I’m watching the headlines these days and there’s so much about this drug or that – Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death triggered plenty of media coverage on the increase in heroin abuse. Zohydro is in the news as a future opiate painkiller formulation that has the potential to be easily abused by anyone with a taste for opiates. Medical marijuana is approved in state after state and several more states have this initiative on the ballot. One celebrity after another is cited or goes to jail for a DUI until it seems like no one is left sober.
After a while, it gets to be overwhelming.
What if we didn’t focus so narrowly on one drug or another? What if we just focused on one thing: raising a new generation that knows better than to pick up a drug or drink before they are legal age?
Parents may not think they are, but they are incredibly key in this activity. It’s not the schools or drug education classes that have the final word. It’s parents. Those are the only people who are there every step of the way, from the day babies open their eyes for the first time to their own last breaths.
According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, parents have enormous influence on teens, even when those kids don’t seem to be listening. When parents are very clear that drug or alcohol abuse will not be tolerated and they also lead the way with their own drug-free examples, substance abuse by youth is much lower.
But we understand that it’s hard to know where to start. How to explain the harm of different drugs. What drugs are kids using these days, anyway? Narconon International has compiled a variety of guides to help parents learn about these drugs so well that they can speak about the dangers with conviction, so well that teens will get the message. You can access our guides at no charge by visiting our Parent Center at www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/parent-center.html. Along the left side of the page, you will find links to information on each drug your child may see their friends using.
We know it’s not easy to protect your children from drug abuse. It may take several conversations over a period of time to explain all the harm that can result. But in our fifty year history, we have found that when young people understand that drugs are dangerous and harmful and can be deadly, they very often make their own decisions to stay sober. And it’s their own decisions that count. Because when they are faced with these drugs, they are normally on their own.
I hope you will use our information to protect your children from drugs and let us know if there is anything else you need.