Here’s a story about an Oklahoma teen who experienced kidney failure as a result of smoking synthetic marijuana.  This is one of the substances FATE talks about when we make presentations to Oklahoma young people.

http://newsok.com/synthetic-marijuana-causes-kidney-failure-in-15-year-old-oklahoma-teen/article/3735240

Jim,  What a great opportunity it was for our senior athletes to hear you present on behalf of the F.A.T.E. organization.  With all of the pressures surrounding student/athletes these days, it is always good for them to hear relevant information when it comes to the choices that they make in regards to alcohol and drugs.  It is also very beneficial that student/athletes hear this information from someone other than their parents/guardians and coaches.  We would hope that all student/athletes would hear “just say no” from their parents/guardians and coaches and some point throughout their athletic career.   What the F.A.T.E. program presents is a continuation of the “just say no” slogan.   By providing real life testimonies (from relevant sport figures that today’s student/athletes know), real life tragedies (Brandon’s story) and with specific scientific research on how and why drugs and alcohol affect athletic performance; F.A.T.E. gives students/athletes even more reasons to not use drugs or alcohol.

Again, thank you for coming to Union High School and presenting to our student/athletes, what the F.A.T.E. organization is doing is changing lives.

Michael Rose, Assistant Athletic Coordinator

Poll: 82 Percent Say U.S. Losing Drug War

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/drug-war-poll-losing_n_2125464.html

Wednesday October 31 was a full day for the FATE team of Jim Priest and Jeff Hargrave as they travelled to Henryetta, Dewar and Okmulgee to deliver the message of truth about substance abuse, urging high school students in all three schools to make smart choices about drinking and drugs.  ”You get to choose you fate”, Priest and Hargrave repeatedly told the students.  All together FATE spoke to nearly 500 students on the all day speaking tour.  Bobby Howard of the Department of Health was responsible for setting up the presentations and FATE appreciates Bobby’s hard work in coordinating the events.  If you are interested in a FATE team speaking at your school, contact jim@fate.org

FATE travelled to Drummond, Oklahoma in Garfield County to speak to 7th through 12th grade students about making smart choices about their fate….and about alcohol and other drugs.  Caleb and Lauren, two students chosen from the crowd, answered questions in FATE’s DIQ quiz (What’s your Drug IQ?) and won valuable McDonald’s gift cards.

Go Bulldogs!  Thanks for inviting us!

A packed house filled the Bud Wilkinson Event Center at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame where FATE’s “Champions of FATE” were celebrated for their work in substance abuse:  Kelly Dyer Fry of the Oklahoman, David Starkey of stopmethlabs.com, Chesapeake Energy for their “Your Life Matters” employee benefit program, KFOR/KAUT for its promotion of public service announcements, and three schools for their work on FATE’s “Life of an Athlete” program: Oklahoma State University, East Central University and Bethany High School.

Thanks to all who came and those who worked hard to make it a success!

Physicians are relying more on patients’ self-reports of pain than in the past, and the “treatment of pain is held up as the holy grail of compassionate medical care,” Anna Lembke, M.D., of Stanford University, wrote.

Lembke points out that the American attitude that “all suffering is avoidable” has increased demand for treatment, MedPageTodaynotes. She adds that treating pain can be profitable, while treating addiction is not. Counseling, a critical part of addiction treatment, is time-consuming, and is not adequately reimbursed.

Lembke suggests that all doctors should be required to attend a continuing medical education course on addiction. She notes that all doctors have been mandated since 2001 to complete a course in pain treatment.

She also recommends that doctors be required to check their state’s prescription drug monitoring programs before writing prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. Some states have already made this a requirement. Doctors must be made aware of new billing codes that allow them to be reimbursed for addiction counseling, Lembke states.

She warned the “problem of doctors prescribing addictive analgesics to patients with known or suspected addiction will be solved only when the threat of public and legal censure for not treating addiction is equal to that for not treating pain, and when treating addiction is financially compensated on a par with care for other illnesses.”

It was a packed house at Weatherford Middle School!

FATE travelled to western Oklahoma on Monday to visit Weatherford Middle School and ask these 6th, 7th and 8th graders “What’s YOUR fate?”  About 400 students and teachers attended the assembly where the story of Brandon Whitten was told and the students engaged in a contest of “What’s your Drug IQ?”

K-2, marijuana and alcohol are the leading concerns in the Weatherford area, according to teachers and administrators, and FATE hit on all three.  After the assembly students were invited to take a FATE wristband and by the time the students left the hall, ALL the wristbands were gone.

Thanks for the invitation Weatherford!

Thanks to the NIEA for inviting FATE to speak!