This month we are going to be focusing on something that may seem like common sense to most caregivers, but my hope is that even if you think this is something you have already considered that you may see other ways this may affect your child that you hadn’t previously thought of. Our risk factor for this month is the availability of drugs.
Availability of drugs is something that parents have been dealing with forever.. From stealing cigarettes from Mom’s purse to refilling the vodka bottles with water over the years kids have thought of many ways to use their parent’s substances. I’ve seen parents do things like marking the liquor bottles, counting cigarettes, locking the alcohol fridge, and soo many more in effort to combat the ease of availability of substances for youth. Honestly, these parents really are onto something with their efforts, however unfortunately the ease of availability of substances spreads far outside the walls of our home.
Let’s start by in the home though. Imagine you are a group of 13 year olds. Parents have gone out to eat or are already in bed. You can’t go anywhere because you aren’t old enough to drive, however you know that your dad leaves beer in the basement fridge, and he NEVER goes down there anymore. One thing leads to another and before you know it kids are daring each other to try a sip. Or maybe, your a 17 year old, and your mom left her vape on the counter while she went to take a shower. You’ve always wondered what it felt like, and there is no way she would ever know if you took a hit.. These situations happen every single day. Youth are so much more likely to use substances that are easily accessible to them because often, they may have not even thought of using substances before the situation presented itself. As caregivers, we must be mindful of our own substance use and how this use can present our children with opportunities to experiment with substances. I feel that every family and situation is different, but effective monitoring and intentional storage of substances can go a long way in preventing this type of substance use.
Now that we’ve discussed the easy part, let’s talk about the part that isn’t completely in our control. According to the 2024 Missouri Student Survey 41.1% of students said it was ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to get e-cigarettes. During our March 2024 focus group we discussed with students where they got the substances and they shared that substances are sold at school, on social media, obtained from older siblings or parents, or even shared with friends. So how do we monitor this? The short answer is.. We can’t. As much as we try it can be nearly impossible for us to monitor our children 24 hours a day. So what can we do? We can make sure that we talk to our children. Make sure they know our expectations and know the consequences for substance use. We can vote for laws to make substances less available to youth by voting in favor of alcohol or tobacco density laws, limiting the number of dispensaries allowed in our town, or cities enforcing that these product be kept behind locked cabinets in stores.
Though availability of substances is not something completely in our control as caregivers it is something that we can think about and be mindful of as we continue through our parenting journey.