The Question Of Teens And Drugs Requires Our Undivided Attention

Drug use among teenagers has reached epidemic proportions. It Doesn't matter how on top of it you are, your teens are going to be exposed to drugs at school, the very place you believe to be a safe environment. Mrs. Reagan's 'Just say no to drugs' campaign was a complete failure. The truth is that teenagers perceive adults as old fuddy-duddies that don't know their head from a hole in the ground. Parents, try as they may, face a bitter battle in protecting their children from the ravaging effects of drugs.

The challenge is made more difficult by the fact that most of us have prescription medications in our bedroom drawers. When confronting the issue of teens and drugs, you have to present a sound argument that differentiates between necessary prescriptions and street drugs. This isn't easy. Some common prescription medicines are being sold at school as a way to get high. Teens don't know that these medications are issued in duplicate or triplicate, as a method to control the use of specific narcotics. Not having experienced a legitimate need for such drugs themselves, they may well come to the conclusion that their parents are experiencing and liking some high that they are for some reason being denied.

One more problem with teaching kids about the issue of teen drug abuse is that our society does not show any differences between drugs. Some medicinal drugs are needed, but when it comes to teens and drugs, we tell them that every drug is bad. This is incorrect. Some teenagers need specific drugs for actual problems. Not used correctly, that medication can get a child high who doesn't need it. Sometimes, that medication can have fatal consequences when used as a 'recreational' drug.

Kids are not able to make those distinctions. For example, a person with severe pain because of arthritis or cancer, could be prescribed codeine or another opiate to ease the pain. Kids don't understand that this person doesn't get high. That medication only eases the pain. However, in the world of teens and drugs, this potentially dangerous drug becomes an opportunity toget a head change. They don't realaize the difference.

One major lie that encourages teenage drug abuse is the fable of pot. This street drug is posited as the first step to drug addiction, thrown in the same bag as pcp and crack cocaine. The minute that grade school kid tries weed, the kid sees that even though it makes them feel good, they can hide this new habit from their parents and it doesn't make them crazy. They come to the conclusion that the rest of the warnings about kids and drugs are deceptions. That's why they fall into the trap of the insidiosly dangerous drugs.

As a society, we need to teach our teenagers. Explain the effects of drugs. Cocaine, crack, heroin and drugs like 'ecstasy' can ruin their lives or kill them. Be honest. We can defend our children.Addiction is a terrible problem in our society today but with the "proper" education we can teach our future generations the realities of addictions and drug abuse.