

to induce an

intense halluci-

natory experi-

ence in humans (particularly when

smoked) which typically persists from

several minutes to an hour. It has been

described as a “20-minute acid trip.”

Salvia has Been Reported to Induce Hallucinations

What are Inhalants?

Inhalant use among adolescents has gener-

ally declined since 2006. Rates decreased

from 4.4 percent in 2006 to 2.6 percent in

2012. The decline was also among several

demographic groups and in numerous met-

ropolitan areas.

“This downward trend of inhalant use in

adolescents is very encouraging,” said

SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde.

“Nevertheless, we must all continue our

efforts to raise awareness about the dan-

gers and health risks of this deadly and

addictive problem among our youth.”

The report entitled, Recent Declines in

Adolescent Inhalant Use is based on find-

ings from SAMHSA’s 2012 National Sur-

vey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) –

an annual survey that collects data by ad-

ministering questionnaires to a representa-

tive sample of the populations through

face-to-face interviews at their place of

residence.

The complete report findings are available

on the SAMHSA website.

The numbers of adoles-

cents aged 12 to 17 us-

ing inhalants decreased

from 820,000 in 2011 to

about 650,000 in 2012,

according to a new re-

port by the Substance

Abuse and Mental

Health Services Admini-

stration (SAMHSA).

Inhalants are defined in the survey as

“liquids, sprays, and gases that people sniff

or inhale to get high or to make them feel

good.”

Study Shows Decrease in Adolescent Inhalant Use

More YAK Night Pictures

YAK—Youth Action Klub is open to all Ilwaco High

School students. Meetings are held every Wednesday dur-

ing 1st and 3rd lunches in the library. YAK focuses on

helping students live a safe, healthy, substance free life.

YES—Youth Empowerment Squad is open to all Pacific

County Middle and High School aged students. Meeting are

held once a month. For more information contact Mrs.

Kelly at Ilwaco Middle School.

P r e v e n t i o n C e n t e r

Photo credit: Kelli Schimelpfenig

Phone: 360-642-1244

Fax: 360-642-1224

E-mail:

PO Box F

Ilwaco, WA 98624

Ilwaco Middle/High School

Newsletters online@

www.ocean.k12.wa.us

Photos

Left: Michael Johnson and Mrs. Eyestone

enjoy a game of ping pong.

Below: Freshmen play with the scooters and

hula hoops in the Boys and Girls Club