USA Today (6/11, Pager) reports that results of a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released today reveals that “underage drinking among all US residents from age 12 through 20 dropped 6.1%” over the years from “2002 to 2013.” During that same period of time, “underage binge drinking decreased 5.1%.” SAMHSA researchers “used data from the National Survey for Drug Use and Health, which measures drinking rates among those 12 and older,” in arriving at these conclusions.

The Washington Post (6/11, Gebelhoff) points out that “Federal and local governments have been encouraging parents to talk to their children about alcohol use at an early age.” The Post adds that “SAMHSA developed a campaign called ‘Talk. They Hear You,’ featuring a mobile app with interactive games to help parents prepare for conversations with their” kids. Frances M. Harding, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, said, “Our target is to change social norms.” Harding added, “Have norms been changed? Absolutely.”

Related Links:

— “Underage drinking, binge boozing by minors is on the decline,” Tyler Pager, USA Today, June 11, 2015.

The Washington Post (6/10, Phillip) reports in its Wonkblog that a study has found more children are being accidentally exposed to marijuana in places where it is legal. The study conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics concluded that between 2006 and 2013, the rate of children who were reported to have been exposed to marijuana increased by 147.5 percent. Exposure also went up in states where medical marijuana use isn’t legal, though not as much as in states where it was legal. Study co-author Henry Spiller said in a statement, “The high percentage of ingestions may be related to the popularity of marijuana brownies, cookies and other foods.” How to keep marijuana away from children has been a “persistent problem” for legalization advocates, “but it is unclear how to make edibles less likely to fall into the wrong hands.”

According to TIME’s (6/10, Iyengar) website, the “total number of reported cases — 1,969 children between 2000 and 2013 — is not large,” but researchers believe the “rapid escalation in the rate of exposure is a cause for concern. More than 75% of the children who were exposed to marijuana were under 3 years old.” Gary Smith, a senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, said, “Any state considering marijuana legalization needs to include child protections in its laws from the very beginning.”

Related Links:

— “More and more little kids are finding mom and dad’s (legal) marijuana stash,” Abby Phillip, Washington Post, June 9, 2015.

Medscape (6/9, Johnson) reports that research suggests that “the heavy, long-term use of cannabis is associated with negative changes in parts of the brain not previously implicated, and is linked to deficits in learning and memory.” Investigators “used the highly specific carbon 11-labeled (+)-4-propyl-9-hydroxynaphthoxazine radiotracer — known as [¹¹C]PHNO — to image the impact of cannabis on the brain.” The researchers “showed that heavy chronic cannabis use is associated with lower dopamine release in the associative striatum and the sensory motor striatum, regions involved in cognition.” The findings were presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2015 Annual Meeting.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Los Angeles Times (6/9, Zarembo) reported new government research “shows that female military veterans commit suicide at nearly six times the rate of other women, a startling finding that experts say poses disturbing questions about the backgrounds and experiences of women who serve in the armed forces.” The research shows female veterans are committing suicide at a rate approaching that of male veterans.

Related Links:

— “Suicide rate of female military veterans is called ‘staggering’,” Alan Zerembo, Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2015.

Health Day (6/6, Dallas) reported that “well-intentioned parents of children with autism may think that special diets or supplements can help their child, but a” study published June 4 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics “suggests that often these efforts lead to problems.” The 368-child study revealed that such “regimens leave children still deficient in some nutrients, such as calcium,” yet can also cause youngsters “to take in excessive amounts of other nutrients, such as vitamin A, the researchers said.”

Related Links:

— “Special Diets, Supplements Not Always Helpful for Kids With Autism,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, Health Day, June 5, 2015.

Reuters (6/8, Rapaport) reports that research indicates that more than 25 percent of kids in the US either see or are victims of weapon violence before they turn 18. The findings (6/3) were published online June 8 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “More than one in four U.S. kids exposed to weapon violence,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, June 8, 2015.

TIME (6/5, Sifferlin) reports, “Sexual violence against children is a global problem – and few receive supportive services exist for its victims,” according to research released June 5 by the CDC in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That report, the results of which “come from Violence Against Children Surveys that were conducted between 2007 and 2013 among men and women ages 18 to 24 in Swaziland, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Haiti and Cambodia,” shows that “at least 25% of females and 10% of males report experiencing a form of sexual violence as a child.”

The NPR (6/5, Silver) “Goats and Soda” blog interviews report lead author Steven Sumner, MD, MSC-GH, a “medical epidemiologist at CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention,” who said, “To me, the most striking finding was how few children were getting help.” Dr. Sumner added, “Expanding services to children both in terms of prevention services and response services is badly needed.”

Related Links:

— “Sexual Violence Against Children Is a Worldwide Problem, Study Says,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, June 4, 2015.

In a nearly 1,500-word article, Grandparents (6/5, Schwartz) reports that according to the National Center for Health Statistics, about one in four women between 40 and 59 takes at least one antidepressant. Meanwhile, among women 60 and over, one in five takes an antidepressant. Depression “is one of the most common mental health illnesses of our time,” said Marie A. Bernard, MD, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Related Links:

— “6 Good Alternatives to Antidepressants,” Sara Schwartz, Grandparents, June 5, 2015.

Modern Healthcare (6/5, Robeznieks, Subscription Publication) reports that on June 2, by a 417-10 vote, “the US House of Representatives…approved funding to give crisis-intervention training to police on de-escalating violent confrontations with people who have behavioral-health problems and to fund ‘mental health courts’ that seek to provide psychiatric care instead of” incarceration.

The funding “will be available through block grants under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.” Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) reintroduced a “new version of his Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” which American Psychiatric Association president Renée Binder, MD, praised in a news release (6/5) as “strengthening enforcement of mental health parity, enhancing the psychiatric workforce, ensuring better coordination of federal resources, and improving research and treatment for persons with mental illness, including substance use disorders.”

Related Links:

— “House OKs funding to train police, create courts to deal with mentally ill,” Andis Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, June 4, 2015.

The Kaiser Health News (6/3, Boodman) reports on “the consequences of delirium, a sudden disruption of consciousness and cognition marked by vivid hallucinations, delusions and an inability to focus that affects seven million hospitalized Americans” each year. The condition which “disproportionately affects” seniors, can also affect intensive care unit patients of any age “who are heavily sedated and on ventilators.” The cognitive effects of delirium may last for months and leave patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Related Links:

— “For Many Patients, Delirium Is A Surprising Side Effect Of Being In The Hospital,” Sandra G. Boodman, Kaiser Health News, June 2, 2015.