Or do all 18 year olds take drugs?

[Twistella]

Dd17 hasn't been out much recently. Whr. I asked her why she said that all her friends take drugs. Even going to the pub they might take tramadol or xanax. It's ketamine and Es at a party or gathering. And spliff all the time.

Dd likes a drink but hates smoking and drugs. She is very open with me and I'm normally very relaxed but is this normal? We've discussed trying to hang out with new friends but she seems drawn to the "cool kids". She's at a normal state 6th form.

[MilaIsobella]

I'm in my 20's and my group of friends all did drugs from the age of 17-about 23 and some of the lads would't say no if they were at a gathering now. My Youngest sister is 19 and she mixes in with the same people I grew up with, and I know she is known for taking drugs on nights out.
It's so accessible now and people dealing it won't care who they are selling to, a lot of them are starting to deal at the ages of 17/18/19 themselves.
It's really scary to think of all the crap they are cutting with these drugs with to bulk it out. We found out when my sister woke up with non-stop nose bleeds that the "coke" she had been sniffing was cut with ground glass, Pesticides, and Veterinary Worming Tablets

[Twistella]

I take giles (rather chippy and unpleasant sounding as usual) point, but these kids are not buying from gangs of poor kids. They are buying off the dark Web, so they feel completely removed from the source and consequences.

[hannnnnnnxo]

I’m 21 and I agree with your daughter, most people take or have dabbled with drugs socially. And this was the case when I was her age too. Tell her it’s much more prevalent at university!!

However, I think society in general takes drugs more than non drug users think. I know people that are very middle class, weathly, highly educated with senior management in positions in professional industries (medicine, finance, law, politics etc) that take drugs, they just take more expensive/harder drugs than something like weed

[hannnnnnnxo]

I very much doubt they’re buying of ‘the dark web’ lol, you sound very naive. Everyone knows someone who knows a drug dealer - it’s not hard to get something. You’re more likely to be caught out buying drugs online and having your ‘deliveries’ intercepted

[Twistella]

Yes I agree. We had friends staying a while back. Who both smoke cannabis oil in a little vapy thing. Plus took loads of coke on a night out they are 50+

[CharltonLido73]

I was shocked to hear on a news review programme yesterday that cannabis smoking is responsible for a quarter of all newly-diagnosed cases of psychosis.

I've been tuned into this risk ever since the sister of my daughter's boyfriend has developed this (cannabis smoking - now in her 20s). Her parents have had to fork out £17,000 on a month in rehab for her to try to sort it out.

[Twistella]

I very much doubt they’re buying of ‘the dark web’ lol, you sound very naive. Everyone knows someone who knows a drug dealer - it’s not hard to get something

I'm not in the slightest bit naive and there's no need to be so patronising. One of her friends most definitely buys off the dark Web - he's off to uni to do maths and computer science he knows what he's doing. He then supplies the drugs to dds peer group. I am sure they know dealers as well.

[Gottagetmoving]

My dd and ds both had friends who took drugs. My ds was really against all drugs, even cigarettes but my daughter smoked and tried a spliff a couple of times although her friends were into ecstasy and amphetamines so she didn't go to the raves they went to because she hated seeing them high.
None of those friends progressed into harder drugs or became addicts apart from one boy who sadly died of a heroin overdose.
I think many kids try drugs even if it's just once

[Prettysureitsnotok]

I do agree the dark web is easy enough for students to use and that's definitely where they'd be getting this "xanax" crap

[giveitfive]

Wow!

So, mine don't.. and I am not one of those dickheads who blindly thinks their kids are saints…. the reason I know they don't it because they do a sport which has random drug testing.... as a result none of their friends do either.

I didn't when I was a teenager, although subsequently discovered that quite a good friend (who looked out for me regularly) at the time was heavily using and was a well known dealer (sadly he passed away in our 20's), I was so dim I never realized, and interestingly he never offered me.

Anyways - my tip is get them absorbed in a sport, its a great discipline.... from the mum who was recently given a friendly talking to about heart health and diabetes from number 1 son based on his assessment of the contents of our fridge his parent's waistlines...

[Twistella]

They do sports, no drug testing though.

Dd has decided extreme sports are going to be her drug she's booked a paraglide

[MsAwesomeDragon]

My DD and her friends don't. They barely drink either, I think they've only been out drinking a couple of times this year.

I don't hear talk about drugs at school either (I'm a teacher at a normal comp with a sixth form). The kids are generally very open about what goes on at parties and tell me some things I'd rather not know. They never mention drugs though, and the kids in my classes would mention them if they were around. I do know who the local drug dealer is, because the kids know how to buy drugs they just don't.

[cameltoeflappyflapflap]

Me and all my friends did for a couple of years in our 20s. We soon grew out of it.

[DarthLipgloss]

I work with university students, mine are healthcare ones and I'm sure some take drugs but most do not, they are quite health/sport orientated and not generally 'cool kids'. My eldest DD20 is at studying a 'cool kids' arts degree. Most of her peers do weed, MDMA, Ket, coke etc...she does on and off as its part of her social. She often insists 'all uni students do' even though they dont and she admits she only does it to fit in.
Getting your dd involved in other social activities might help, but as a friend of mine who worked for a young people's project said, its hard to make them give up because they really enjoy it...
Are there other things she loves that arn't part of this scene?

[NotAnotherNoughtiesTune]

I drank and smoked weed on occasion but that's it.

Offered a few things but said no thanks it interacts with my antidepressants.

I think just like any time in the last 50 or so years it depends on friendship group. Some are nearly all doing it where others absolutely none of them are.

[Twistella]

They never mention drugs though, and the kids in my classes would mention them if they were around

I'm really really not sure that they would. Dd laughed a lot when I asked if anyone would talk conversationally to a teacher about drug taking at parties.

[Livinglavidal0ca]

Yeah I’m early 20s and everyone takes drugs. Really normal people with jobs engineers/retail staff/nurses....

They all post on Twitter about ketamine etc, I probably know about 3 people that have never taken drugs, everyone else has at least dabbled. It’s not the people I’m friends with too, I still follow my whole year group at school and the other schools around me who are now a bit more grown up!

[Livinglavidal0ca]

this tweet!

[NotAnotherNoughtiesTune]

I did take oramoph once but that was after a c section. It was really good though 😀

I do take CBD oil but no THC in it which causes the nasty effects of cannabis.,

[WhenISnappedAndFarted]

Not all of them do. I have never touched anything, neither have my brother, sister or partner. My Mum does, my Dad has done and my other brother has done so we're split really.

[AtLeastThreeDrinks]

I'm late 20s and know plenty of people who regularly take drugs. And not just in that age bracket –I've been on work nights out with people late 40s/50s (usually men) still nipping to the loos for a sniff. They are all professionals, good jobs, good lifestyle etc. It's a weekend release for them.

Those saying they don't know anyone who takes them sounds a bit naive. No one goes around shouting about drug use, especially to those who clearly don't take anything or who might judge them. I think you might be surprised at who you know who has and hasn't!

[AtLeastThreeDrinks]

I don't mean to diminish it as an – obviously it's not just a weekend release for everyone. I also know people who use it to self-medicate and those who have had addiction issues with coke.

[AtLeastThreeDrinks]

*as an issue (sorry!)

[lola212121]

Are children actually being educated enough about the mental health consequences of taking drugs when their brains haven't finished developing ?

[Racecardriver]

Of course not. I would say about 50% of my year group from school had tried drugs at that age. If you don't include weed it was more like 10% with snout 5% doing it regularly.