Maybe years of drug abuse prevention programs are paying off. Maybe drugs are losing their appeal. For three consecutive years now, substance abuse has been steadily declining among Kansas City area teen-agers, a survey released Tuesday by the Kauffman Foundation shows. Overall substance abuse by teens in the 2000-2001 school year was lower than at any time in the past 16 years the foundation has conducted the annual survey of student drug use. The new survey, which covered 13 substances, found that the numbers of students who said they had ever used "uppers" such as amphetamines, LSD, or inhalants such as airplane glue were at all-time lows. [continues 1267 words]
A coalition of Kansas health organizations will receive a $75,000 grant to make statewide improvements in the care that dying patients receive in their final days, the Midwest Bioethics Center in Kansas City announced last week. The grant is one of 15 totaling $2.6 million that are being awarded to organizations to enhance end-of-life care. The center is administering the grant program for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based in Princeton, N.J., the nation's largest philanthropy dedicated exclusively to health care. [continues 278 words]
