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Original poster

To think drug taking among teens is at epidemic levels

107 replies

BackInTime · 23/04/2018 17:06

Posting for traffic.

This is based on observations and conversations with my teen DC, teacher friends and other parents. It seems like drugs are cheaper and more available than ever before and schools and parents struggling to cope with the fallout. According to my DC getting hold of drugs via social media is as as easy as ordering pizza. Back in my day kids were smoking cigarettes behind the bike shed whereas today they are more likely smoking weed or taking legal highs. Drug taking now seems to be accepted as the norm among teens but it is ruining lives and families.

I’m not sure if it is actually worse than ever before or perhaps I am just more aware. Maybe some of you have statistics I cannot find.

AIBU to think a lot more needs to be done about this?

OP posts:
DingDongDenny · 23/04/2018 17:08

This reply has been deleted

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DGRossetti · 23/04/2018 17:08

AIBU to think a lot more needs to be done about this?

Such as ? More of the same ?

araiwa · 23/04/2018 17:10

Yes, something should be done

Legalise the lot

WatchingFootballAgain · 23/04/2018 17:11

As a Mum to 2 x teenage boys (16 & 18) I completely agree with you.

It scares me senseless.

I never thought my boys would take drugs (although on hindsight I think any parent of teenagers would be foolish to think they won’t) but I know they have both dabbled.

I just say to them to please try & be sensible.

They don’t have any problems getting hold of the drugs

ihatethecold · 23/04/2018 17:12

When I was a school in the 80’s it was quite easy to get hold of drugs and loads of my mates took them.
I lived in a large town that from the outside looked like a nice place to live.

captainBligh · 23/04/2018 17:14

Are you from the Grauniad?

I took a fuck load of drugs when I was at Uni (Oxford in the 80s). I do understand that weed has become cheaper as prices are relatively unaffected by inflation due to the boom in hydroponics and the higher levels of THC in modern hybrids.

Coke is certainly more expensive. I have no idea about the quality.

Mushrooms are now illegal so I assume less common and more expensive.

Pills cost more and are less used.

Acid seems to be seen as a step too far and while before was a recreational drug, it's now seen as more akin to crack or heroin.

I should say that though I keep an ear to the ground, I haven't taken anything illegal since leaving education in my late 20s (as a student).

Original poster
BackInTime · 23/04/2018 17:15

@DingDong
Really?
I am a parent of a teen, making an observation about something that scares the hell out of me.

OP posts:
gamerwidow · 23/04/2018 17:16

Nope it's exactly the same as it's always been 25 years ago when I was at school loads of kids were smoking weed or doing speed or acid.
Drugs have never been hard for teens to get hold of.
The biggest harm is from the lack of safe supply, dealers can sell kids any old crap and claim it's something else. I'd like to see the whole lot legalised for safety reasons let alone the saving in the policing costs of prohibition.

Namechangedandfedup · 23/04/2018 17:18

Yeah, it is pretty dreadful. I watched a documentary not long ago about the ease of buying drugs via social media, it's crazy!
And it's not just a bit of weed or some booze, kids are double dropping pills and taking MDMA/ketamine/coke like it's going out of fashion.

Namechange128 · 23/04/2018 17:23

YABU. All the stats suggest drug taking is declining among young people.
(A) you just may have been a nerd like me and not seen all the drug use that went on (there was tons, at my very middle class school)
(B) a lot of posters on these threads often mention that when we were young it was often 'a bit of smoking and a few drinks'... Discounting the fact that these are statistically far more dangerous drugs than pot and mdma

Yes, it can be easy to get hold of things, personally it's often the semi-legal drug issue that worries me more with young people, feeling pressure to use stimulants to perform well at school and uni, or steroids to look good, and the long term effect this has and mental health implications. As they say, we got high to drop out, they get high to drop in!

Namechange128 · 23/04/2018 17:23

natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/survey-of-smoking,-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/

DGRossetti · 23/04/2018 17:25

All the stats suggest drug taking is declining among young people.

As is drinking ...

Branleuse · 23/04/2018 17:29

It was pretty common amongst my mates in the 90s.

ORIam · 23/04/2018 17:33

No, there were kids doing smack when I was at school in the 80's. Mushrooms and speed were common too as free/cheap. Plus anyone over about 12 could buy alcohol, no questions asked. You're probably just more aware of it now as the parent of teens. Kids will never stop experimenting with drugs, the only solution is to legalise amd regulate them all.

Original poster
BackInTime · 23/04/2018 17:45

Maybe I’ve lived a sheltered lifeGrin but drugs were not the norm for me or most people I knew growing up. Booze yes, fags yes but apart from the odd bit of weed drugs were not as commonplace as they are among the kids my DCs school.

OP posts:
Haint · 23/04/2018 17:50

Anecdotally the kids I know take far fewer drugs, are considerably more responsible, drink less, are far more able to stand up to peer pressure / be themselves, don’t fear not being part of the crowd and are just more staid and —boring— serious than me and my peers ever were at their age

ghostyslovesheets · 23/04/2018 17:55

I was born in 1970 and drugs where around for me in my teens and 20's - I don't think it's more prevalent. I do think parents need to update their info though

It is scary but you need to be informed so you can inform your kids

captainBligh · 23/04/2018 17:56

"the only solution is to legalise amd regulate them all."

No it isn't.

I think the illegality of drugs keeps the situation in check.

Softer drugs definitely lead on to harder ones but most people have a limit with what they feel safe trying. As I said, weed, coke, pills and acid were fine. Speed was for 'townies' or 'Kevs'(now 'chavs') and crack or heroin was scary.

Scary is good.

I think it's the same as speeding. If I'm driving at 80, I know it's technically illegal but make a judgement and take the risk of prosecution. A similar situation at 90. At 100+ I feel uncomfortable usually so don't do it. I think that's common.

Drugs are drugs and drugs are bad. Alcohol, pills etc. Fear and respect are intricately linked and the illegality of them is important.

My 'dabbling' came to an end where I would lose my career and waste years of education with any kind of conviction. If that hadn't been the case, I'd probably still take drugs sometimes and that would have negative effects on my health. A few years of partying is fine but then we need to grow out of it.

MissionItsPossible · 23/04/2018 17:58

I thought drink and drugs were going down with teens?

I know Spice and the like is popular though andfrom what I’ve seen it does to people, maybe it comes across as work because of the sheer visual effects and the fact that a lot of it takes place in town centres?

MissionItsPossible · 23/04/2018 17:58

Comes across as worse*

Ivegotfamilyandidrinkcupsoftea · 23/04/2018 17:59

I was born late 80s

When i was 14-18 i could get class a drugs easier than alcohol

Original poster
BackInTime · 23/04/2018 18:06

@Mission It certainly does not feel like it as the parent of a teen. Some friends are struggling to deal with their 13/14 year old boys who now smoke weed and take drugs on a regular basis. Their behaviour has changed, schoolwork is suffering and they are out of control. A girl in DDs year was hospitalised recently having taken a mixture of alcohol and Xanax. This seems to be the latest drug of choice.

OP posts:
MyOtherUserNameIsAUnicorn · 23/04/2018 18:06

I think it was easier and more acceptable when I was a teen. Teenagers these days seem very tame.

Alright1613 · 23/04/2018 18:08

Common in the early 00s too. I don’t think this is a new phenomenon.

Sarkyharky · 23/04/2018 18:08

It is much much easier to get hold of drugs now than it was in the 80s!

Teens just order them over the Internet according to dd.

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