Call me naive had no idea the drug problem is this bad in the DMV area

[Anonymous]

My kids attend a top school. Son is a senior, have 2 younger ones. In one year 4 kids in his class have gone to rehab. We just heard of 2 more over the holidays. This is so frightening. A lot of people saying the school works very hard to keep this under the rug but it lately has a lot of people talking. Not to say it is exclusive to our school as I know this is widespread. This is scary though, as i really didn't know it was happening in these numbers. I have a few friends who even now give their kids weekly drug tests. Makes me wonder if I am being naive to not do the same?

[Anonymous]

Private or public, and how many students in the grade overall? 4 in rehab may or may not be a big number.

[Anonymous]

Which school? My kids attended/still attend MCPS publics in the Bethesda area, and obviously I know drugs circulate, but since no one in my children's circle was/is affected, it doesn't really interest me all that much.

[Anonymous]

Are you at Langley? So much pressure on those kids. An alarming number of suicides and suicide attempts too.

[Anonymous]

I’ve sent 2 kids to top DMV schools and this is unusual. Maybe it’s a particular issue in your school. Is it the single sex school bc one DC went to the coed school down the street and there have not been rehab issues, but there was an overdose a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Top school means rich parents, which is why you'd see so many kids in rehab. Drug problems are everywhere, but most people can't afford rehab.

[Anonymous]

I think drugs have always been a lot more prevalent than parents know. When I was in high school (early 2000s) probably a good 70% of students did some form of drugs and probably 99% of their parents either did not know or even if they suspected had a "don't ask don't tell" policy as long as they kept their grades up.

Obviously the vast majority of those students were only doing pot or alcohol but a decent number (maybe 20%) were doing hallucinogens, and a handful of kids got into heroin and other hard drugs. Cocaine wasn't super popular at my public school but the private school kids loved it. I couldn't tell you a percentage or anything but every private school party I went to had cocaine in some amount. St. Albans and Landon were the notorious coke schools but that might have changed in the past 25 years.

If you do decide to give your kids drug tests, I'd recommend letting them know explicitly that occasional pot use is fine. Otherwise they're just going to circumvent the test entirely (synthetic urine is readily available and easily fools home drug tests) and you will be no better off than not testing. If they know they're not going to get in trouble for a little pot you'll be way more likely to get honest test results.

That being said, drug testing should be an absolute last resort only used if you have good reason to suspect they're using dangerous drugs. It will destroy any credibility and goodwill you have with your kids and put you into an adversarial relationship with them that will likely never recover.

[Anonymous]

It's just as wrong to say that ALL kids try drugs as it is to say that there are no drugs in your children's school. My kids are autistic rule-followers who are not into alcohol or drugs. They go to the same school as our neighbor's kid, who has tried multiple drugs (but as far as I know, isn't an addict). Drug use really depends on your child and their temptations and friend circle. My kids' circle is full of neurodivergent, super nerdy kids - I don't think many of them have tried anything. I remember in high school being one of the few who didn't smoke. My parents are smokers. I've never had a cigarette in my life but probably have lung exposure from all that secondhand smoke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids attend a top school. Son is a senior, have 2 younger ones. In one year 4 kids in his class have gone to rehab. We just heard of 2 more over the holidays. This is so frightening. A lot of people saying the school works very hard to keep this under the rug but it lately has a lot of people talking. Not to say it is exclusive to our school as I know this is widespread. This is scary though, as i really didn't know it was happening in these numbers. I have a few friends who even now give their kids weekly drug tests. Makes me wonder if I am being naive to not do the same?

I think 4 head to rehab is a lot for one class and out of the ordinary no matter the size of the school. However, it could be as simple as the first 1 or 2 making parents realize their kids might have an issue and dealing with it proactively. 4 kids using drugs more than super occasionally wouldn't be surprising at all (and I assume the number of users is actually higher than 4).

[Anonymous]

NP.

The op never said which “top school” this is.

My child goes to McLean HS. All schools want to “sweep it under the rug” when drug abuse happens at their school. I can only speak to McL.

Two years ago, there was a McL kid who showed up early for free breakfast and OD’d at school; the school police officer (oops - I mean “SRO”) save the student’s life with Narcan.

Last year, a kid in the McL pyramid died; he was at Longfellow and had a sib at McL. Not drugs, but these brothers were among 6 area students who decided to get drunk together at 5 AM on a - get this: on a Monday morning before school in FCPS. They all jumped in a car with an unlicensed teen driver who was drunk, and unsurprisingly he crashed; the death was a result.

You can find the news reports on that one.

And, there is quite a bit of legal marijuana use by McL students. It’s really irrelevant that kids are technically, not “legally” allowed to smoke or vape it, because the marijuana is all bought legally by someone (same as alcohol now). Thanks, democrats; great movement your part for “legalizing” it.

Drugs and alcohol are easily available in your kids schools. They know or can easily find out who sells it in their school.

Don’t kid yourself and don’t be naive: it’s available.

Your only defense is to raise your kids to avoid drugs and alcohol.

[Anonymous]

Rich kids with rich parents who throw money at them to make up for never being around. What could go wrong?

[Anonymous]

Marylander here. We had a beautiful 23 year old female employee die from a drug overdose.

It was sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP.

The op never said which “top school” this is.

My child goes to McLean HS. All schools want to “sweep it under the rug” when drug abuse happens at their school. I can only speak to McL.

Two years ago, there was a McL kid who showed up early for free breakfast and OD’d at school; the school police officer (oops - I mean “SRO”) save the student’s life with Narcan.

Last year, a kid in the McL pyramid died; he was at Longfellow and had a sib at McL. Not drugs, but these brothers were among 6 area students who decided to get drunk together at 5 AM on a - get this: on a Monday morning before school in FCPS. They all jumped in a car with an unlicensed teen driver who was drunk, and unsurprisingly he crashed; the death was a result.

You can find the news reports on that one.

And, there is quite a bit of legal marijuana use by McL students. It’s really irrelevant that kids are technically, not “legally” allowed to smoke or vape it, because the marijuana is all bought legally by someone (same as alcohol now). Thanks, democrats; great movement your part for “legalizing” it.

Drugs and alcohol are easily available in your kids schools. They know or can easily find out who sells it in their school.

Don’t kid yourself and don’t be naive: it’s available.

Your only defense is to raise your kids to avoid drugs and alcohol.

So you don’t think kids used marijuana when it was illegal? I have a bridge to sell you. Also, the Dems didn’t do this: “On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to expedite the process of reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.”

[Anonymous]

Hello, Naive. Nice to meet you.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about party drugs/pills? I think that is becoming more prevalent. High schoolers have been drinking and smoking for decades.