Troubled Teens Resources

Teens at risk seldom see themselves that way. The typical arrogance and sense of omnipotence that is characteristic of teens can easily lead them into making some down right idiotic decisions. Such as knowingly taking drugs that they are, indeed, convinced are harmful, but they choose to risk their health and lives anyway.

Especially noted for casual abuse are cough medicines. According to this young man’s account, they are the most easily obtained, and the easiest to conceal.

“The drug used to be completely legal for a 15-year-old to buy in the store. If not to buy, it was easy enough to steal… It was easy to tell my mother that I had a cough or that I felt like I was coming down with something, and she never asked about the empty bottles. The effects of the drug are mostly sensory: tunnel vision, hyper-sensitivity to touch and movement, etc. It takes the right circumstances and doses to produce hallucinations. In other words, it takes very little to act straight in front of authority types and there is little physical evidence of intoxication: No smell, you don’t slur your words. Your face gets red and your eyes dilate, but other than that…”

(source)

Though it may weary a parent to continue to be made aware of all the subterfuge that they must see through when dealing with teen age drug abuse, teen help aids and information for this specific drug abuse are becoming increasingly available. We posted earlier on the efforts being expended by “Five Moms”, a group of mothers who organized to combat cough medicine abuse and were the source of inspiration for the young man above to write about his own experiences of as a teen.