Drug Use & Teens, It's Not What it Used to Be

 by Katherine O'Brien, ThD candidate & Certified College Planning Specialist

Over 11% of the 7.7M drug related ER visits were made by 18-25 year olds. This age group also has the highest rate of cannibus related ER visits. (per a 2023 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report)

A recent article by Dr. Jill Grimes, a college health specialist, pointed out a number of blind spots many of us have about drugs, particularly with regard to our teens and drugs.

1. "Good" kids won't use drugs - especially my child, who is smart, responsible, successful, and has a "good head" on his or her shoulders. Unfortunately, you might still get a call about your young adult child OD'ing, hallucinating, becoming paranoid, depressed, or having a substance-related car accident.

 

2. My kid would never get near a drug dealer - a seedy person in a dark alley somewhere. Life has changed. Lots of undergrads are dealing drugs, even though they don't realize they are drug dealers. Here's what it looks like today: a dorm friend passing along some pills to an overtired classmate, someone sharing prescription ADHD meds to help a friend focus.... this is often what drug dealers look like today. Maybe they are just sharing a THC laced gummy candy or brownie with a friend with social anxiety.

Eating a brownie, or other edible, isn't lighting up a cigarette or joint, right? Even our good, rule abiding kids are getting tripped up by the innocent looking ways drugs are offered and used all around their campus.

3. Lots of parents and/or our friends smoked a little weed in college, and we turned out ok. So, we think a little experimentation won't hurt our kids, since it didn't hurt us.

With the legalization of marijuana (yes, I'm dating myself by even using that term) or cannabis, use has become very very common. One 2023 study Dr. Grimes mentioned was a couple of recent studies of 14,000+ students on more than a dozen Texas college campuses, where recreational cannabis is illegal) that found that almost 40% of them had used it - a whopping 26% had used it on their Texas college campus!! 

Today's weed is stronger than what was available in the '80s and '90s. The concentration of THS was less than 1.5% in 1980 to almost 4% in 1994, to an average of OVER 16% in 2022, per the National Institute of Drug Abuse. A Colorado report stated that the marijuana flowers produced there now have an average of 19.2% THC per gram and the hash and oils, concentrated products, average over 65% per gram  - vaping cartridges average nearly 80% per gram. Today's weed is FAR more addictive.

4. Self-medicating has become pretty common. Our young adults are more stressed and less resilient than previous generations has been. Many kids have Xanax or Adderall prescriptions. That familiarity makes others think it's safe to buy a prescription med from a friend. And that friend may not realize that he or she is actually a drug dealer. Since they are seeing such free use of prescribed pills, some conclude that all pills are safe, but they aren't.

Our kids are facing more subtle and complex challenges than we did in this arena. It's not just happening at parties. It's not limited to the fringe kids. It's happening all over campus and in the dorms, in ways and forms that seem harmless or safe. Add the increased potency to that mix and it's no wonder so many are becoming addicted and/or finding themselves in the ER or having a related crisis.

5. Parents CAN prepare their kids for the reality of drugs on campus.

Add Narcan to their first aid kit and teach them how and when to administer it. Narcan is helpful for stopping the ill effects of an opioid or fentanyl overdose. You can buy it without a prescription but will likely need to ask the pharmacist for it since most keep it behind the counter rather than on the shelves.

Teach your student/teen about the various ways drugs are showing up on campus these days and encourage them to visit the health clinic or other medical facility on campus with they experience a serious inability to focus or concentration, insomnia, or test or social anxiety. Proper care and treatment can help significantly.

Encourage them to seek help BEFORE things become a crisis. Nipping a problem in the bud is so much better than having to deal with the mess afterwards. Careful and proper handling of small problems with stress, injury, anxiety, or depression will often stop them from becoming a crisis.

Providing expert knowledge for the journey to college is what I do in my college consulting practice. Helping young people become successful adults includes helping them remove obstacles as well as identify and utilize opportunities. For more information, please visit my website CelticCollegeConsultants.com. To schedule a consultation to discuss your situation and explore the ways I can help make your teens dreams come true, please email me at: KOB@CelticCollegeConsultants.com

 Dr. Grimes' full article:

Suicide at College and College Selection

Recently, the Boston Globe reported on yet another unfortunate death due to suicide at MIT.  These have been happening among both undergraduate and graduate students.  In 2010, Cornell experienced six in one school year.

What does that teach us?

First, there is no conclusive data which directs us to a problem to solve.  Is the problem the school atmosphere?  Or the students' own backgrounds and cultures?  Or personal problems?  At this point, there is no answer.

The national average is 7.5 -12 suicides per 100,000 15-24 year olds (Depending on what source you use for that statistic).  The rate in the past decade at MIT is 18.1.  But they are not alone.  The Daily Beast, in March 2011, posted a list of the top 50 most stressful US colleges.

As a student focused college planner, finding the right setting for each student to continue their education is paramount in my mind.  It must be considered - Just because a student qualifies for a top university does not mean that the best choice for that student would be one of those schools.  It may be, but, for some students, they might be better off being a big fish in a smaller, more gentle pond.

There are a few action steps parents can take, need to take, in order to appropriately prepare their high school student to go off to college.  First, teach and empower your student to be his or her own advocate, to ask for help when it is needed.  S/he must learn to recognise his or her need for assistance, the sources for that help, no matter what kind it is, and how to successfully ask for it.  Each of these is crucial.  S/he cannot get help with organising their papers until s/he recognises that there things are in disarray and it would be helpful to have them in better order.  The student identifies the situation, and identifies it as a problem, as something which, if changed, would be more beneficial to him.

If your child has special needs of any kind, facilitate letting the college know about it.  Do NOT live in denial.  The problem(s) won't just disappear.  College tends to make them worse, because students have to learn to be far more self-reliant than they were in high school.  So, if s/he is struggling with depression, is ADD, needs learning supports, what have you, identify the appropriate office(s) on campus and make sure they are notified of your child's needs.  Ideally, have your student contact them directly.  Classroom accommodations are a right for qualified students.  Ensure that your child is able to get his or her needs met.

Lastly, check with your insurance, or the campus insurance, regarding benefits for the services your child needs.  Knowing what is available will help your family get the needed help in the most efficient manner possible.

Partnering effectively with your college planner, parents can continue to facilitate their children's success.