| Program opens eyes to horrors of meth
A Methamphetamine Awareness Program will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Kenai Central High School. Brittany West didn't know what meth was when she first tried it, but as soon as she did, she was hooked. After four months of using it, methamphetamine got West arrested and landed her in the Kenai Peninsula Youth Facility. "I know the side effects," she said. "And I know how it feels to withdraw." Sober for a year, a month and 13 days, West, a senior at Kenai Alternative High School, is this year's Red Ribbon Week chairman and hopes her experience, not only with using a highly addictive drug, but overcoming that addiction, will encourage her peers to shake their own drug habits. "Maybe it might just get them to quit tobacco," she said. In order to come up with ideas for her own project, West will attend tonight's Methamphetamine Awareness Program, sponsored by Marathon Oil and Gas Corporation, at Kenai Central High School today from 7 p.m.
Sleep Drugs Rouse Big Pharma
New York may be the "City That Never Sleeps," but the rest of the U.S. seems to be getting less shut-eye as well. Pharma and biotech companies are targeting sleeping disorders, with more than a dozen insomnia compounds in phase II and phase III clinical trials. Approximately 70 million people in the U.S. suffer regular or occasional insomnia, according to Steven Silver, a biotechnology equity analyst for Standard & Poor's. But only 10% to 15% seek treatment, in part because of the side effects associated with the current crop of insomnia drugs. An astonishing 25 million people suffer from chronic insomnia. But the medical profession increasingly believes treating insomnia is important, since lack of sleep can lead to serious disorders including heart disease. The Food & Drug Administration has approved several prescription drugs for insomnia, and many sufferers use PM formulations of popular over-the-counter painkillers.
Grant helps new tobacco cessation program succeed in Richland County
A new tobacco cessation program may have out-of-the-ordinary roots, but the impact it is having on people's lives is not just about blowing smoke.Richland County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, under the direction of Helen Schmitt, has started the Quit It! Smoking Cessation Program to help local residents fight the hold tobacco has over their lives.Schmitt said the coalition wanted to implement a program to help those in their support group quit smoking, so a VISTA volunteer did some research and applied for a grant from the American Legacy Foundation."(The support group) was a good place to think about it," Schmitt said, noting a lot of the people involved were addicted to tobacco.They hoped to receive $5,000, so it was a pleasant surprise to learn they had been awarded $18,000. Thus Quit It! was born.What is unique about this grant is that it not only pays for education and advertising, it also funds tobacco cessation aids.Certified Natural Health Consultant Cyndee Brown, who facilitates the program, said the grant can help pay for aids to help in the battle to quit using tobacco as prescribed by the participants' physicians, if not covered by their insurance.One aid in particular, a prescription drug called Chantix, has drawn the group's attention with high success rates and minimal side effects.
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