Drug Consumer Safety
Making Informed Consent Decisions
- 3 one-hour Classroom Presentation Format
- 50 minute Assembly and Classroom Format
- One Day In-Service Training Format
Most of the public goes thru life with little understanding of the powerful and complex substances they use for a variety of medical and recreational purposes. Yet more than 700,000 deaths and 5 million adverse reactions occur from The Drug Technology each year, most from Nicotine, Alcohol, Prescription and Over-the-Counter drugs.
Nevertheless, education about this remains virtually nonexistent. Drug education efforts today continue to focus almost exclusively on youth and preventing the use of illegal drugs. There are few programs attempting to reduce casualties from the most extensive causes of drug harm and death.
The variety and complexity of widely used prescription, over-the-counter (OTC), recreational (Alcohol, Caffeine and Nicotine), environmental and illegal drugs, underscores the need for age and experience appropriate education, which prepares individuals for the decisions they need to make throughout their lives.
Program participants are introduced to the actual harms and hazards posed by The Drug Technology, then receive the highly acclaimed Drug Consumer Safety Guidelines pioneered by Mark Miller and Jerome Beck at the University of Oregon Drug Information Center. The use of these guidelines in everyday life is carefully explained to enable informed, responsible choices with the wide variety of drugs available to the public today. Compliance with these guidelines can reduce or eliminate the vast majority of potential hazards posed by The Drug Technology.
Drug Consumer Safety
In-Service Training
- 6 hour one day In-Service Training Format
- 3 hour two day In-Service Training Format
Training provides an in-depth orientation in Drug Consumer Safety guidelines, drug actions in the nervous system, drug profiles, current usage and abuse trends and emerging research. It also prepares participants to provide Drug Consumer Safety Education to agencies, organizations and the public.
In-service training credits may be available for educators, health care providers, law enforcement and treatment providers.
Personal and Public
Alcohol Safety
- 50 minute Assembly, Classroom and Agency Format
- Three hour In-Service Training Format
Alcohol is the most advertised, available and consumed drug, yet our society does little to educate or inform people to make responsible decisions.
Currently two-thirds of the public consume alcoholic beverages, and each year there are more than 100,000 alcohol-related deaths, more than half a million alcohol-related traffic accidents and 14 million addicted. The 50 minute program format provides real-life information and the skills to prepare adults to make responsible and informed choices involving their use of this drug, and to avoid common usage errors.
The in-service format provides health educators, substance abuse workers, law enforcement personnel, private groups and organizations with a review of alcohol’s effects, responsible usage, and first aid techniques to avoid bodily and legal harm.
Keeping Seniors Safe
- Two 50-minute Assembly, Classroom and Agency Format
- Four hour In-Service Training Format
Seniors make up 13% of the US population, but take 30% of the prescription and 40% of the over-the-counter drugs.
Two-thirds of seniors are taking two drugs together, and one quarter are taking three or more drugs concurrently. Age-related changes in seniors make them 30% more likely to experience negative effects from medications. At a time when seniors need medications most, they are also the most vulnerable to drug effects.
Program participants are provided with information on how physiology and drug actions change with age, how medications work and the effects they produce. Senior drug use patterns and potential harms are reviewed. Drug safety guidelines are provided to maximize benefits, and reduce potential harms from prescription, over-the-counter drugs, nutritional supplements and alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.
Understanding the
Meth Crisis
- Two 50-minute Assembly, Classroom and Agency Format
- Four hour In-Service Training Format
The resurgence of Methamphetamine use and abuse has captured considerable media attention and public concern. Dr. Beck co-directed the first large federally funded study of the Methamphetamine epidemic from 1991 thru 1994. In-depth interviews with 450 heavy Methamphetamine users provided valuable understanding of the drug and user populations.
The program provides research, health care, treatment providers and law enforcement with findings of this and subsequent research, along with lessons from previous Meth epidemics; and provides perspective on the current crisis and effective strategies.
Ecstasy and
Other Club Drugs
- Two 50-minute Assembly, Classroom and Agency Format
- Four hour In-Service Training Format
The explosive popularity of MDMA (Ecstasy) and other ‘Club Drugs’ has generated considerable concern in recent years. Among the first to encounter and research this drug starting in the 1970’s, Dr. Beck co-directed the first federally funded study of Ecstasy and its users. Dr. Beck continues to be at the forefront of describing the drug effects and users' sociological profiles.
The program provides research, health care, treatment providers and law enforcement with Dr. Beck’s latest findings on the Club Drug subculture.
Street Drug Epidemiology:
Understanding Contemporary
Drug Trends
- Two 50-minute Assembly, Classroom and Agency Format
- Four hour In-Service Training Format
As an endless array of abusable drugs capture media and public attention, how can you tell which are false alarms, passing fads, or truly causes for concern?
By critically reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of commonly cited sources of information (surveys, problem-indicator data, etc.), this course provides professionals and other interested individuals with a better appreciation of what we know, and don’t know, about contemporary drug use and problems.