Tag Archives: drugs

Synthetic drugs and kids – what parents need to know

Girl with capsuleBath salts. Dragonfly. K2. Fake pot. Spice Gold. Mr. Nice Guy. Ivory Wave. Vanilla Sky. Europa.

If there’s one thing we can depend on, it’s the relentless creativity and productivity of the underground illegal drug market. There’s always some deadly new way to get high, usually with a bizarre, seemingly innocuous name. It will instantly be given credibility and PR by countless Youtube videos of teens being wasted and apparently having a fine old time. Sometimes these concoctions can even be whipped up from ingredients found in your average medicine cabinet and spice drawer, or ordered over the Internet.

Kids are curious. They try it out, perhaps when friends promise an exceptional high with “all natural ingredients” or “harmless cold medicines.”

And then they start dying.

Synthetic drugs are not new. This category includes things like methamphetamines and MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy). Unlike drugs like heroin or cocaine, which are illegal to possess in even the tiniest amounts, crystal meth and ecstasy are made from “controlled” substances like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (found in cold medications), which are legal to possess. And until this past June when a new law was passed, Canada had earned the unwelcome reputation as a haven for these drug producers because much of the key manufacturing paraphernalia was not illegal to own or sell.

Other drugs, like synthetic pot, contain a chemical version of the cannabinoid that causes the high associated with marijuana. This synthetic alternative to THC (tetrahyrdocannibinol) was originally manufactured to treat multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy patients. Though banned in Canada and some U.S. states, it is often sold openly as incense or “spice” and can be ordered online. It tends to be sold in 3 gram packets in various flavours.

Smoking synthetic marijuana can have such side effects  as deep depression, hallucinations, feelings of impending death, and severe  panic attacks. And since “fake pot” can actually be 3 to 5 times stronger than real marijuana, kids can get in trouble judging how much of the drug to consume. Smoking the drug has particularly destructive effects on the lungs (one boy who died smoked it out of a plastic Pez candy dispenser). It has been linked to several deaths in the U.S.

“Bath salts” is the name of another synthetic drug. It contains various potent chemicals, including mephedrone, which is a stimulant. Like fake pot, it is often sold openly as another kind of product (typically as plant food) and is often labelled “not for human consumption.” Side effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, not sleeping, not eating and eventually becoming paranoid.

Dragonfly (or Bromo-Dragonfly) is an extremely potent and long-acting psychedelic hallucinogen. A dose of a few milligrams can be life-threatening. It’s usually sold on blotter paper, though tablets, capsules or powder forms are sometimes distributed as well. Although the effects of the drug can last up to 36 hours, the experience of the high can go from lucid to extreme psychedelic intoxication and back again, leading some users to mistakenly take more and risk overdose. There have been deaths reported by users mixing Dragonfly with pot or ketamines, and it is sometimes confused with the less deadly street drug called 2C-E, leading to tragic results in at least one case recently publicized on the Dr. Oz show.

Bromo-Dragonfly has not yet been regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency in the U.S. and can be ordered online. It has sent several teens to the emergency room so far this year.

So what practical advice can we offer to parents? Aside from knowing your kid and his or her habits, keep an eye out for sudden changes in friends, in behavior, school performance or physical appearance. Any unusual packages arriving by post, especially with customs declarations, should be promptly investigated.

Have regular discussions with your teen about the drugs that are out there, and he surprising ways they can be dangerous. It might not occur to a 14 or 15-year-old that they can have a stroke or heart attack that can leave them severely disabled or dead.

Parents should also educate their kids about what to do if they find a friend having seizures, vomiting or passed out. Too often, the life-saving measures that could potentially save a kid’s life are put off for precious minutes or hours simply because their peers are afraid of getting in trouble.

It’s the kind of advice we hope they never have to act upon, the kind of thing we don’t often realize we have to teach. But it can be the difference between a brush with the law and a funeral packed with high school students.

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Is it possible to give kids too much information about risky behaviours?

