Here are the issues parents need to take into consideration when figuring out if their teen is getting high on drugs or drinking alcohol. The first few are tips on getting in the right frame of mind when dealing with this tough issue and your teenager. The rest are steps you should take if there is any hint of drug use in your home by your teen. You and your teen will be better off if you know about their drug use as it can lead to your teen getting any help they need to stop using the drug. So, while you may be working through your own feelings, take steps to find out if they are really doing drugs and get help for your teen right away—and try not to freak out. These days all teens have access to many types of drugs. Athletes may even be more susceptible to some types of drugs like steroids, as some good students may take speed to do better in their classes. Plus, alcohol use and abuse has been a problem for teens and young adults for many generations. Put away stereotypes and keep an open mind when exploring these possibilities. Therefore, they deny teen drug use is going on in their family or they avoid seeing the warning signs of their teen using. Some parents may even go so far as to provide drugs or alcohol—typically it’s alcohol—to their teen and other teens. If this describes you, you’ll need to adjust your attitude about teen drug use and be your teen’s parent, not their friend. Either way, you will need to ask your teen if they are using drugs. Ninety-nine percent of the time your teen will say, “no,” whether they are or not. Guilt and fear of being caught tends to make teens lie when asked that question. There are also specific warning signs for a teenager’s drug of choice. For instance, being high on meth will make a teen jumpy sometimes for a full 24 hours or more where being high on marijuana will make a teen sleepy after the initial high. Once you know the signs you can be on the look out for them. Some parents have no other choice but to use a drug testing kit as their teen will deny using drugs and be very secretive. Other parents will have their teens test regularly to prevent them from doing drugs—something I recommend if your teen has used drugs in the past. Whatever reason you are choosing to use a drug test kit, know that even if your teen gets very angry with you, you can work on building back the trust you both have in your relationship once their drug use is under control. What if the drug test comes out clean and your teen is not using drugs? Did you go through all of that for nothing? No. What you have done is ruled out one problem. Something made you think that your teen was using drugs and unfortunately, drug use is not the only issue some struggling teens face. Make an appointment with their doctor and get them a complete physical to see what else could be the problem.
