Media Gets Worked Up Over The Mythical Vodka Tampons But Real Kids Are Getting Addicted To Alcohol In High Numbers

It could be argued that the media has a responsibility to keep the public informed. In that capacity, they began to spread the story in November 2011 that young people were using vodka tampons - tampons that had been saturated with vodka -  to get drunk. The report seems to have started with a Phoenix policeman acting as a school resource officer in a local high school. It was seconded by a medical doctor in the local hospital. The report stated that “all” the kids were using vodka tampons and not just in Phoenix, but nationally.

The point of administering vodka via tampon was ostensibly to prevent alcohol on one’s breath and get the alcohol into the body more quickly than drinking. In this case, it looks like the media personnel responsible failed to verify their story.

The Phoenix media ran the story first but it was rapidly picked up by other news services and websites. Within days, the story appeared in hundreds of places. Only one media person had the courage to test the concept. Danielle Crittenden of the Huffington Post tried out the procedure and found it an inefficient way to administer alcohol and intensely uncomfortable. No alcoholic buzz resulted. Her report pretty well quashed the spread of the rumor.

The waste of media time and attention managed to ignore the fact that millions of teens are actually drinking alcohol, and they are getting drunk in high numbers. According to the annual report Monitoring the Future, 50% of all high school seniors have been drunk in the last year and 30% have been drunk in the last month.

Also, over a five year period, more than 140,000 teens (17 and under) went to addiction treatment programs to get help with their alcoholism. If you include everyone who was underage (20 or younger), the number swells to 325,000. But the media didn’t pick up this story and spread it noisily across the country. They’re not making news about the increases in prescription drug abuse by teens either.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there are more than 2 million young people who are heavy drinkers. Undoubtedly many more young people need alcohol recovery programs than are getting them.

Alcohol abuse over time shifts into alcoholism and then it can be nearly impossible for a person to quit on his or her own. But alcoholism does not have to go on year after year. There can be an end to the damage and neglect of family, work, career and faith.

For more than a decade, Narconon Arrowhead has been helping people for whom alcohol abuse got out of control. Narconon reviews indicate that in seven out of ten cases, these people achieved lasting sobriety after they graduated from this program and went home. If you want to help someone who is struggling with alcohol abuse or alcoholism, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933. At Narconon Arrowhead, they can get back a true enjoyment of life without alcohol.


http://www.kpho.com/story/15981315/teens-using-vodka-tampons-to-get-drunk
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/danielle-crittenden/vodka-tampons_b_1105433.html
http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/stopteendui/_pdf/stages_of_intoxication.pdf
http://monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-vol1_2010.pdf
http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k10NSDUH/2k10Results.pdf

Narconon has many locations including Narconon California, East Coast programs and the flagship center, Narconon Arrowhead. Call Narconon Arrowhead at 800-468-6933 for more information.