Do most Teenagers do drugs?

[Oslosunshine]

DD is 17. She was at a party last night and I got a call from her as it got shut down by the police. One of the girls at the party was taken to hospital in an ambulance after an overdose. Today I had a chat with the mum of the boy who’s party it was and she was, to be expected, incredibly frustrated as she had to fly back to deal with the fallout. Thankfully the police were only really fussed about the noise after the neighbours complained and nothing is being taken further.

However, this prompted me to speak to my DD about why drugs should be avoided and about being sensible etc. DD got very defensive and told me that everyone does drugs, ‘MDMA is safer than alcohol’ and lots more to that extent.

I was incredibly shocked- I know DD smokes (both cigarettes and weed) and whilst I would prefer her to stop, she’s 17 and like most of my peers, I did the same at her age. However, I knew absolutely nothing of the hard drugs and how common they are with her friends.

DH is also worried but sees it as an almost given. He went to a similar school in London to hers and was in a similar ‘scene’ when he was younger and confirms that it is very much the norm.

Mum of the party boy agreed that coke, ketamine, MDMA are all very normalised with their peers and thinks the best course of action is to educate them on dosages, rather than pleading with them to stop.

I feel so naive; I feel as if I have failed my daughter by bringing her up in this privileged inner city London environment where most of the DC have the money for these expensive drugs. But DH thinks it’s not our fault and that this happens everywhere. It certainly didn’t happen on this scale when I was growing up in a less privileged, more suburban area.

Is this normal for teenagers everywhere/ was I just incredibly sheltered growing up?

I think it’s very much the norm and not only in privileged areas. I am in my late twenties and it wasn’t until I had just left school that drugs became rife among my friend groups but I know from cousins/ younger friends that it is very much the norm in secondary school now. I would agree that education is vital and ensuring everyone knows the signs for overdose. It’s a very scary time especially when drugs are unregulated ☹️

@Pyri

I don’t think most teenagers can afford drugs or would have the faintest idea how to go about buying them?

There’s a Kevin Bridges sketch where he talks about how many people most teenagers have slept with and that it was a survey they had to complete themselves, and how most teenagers are likely to talk up their numbers to look good in front of their friends. I think that’s true here too - most teenagers are actually still very young / insecure / unsure.

This is naive. I hadn't done a single drug under 18, but I knew very easily at the time that a few questions to the right people at school could get me 3/4 drug dealers numbers or someone who would sell me smaller amounts.

They have the in built community of school plus everyone's older siblings and families connected to that. Failing that you can order drugs online... savvy teens can find anything and do.

I tried weed once. As a non smoker it was counter intuitive for me to inhale so I gave up. I have never tried any other illegal drugs and have had no wish to. I was a teenager in the 1970s so it was mainly weed, although I knew one girl who dropped acid (and had terrible flashbacks), but other drugs weren't as prevalent or available, or were simply unaffordable.

I don't personally know anyone who has admitted to takiing cocaine, and I knew someone who tried heroin just the once.

Posters who used to take drugs might find this unbelievable, but my experience is very similar to those of my peers, most of whom were teenagers in the 1960s and 1970s.

Drugs like poppers, spice, ket, ecstasy etc just weren't around when I was a teenager. So please believe me that there are a lot of people who have led a drug free life.

Wowser I feel there's some incredibly naive posters on here who are certain their kids don't do drugs.

I think it's the parents who are having open and honest conversations with their children about what their peers are into / what goes on at parties / who is into what - are the ones who are doing the right thing.
It's essential to keep lines of common open and be honest. Not thinking it would never be their kids.

Drugs are everywhere if you look closely. Certain job industries are rife with them.

For what it's worth I knew a lad kicked out of private school for dealing drugs, and a local dealer from a rough estate who had business cards printed when I was growing up! Imagine how easy it is with snap chat etc now .

Someone needs to start a poll because while many people may tried odd puff weed once at party I still think it’s small minority who used regular as teen or adult. I’m think less than 20% so in some circles it may seem like everyone Does but not really average population. I stand ready to be corrected though

I have an 18 year old and 16 year old and they say its pretty rife round where we are , i live in a smaller town but grew up in lOndon and its worse here now than when I grew up
Smoking weed seems to be happening younger and younger and like cigarettes were to us
Other drugs both my boys say a lot of people use them

@Akire

Someone needs to start a poll because while many people may tried odd puff weed once at party I still think it’s small minority who used regular as teen or adult. I’m think less than 20% so in some circles it may seem like everyone Does but not really average population. I stand ready to be corrected though

I don't know a single person my age (26) among my friends who hasn't tried at some point at least weed, coke and MDMA. This includes people who are now - doctors, nurses, scientists, police officers, accountants, journalists and a pilot.

