Drugs and Your Family

Social Media: Understanding a Teen's World

A tween or teen can go online or use his or her Smartphone to buy drugs and drug paraphernalia, learn how to get high, and find out what other kids experience without learning the negative consequences. 

Signs of Drug Use

Teens are known to have mood swings. However, some behavior may indicate more serious issues, such as abuse of drugs and alcohol. Here are some of the warning signs of drug use.

What’s Happening in Your Child’s School

Drugs at Your Child’s School? Yes, likely. Youth are using, buying, and selling drugs right on school campuses and at school events in middle schools and secondary schools.

Why do Teens Use Drugs?

The teen years are often a time to explore and learn more about themselves as they approach adulthood. Often, this involves experimenting and testing their boundaries.

Talking to Your Child When You Suspect Drug Use

Choose the right time to talk. When talking to your child be sure your child is sober or has not been using drugs before talking about drugs and alcohol.

Medications in Your Home

Prescription (Rx) and over- the-counter (OTC) medicines are legal products that should be used only as directed. Each day, 46 people die from an overdose of prescription painkillers. Unfortunately, many teens are using opioid painkillers and OTC medicines to get high.

Prescription Drug Abuse

What is prescription drug abuse? Prescription drug abuse is when someone takes a medication prescribed for someone else, takes their own prescription in a way not intended by a doctor or dentist, or takes a medication to get high. 

True Stories

Laura was an active church youth group member, a star varsity soccer player, and kind to many people. However, a prescription painkiller to treat a sports injury eventually led to her heroin addiction, and ultimately, an overdose on morphine, cocaine and alcohol. Read more stories like Laura's here.

VIDEO: Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict

"Chasing the Dragon" tells the stories of people who either abused opiates or had family members who became addicts. 

Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood

Substance use usually begins during the teen years, but it has known biological, psychological, social, and environmental roots that begin even before birth. Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood is an online guide about interventions in early childhood that can help prevent drug use and other unhealthy behaviors.