Drugs in College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy him a testing kit, a bulk of them. Better safe than sorry!

Even if they're never used, if they have any doubts they'll always have one on hand, and you'll probably save a classmate or two. I didn't use but my friends did and we went to pretty wild parties/music scenes and it was very common to test your stuff.

+100

[Anonymous]

My hot take after knowing a lot of drug users, addicts (alcohol and drugs), etc. over the course of my life: the way that drug use is sold to you as something that starts with a gateway and inevitably spirals into heroin overdose simply by the fact of repeated use is lacking in the key variable: trauma/mental illness. Yes, anecdotal, but I have never seen any recreational drug user enter into addiction when they were not self-medicating. Exposure and even semi-regular use is not sufficient. The people who get into this stuff heavily always have a narrative behind the narrative. Their brains start out different--the dopamine they are receiving feels more like a salve than it does to the rest of us; it's not that brains are all the same and they use pot and then the brain changes to need more pot.

Bottom line: take an inventory of what is really going on with your child--is there trauma (divorce, abuse, extreme bullying, etc.) and/or untreated mental illness (ADHD/anxiety/depression/other)? Get a handle on this stuff and get them seen by a professional and treated if needed before letting them develop a habit of self-medicating. This is where you can really help them. Also obviously talk about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, but grounding them for smoking pot is not really the extent of what you need to be doing with regard to substance abuse while your child is a teen.

[Anonymous]

Weed isn't a big deal. At all. More and more people smoke, and I'm talking about grown adults. They aren't addicts and they're functioning members of society. It's getting legalized allover the place. You should be more worried about excessive drinking. That does more damage than smoking weed.

[Anonymous]

Didn't you guys go to college? Did you all end up as addicts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hot take after knowing a lot of drug users, addicts (alcohol and drugs), etc. over the course of my life: the way that drug use is sold to you as something that starts with a gateway and inevitably spirals into heroin overdose simply by the fact of repeated use is lacking in the key variable: trauma/mental illness. Yes, anecdotal, but I have never seen any recreational drug user enter into addiction when they were not self-medicating. Exposure and even semi-regular use is not sufficient. The people who get into this stuff heavily always have a narrative behind the narrative. Their brains start out different--the dopamine they are receiving feels more like a salve than it does to the rest of us; it's not that brains are all the same and they use pot and then the brain changes to need more pot.

Bottom line: take an inventory of what is really going on with your child--is there trauma (divorce, abuse, extreme bullying, etc.) and/or untreated mental illness (ADHD/anxiety/depression/other)? Get a handle on this stuff and get them seen by a professional and treated if needed before letting them develop a habit of self-medicating. This is where you can really help them. Also obviously talk about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, but grounding them for smoking pot is not really the extent of what you need to be doing with regard to substance abuse while your child is a teen.

That's such BS. If weed were a gateway drug, there'd be A LOT more addicts. I smoke daily, and it's never occurred to me that I wanna try heroin or any other actual drug. I've never seen someone smoke weed, and then start shooting up heroin because of weed. And I've been around addicts and taken care of dope sick people. People start taking hard/real drugs because of reasons outside your control (mental health, abuse, impulse control/addict gene, etc.)

You can't control your kid when they're not living with you. It's probably better to have open conversations about the reality of drug use and hope they listen. Honesty is best. I tell my kids you could do drugs and it not affect your life or kill you, but there's a risk of addiction as well as death. It probably won't happen the first time you use, or the tenth time, but you never know when you're getting something laced with fentanyl and that's a risk you take every time you take something. You just don't know when that time will come, and you're essentially playing Russian roulette. Thankfully, they've listened because the chance of death isn't something they're willing to do.

But telling them exaggerated stuff about how everything is laced or if they try it they're gonna die isn't helpful. I remember DARE in school, and they're scaring tactics were ridiculous and didn't work. Because that's just not true and when they realize you've lied to them, it negates everything else you said.

[Anonymous]

^PP has no reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Due to fentanyl, I offered to buy the college kid marijuana if they wanted any. I’ve offered several times, and they don’t want to smoke it.

Keeping the lines of communication open is the way to go. Keep developing trust and a listening ear because you want them to seek health help if they need it without worrying about you being angry.

I doubt grounding a kid has ever stopped them from doing marijuana. However, I think a happy and busy kid without anxiety is less likely to do drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hot take after knowing a lot of drug users, addicts (alcohol and drugs), etc. over the course of my life: the way that drug use is sold to you as something that starts with a gateway and inevitably spirals into heroin overdose simply by the fact of repeated use is lacking in the key variable: trauma/mental illness. Yes, anecdotal, but I have never seen any recreational drug user enter into addiction when they were not self-medicating. Exposure and even semi-regular use is not sufficient. The people who get into this stuff heavily always have a narrative behind the narrative. Their brains start out different--the dopamine they are receiving feels more like a salve than it does to the rest of us; it's not that brains are all the same and they use pot and then the brain changes to need more pot.

Bottom line: take an inventory of what is really going on with your child--is there trauma (divorce, abuse, extreme bullying, etc.) and/or untreated mental illness (ADHD/anxiety/depression/other)? Get a handle on this stuff and get them seen by a professional and treated if needed before letting them develop a habit of self-medicating. This is where you can really help them. Also obviously talk about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, but grounding them for smoking pot is not really the extent of what you need to be doing with regard to substance abuse while your child is a teen.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is probably a hot take here, but it always seems weird to me when people have not experimented with drugs at all. I think it is a normal thing to do. Drug use itself isn't necessarily bad if done in a safe environment. Addiction is horrendously bad, but everyone here has probably been out with friends recently, watching everyone sip wine, and thought nothing of it -- and alcohol ruins more lives than (other) drugs.

I was “experimenting” with drugs in college. Out of our group, one died (overdose) and another friend was in and out of rehabs constantly up until very recently (we are in our late 40s).

It’s a slippery slope.

I