Drug use among teens has reached tragic levels. No matter how on top of it you are, your teenagers will definitely 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 fell flat on its face. The truth is that teens perceive adults as old fuddy-duddies that have never seen the outside of a paper bag. Adults, try as they may, face an uphill war in safe guarding their children from the ravaging effects of drugs.

The battle is made tougher 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 give them a sound argument that distinguishes between necessary prescriptions and illegal drugs. This isn’t easy. Some common prescription medicines are being peddaled in schools as a way to catch a buzz. Kids don’t know that these prescriptions are issued in duplicate or triplicate, as a method to control the use of specific narcotics. Without having experienced a legitimate need for such drugs themselves, they could well come to the conclusion that their parents are experiencing and liking some buzz that they are somehow being denied.

One more problem with teaching kids about the issue of teen drug use is that this society does not make any distinction 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 patently false. Some teenagers require specific drugs for actual problems. Used improperly, that medication can get a child high who doesn’t need it. Sometimes, that medication can have lethal consequences when taken as a ‘recreational’ drug.

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

One big deception that encourages teenage drug use is the fable of marijuana. This street drug is made out to be the first step to drug addiction, thrown in the same category as lsd and crack cocaine. The same houy that grade school kid tries marijuana, the child sees that although it gets them high and they like it, 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 really dangerous drugs.

As a nation, we need to teach our teenagers. Explain the effects of drugs. Ice, crack, heroin and drugs like ‘ecstasy’ can ruin their lives or kill them. Tell the truth. 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.

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