The Aiken Center offers affordable, accessible treatment, interventions, prevention and educational services in an effort to reduce the negative effects of substance use, abuse and addition, to create a safer, healthier environment for all Aiken County citizens.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Let’s
Talk about it: How to Reduce Underage Drinking
Thursday, May 29, 2014
5:00
pm – 7:30 pm
Rollover crash simulator (5 PM) Speakers Door prizes
Location: H. O’Dell Weeks Center
1700
Whiskey Road – Aiken, SC
Speakers: The
Insiders (SC DJJ)
2nd
Circuit Alcohol Enforcement Team
Aiken Public Safety
Aiken Youth
Empowerment
Aiken Center for
Alcohol and other Drugs
THINK BEFORE YOU
DRINK
For More information contact:
Alexis Williams 803-649-1900 ext. 326
Drug addiction and the brain
Addiction is a complex disorder characterized by compulsive drug use. While each drug produces different physical effects, all abused substances share one thing in common: repeated use can alter the way the brain looks and functions.
Addiction is a complex disorder characterized by compulsive drug use. While each drug produces different physical effects, all abused substances share one thing in common: repeated use can alter the way the brain looks and functions.
- Taking a recreational drug causes a surge in levels of dopamine in your brain, which trigger feelings of pleasure. Your brain remembers these feelings and wants them repeated.
- If you become addicted, the substance takes on the same significance as other survival behaviors, such as eating and drinking.
- Changes in your brain interfere with your ability to think clearly, exercise good judgment, control your behavior, and feel normal without drugs.
- Whether you’re addicted to inhalants, heroin, Xanax, speed, or Vicodin, the uncontrollable craving to use grows more important than anything else, including family, friends, career, and even your own health and happiness.
- The urge to use is so strong that your mind finds many ways to deny or rationalize the addiction. You may drastically underestimate the quantity of drugs you’re taking, how much it impacts your life, and the level of control you have over your drug use.
Prescription Drug (medicine) Disposal
ANSWER: Flushing medication down the toilet is now discouraged as it poses a threat to human health and the environment. You should dispose of unwanted medication in your household trash by following these steps.
- Keep the medicine in its original container. The labels may contain safety information and the caps are typically child proof. Leaving the content information clearly visible, cover the patient’s name with a permanent marker.
- Modify the medicines to discourage consumption. For solids, such as pills or capsules, add a small amount of water to the bottle to at least partially dissolve them. For liquid medicines, add enough table salt, flour or powdered spice (such as turmeric or mustard) to make a pungent, unsightly mixture that discourages anyone from taking it.
- Seal and conceal. Tape the container’s lid shut with packing or duct tape. Place it in a bag or container such as an empty yogurt or margarine tub to ensure that the contents cannot be seen.
- Discard the container in your garbage can. Do not place it in the recycling bin.
More information also is available about how to dispose of needles, syringes and lancets.
Source: South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Consequences of Underage Drinking
Youth who drink alcohol are more likely to experience- School problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades.
- Social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities.
- Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk.
- Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses.
- Unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity.
- Disruption of normal growth and sexual development.
- Physical and sexual assault.
- Higher risk for suicide and homicide.
- Alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning.
- Memory problems.
- Abuse of other drugs.
- Changes in brain development that may have life-long effects.
- Death from alcohol poisoning.
Youth who start drinking before age 15 years are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21 years.
Prevention of Underage Drinking
Reducing underage drinking will require community-based efforts to monitor the activities of youth and decrease youth access to alcohol. Recent publications by the Surgeon General1 and the Institute of Medicine4 outlined many prevention strategies that will require actions on the national, state, and local levels, such as enforcement of minimum legal drinking age laws, national media campaigns targeting youth and adults, increasing alcohol excise taxes, reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising, and development of comprehensive community-based programs. These efforts will require continued research and evaluation to determine their success and to improve their effectiveness.
Let’s
Talk about it: How to Reduce Underage Drinking
Thursday, May 29, 2014
5:00
pm – 7:30 pm
Rollover crash simulator (5 PM) Speakers Door prizes
Location: H. O’Dell Weeks Center
1700
Whiskey Road – Aiken, SC
Speakers: The
Insiders (SC DJJ)
2nd
Circuit Alcohol Enforcement Team
Aiken Public Safety
Aiken Youth
Empowerment
Aiken Center for
Alcohol and other Drugs
For More information contact:
Alexis Williams 803-649-1900 ext. 326
Let’s
talk about it: How to Reduce Underage Drinking
Thursday, May 29, 2014
5:00
pm – 7:30 pm
Rollover crash simulator (5 PM) Speakers Door prizes
Location: H. O’Dell Weeks Center
1700
Whiskey Road – Aiken, SC
Speakers: The
Insiders (SC DJJ)
2nd
Circuit Alcohol Enforcement Team
Aiken Public Safety
Aiken Youth
Empowerment
Aiken Center for
Alcohol and other Drugs
For More information
contact: Alexis
Williams 803-649-1900 ext. 326
Stephen
Ryan 803-649-1900 ext. 331 
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