Substance Abuse Prevention

Talk to Your Child About the Dangers of Substance Abuse

Substance abuse can lead to serious problems such as poor schoolwork, loss of friends, problems at home, and lasting legal problems.  Below are resources to help families start the conversation about the dangers of substance abuse.

• One Pill Can Kill—United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
• Counterfeit Pill Fact Sheet (PDF)—Department of Justice - Drug Enforcement Administration
• The Facts About Fentanyl—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• NIDA for Teens—National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH)
• Why You Should Talk With Your Child About Alcohol and Other Drugs— Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• How to Talk to Your Teen About Substance Use—Child Mind Institute
• Parent Talk Kit - Tips for Talking and What to Say to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Abuse (PDF)—DrugFree.org
• Partnership to End Addiction:
  • How Can I Protect My Child from Fentanyl? 5 Things Parents Need to Know
  • Prepare to Take Action if You Suspect Teen or Young Adult Drug Use
  • Taking on the Opioid Crisis Requires a Multi-Faceted Approach
• Start A Conversation: 10 Questions Teens Ask About Drugs and Health—National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Recognizing and Responding to an Opioid Overdose—Curb the Crisis
• Growing up Drug-Free: A Parent's Guide to Drug Prevention (PDF)—DEA
• Tips for Teens - The Truth About Opioids (PDF)—SAMHSA

Do you think your child is abusing drugs or alcohol?

Know the signs...

• Breaking rules
• Heightened secrecy
• Fishy-sounding excuses or outright lying
• Difficulty thinking or keeping focus
• Withdrawing from classroom participation
• Resistance to discipline or feedback
• Increased tardiness or absence
• Paranoia, irritability, anxiety, fidgeting
• Changes in mood or attitude
• Significant weight loss or gain
• Loss of interest in hobbies or activities
• Decline in school performance
• Abandonment of long-time peer group

~ Adapted from Betty Ford Hazelden Foundation ~ 

Youth and Tobacco Use

Smoking and smokeless tobacco are almost always initiated and established during adolescence and most are addicted by the age of 20. Twenty percent of high school students report having smoked a cigarette in the last month. Tobacco use during adolescence is associated with health risk behaviors such as the use of alcohol, the use of other drugs, and high-risk sexual behaviors.

• Information from the CDC on Youth Tobacco Use
• Smokeless Tobacco Information

What are E-Cigarettes?

• E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat a liquid and produce an aerosol, or mix of small particles in the air.
• E-cigarettes come in many shapes and sizes.
• Most have a battery, a heating element, and a place to hold a liquid.
• Some e-cigarettes look like regular cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Some look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. Larger devices such as tank systems, or “mods,” do not look like other tobacco products.
• E-cigarettes are known by many different names. They are sometimes called “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “vapes,” “tank systems,” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).”
• Using an e-cigarette is sometimes called “vaping.”

~ Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ~

Vaping Devices (Electronic Cigarettes) DrugFacts

• What are vaping devices? National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH)

Support for Children of Alcoholics

Those hurt most by alcohol and drug abuse are the children of alcoholics and other drug dependent parents. One in four children in the United States is exposed to alcohol or drug addiction in the family.

• National Association for Children of Addiction

Community Awareness Message

The Prince William County Police Department released a community awareness message with a photo example of the counterfeit Percocet pill, sometimes referred to as perc30s. For full article, please visit INSIDENOVA.