teens

Friday October 5, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 5, 2018

Teenagers who use e-cigarettes more likely to start smoking, study finds

Teens who use electronic cigarettes are more likely to start smoking regular cigarettes – and they are likely to use both products more often over time, a new study found.

February 18, 2012

The Rand Corporation study looked at more than 2,000 youths in California, starting when they were teenagers and continuing until they were young adults.

The researchers found that youth who reported vaping were more likely to also report smoking cigarettes.

When they were surveyed around age 17, more of the teens said they used e-cigarettes in the last month – 8% – than regular cigarettes, at 6%. By around age 19, 9% of the young adults surveyed were using e-cigarettes, but cigarette smoking had jumped to 12%.

“Not only are adolescents who start vaping more likely to start smoking in the future, but they’re also likely to go on and use e-cigarettes and cigarettes more frequently,” said Michael Dunbar, the study’s lead author and a behavioral scientist at Rand.

“Our work provides more evidence that young people who use e-cigarettes progress to smoking cigarettes in the future,” he said. “This study also suggests that teens don’t substitute vaping products for cigarettes. Instead, they go on to use both products more frequently as they get older.”

It’s the latest research to suggest a link for young people between electronic cigarettes and smoking the more dangerous, traditional tobacco-based variety.

For adults who already smoke, e-cigarettes have been promoted as a safer to help them quit. (Continued: The Guardian) 

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Saturday, October 11, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, October 11, 2014

Kids these days, and a contrast in world views

Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work for children’s rights.

Not so Nobel prize 2006

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the two “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”

Malala, 17, is the youngest ever winner of a Nobel Prize. A schoolgirl and education campaigner in Pakistan, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Meanwhile, a 14-year-old girl has been ticketed for interfering with a police animal after allegedly blowing an air horn at a Hamilton police Mounted Patrol Unit horse, causing the animal to enter a live lane of traffic.

This is the first time police have used the new bylaw since it came into effect Aug. 20, said mounted unit Sergeant Brad Adams.

Wednesday August 14, 2013The bylaw, which comes with a $250 fine, was approved by city council amid complaints from police about people, often patrons in Hess Village, harassing the horses. These incidents, including beer bottles and cigarettes being thrown at the horses, were happening on a weekly basis, he said.

The mounted unit was in the area of James Street and King Street East around 4:40 p.m. Thursday when they noticed a girl with a can of “wacky streamers” spraying the stairway leading up to the rooftop of Jackson Square, Adams said.

Wednesday April 29, 2014

When the officer approached, the girl began blowing an air horn. Initially police horse RHLI was initially not bothered, but when the girl went behind the

horse and again blew the horn, the horse was startled and stepped into a live lane of traffic. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday February 24, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday February 24, 2012

Tougher rules expected for older drivers

Ontario’s transportation minister expects drivers with dementia will face tough new rules within the year.

The province’s aging population — with an increase is cognitively impaired drivers — will make road safety a “top priority,” said transportation minister Bob Chiarelli.

“I think we need to accelerate our attention to it,” Chiarelli said in an interview.

“I believe we are doing that and I would be surprised if in the next six months to a year we didn’t initiate some enhancements to it.”

In the wake of a Star series on drivers with cognitive impairment, Chiarelli predicted there will be a “tightening across the board” of the system that allows many seniors with dementia to drive unchecked.

The ministry is considering making the following changes: better training for family doctors on reporting cognitively impaired patients who drive; more rigorous on-road testing of senior drivers; and the introduction of graduated licensing for some seniors who, like teenage drivers, would not be allowed to drive at night or on 400-series highways.

Ontario is one of the last jurisdictions in North America that has not embraced “degraduated licences” for seniors. This would put limits on seniors with diminished eyesight in the dark or nerves that can’t handle highway speeds.

In the interview, Chiarelli said he has heard both good and bad things about that approach but is open to exploring it here. (Source: Toronto Star) 

Tuesday February 21, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday February 21, 2012

Strict parental rules about drinking can curb adolescent impulses to drink

Frequent drinking can lead to changes in the processing of alcohol cues that can, in turn, facilitate renewed drinking if an individual’s ability and motivation to reflect on drinking behaviors are insufficient. A study investigating the interaction between automatically activated approach tendencies and the ability and motivation to reflect on drinking behaviors in young adolescents with limited drinking experience has found that stricter parental rules about drinking are highly protective, especially for males.

“With repeated alcohol use, cues that are previously associated with alcohol use – such as the sight of a beer bottle – become increasingly important,” explained Sara Pieters, a researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen and corresponding author for the study. “This might be due to alcohol-induced changes in the brain’s reward system and the formation of memory associations.”

The term “approach tendencies,” Pieters added, can be understood by asking if a person is inclined to approach or to avoid a stimulus. “In most people,” she said, “tendencies to avoid are automatically triggered by threatening stimuli such as a snake, and approach-tendencies can be triggered by appetitive stimuli such as water when thirsty. In heavy drinkers, stimuli that have been associated with alcohol use automatically trigger a tendency to approach.”

“Studies have shown that adolescence is marked by a temporal lag in the maturation of two brain systems, one related to emotional and motivational processes, one to control behavior and thoughts,” added Rebecca de Leeuw, a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen. “Whereas the former develops relatively fast during puberty, the latter continues to develop until adulthood, around 25 years of age. This means that adolescents are more likely to engage in reckless behavior. (Source: Eureka Alert)