Troubled Teens Resources

The tools of the trade in substance abuse are known as paraphernalia. If a parent suspects their troubled teen of drug abuse, these are the items the parent should familiarize themselves with.

The DEA has divided drug paraphernalia into two categories; user -specific and dealer specific.

User-specific products are marketed to drug users to assist them in taking or concealing illegal drugs. These products include certain pipes, smoking masks, bongs, cocaine freebase kits, marijuana grow kits, roach clips, and items such as hollowed out cosmetic cases or fake pagers used to conceal illegal drugs.

Dealer-specific products are used by drug traffickers for preparing illegal drugs for distribution at the street level. Items such as scales, vials, and baggies fall into this category. Drug paraphernalia does not include any items traditionally used with tobacco, like pipes and rolling papers.

Sometimes a drug abusing teenager will rely on their parents ignorance or naivete about drug use, and will attempt to mislead the parent as to their legality. The law has this to say about drug paraphernalia:

“Under the Federal Drug Paraphernalia Statute, which is part of the Controlled Substances Act, it is illegal to possess, sell, transport, import, or export drug paraphernalia as defined. The law gives specific guidance on determining what constitutes drug paraphernalia. Many states have also enacted their own laws prohibiting drug paraphernalia.”
DEA

Along with a familiarity with drug paraphernalia, a parent should be able to identify the various drugs, prescription and street, that the drug abusing teenager may be using. The DEA site also provides a series of pictures that parents can use to identify various drugs that they may discover in their teens possession.

Often time drug abusing teenagers can purchase paraphernalia off the internet, at tobacco shops or at what are know as “head shops”.

Bookmark the sites linked above for future reference. A knowledgeable parent is far better equipped to prevent their teenagers drug abuse or intervene in time to head off the damage and pain that is inevitable with all substance abuse.