Should your preschooler be taught about the dangers of smoking? Is kindergarten too young to start talking about alcohol? Does your 8-year-old need to learn about illegal drugs?

Parents often ask me whether it’s possible to give too much information about risky activities, or whether there are clear-cut rules on what kids of different ages should be taught. This is particularly a concern for parents with their younger children, who worry that having older siblings might expose them to this information before they are ready.

Hear are a few guidelines on how to handle this:

Talk: early, often, frankly. Instead of having the dreaded “Talk” about sex, smoking, drugs or alcohol when you feel your kid is ready to handle it, you should make talking frankly about these things fit into regular, on-going (age-appropriate) discussions from the time they are old enough to follow a conversation. See a “No Smoking” sign in a restaurant? Point it out. Someone uses the word “drunk” and she wants to know what it means, explain it using simple words (such as “When someone drinks too much wine or beer they act silly and can get into big trouble”).

Preschoolers should know that smoking is bad for your health. They should understand that we only take medicines that the doctor, a parent or trusted caregiver offers them to get better (small children may mistake colourful pills for candy, so this is an important one). They should start to learn your family’s values about drinking. Maybe you avoid all alcohol. Maybe you have a beer now and again. Maybe you drink wine to mark certain religious holidays or ceremonies.

Kids 5 and under should be taught the correct terms for their body parts, so they can speak up clearly if someone touches them inappropriately. It’s been suggested that pedophiles tend to avoid children who know the right words for body parts, because they are used to speaking frankly with their parents and thus more likely to report on the abuse.

School-aged children can be given more information about these things, and you should introduce knowledge about illegal drug use. They should also be given information about the physical and emotional changes of puberty, and have regular discussion about peer pressure. As they get older, you’ll need to provide more detailed information. We know kids as young as 9 or 10 can be gambling (poker or online) – discuss the risks when they are young enough to listen.

Keep their maturity level in mind when deciding how much detail to give: A child in second grade doesn’t necessarily need to know what pot or ecstasy are; a child in fifth grade really does. And if you find yourself talking too much and your kids’ eyes have started to glaze over in boredom, stop. Reassess. Pick it up later in a simpler way.

Listen: without judgment, for what they are really asking or trying to tell you, for insight into their concerns. Don’t go in with your own agenda. Don’t dominate the discussion. Make sure you are actually sure what they want to know before you bombard them with more information than they need.

Start with addressing their questions in simple terms. A four-year-old who wants to know if smoking can make you die doesn’t need to know about nicotine addiction or hear words like cancer or emphysema. They may simply be worried about a beloved uncle, and want reassurance that if he stops, he can get healthier. Or that there are doctors who can help him. Or that it’s really, really hard to stop smoking once you start, so we need to be patient.

Give information is small, easy-to-manage increments. Use age-appropriate words. If they ask questions and want to know more, it’s OK to follow their lead.

Inform yourself: Make sure you know what you’re talking about. There are many excellent books, pamphlets and websites for parents seeking to know more about teens and high-risk behaviors.

Parents sometimes worry about their children’s innocence, making them grow up prematurely with this information. But if you don’t tell them, they will learn from friends, television, music and the world around this. You can’t guarantee that they will get the correct information. More importantly, you missing the opportunity to provide your own values and moral framework.

Parents are sometimes shocked to learn how young kids are when they first experiment with smoking, drugs, alcohol, sex and gambling (typically grades 5, 6 and 7). Since we know that the younger kids are when they start, the higher the risk of developing problems, we need to try and put off that initial experimentation as long as possible (if not avoid it altogether).

According to the 2008 Quebec Survey on Smoking, Alcohol, Drugs and Gambling in High School Students conducted by L’insitut de la
statistique du Quebec, young people who experiment with smoking, alcohol, drugs or gambling had:
•Their first cigarette at the age of 12.7 years (40% of kids will try smoking before high school)
•Their first alcoholic beverage at the age of 12.6 years
•Their first experience with marijuana at 13.4 years
•Their first experience with gambling as early as 11.6 years.

