Ask a teenager anything about drugs.

[TheCavalier]

I'm 19 and I've recently stopped doing recreational drugs, a habit I had for about 2 years, and as part of my recovery I want to try and give parents a teens perspective on the whats and whys of recreational drug use.

Background: I was at a private school for 5 years, and now attend a top 4 university, so it wasn't ever a question of "falling in" with the "wrong crowd" and I was (still am!) acutely aware of the dangers of recreational drug use. If you have any questions about why your son or daughter might be doing drugs, shoot me a question :)

So, if you knew it was dangerous, why did you do it? Especially the first time?

Is there anything your parents could have done?

What would you say to teenagers who haven't tried drugs?

Are there any drugs which are safe?

BucksKid,

The first time was peer pressure, quite simply. I was 16(?) and just got GCSE results and went to a rave like party. A friend convinced me to do MDMA and after that, I found I enjoyed it. People were much nicer on drugs than if they'd been drinking, and I'd never seen people get into fights on nights out unless they'd been drinking. I've never been one for weed, don't like downers so stuck to MDMA, ketamine and cocaine.

Not really, my parents only have the slightest suspicion I've ever dabbled, and don't know the full extent of my usage.

I would say don't do it. I enjoy drugs, but I've seen what they does to people, and the job I want in the future will do regular drugs tests, so I kicked the habit before I really got into it, the same level as some of my friends were.

All drugs have some danger. Weed won't kill you, there are still unknown effects on long-term mental health though. Everything else is hugely dangerous, especially Class-A drugs and solvents. The effect can be different every time and you could do MDMA 99 times without a problem and on the 100th overdose, they really are like Russian Roulette

My son started going to raves last summer aged 15 and has taken MDMA, ketamine, 2cb, he doesn't drink but he smokes a lot of weed. He is hard working and plans to do a levels and go to uni, he's probably smarter and more conscientious than a lot of his mates.
Is there ONE message I should get across to him ? Obviously he thinks his parents are out of touch and we worry unnecessarily. He says I am not entitled to an opinion on weed as I have never tried it.
He will be going to two festivals this Summer. In the news there have been stories of boys dying after taking ketamine this year , he just says they were stupid to mix it with beer, he obviously thinks he's sensible and nothing bad could happen to him.
Have any of your friends ever been arrested for drug related stuff?
If you have friends who have ended up with more problems with drugs were there other reasons for this or would you say it is hard to predict who would have problems. He knows friends for whom drugs are a problem but doesn't think it's an issue for him.
I think a lot of parents we unaware of the drug scene their kids are into, I sort of wish hadn't found out.

Mine too. He's 16 and recently got arrested for possession of £5 worth of weed and got a caution- he was petrified and really upset about being locked up for 3 hrs but now his 16 yr old bravado is back and he's as cockey as ever.
He goes to quite an exclusive grammar school and is constantly on warnings of expulsion for his unruly behaviour, nothing major, just constant low-level disruption and cheekiness. What I need to get him to understand is that foolish decisions made now affect the rest of his life but he just fobs me off. Its now 1.20am, he was due in at midnight, his phone is off and I cant relax until he's in and have to get up for work in under 5 hours - this is not unusal but I can't control him. Worried he'll mess up his future.