Pubdate: Tue, 11 Mar 2003
Source: Link, The (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2003 The Link
Contact:  http://thelink.concordia.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2694
Author: Kelly Small

WOMEN'S ADDICTIONS HARDER TO SHAKE

A new study confirms young women are more easily addicted to smoking, drugs 
and alcohol than are young men.

"They get hooked faster and suffer the consequences sooner," says Joseph 
Califano of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at 
Columbia University.

The 231-page report, the culmination of more than three years of research, 
studied girls and young women aged eight to 22.

Among the risks and consequences that are unique to females, the report found:

Women using drugs or alcohol are more likely to attempt suicide.

Women are more susceptible to alcohol or ecstasy-induced brain damage, 
cardiac problems, greater smoking-related lung damage and liver disease. 
These health problems occur more quickly and with lower levels of 
consumption than with males.

Girls are more likely than boys to be depressed, have eating disorders or 
be sexually or physically abused--all of which increase the risk for 
substance abuse.

Key life transitions such as frequent moving and changing schools, the 
first use of birth control pills or pregnancy, are times of increased risk 
for girls.

The report's findings should be a signal for young women in university, who 
report the greatest increases in smoking, binge drinking and drug use. The 
transition to university is also when the greatest increase is seen in 
young women believing that smoking helps them to relax and that drinking 
reduces boredom and depression.

Despite these findings, the report is optimistic for young women leaving 
university, who experience the greatest decline in drinking and marijuana 
use--though not in smoking.

"Some aspects of these transitions appear to affect girls and young women 
differently than boys and young men as they form attitudes, beliefs and 
habits that can influence their use of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. These 
critical transitions also can be highly stressful. If girls have not 
learned effective ways to deal with the stress, they may turn to tobacco, 
alcohol and drugs," the report says.

The report also found that women use substances for different reasons than 
men. While males are more likely to use for the sensation or to increase 
their social status, women are more likely to use to improve mood, increase 
confidence, cope with problems, lose weight or enhance sex.

"The findings from this study cry out for a fundamental overhaul of public 
health prevention programs," says Califano. "Unisex prevention 
programs--largely developed without regard to gender, often with males in 
mind--fail to influence millions of girls and young women."

The study recommends that prevention programs target girls at times of 
highest risk and be sensitive to the reasons they use drugs, how they get 
them and the conditions such as depression that increase their risk.

"One-size-fits-all prevention hasn't worked--and it won't--because it 
doesn't recognize these differences," says Califano.

Not unexpectedly, the tobacco and alcohol industries come under heavy 
criticism for their glamorous portrayal of tobacco and alcohol.

"The tobacco industry has a long history of targeting its marketing efforts 
to young women, exploiting women's desire for independence and 
sophistication, and appealing to perennial female concerns about weight and 
appearance," the report says. "Alcohol industry advertising makes drinking, 
and by association women who drink, appear fun and sexy."

To reduce the risks for young women, the report calls on the government to 
invest in research, prevention and treatments that focus on the special 
needs of girls and women. The media should refrain from making positive 
associations with drinking and smoking, and should refuse to accept alcohol 
and tobacco advertisements for television and for magazines with high 
proportions of young female readers. Parents, educators, and doctors are 
also urged to do more preventative work with girls.
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MAP posted-by: Beth