Children and Drugs

Jose Rosado made an interesting point in his article "Often Teen Drug Use Starts in Medical Cabinet". He described the anti-drug commercial that played during this year's Super Bowl:

"The ad reinforced the hypothetical question I often pose when discussing drug abuse in our country: If we could keep all of the illegal drugs produced in foreign countries from crossing our borders and landing on our streets, will our young people stop getting high? The answer is no!They would turn to prescription drugs, over the counter cold and cough medications as well as household products that can be used as inhalants. Unfortunately, this is precisely what is happening across our country."

Parents should keep in mind the fact that children are inclined to try inhalants first before other drugs. There are several reasons for this:

• Younger children don't have the money for other drugs
• They may not know anyone who sells drugs
• Inhalants are always accessible
• They've seen other classmates huff at school
• There's no 'contraband' - who thinks twice about markers in a child's room, or dust remover by their computer?
• Inhalants don't require any special equipment
• The 'high' hits almost immediately
• Huffing may be seen as less dangerous than other ways to get high
• Inhalants are not illegal to possess, so there's no risk in carrying them around

Even if you believe that your child is too young to even consider inhalant use, here are some tips for talking to your children from 6 years old and up.