What to do if/when DCs ask if you've ever tried drugs???

[Merse]

My DD has just had a talk at school about drugs. I think that's an excellent thing, but am now dreading the moment she asks me if I have ever tried/taken any. Am torn between my natural instinct which is to be honest whenever possible - and a worry that the truth could be unhelpful in this instance…… Bottom line - I did dabble with drugs back in the day, but don't want to do or say anything that might give the impression to my TEN year old DD that that is ok. If she thinks I did it and am fine then I worry she will think why not try it herself if/when she comes across them which I fear will be sooner than I can bear to imagine society being what it is

Feel really conflicted on this. Would love to hear people's views….

I had a brainwave on my way to pick the kids up just now. When asked I could say 'what do YOU think?!' implying - obviously not. Could go on about how I barely eat sugar and am super healthy so do they really think I would deliberately put toxins in my body. So not actually lying…… And could then have the honest chat (that I'd rather have) when she is a bit older.

Totally agree with Whirlpool.

I'm a risk manager so whenever these sorts of discussions come up I think my kids get a bit more than they bargained for really :) I always try and get them to think about their questions fairly deeply, even when they were relatively young. Where I live marijuana is smoked, vaped and eaten widely both socially and medicinally. I'm not going to tell my children that everyone who tried a joint suffers terribly in some way because it's just not true, and they would have sussed that out pretty quickly.

I told them people use it because it's relaxing or because it addresses their medical needs, but that for some people it was a bad idea, and that there were issues associated with it being illegal. Pretty much the same conversation I had with them about alcohol really.

I've no experience with much harder drugs so discussions there are more theoretical. dh went to a few raves, but I was never that interested. My main concern is with pills etc being cut with other things, too much uncertainty there for me. Easily addressed by legalisation though.

I think you run a serious risk when you lie to children, if they find out then they might question anything you tell them in the future. There's absolutely nothing wrong with saying that you don't feel comfortable talking about it - or straight out that it's none of their business. (Although if you used the last with the drugs question then most kids would probably assume that you had.)

My daughter knew from a very early age that I'd smoked, but she also had an uncle who died of lung cancer and a grandmother who died of emphysema, so there wasn't much persuading needed to convince her that they were bad.
She also knew, I don't remember from what age but it was probably around ten or eleven, that my past drug of choice had been alcohol. I've also been very careful to illustrate why abusing that - or any - drug is pretty stupid. My step-dad smokes pot, and she's seen the stupid that goes along with that as well; it's not appealing.
Alcohol is a tricky one though, because it's widely socially acceptable to drink and in some cases to drink a lot. The same goes for marijuana where we live, it's legal, for recreational purposes as well as medical, and seems to be accepted by a lot of people on a level with alcohol. I sometimes let her drink at home (she's 19, the drinking age here is 21), but she drinks very little - I've never actually seen her finish a drink.

Of course you can lie to your kids. I lie to parents, employers, kids, when necessary. 'Yes, Father Christmas does exist', 'no I'm not pregnant', ' of course you don't look fat', 'the biscuits have run out'....
I would never tell my parents, employers, kids or most of my new friends what I got up to in the past. They would not be better for it. Yes, I had fun, but the amount, frequency and stupid risks I took with drugs were not at all safe. Mt kids do not need to know how reckless and stupid their mum was.
I am going to give my kids the facts and the truth about drugs, but not about my own experiences. As they are illegal and unregulated, I think it's irresponsible to imply that they are in any way safe.

Sorry, I can't honestly remember if my drug use came up as a topic when my dd was young, but I firmly believe that we need to give good information about each type of drug. I told her that I didn't want her to smoke marijuana but it was not that bad, that heroin must feel wonderful or people wouldn't keep on taking it until they got addicted, but I also told her about friends and friends of friends who became totally untrustworthy thieves once they were addicted and how there is no anesthetic that will work on a heroin addict, etc. etc.

I do think it is foolish to put such an emphasis on these drugs potentially killing you as I know myself that if heroin had been around when I was young and suicidal I would have jumped at it thinking it would be an easy and pleasant death.