Detox Recovery

In addition to talking to your teen, consider other strategies to prevent teen drug abuse:

• Know your teen’s activities. Pay attention to your teen’s whereabouts. Find out what adult-supervised activities your teen is interested in and encourage him or her get involved.
• Establish rules and consequences. Make it clear that you won’t tolerate drug abuse. Rules might include leaving a party where drug abuse occurs and not riding in a car with a driver who’s been abusing drugs. Agree on the consequences of breaking the rules ahead of time — and enforce them consistently.
• Know your teen’s friends. If your teen’s friends abuse drugs, your teen may feel pressure to experiment, too. Get to know your teen’s friends and their parents.
• Keep an eye on prescription drugs. Ask your doctor if any medications prescribed for your family have a potential for abuse. Take an inventory of all prescription and over-the-counter medications in your home and keep them out of easily accessible places — such as the medicine cabinet. If your teen needs to take medication during school hours, find out if it can be stored in the school’s health office rather than in your teen’s locker.
• Provide support. Offer praise and encouragement when your teen succeeds, whether at school or at home. A strong bond between you and your teen may help prevent your teen from abusing drugs.
• Set a good example. Don’t abuse drugs yourself.