A third of Georgia teens see little to no risk in trying methamphetamine, and a fifth of them say it's easy to get.The alarming statistics come from a new statewide survey released this week by the Georgia Meth Project, a public education campaign aimed at preventing first-time use.The 2010 Georgia Meth Use & Attitudes Survey examined the attitudes and behaviors of teens, young adults, who are just out of high school, and parents. It was conducted over a period of several months among samples of 2,432 teens, 314 young adults and 400 parents of teens.

The study found that there is general disapproval of the drug among teenagers, yet many are clueless about the risk it presents. Some other results of the study:     * One in five (20 percent) of 12- to 24-year-olds says someone has offered them meth.

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Some of Long Island's best and brightest went to work attacking the region's problems with vigor. They went so far as to offer solutions - real, workable solutions - for issues that have been vexing Nassau and Suffolk for generations.For them, however, it was as easy as child's play.Problem: Too many expensive, racially segregated school districts?

A new study has shown that teenagers who drink 100 percent fruit juice have more nutritious diets overall compared to non-consumers. The findings revealed that teens between the age group of 12-18 who drank any amount of 100 percent juice had lower intakes of total dietary fat and saturated fat and higher intakes of key nutrients, including Vitamins C and B6, folate, potassium and iron.

Those who drank greater than six ounces of 100 percent juice a day also consumed more whole fruit and fewer added fats and sugars. Milk consumption was not affected by juice intake. In addition, the study found no association between 100 percent fruit juice consumption and weight status in the nearly 4,000 adolescents examined - even among those who consumed the most juice.

Study's lead author, Dr. Theresa Nicklas of the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, said that encouraging consumption of nutrient-rich foods and beverages such as 100 percent juice is particularly critical during adolescence - a unique period of higher nutrient demands.

"One hundred percent juice is a smart choice. It provides important nutrients that growing teens need and the research consistently shows that drinking fruit juice is not linked to being overweight," Nicklas said. The study has been published in the March/April issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Alcohol and marijuana use among teens is on the rise, ending a decade-long decline, a study being released Tuesday found. "I'm a little worried that we may be seeing the leading edge of a trend here," said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which was releasing the study. "Historically, you do see the increase in recreational drugs before you see increases in some of the harder drugs."

The annual survey found the number of teens in grades 9 through 12 who reported drinking alcohol in the last month rose 11 percent last year, with 39 percent — about 6.5 million teens — reporting alcohol use. That's up from 35 percent, or about 5.8 million teens, in 2008.

For pot, 25 percent of teens reported smoking marijuana in the last month, up from 19 percent. Until last year, those measures for pot and alcohol use had been on a steady decline since 1998, when use hovered around 50 percent of teens for alcohol and 27 percent for pot.

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A brand new magazine written specially for teenagers will to be launched this Sunday. Called T-Vibe it will be completely free and come with your favourite Sunday Monitor, every week. T-Vibe will rock the teen’s world and make Sundays so much cooler. Ms Carol Beyanga, the Magazines Editor, said the idea behind the magazine was to find a way to communicate directly with the growing number of teenagers who are choosing the Sunday Monitor as their favourite read.

Ms Beyanga explained: “We want to give the teens what they want and what they need to know. That’s why the magazine will be informative as well as entertaining. Content will include entertainment news and focus on functions like proms, seminars, sports days and debates.”

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Much to the chagrin of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom fans, teen pregnancy in California is plummeting. Fast. "Figures released by the Department of Public Health on Monday found that about 35 babies were born for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 in 2008," reports Associated Press.

"That was down by about two births per 1,000 from the previous year." (Compare this to the rate in 1991, when it was at 71 per 1,000.)

And, if you want to get all racialist about it, here are the teen-birth rates by race. The California Department of Public Heath reports that Hispanic teens maintain the highest birth rate. African-American teens had the second highest birth rate at 39.9, followed by Native American, 27.1; White, 13.1, and Asian/Pacific Islander, 9.6.

If the difference between statewide teen birth rates and Kern County teen birth rates were a matter of a few percentage points, we could chalk it up to the vagaries of statistics or the inconsistencies of human behavior. But California and Kern County teen birth rates are moving in opposite directions, with the statewide rate hitting a record low, and Kern's rate -- consistently high, and now at an astounding 65 births for every 1,000 girls -- almost double the state figure.

We've got a problem here -- a well-entrenched, life-compromising, financially devastating problem. Kern County teens are more likely to get pregnant than teens anywhere else in the state, and by a wide margin in most cases. The problem seems to be getting worse, not better, even as the rest of the state celebrates the lowest rate on record in the long-running battle.

The new statistics, released Monday by the California Department of Public Health, show that the rate of births among teen mothers in Kern County has jumped from 63.8 to 64.9 -- a reflection of the 2,285 babies born to Kern teen mothers in 2008, the most recent year for which numbers are available.

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A drug syndicate used children barely in their teens to sell their contraband to customers in Lenasia, south of Joburg. This is a claim that prosecution authorities make in an indictment of six people charged with racketeering and illegal dealing in drugs.

The State has singled out Ishmail Manjoo, 47, and his common-law wife Charmaine Magdeline Peters, 45, as the syndicate's ringleaders. Their four co-accused are Ibriam Khan, 37, Liaquad Ali Salejee, 34, Aswin Nana, 31, and Juleiga Allie, 31.

All six accused have made brief appearances in court, and the case is set to begin in the Johannesburg High Court in July.The indictment gives an outline of what the State says was the group's modus operandi. The authorities say the syndicate operated from two houses belonging to the Gauteng Department of Housing. Manjoo and Peters lived in Lenasia Extension 2 in a house they had converted into a "drugs spaza shop", serving Lenasia customers and others from neighbouring areas, according to the prosecuting authorities.

The indictment says the two used their own children, aged 13 and 15, to sell the drugs when they were not at home. Manjoo owns another business property that he allegedly used as a factory to manufacture some of the drugs, the prosecution authorities say.

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Teens who sleep fewer than seven hours per night are more likely to use illegal drugs, according to a study released Sunday. The research also found a link between a lack of sleep and the likelihood of illegal drug use, which can spread through teens' network "like a contagion," infecting siblings, friends and acquaintances as many as four degrees' separation removed.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Harvard University mapped the sleep patterns and drug use of more than 8,000 teens for the study.

"Adolescents are embedded in complex social networks and are especially vulnerable to peer effects -- possibly not only with respect to drugs, but also with respect to sleep," said the study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Focus on fun not health to get inactive teens to exercise, a new study suggests. The study looked at 128 students aged 16 to 19 in England. Participants received daily text messages for two weeks encouraging exercise.

The researchers studied whether highlighting the emotional benefits of sport and exercise to young people increased their levels of physical activity more than highlighting the physical health benefits, said Reema Sirriyeh of the University of Leeds.

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