What drugs are older teens into these days?

[ComputerUserNotTrained]

18 yo boy, with whom I'm close but we're not related. Has been smoking weed for years (yes, I judged!) but has just started acting really strangely.

He's louder and more angry than ever, skipping work (he'll be fired soon, if he hasn't been already), and just a bit odd.

Might this be a new drug he's got into? I'm hugely out of the loop. He reminds me a bit of people I knew years ago who got into coke, but I'm not sure that's it.

The other thought I've had is that all those years of smoking weed have fucked up his mental health.

Any thoughts please? We're desperately worried about him.

Ought to have mentioned, there's a new girl on the scene. They're inseparable, although it's only been a few weeks. The oddness slightly predates this, but it's escalated since.

Dixie that's what I'm thinking. One of his parents is a big smoker, as is their partner. Getting their buy in that weed and teens can be disastrous is impossible - they think it's harmless

I know older teens around my way are into Coke, MDMA and ket.

Gear is a big thing everywhere currently.

Cocaine I would say. It takes less than two weeks for a newly printed bank note in the Uk, to get cross contaminated which is astonishing but, it is rife

legal highs are a huge problem.

I always thought coke was an old (as in 30+) people's drug. It would make sense though - he's not long turned 18 so has been going out to clubs etc for the first time (unlike in my day when you could get into them years before).

Waitrose - what's gear? It was a generic term I think back in the day.

I would have thought coke is too expensive for a teenager. I saw ket going around last month when I was around teens/twenties in the UK.

Speed is the big thing where I live and people seem to be right cunts when using it so maybe that?

As Ellarose said, coke, ket and MDMA

I thought speed went out with Lemmy the Ark. Having said that, whilst I love the lad in question to bit, he is indeed acting like a cunt.

I'd have thought ketamine would just knock him out. He's being loud and cocky - like my ex was when he did loads of coke (and acid) circa 1997

To be fair, where I live is around a decade behind the times so that might explain why speed is so popular.

Coke, mdma, legal highs, ketamine and in my area acid tabs as they are 60 p !

60p?

Apparently so, it went out then came back in due to price!

MDMA (at parties/clubs), ketamine, balloons, legal highs... they're the most common in teens and uni students. Cocaine too but that's more expensive.

At work I come across MH problems in young people mostly due to weed and cocaine. I ask about the others but no one has said acid, mdma or ketamine.

Maybe it depends on area , I hear cocaine is over £100 for a good gram now. My DD has told me a worrying amount about acid tabs but claims she's never done it but "everyone else" does , she's also mentioned rhino ketamine , no idea what that one is !

As for your situation OP it's hard to know my DB smoked a lot of cannibis and became very mentally unwell , he was completely paranoid and seemed to be out of touch with reality altogether.

Cannabis can fuck some people up, it certainly does my ex, makes his existing MH issues worse, especially the paranoid delusions.

Coke is about £120 a gram here and that's usually under a gram anyway

Ket is everywhere and MDMA but usually at parties as said above

Haven't seen speed for years but most coke is cut with it

Thanks all - plenty of food for thought.

£120 for a gram - are you sure about that?

Yes I'm sure. And like i said, that's usually a point or so under!