DRUGS CAN EASILY BECOME PART OF A TEEN'S LIFE

Crystal methamphetamine is a stimulant produced in labs from ingredients
readily available in drug and hardware stores.

It is becoming a drug of choice among teens because it is easily to find
and inexpensive.

It may be ingested, snorted or smoked. The latter gives an instant high.

Users report a high level of energy, absence of fatigue and enhanced
performance - hence its street name, speed.

Problems associated with using crystal meth may include paranoid and
violent behaviour, nervousness, distractibility and difficulty focusing
and remembering.

Severe results could include extreme depression and thoughts of suicide.

Depending on the purity and level of use, a user could become dependent in
just a few weeks.

When parents discover their teen is using drugs, many go into
confrontation mode. That does more harm than good.

To help the teen, there are two questions to ask: What is the level of
use/interest in drugs? If drugs are being used, what are they?

The parental response should be guided by the level of interest.

The most basic level of interest is curiosity and is most common in
children in the nine to 13 range.

They may use street names of drugs or begin doodling drug-related topics.

They comment when they hear reference to drugs in movies or music or they
may even ask for your thoughts on drugs.

This is not necessarily a cause for alarm.

It can be an opportunity for parents to have a good dialogue with their
children.

Experimentation could occur when the young teen is just starting to go out
on weekends without their parents.

Recreational use may follow experimentation, when drugs are used in a
social setting.

When drug use goes beyond the recreational stage to being a coping tool is
cause for concern.

In the coping stage, the teen has expanded drug use to cope with stressful
situations and to interact successfully in social setting.

It is at this stage the signs of drug use are likely to manifest
themselves at school. Grades may start to drop and cutting classes becomes
common.

There may be a change in friends as friends who are not using drugs or
using at a lower level may begin to back away.

The social circle now includes mainly kids who are also heavy drug users.

The final stage of drug abuse is dependency, when drugs dominate the
teen's daily life and their friends are high-level users.

It is this stage where the financial demands will impact their daily life.

They may start to steal or deal drugs.

There is also the possibility of sexual exploitation as they trade sex for
drugs.

Parents should try to determine if there is any pattern to drug use and if
there are any triggers that cause the teen to use drugs.