Teen Drug Prevention - What Every Parent Should Know!

Attention parents!!! Teens actually do care about having your approval, even if they don’t admit it!

According to www.theanitdrug.com, “two-thirds of youth ages 13 to 17 say losing their parents’ respect and pride is one of the main reasons they don’t smoke marijuana or use other drugs. Two-thirds of youth ages 13 to 17 say losing their parents’ respect and pride is one of the main reasons they don’t smoke marijuana or use other drugs. While no one wants to think negatively about their children, it’s likely your teen will be exposed to illicit drugs. Nearly a third of 12- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. have used an illicit drug in their lifetime. Teens today are using drugs at younger and younger ages, when their brains and bodies are still developing. Of all of the illicit drugs, marijuana is the most widely used. If your child is exposed to drugs, he or she will most likely be offered marijuana.”

More and more teens are also experimenting with prescription drugs and inhalants found in the home. According to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “inhalants were the most frequently reported class of illicit drugs used in the past year among adolescents aged 12 or 13 (3.4 and 4.8 percent, respectively).  Among past year inhalant initiates aged 12 to 15, the three most commonly used types of inhalants were glue, shoe polish, or toluene; spray paints; and gasoline or lighter fluid; in comparison, nitrous oxide or whippets were the most common type of inhalant use among past year inhalant initiates aged 16 or 17” (March 2008). Every day 2,500 youth age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time. More teens abuse prescription drugs than any illicit drug except marijuana. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs. Among 12- and 13-year-olds, prescription drugs are the drug of choice (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2006, Table 1.5A., Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2006. Office of Applied Studies).