“…what’s scary about bath salts is how the drug seems to have appeared out of nowhere, and how fast it’s taking hold.”
- Forbes.com
Saturday, I hosted our annual Fathers & Friends breakfast. Approximately 70 men joined me, SLS parent Steve Gilbert, and three representatives from the New Canaan Police Department for a jarring discussion of “designer” drugs including the “bath salts” referenced above.
The larger topic was preventing substance abuse in teens, but we drilled down on designer drugs – bath salts and “Molly” in particular – because so many parents (including myself) seemed completely unaware of these drugs or, at best, under-informed. The police provided an invaluable overview, including photos of drugs and drug paraphernalia to help parents recognize items that might appear to be harmless – but are not.
I wish I could replicate the morning for every parent, but instead we will bring the New Canaan Police back in the fall and invite all parents and faculty. There are also many resources available online. I’ve included several below and encourage you to do your own research. The School can and will support your efforts, but the true power of prevention (or intervention) lies in the hands of parents.
I’ll close with an excerpt from an article on Forbes.com. While specifically about bath salts, the key points apply to all synthetic drugs. I recommend reading it in full. The journalist provides a level perspective and hones in on why the risk is so great to teens:
“…But those most often using the drugs are kids and teens, whose brains and central nervous systems are still developing. In fact, experts say the drugs are marketed directly to kids, with cartoon characters on the colorful packages.”
So we have substances that are easily available, inexpensive, innocent sounding, and profoundly dangerous. Doesn’t that sound to you as though we have a serious new drug problem on our hands?” Read, learn, and talk with your children.
Additional Resources:
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17salts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Drugfree.org:http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/using-bath-salts-playing-russian-roulette-with-your-brain-expert-says
Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act:http://thenetworkca.org/the-news/96-synthetic-drug-abuse-prevention-act-of-2012-banning-spice-and-bath-salts
Preventing drug use at every age: http://theparenttoolkit.org/
Advice about discussing your own past: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/21/172595877/parents-just-say-no-to-sharing-tales-of-drug-use-with-kids