[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E501-E502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       2011 BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 2011

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commemorate Brain 
Awareness Week (BAW) and the benefits of this informative week in 
educating students and the general public on brain science in my 
congressional district and across the country. Brain Awareness Week, 
launched in 1996, brings together the Society for Neuroscience, the 
Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, and 2400 other organizations in 76 
countries who share a common goal of improving public awareness of 
brain and nervous system research. During Brain Awareness Week, which 
is being held March 14-20, neuroscientists around the globe educate K-
12 students, senior citizens and the public at large on the wonders of 
the human brain. These activates include tours of neuroscience 
laboratories, museum exhibitions, and classroom discussions on elements 
of the human brain. This year, in my congressional district, high 
school students will have an opportunity to learn about brain 
physiology by working with Kent State University's graduate students to 
dissect a sheep's brain. This event will get these kids excited about 
the mysteries of the mind and the nature of scientific discovery. 
Today, in recognition of Brain Awareness Week, I would like to 
highlight a serious neurological disorder that affects millions of 
Americans--impacting their livelihoods and families: Addiction. In 
fact, 9 percent of Americans--more than 22 million people--abuse drugs 
on a regular basis.
  As co-chair of the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery 
Caucus, I understand the urgency of treating addiction and the burden 
this neurological disorder has on lives, loved ones, and our economy. 
According to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control, each year, more 
than half a trillion dollars is lost to substance abuse in the United 
States alone. These losses are realized across the board--in health, 
criminal, and productivity-related areas. That impact totals about $181 
billion for illicit drugs, $168 billion for tobacco, and $185 billion 
for alcohol. Even more worrisome are the statistics on drug-induced 
mortality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 
more than 38,000 people in the United States died of legal or illegal 
substances in 2006. That figure doesn't even include the 300,000 to 
450,000 deaths each year attributed to nicotine addiction. As 
disturbing as these numbers are, they don't reflect the unquantifiable 
impact of drug abuse. Drug abuse dissolves families, shreds the social 
fabric in neighborhoods, leads to loss of jobs and income, contributes 
to poor school and job performance, and is often a causal factor in 
domestic violence and auto accidents.
  Mr. Speaker, the consequences of substance abuse for children in 
society are especially tragic. Drug-addicted parents often don't 
properly care for their children, neglecting medical and educational 
needs, and failing to provide basic food and shelter. When parents 
fail, the government must step in. These deficits are ultimately made 
up for by the taxpayer. Although more than 75 percent of illicit drug 
users are employed, these adults are more likely to frequently change 
jobs, be involved in accidents, be absent, and be less productive even 
when at work. Notably, heavy drinkers are absent from work four to 
eight times more often than non-addicts. According to the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), drug use changes brain chemistry and 
physiology beyond just the brain's reward system and includes regions 
involved in memory,

[[Page E502]]

learning, impulse control, stress reactivity, and more. Repeated drug 
exposure ``resets'' these circuits toward compulsive behavior so that a 
person's control over the desire to seek and use drugs is compromised, 
despite devastating consequences.
  Over the course of the last three decades, the scientific and medical 
communities have made amazing strides in the understanding and 
treatment of drug abuse and addiction. Combined biological, 
epidemiological, and social science discoveries have given us a 
detailed understanding of the risks, mechanisms, and consequences of 
drug abuse and addiction. Today, the rate of cigarette smoking in youth 
is at its lowest recorded point since tracking of teen drug use and 
attitudes began in 1975.
  Marijuana use has shown a consistent decline since the mid-1990s, 
although that trend has flattened in recent years; a study released 
last month by NIDA found that daily use of marijuana among America's 
youth is making a bold comeback--surpassing tobacco use.
  Mr. Speaker, recent scientific advances have revolutionized our 
understanding of addiction as a chronic, relapsing, disease and not a 
moral failure. According to the NIDA scientists have now identified the 
specific sites of action in the brain where every major drug of abuse 
has its initial effects, including opiates, methamphetamine, cocaine, 
tobacco, and marijuana. Brain imaging technology has demonstrated that 
addiction is a brain disease by delineating profound disruptions in the 
specific brain circuits affected by addiction. In-depth, NIH-supported 
studies of chronic drug exposure confirmed that by causing abnormal 
regulation of key brain receptor, addictive drugs modify the strength 
of connections between neurons. The scientific knowledge we have 
accumulated will be used to transform the way we treat addiction and 
how we prevent drug abuse and its escalation to addiction. 
Neuroscientists are working to identify the genetic and environmental 
factors that put people at risk. For instance, genes account for about 
50 percent of a person's risk of becoming addicted, and environmental 
factors influence the effect of these genes. Progress in genetics 
research will lead to more refined prevention and treatment 
interventions targeted to individual risk or to modifiable 
environmental influences.
  Now, it's time for our policies to catch up with the research 
findings. We have to understand that addiction is a treatable disease 
requiring continuing care and multifaceted approaches, like diabetes, 
or heart and respiratory disease. We have to continue to support the 
research advancements by investing in a strong, sustainable research 
funding platform for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the 
National Science Foundation (NSF) that will bring us further in 
understanding and treating drug abuse and addiction. Failure to 
properly address this growing problem will only lead to more lives 
ruined or extinguished by drugs, more families broken by abuse, and 
more taxpayer money squandered on ineffective programs.
  Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing 
Brain Awareness Week, which exposes our constituents to the wonders and 
mysteries of the brain. I also ask that you join me in continuing to 
support basic research funded through the NIH and NSF that provides a 
foundation for new addiction treatments and drug abuse prevention 
methods that have an enormous impact on the lives of millions of 
Americans.

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