TODAY'S DRUG CULTURE CAN LEAVE PARENTS BAFFLED

HAS YOUR SON OR daughter ever approached you and said, ''I'm going to a
dance tonight with my friends Tim, Lisa and Lisa's older brother. You met
them last week, remember?''

What you remember is being in the middle of fixing the lawnmower or cooking
something for the younger kids and not really paying attention.

The teen who's telling you this is almost ready for high school or maybe
already is in the 10th grade. From a parent's point of view, things have
been a little rough lately with this child, so you try not to create a big
scene by saying something like, ''OK, be home early. You know what time your
curfew is.''

What you don't know is that the dance your teen is referring to is a rave
dance, and it's not just down the street, it's about an hour south of here.
Lisa's older brother is 21, and he's bringing three older friends with him.
The group has heard that all sorts of new drugs can be tried at some of
these dances.

Now, you've talked with your children about the dangers of marijuana,
cocaine, pills and alcohol. The anti-drug lessons have been reinforced in
school, too. Besides, your teen is an above-average student. You don't
usually worry about this child getting involved with drugs because you
believe you'd see some warning signs.

The older members of the group in the car heading to the club describe some
of the rumors they've heard about the new drugs that are available now. All
of a sudden, a voice comes from the back seat from the guy sitting next to
your teen. ''I've tried 'G' before, and it was killer, man,'' he says.

The part the guy left out was that he was unconscious and convulsing in a
corner for over an hour, and no one noticed. When he woke up, he was lying
on the floor with people just stepping over him.

Right about now seems like a good time for Lisa's brother to show off and
tell about the time he bought some ''special K'' at a club in Tampa for only
10 bucks. ''Everyone was snorting something, so I asked about it. Some dude
told me it was ''K'' and I should try a hit. Man, that was the best. I was
trippin'.''

Like the other guy, Lisa's brother forgot to mention some pretty important
information about his experience. He forgot to tell the others that he
really thought he had died and was lifted outside his body. When he returned
to his body, someone had taken his wallet and stolen his shoes.

Lisa decides, well, since we're all sharing our experiences, let me tell you
about ''X.'' ''I know this girl at school, and she brought me some pills.
She said they'd make my school day go by faster, so I took one. After I took
it, I asked her what it was. She told me it was Ecstasy, or 'X.' It was
terrific.''

Once again, Lisa forgot to tell everyone that she couldn't eat, felt very
tired and began to have tremors.

In just a few short moments, your child will be arriving at a rave club with
lots of other young people. The club will offer great digital music,
non-stop dancing and a wide variety of new and old designer drugs, all of
them illegal. As harmless as these alphabet-soup drugs may sound, a simple
experimentation one time can leave your child permanently damaged or even
dead.

GHB (slang, ''G''), Liquid X, Liquid E, Gamma-oh, Blue Verve and many others
are drug names parents should tune into and notice. You hear X, XTC, E,
Adam, Vitamin K or Special K, and you may think your teen is talking with
his friends about eating right and taking vitamins. The truth is, these
substances may have been whipped up in someone's garage, using the wrong
ingredients, based on either word of mouth or the uncensored Internet. One
wrong move with the mix, and your teen could be a statistic. And even if the
mix is right, your teen could still become a statistic.

If you think the new drug trends and younger users are frightening, let's
all take a moment out of our busy schedules to educate ourselves as well as
our children. Let's ask ourselves a very important question: What good is
having good grades, graduating at the top of the class or going away to
college if our kids end up in jail, injured or dead?

The way these drugs are presented to our youth is not with a scary, rusty
needle. Bright colors, dances, new friends, music, affordability and
availability are the doors through which our children are walking.

Look for different signs that your teen may be thinking about or using these
drugs. One of the most important rules of prevention is to expect the
unexpected. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, ''Not my kids,
they'd never do that.'' Unless you plan on being with your children every
minute of the day and night, you may never know what's really going on.

Since it's impossible to be with your children all the time, it is essential
that you get to know them over and over again, each and every day. Changes
can happen overnight. Your child who's often in a bad mood when he gets home
is suddenly very loving, forgiving and seems to have an increased urge to
communicate.

Of course, some of these changes are normal and should not be taken the
wrong way. Just take the time to look a little deeper than the surface. Look
for changes in behavior, dizziness, headaches and medical problems ranging
from feeling sick all the time or experiencing cardiac and respiratory
problems to forgetting things (some memory loss may be permanent). When
combined with alcohol or other drugs, the effects of these designer drugs
can be even more severe. New friends are important to monitor. It's as
important to know who your teens hang out with as it is to know your teens.
If your child keeps coming home with dilated pupils and didn't just leave
the eye doctor, there could be a problem.

Law enforcement officials are fighting a battle that extends from elementary
schools to the streets, and no matter how many arrests are made or how many
anti-drug classes are taught, parental involvement must be strong. If, as a
parent, you don't convince your children to make the right choices, there
will always be someone convincing them to make the wrong ones. Today's young
people are growing up in a time when the substances out there range from
animal tranquilizers to deadly synthetic combinations in friendly packages;
it's a far cry from the reefer madness of yesteryear.