Advice for Parents in Fighting Teen Drug Abuse

It had taken a long time for the harmful effects of a number of substances and drugs to finally reach the public's attention. It had taken a hundred years for the effects of tobacco to surface. Thalidomide, a tranquilizer which was prescribed to pregnant women all over the world, caused severe birth defects. Ten years or more were needed for the facts to be known. The harmful effects of alcohol are now well known, and more are still being discovered. It has been shown that the unborn baby is harmed by the mother's excessive drinking. Even aspirin and penicillin can harm certain people.

An enormous number of facts have already been reported about the effects of marijuana and more appear in the scientific literature continuously. The truth always sees the light of day eventually. Parents, I urge you to take on this additional responsibility and bring the facts to the families you know.

I think parents groups should be formed in every community for the explicit purpose of closing down "head shops." Under citizen pressure, merchants will stop selling drug paraphernalia and magazines which promote the use of drugs such as marijuana. Keep in mind how families worked together during the frontier days. Look at what they accomplished by pulling together.

The marijuana menace poses as great a threat as any that has ever existed. Parents and families, it is your responsibility to destroy this menace. Not all people react to marijuana in the same way. However it is a mistake to use the substance, especially for the young whose personalities are still developing.

Some young marijuana smokers have parents with a good marriage and a solid family life. More youngsters smoke where family life is unstable and where there are severe strains in the marriage. While it is not always true more of our youth smoke marijuana when they are living with a single parent, especially when the situation is the result of desertion or divorce. The chances of getting the child to stop smoking marijuana are greatest within a stable family and most difficult in the single-parent home.

This article is intended to encourage people whose discouragement is great and to provide a method that, if firmly implemented, should produce positive results. I confess to not being so optimistic for single parents. Theirs is an enormous responsibility and their leverage is much less. My experience with single parents is limited, so what I have to say is more conjecture than tested fact. However, I do know quite a lot about the human condition and the nature of the parent-child dimension, and I have seen single parents carry out their responsibilities quite well.

I believe it is entirely possible for the single parent who does not have to work outside the home to interpose himself or herself as a wall between marijuana and the children. A single parent can be firm and say "no," although taking such a firm stand is always more difficult than if a spouse shares the responsibility. In other words, the single parent who has a source of income can implement the principles set forth in the second section. It will be difficult, but it is possible. The male single parents who works shares the same difficulties with the single woman who works, although 1 do believe the woman is worse off.

Single parents should join together to form action groups or join with regular family groups. If nothing else, such group affiliation will offset loneliness and isolation. The single parent may pick up very good ideas; and in some instances, someone else may offer to help work with the children. Life is full of surprises if one creates conditions that increase the likelihood for good things to happen.

Involving children in any kind of group activity that aims at combating the drug epidemic can only be hopeful. Or, group involvements that do not focus on drugs are obviously helpful. Any kind of constructive activity with other (healthy) children can serve a constructive purpose.

The simple truth of the matter is, however, that it will fall on the parent to directly influence the child. Some children will respond to a direct, forceful posture on their parent's part. They will heed the parent's guidelines, e.g., coming home directly from school, ceasing to run around with marijuana-using friends, and so on. If the parent is determined enough, persistent and firm, he or she may win the battle.

Source: Marijuana - What's a Parent to Believe? (The Informed Parent) By MD Timmen L. Cermak