My 15 year old admitted to trying pot

[Anonymous]

What's his friend's phone number? I'll straighten him out. Yeah, that's the ticket...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's his friend's phone number? I'll straighten him out. Yeah, that's the ticket...

I'm pretty sure you are kidding.

[Anonymous]

What kid wouldn't lie if they thought their parent would freak out? I wouldn't restrict lunch. All the more reason to smoke on school grounds if he chooses to try it again. C

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kid wouldn't lie if they thought their parent would freak out? I wouldn't restrict lunch. All the more reason to smoke on school grounds if he chooses to try it again. C[/quote

I don't understand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nearly half of kids with ADHD aren't on meds. I would call that complex.

It's not "not being on meds" that is complex. Having been on meds and disliking them so much that you go off and won't consider trying anything else and then are engaging in risky behavior -- that's complex. It's having your doctor recommend and write a prescription for meds and being unwilling to even consider it -- that's complex.

I don't think meds are the be all and end all, and there are certainly people who find a way to manage without meds (my DS being one of them for now), but having problems in school, doing drugs and being unwilling to consider meds spells a more compacted situation for me -- a kid who needs more support from someone other than his parents and a developmental pediatrician who writes a scrip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, he now told me that when he tried pot, it was right after he did bad on his math test. So, i guess that's how he dealt with a bad math test.

This worries me more......

If he takes meds for ADHD? Smoking pot with those meds is a disaster.

In what way is this combination a disaster? I certainly don't condone smoking pot, but what is it about ADHD meds?

[Anonymous]

Relax. You will only make it worse and he will rebel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relax. You will only make it worse and he will rebel.

I think he already rebelled.

[Anonymous]

OP, the person who wrote about complex meds and speaking with the psychiatrist is absolutely spot on and I suspect it is someone who works with adolescents with substance abuse issues and ADHD, as I do. I cannot emphasize enough how good that advice was. When I treat adolescents who have substance abuse issues it is almost always because they are self-medicating and in my experience, pot is the self-medicator for ADHD that is not being treated medically.

The key to this is finding the right ADHD medication and being insistent that using any other type of drug is not acceptable. Go to a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent ADHD, sometimes they have wrap around services for executive functioning skills and organization as well.

Ignore everyone who says you are overreacting, you are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, the person who wrote about complex meds and speaking with the psychiatrist is absolutely spot on and I suspect it is someone who works with adolescents with substance abuse issues and ADHD, as I do. I cannot emphasize enough how good that advice was. When I treat adolescents who have substance abuse issues it is almost always because they are self-medicating and in my experience, pot is the self-medicator for ADHD that is not being treated medically.

The key to this is finding the right ADHD medication and being insistent that using any other type of drug is not acceptable. Go to a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent ADHD, sometimes they have wrap around services for executive functioning skills and organization as well.

Ignore everyone who says you are overreacting, you are not.

I completely agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, the person who wrote about complex meds and speaking with the psychiatrist is absolutely spot on and I suspect it is someone who works with adolescents with substance abuse issues and ADHD, as I do. I cannot emphasize enough how good that advice was. When I treat adolescents who have substance abuse issues it is almost always because they are self-medicating and in my experience, pot is the self-medicator for ADHD that is not being treated medically.

The key to this is finding the right ADHD medication and being insistent that using any other type of drug is not acceptable. Go to a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent ADHD, sometimes they have wrap around services for executive functioning skills and organization as well.

Ignore everyone who says you are overreacting, you are not.

so would you force him to take adhd meds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, the person who wrote about complex meds and speaking with the psychiatrist is absolutely spot on and I suspect it is someone who works with adolescents with substance abuse issues and ADHD, as I do. I cannot emphasize enough how good that advice was. When I treat adolescents who have substance abuse issues it is almost always because they are self-medicating and in my experience, pot is the self-medicator for ADHD that is not being treated medically.

The key to this is finding the right ADHD medication and being insistent that using any other type of drug is not acceptable. Go to a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent ADHD, sometimes they have wrap around services for executive functioning skills and organization as well.

Ignore everyone who says you are overreacting, you are not.

so would you force him to take adhd meds?

Yes absolutely. Because he needs them. If he doesn't take the appropriate monitored prescribed medication he will smoke pot in order to focus, that's what I see happen time and time again. I would try for medicinal marijuana if the doctor would approve of that but I wouldn't be comfortable letting my teen smoke whatever he could get.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, give him the meds. He can sell those and buy tons of pot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, the person who wrote about complex meds and speaking with the psychiatrist is absolutely spot on and I suspect it is someone who works with adolescents with substance abuse issues and ADHD, as I do. I cannot emphasize enough how good that advice was. When I treat adolescents who have substance abuse issues it is almost always because they are self-medicating and in my experience, pot is the self-medicator for ADHD that is not being treated medically.

The key to this is finding the right ADHD medication and being insistent that using any other type of drug is not acceptable. Go to a psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent ADHD, sometimes they have wrap around services for executive functioning skills and organization as well.

Ignore everyone who says you are overreacting, you are not.

so would you force him to take adhd meds?

Not PP, but I agree with PP. A 15yo is a child, not an adult. He can provide his input into decisions about his well-being, but ultimately the decisions are for his parents to make.

The reason I would consult a psychiatrist is that s/he is better-equipped than a pediatrician (developmental or otherwise) to identify the meds and other therapies that will work best for OP's DS.

[Anonymous]

I will try but he is still angry I made him take meds years ago.