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Parents Have a Partner in the Fight against Kids' Drug Use

Posted on November 18, 2005

(ARA) - "Not my kid." Every parent likes to think the best of their children, and suspecting them of drug use certainly doesn't fall into that category.

Not knowing may be even worse. With 40 percent of teens in this country expected to use drugs in the future, and one out of every five kids in the 8th grade already involved in marijuana use according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the reality is a lot of our kids are using — and abusing — drugs and alcohol.

So what can society, and more specifically parents, do to positively impact these statistics, and dozens more that are equally alarming?

Not surprisingly, the process begins at home. Two-thirds of kids say that losing the respect of their parents is one of the main reasons they wouldn't smoke marijuana or use other drugs. And kids who learn about the risks of drug abuse from their parents are 36 percent less likely to use marijuana and half as likely to use cocaine.

"Most kids don't want to disappoint their families," according to Dr. Amelie Ramirez, a public health physician. "Parents who send a clear message of 'no drug use' are setting expectations for their kids, and this will help those kids stay away from drugs."

Being involved in their lives and knowing what your children are doing also helps keep kids away from drugs, and in some cases that could mean testing them with products like those that are available online at http://www.homedrugtestingkit.com/.

"Anything that I can do as a parent to raise responsible children — without the rest of the world necessarily knowing about it, is a good thing," says HomeDrugTestingKit.com president Amanda Beihl, who was frustrated with the thought that she would have to have a doctor's order to drug test her kids. "I wanted to give parents another avenue to handle possible substance abuse in their home on their own before the government stepped in, possibly due to an arrest or other life event, and their kids became 'part of the system.' Our goal is to offer parents another option toward maintaining control."

A basic single-substance drug test kit costs $3 and ranges upward to the five-substance drug test kit at $7. They are guaranteed to give you results with 99 percent accuracy in three to five minutes utilizing a urine sample. This is done in the privacy of your own home, business or educational environment, and the results stay with you.

The drug test kits are for methamphetamine (speed, ecstasy), benzodiazepines (valium and xanax), cocaine, opiates (morphine, heroin), THC (marijuana), PCP, nicotine and alcohol.

Communities around the country are also becoming involved by offering the drug-testing kits to concerned parents.

The city of Fresno, Calif., for example, has handed out dozens of these drug testing kits for free, and sold hundreds more at a reduced price as part of their community services.

While the city can't point to any studies showing that the availability of the drug testing kits has led to a decline in drug use among Fresno youth, "it is a tool for parents to use to create a dialogue with their kids," according to Alita Warner, Fresno's coordinator for after-school initiatives.

Another tool parents can use is http://www.homedrugtestingkit.com/. It contains helpful information including a glossary of common street drug terms, specifics about the physical and mental health dangers associated with the use of various drugs, and even a downloadable 30-page pamphlet called "Keeping Your Kids Drug-Free" from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"A big part of what we do is educational," says Beihl. "A lot of these parents were not drug users when they were younger and they just don't know a lot about it. They're hungry for information."

This kind of information is a good starting point for everyone when it comes to understanding the cost and consequences of tobacco, alcohol and drug use and abuse — major factors in America's growing health problems.

Copyright © 2005, ARA Content

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