I think some on here are a bit nieve if you think its not more rife now and at younger ages , or live in very different places to what happens around here and other places my friends come from who have teenagers

Are drugs getting less dangerous then ? Or do we never hear about all these drug deaths? I still see Liam Bets face all over newspapers from my day.

*Leah

@Pyri you don't have to know someone on the rave scene

Yes, most teenagers do drugs. Most being more than half.

I think it is an age/generational thing @CourtRand. When I was 16 in 1975 there was no MDMA, ketamine, poppers, ecstasy or spice, and cocaine was prohibitively expensive. It used to be called the champagne of druge because it was so pricey.

DD and I have talked about drugs a lot, and she really doesn't do drugs.

It was pretty common when I was a teenager/young adult and my kids (now in their 20s) also tried various substances as teenagers. I talked to them quite a lot about safety, looking after friends, not overdoing it when they were younger. I saw it as harm reduction similar to talking to them about alcohol.

I don't know a single person my age (26) among my friends who hasn't tried at some point at least weed, coke and MDMA.

I don't know a single person my age (63) who has tried weed, coke and MDMA - weed yes, the other two no. I know drugs are rife everywhere, but we manage to avoid them.

Yes, I would say it’s true that the majority of teenagers experiment with drugs. I was brought up in London and it was pretty standard, but drugs back in the day were not as diverse as they are today. I think these new differing street drugs and their effects and not widely reported and this scares me. I have 3 teens and none of them have admitted to experimenting with street drugs but I would be surprised if they hadn’t tried weed. The one at university maybe has tried others but hasn’t admitted it. At least your DD is safe. All you can do is have a frank discussion with her about the dangers of street drugs. Perhaps seeing a girl at the party admitted to hospital will be enough to encourage her not to take drugs.

None of mine did, I had 3. They didnt smoke either. 2 out of the 3 drink.

I really don't know about "the youth of today" but when I was a teenager a lot of us did drugs. I tried weed and LSD in my mid-teens as did many of my friends and siblings. There were also lots of kids who didn't do drugs.

We live in Surrey / south london border. My son’s 17 and definitely doesn’t do drugs. He only tried his first alcoholic drink at a family wedding recently. Never smoked. As far as I know none of his close friends take hard drugs. One who he goes to football with smokes weed. That’s it as far as I’m aware. I know for sure my son doesn’t though, he’s far too sensible

While I know that many students at my school smoke weed, it is definitely not the majority - many young people are very focused on school work, hobbies, sports etc rather than going to raves and taking mdma!

@lovelychops

Wowser I feel there's some incredibly naive posters on here who are certain their kids don't do drugs.

I think it's the parents who are having open and honest conversations with their children about what their peers are into / what goes on at parties / who is into what - are the ones who are doing the right thing.
It's essential to keep lines of common open and be honest. Not thinking it would never be their kids.

Drugs are everywhere if you look closely. Certain job industries are rife with them.

For what it's worth I knew a lad kicked out of private school for dealing drugs, and a local dealer from a rough estate who had business cards printed when I was growing up! Imagine how easy it is with snap chat etc now .

Yes but it’s not always about access. You can buy cigarettes and alcohol legally as an 18 year old teen. Lots don’t. They don’t like the taste for one. Maybe drugs are cooler for being illegal but I think more and more young people are happy to be labelled uncool.

I don’t think most teens take drugs though it depends on the crowd and scene they are in. It’s a shame the partying drug taking teenagers can’t see the link between their privileged hedonism and the desperation of many of their peers who are caught up in the grooming, rape culture and violence of county lines activity. The sheer trail of blood involved in the drug trade would put any sane person off thinking drugs were in any way cool.

I never did drugs and had plenty of opportunity to. I didn't even smoke and still don't. Not all teenagers do it.

I never did drugs and had plenty of opportunity to. I didn't even smoke and still don't. Not all teenagers do it.

I agree. I guess that those who do/have done drugs can't imagine that not everyone wants to/wanted to do drugs.

We just don't move in circles where illegal drugs are prevalent. Our friends are in their 50s, 60s and 70s, and the drug of choice is alcohol, and the drugs (not of choice, sadly) are anti cancer drugs, statins and drugs to lower blood pressure. Yes, ageing sucks.

Like many have said it's so dependent on who you hang out with.

I did weed 17/18 years old and although was offered others it was mostly by friends friends, not my own friends (I didn't accept).

My Mum tried almost everything going in her day, same with my sister. My Dad didn't even try cannabis. Mum and Dad both group of in the rough parts of NI during the 60s/70s.

Myself and my sister have lived a few places from 'posh' neighbourhood to semi rough neighbourhood.

I would've tried some others (MDMA, mushrooms etc) if offered by someone I trusted completely but I was not.