Other research suggests that 7th grade is the typical starting point for experimentation with oral sex (which 40% of teens believe doesn’t qualify as “sex”).

And what about those younger siblings who seem to know way too much, way too soon? Truth is, there isn’t that much you can do about it if they have older siblings around. But instead of mourning their precociousness and premature loss of innocence, remember that knowledge is power. If your kids are well-informed, they are less likely to believe the rumours, dangerous half-truths and misinformation circulated in the schoolyard.

They will be better prepared to resist trying things that could get them into big trouble. And that, ultimately, is the goal we all need to keep in mind.

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A frank conversation about drugs with 6th graders

My daughters’ Grade 6 class at school was fortunate enough to get a visit this past Friday from Constable Josée Mensales and her partner, François Landreville, of the SPVM youth risk prevention unit (the Section des enquêtes multidisciplinaires et coordination jeunesse ouest). The grade has been doing a whole awareness unit on drugs in anticipation of the upcoming transition to high school with their incredible teacher Stacey, and I’ve just been blown away by the depth and breadth of what she has taught them.

A brief aside here to illustrate how a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing: When Sophie overheard me muttering under my breadth that I was way overdue for my morning coffee, she clucked her tongue in dismay and informed that caffeine was a stimulant and incredibly addictive. She has no idea how true that is. I guess I’m lucky she hasn’t turned me in to the police…

But I digress.

 Anyway, what I found so interesting about Constables Mensales’ and Landreville’s presentation is that the combination of their approachability, police uniforms and experience on the street really makes the kids sit up and listen. I’ve seen Josée at work several times through the Lester B. Pearson School Board‘s Partners in Prevention Risk Awareness nights (which is how I know her), and she is extremely good at capturing and sustaining the kids’ attention. I also love the fact that she is an extremely effective and well-informed female cop – what an important role model!

The group of Grade 6 kids in front of them was a particularly well informed group, and the presentation turned into a fast-paced dialogue with the students. She helped them place their learning in a more practical context — they may have learned a lot about crystal meth, but that’s apparently not a drug that turns up in Montreal. Better to learn about pot, heroin and Ecstasy, apparently.

Since they already knew a lot about different kinds of drugs and associated health risks, she spent time talking about peer pressure. They were particularly interested in her discussion of the difference between telling on a friend and being a snitch. If someone’s drug use can cause them harm, then telling on them (to a parent, a teacher, a guidance counsellor or other trusted adult) isn’t the same as tattletaling. You are telling to get them out of trouble, not to get them into trouble.

It’s a subtle distinction, but I think the kids really got it.

The other discussion that really resonated with this group of students, coming mostly from middle or upper middle class families, revolved around the legal consequences of drug use. She explained that most people think getting arrested under the age of 18 isn’t such a big deal, because your record gets erased. Wrong. While your criminal record may be wiped clean in terms of future charges, it’s still part of your background. If you want to be a police officer, a lawyer or one of many other professions, then your youth record will turn up in a background check, and you may not get the job. I saw the kids nodding their heads.

Plus, she reminded them, having a record means you can’t travel to the U.S. or many other countries, either with your family, your school trip or a sports team. The students looked shocked, imagining their families waving to them from the departure gate as they headed off to Florida without them.

Of course, the high point of the morning was when they opened up their demonstrator briefcase, showing a broad array of the drugs found on the streets on Montreal these days (sealed under plexiglass, for safety’s sake). Even the teachers were surprised to see Ecstasy tablets printed with the Calvin Klein logo, Mickey Mouse ears and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s all about branding, apparently.

This kind of multifaceted approach to risk prevention makes good sense, but it is both expensive and time-consuming, and clearly needs to be tailored to the specific needs of the school population. In this case, Constables Mensales and Landreville had 50 sets of interested ears. Of course, they are only 11 and 12 years old now, so they are willing to listen. It’s an entirely different story once they turn 13 and know everything on their own.

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