'Just say no' doesn't work! Adolescent drug addiction is common – here's what works

The statistics on teen drug abuse and addiction are horrifying. Unfortunately, these statistics usually err on the side of conservative numbers, as many teens are unwilling to admit the reality and parents are often clueless. The Nancy Reagan 'Just say no' approach does not work. The reality is that there are a plethora of truly devastating drugs that are readily available to kids as young as eight! Middle and high school students are inundated with offers of drugs. The types of drugs are far more dangerous than those of past decades. Today, adolescent drug addiction is, sadly, common.

Many parents still cling to the 'just say no' philosophy, feeling that their sage advice exhorting the child to simply refuse overtures of illegal and prescription drugs will do the trick. Nothing could be further from the truth. During the adolescent period, any parent can tell you that this is a replay of the terrible two's. Your teens and pre-teens want to spread their wings. Most of your advice is taken with a ho-hum attitude, perhaps even a bit of patronizing towards the parent as some antique who has never seen the outside of a paper bag. What makes you think that your child is going to heed your injunctions against drug use, any more than they are going to agree that your fashion sense is superior?

Whether you're a teen or a parent, a little reality check is definitely in order when confronting the adolescent drug addiction issue.

Parents, do you have prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet? The answer is yes, more likely than not. While your dentist prescribed some vicodin for that root canal with legitimate reason, you may have taken it for a couple of days and the remainder sits in your medicine cabinet. Pain killers are tempting to teens who have only heard about them – in school. They don't know that there is a difference between using them for real pain, versus just getting high. Your teen may just pilfer a few of those leftover pills in order to be able to tell their friends how cool that painkiller makes them feel. They believe that they are having the same experience as you after that root canal. Prescription drugs are often a child's first introduction to drugs, a precursor to the adolescent drug addiction syndrome.

Having experienced the thrills of prescription drugs, teens want to explore this drug world for even better thrills. That's where they fall prey to the really bad street drugs, such as cocaine, crack, meth and heroin. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is not a viable and logical progression. The trouble is that kids throw all drugs into a single classification. The sad truth is that adolescent drug addiction begins with approved prescription drugs.

If you don't know about street drugs, do a little investigation. This advice includes both teens and parents. If you only know what ingredients go into some of the more dangerous street drugs, you wouldn't touch them for any reason. There's a certain romanticism spread about regarding drugs. You know, being the avant garde and so forth. Celebrities do drugs, right? Artists are notorious druggies. Adolescent drug addiction results from a good measure of this type of thinking.

Battery acid is not a component of a normally functioning body. In fact, ingesting it is a pretty disgusting idea. Yet it's a common component of meth. Cocaine addicts grow increasingly violent over time. Heroin users are self-described as 'up and dead'. Is this a romantic condition?

The fact is that adolescent drug addiction leads to a very unromantic death. At the very least, your body is a wreck before it has ever had a chance. You're dealing with poison. Think about it. Parents, talk straight and do your homework. The problem is real.