The Question Of Teenagers And Drug Abuse Must Have Our Utmost Attention

Drug use among teens has reached tragic levels. No matter how on top of it you are, your teenagers 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 teens view adults as old stupid people that don't know anything. Parents, try as they may, face an uphill war in safe guarding their young ones 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 teenagers and drugs, you have to give them a sound argument that differentiates between necessary prescriptions and street drugs. This isn't easy. Some common prescription medicines are being peddaled in schools as a way to get high. Teens don't know that these prescriptions are issued in duplicate or triplicate, as a method to control the use of certain narcotics. Without having experienced a legitimate need for these drugs themselves, they may well conclude that their parents are experiencing and liking some high that they are somehow being denied.

Another problem with educating kids on the issue of teen drug abuse is that society does not show any differences between drugs. Some pharmaceutical drugs are needed, but when it comes to teens and drugs, we tell them that every drug is bad. This is patently false. Some kids need prescription medication for actual problems. Used improperly, that medicine can get a teen high who doesn't need it. Sometimes, that medication can have fatal consequences when used as a 'recreational' drug.

Children are not capable of making those distinctions. For example, a patient with extreme pain because of arthritis or cancer, could be prescribed codeine or another opiate to help with the pain. Children don't understand that this patient doesn't get high. That med only dulls the pain. However, in the world of teens and drugs, this narcotic becomes an opportunity tocatch a buzz. They don't know the difference.

One huge deception that encourages teenage drug use is the fable of pot. This street drug is posited as the first step to drug addiction, thrown in the same bag as heroin and mescaline. The same houy that middle school child tries marijuana, the child 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 conclude that the rest of the warnings issued on teens and drugs are deceptions. That's why they step into the trap of the insidiosly dangerous drugs.

As a world village, we need to educate our teenagers. Teach them the effects of drugs. Ice, crack, heroin and drugs like 'ecstasy' can devastate their lives or kill them. Be honest. We can defend our kids.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.