Loading
These statistics from British medical journal, The Lancet, highlight the harm caused by different substances. The blue part of the bar refers to the harm caused to the user, while the red shows the harm towards other people whilst the user is intoxicated. The overall harm score is the total of the two.
This chart breaks down the above statistics into each aspect of the specific dangers, including actual and related mortality and dependence as well as the social effects of each substance.
CONCERNED ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR CHILD?
Substance Awareness For Parents is an impartial guide to the drug world. It separates the myths from the reality, the propaganda from the truth.
Ever since governments across the world put the power into the hands of organised criminals by prohibition, drugs have been a problem. Whatever you hear in the media about the war on drugs, the only certainty is that people have always used drugs and always will, whether this breaks the law or not.
This website does NOT advocate the use of drugs. Nor does it dwell on horror stories. One person's experience may well be completely different from someone else's. What we do is tell you the facts, the dangers and the approach to take if you believe your child is using drugs. While not every drug in the world is included here, the majority of the ones that you are likely to come across in the UK are covered. As this website is an ongoing project, information will be continually updated and other substances added as the construction process continues.
MISINFORMATION ABOUT DRUGS, WHETHER FOR OR AGAINST, IS FAR MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE DRUGS THEMSELVES.
HOW DOES ONE DEFINE "DRUGS"?
The word "drug" comes from the Dutch word "droog", which means "dry". In the past, herbalists prescribed dried plants to combat illness. You may recognise the word from the Anthony Burgess novel "A Clockwork Orange" in which it is borrowed from the Russian word "droog", meaning "friend".
The word "drug" describes anything that is absorbed into the human system that changes its body chemistry. Technically, food falls into this category, and indeed it is the abuse of food and use of artificial foodstuffs that is responsible for a wide range of health problems, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
You have not hit on this website to read about food, but it is still worth making the comparison. Abuse of any substance, as opposed to the use of it, will cause health problems and even death, be it cocaine or coffee.
The word "drug" describes anything that is absorbed into the human system that changes its body chemistry. Technically, food falls into this category, and indeed it is the abuse of food and use of artificial foodstuffs that is responsible for a wide range of health problems, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
You have not hit on this website to read about food, but it is still worth making the comparison. Abuse of any substance, as opposed to the use of it, will cause health problems and even death, be it cocaine or coffee.
WHAT DO I DO IF I SUSPECT MY CHILD IS USING DRUGS?
Whether it was tobacco, marijuana or Bacardi Breezer, the majority of people have experimented, or know someone who has experimented in some way. It doesn't necessarily make someone a full blown junkie or alcoholic.
There is a BIG difference between a heroin addict and a recreational cannabis user. Both drugs can be beneficial if used in the CORRECT manner, but both can be EXTREMELY dangerous too, albeit both in very different ways.
It is very unusual for a person to become a heroin or cocaine user straight away. People will say "Cannabis doesn't lead to harder drugs," because they went through a dope smoking phase at university.
This is not necessarily the case. It is human nature that if one tries beer for example, one becomes curious as to what the taste of whiskey is like.
Whatever drugs your child may be using, the important thing is not to fly off the handle and confront them directly. Particularly if you don't know the first thing about recreational drugs. It is important to understand what you are dealing with. Many teenagers go through a "dope phase". And in the majority of cases, a phase is all that it is. Prominent politicians, policemen, teachers and doctors have all admitted dabbling when they were young. And it is also important to know the differences between the different substances, as well as the lows that go with the highs. This is where this website comes in. MISINFORMATION IS DANGEROUS. Education is the key to everything.
.
There is a BIG difference between a heroin addict and a recreational cannabis user. Both drugs can be beneficial if used in the CORRECT manner, but both can be EXTREMELY dangerous too, albeit both in very different ways.
It is very unusual for a person to become a heroin or cocaine user straight away. People will say "Cannabis doesn't lead to harder drugs," because they went through a dope smoking phase at university.
This is not necessarily the case. It is human nature that if one tries beer for example, one becomes curious as to what the taste of whiskey is like.
Whatever drugs your child may be using, the important thing is not to fly off the handle and confront them directly. Particularly if you don't know the first thing about recreational drugs. It is important to understand what you are dealing with. Many teenagers go through a "dope phase". And in the majority of cases, a phase is all that it is. Prominent politicians, policemen, teachers and doctors have all admitted dabbling when they were young. And it is also important to know the differences between the different substances, as well as the lows that go with the highs. This is where this website comes in. MISINFORMATION IS DANGEROUS. Education is the key to everything.
.
