Dialogue: the antidrug

If you’re a concerned parent, have regular, nonjudgmental conversations with your child or teen about drug and alcohol use. Warn your kids about prescription drugs that are not prescribed for them—a medicine prescribed for a friend or relative is not safe.

Do:

• Tell them the dangers of using drugs and alcohol, using age-appropriate explanations.
• Explain why you don’t want them to use drugs. For example, explain how drug and alcohol use interferes with young people’s concentration, memory and motor skills, and that it leads to poorer school performance. Tell them you wouldn’t want these outcomes for them.
• Make it easy for your child to talk honestly with you. Also, make yourself available when your child wants to talk—no matter the time of day or the other tasks you face.
• Believe in your own power to help your child avoid using alcohol and drugs.

Don’t:

• Don’t react in anger—even if your child makes statements that shock you.
• Don’t expect every conversation to be perfect. They won’t be.
• Don’t simply demand that your children not do drugs. Instead, educate them about the risks so that they will be equipped to make decisions about drug use based on their own knowledge.
• Don’t talk without listening. Aim for a 50-50 conversation—you talk half the time and listen the other half.
• Don’t make stuff up. If your child asks a question you can’t answer or wants information about something you’re unsure of, promise to find the correct answer so that you can learn together. Then follow up on that promise.

How to talk with someone who has a problem

1. First, learn about opioid abuse. For more information, you can go to the prevention resources list below.
2. Find good times to talk when you won’t be interrupted. You’ll be most effective if you cover this subject a little at a time.
3. Explain that children, teens and adults could start using opioids. Give reasons why they might start (depression, peer pressure, stress, etc.).
4. Assure them that if they’re tempted, or if they do drugs, they can come to you immediately for help. Be prepared to help, without criticism, if they feel safe coming to you.
5. Go over the effects of opioids and the damage they can cause. These include physical, mental and financial harm, along with the ways opioid use can destroy relationships and trust. Invite them to ask questions. Be realistic and don’t exaggerate the harm.
6. Describe how peer pressure to use drugs can be very subtle. Sometimes it’s nothing more than the desire to join in the fun everyone else seems to be having.
7. Let them know that drug residues are stored in the body. The lingering damage of drug abuse can stay with them for many years. This damage can include effects like slow and cloudy thinking, emotional shut-off, depression, difficulty learning or solving problems and even lasting personality changes like paranoia or anxiety.
8. Explain that abuse of any drug can damage or destroy a person’s ability to achieve their goals. It can happen even in one night due to an accident or overdose.
9. Be willing to listen. Above all, do your best to make it safe for them to talk to you about their friends using drugs, or about their own substance abuse or concerns.

Opioid addiction isn’t always a deliberate decision. It can begin when a patient takes a prescribed medication in higher-than-recommended doses or combines it with other medications or alcohol. So never change your dosing regimen without discussing it first with a healthcare professional. Never take someone else’s prescription medication. Properly dispose of any expired or unused prescriptions. Most important, keep prescription medications out of the reach of others, securely locked away.