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So, your children smoke cigarettes or cannabis?

So, your children smoke cigarettes or cannabis?

  Posted on 13/09/2021        Updated on 29/05/2023
By Frederic RODZYNEK
 

Do you want to make sure it doesn't go any further? Because if your children use cannabis or cigarettes, it is important to make sure that it will not lead to the use of hard drugs. Testing is the only reliable way to make sure. Dealers have their own methods to demystify the products and make them seem harmless or almost harmless. Parents must therefore be vigilant. Frequent drug testing has proven to be effective in deterring the use of even more dangerous drugs.

Your children use cannabis more or less regularly

This is not surprising. Almost one out of two teenagers has already tried cannabis, whether it is marijauana or hashish. It is undoubtedly the drug most consumed by the 15-25 years old, just after tobacco.

For decades, the subject has unleashed passions. Almost harmless soft drug for some, first step towards hard drugs for others, the most extreme opinions are continuously confronting each other. As a result, parents who seek information remain in a state of total confusion, as they cannot always get a fair and realistic idea of the problem.

In the end, many parents find themselves faced with a "fait accompli": their children smoke cigarettes or cannabis more or less regularly.

How can they be sure that it won't go further?

If the use of cannabis may seem (rightly or wrongly) to many parents a lesser evil, or a phase of adolescence that will eventually pass, it is still necessary to ensure that the slippage remains controlled, that is to say, to take steps to ensure that the stage of hard drugs (cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, benzodiazepines, etc.) is never crossed.

Drug testing is your friend

When in doubt, testing is the one and only method that will allow you to know the truth and ensure that your children are not using hard drugs. They can't lie to a test and a test doesn't lie.

Why should you actively seek the truth?

Because the truth won't come to you on its own, or too late.

If your children believe that "marijuana is not a drug" and that "everyone knows that", if they tell you that you are too "freaked out" and that "you see evil everywhere" because you are "completely paranoid", they might also believe that a line of cocaine from time to time or a pill of ecstasy is totally safe and will not make them a drug addict.

This is actually the preferred technique of drug dealers: demystify the product and say exactly what young people want to hear, namely that "these drugs are not dangerous at all" and that it is in fact "this damn society that tries to make them believe otherwise, in order to prevent them from accessing the higher levels of perception of reality that would allow them to understand the true meaning of life" (or something like that).

But remember your own adolescence. On some subjects, you too probably thought that your parents couldn't understand anyway. Your own kids are no different, and if they ever get into hard drugs, they certainly won't tell you. They will hide the fact that they're not just using soft drugs, and you won't realize it until you see a noticeable change in their behavior or a drop in their grades, which happens when the addiction has already taken hold.

In other words, you will understand when it's already too late.

Do your kids smoke cannabis or tobacco?

Then they are already in the cycle of addictive substances. As a result, they are even more vulnerable than others to the dangers of drugs, and hard drugs in particular. The vigilance of parents must therefore be constant in order to be effective.

How to dissuade them from touching hard drugs?

The same way we discouraged motorists from driving too fast: by frequent, unannounced checks and by zero tolerance.

Frequent drug testing by parents has proven to be very effective, especially as a deterrent, because most teenagers will not take the risk of using hard drugs if they are tested regularly.

What tests are available?

There are 2 types of tests available to screen for hard drugs.

Urine tests

Single drug urine tests

Ces tests ciblent une substance en particulier. A utiliser lorsque vous avez ce que vous cherchez. Ci-dessous, quelques-uns des plus utilisés.

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Multi-drugs urine tests

These tests can detect several drugs at the same time. The test on the right, for example, screens for the 5 most commonly used drugs today:

  • THC (cannabis)
  • Cocaine
  • Heroin
  • Ecstasy
  • Amphetamines



Saliva tests

This type of test can be performed in the hours following drug use. It allows the detection of drugs that have just been consumed. It is for this reason that it is the ideal tool for police forces, during roadside checks at the exit of discotheques and large gatherings.

The first saliva tests were talked about because they lacked precision, but the latest generations are getting closer and closer to the reliability of urine tests. These tests also have the advantage of being less invasive and less burdensome for the person being tested.

The test presented here is a multi-drugs test, able to detect simultaneously the 5 most used drugs today (cannabis, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and amphetamines).

Tags : Addiction, Cannabis, Drug tests, Hard drugs, Prevention, Screening, Soft drugs, Teenagers, Tobacco, Vigilance
Posted in: All articles, Advice for PARENTS
Author: Frederic RODZYNEK
Founder and manager of Kappa City Biotech since 2005.
Through the blog DrugNews, I share my experience on how to deal with situations related to drug and alcohol use, whether in the family sphere or in the workplace.

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