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06 May 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs Permalink

What do you do if your kids are drinking or doing drugs?

Sticky Post By On May 6, 2016
Rene de Sant'Anna - Odyssey House

Rene de Sant’Anna – Odyssey House

My core business is working with young people who are using substances and helping them to cut down or get off those substances. I’ve been working in this field for 22 years and the main substances kids use are the same – alcohol and cannabis. They may hav tried LSD, mushrooms, eccies (ecstasy) or cocaine, but their staple drug is usually cannabis or alcohol. Usually their parents refer them to me, and a young person is reluctant because they don’t see a problem – then we need to get that young person to a point where they also see their substance use is a problem.

People use drugs because they change the way they feel. The first time a young person uses they’ll have positive feelings and then they come back down to normal. So they use that drug again and then again because it feels good. Then something happens that wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t under the influence of that substance. Maybe a child misses school because they’re going to a friend’s house to smoke or drink, or they’re out late and the police bring them home, or they drink too much in the park, throw up and need an ambulance, or they can’t be bothered to go to football or netball. Read more

06 May 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs With 2 Comments Permalink

A Parents Guide to Cocaine

Sticky Post By On May 6, 2016 With 2 Comments

By Cheryl Critchley

Drugs 101 CocaineCocaine has a reputation as the drug of choice for celebrities, but its effects can be far from glamorous.

Cocaine can be dangerous if taken in high doses or contaminated by other substances.

Snorting cocaine regularly can cause a runny nose and nosebleeds, infection of the nasal membranes, perforation of the septum and long-term damage to the nasal cavity and sinuses.

Only 1.7 per cent of Australian high-school students surveyed in the 2011 Australian secondary students’ survey had used cocaine, and only 1 per cent had used it in the past month.

These levels have also fallen significantly since 2005, when almost 3 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds had tried it. Read more

04 May 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

I’m not trying to be popular, I’m trying to be a parent

Sticky Post By On May 4, 2016
Teens Drinking

Image is for illustrative purposes.

Sarah*, 42, has two children. Megan* is 16 and Matthew* is 14. They have both gone to parties where alcohol and drugs are present.

My mum often tells me that she’s so glad she doesn’t have to be a parent to teenagers now. She says it’s so much more complicated these days because of Facebook, texting, drugs and drink. There are so many more opportunities for kids to go down the wrong path and I think mum’s right.

Being a parent to teenagers is stressful and it can be so hard to keep up to date with who their friends are, where they’re going after school or at the weekend, who they’re spending time with, whose party they are going to and who else will be at that party. Read more

30 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Teach your kids to make safe decisions

Sticky Post By On April 30, 2016
Alan Eade The Paramedic

Alan Eade is an intensive-care paramedic based in Melbourne’s CBD. Photo: Fiona Hamilton

A 20-year veteran of the ambulance service, paramedic Alan Eade attends incidents every week involving young people affected by drugs or alcohol.

Around midnight last night we were called to help a 14–year–old boy on the city streets. He and some other teenagers did a snatch-and-run at a bottle shop. He consumed quite a bit of alcohol in a short space of time and became intoxicated. Police saw him and called an ambulance.

He wasn’t life-threateningly unwell and he hadn’t run away from home either but he was taken to a children’s hospital where he could safely sleep off the alcohol and be supervised while he recovered. Since I began this job alcohol has always been present but it was unusual in the under–14s. Now we see children in single-digit years drinking alcohol on a regular basis. It’s more prevalent in a wider group of young people. Read more

29 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Don’t think this couldn’t happen to your child. It can.

Sticky Post By On April 29, 2016
Felicity is Nick's mum

Used for illustrative purposes only, the person depicted in this image is a model.

Earlier in Nick’s life we didn’t realise he had dyslexia and other learning difficulties. He was in a supposedly top school in the state but they weren’t interested in helping him. He was put in the ‘too hard’ basket and was ostracised. And Nick felt that. In hindsight, that’s when all the trouble began …

I didn’t realise for quite a long time that when I dropped Nick at the school gate he’d walk out the back gate and spend the day smoking marijuana with his friends. Then he started arriving home from school a little later and a little later. Four o’clock became five o’clock and then 9 or 10pm. I’d drive around the streets looking for him. Read more

26 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs, Our Stories Permalink

It’s so easy to use when you’re with mates

Sticky Post By On April 26, 2016
Young Adult lighting a marijuana Joint in the dark

Used for illustrative purposes only, the person depicted in this image is a model.

I was about 12 when I began smoking a little bit of pot. I began drinking too and occasionally I tried speed. I never fitted into school and I found a pair of mates who were the same and we’d use with each other. It’s hard to explain why I started but I suppose I relied on these things to make me feel better. When I got too many thoughts in my head – happy or sad – I’d try and wash them out with drugs.

I started smoking pot more often in the week and doing crazy things on the weekend. By the time I was 13 or 14 I was using pot every day and drinking and popping pills and I was in and out of different schools.

In early 2012 I got a job working with my family. I’d only smoke pot during the week but would go really crazy at the weekends – coke, amphetamines, methamphetamines … I got prescribed benzos as well. Whatever I could get, really. Read more

25 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs With 1 Comment Permalink

A Parents Guide to Cannabis

Sticky Post By On April 25, 2016 With 1 Comment

By Cheryl Critchley

One in three adults and one in seven teenagers has tried cannabis.

Cannabis is Australia’s most popular illicit drug and many of today’s high-school parents have tried it. The 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 35 per cent of Australians reported using cannabis at least once, with 10 per cent using it in the past year. A 2011 Australian high-school students’ survey found cannabis was the most commonly used illicit substance by this age group, with 15 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds reporting they had tried it.

Most people who use cannabis seek a sense of mild euphoria and relaxation, often referred to as a “high”. Cannabis causes changes in the user’s mood and also affects how they think and perceive the environment. Everyday activities such as watching television and listening to music can become altered and more intense.

Generally speaking, people who start smoking cannabis at a younger age and smoke heavily are more likely to experience problems. This may include mental health problems, and more general life problems, such as conflict at home or school/work, financial problems and memory problems.

If a teenager has a genetic vulnerability, such as close family with depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder or anxiety, or if they have an existing mental health issue, cannabis should be avoided.

Rolling a joint Read more

23 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs With 3 Comments Permalink

A Parents Guide to Alcohol

Sticky Post By On April 23, 2016 With 3 Comments

By Cheryl Critchley
A Parents Guide to Alcohol

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Children look to their parents to set standards. Parental attitudes to drinking have a big influence on
their children. There is nothing wrong with having a drink, but parents need to be aware that their alcohol habits are observed by their children, who may take a lead from their behaviour.

MYTH: Allowing under-18s to drink will “ease them into it”
FACT: Alcohol can be damaging to young, developing brains. Early drinking is also linked to increased alcohol consumption in adolescence and young adulthood and the possibility of damage to the developing brain and development of alcohol related harms in adulthood. Read more

01 Dec 2015
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs With 518 Comments Permalink

What to do if you suspect your kids have a drug problem

Sticky Post By On December 1, 2015 With 518 Comments

 

Kirsten Cleland

Photo: Fiona Hamilton

“A significant number of young people we see at Headspace have substance-abuse or misuse issues. Alcohol and marijuana are the most prevalent substances, and we also see a little cocaine and ecstasy.

“Ice use is becoming more problematic. We see kids who were battling mental-health issues like depression and anxiety and now they have ice use, too, and some are turning to sex work and crime to pay for that. I’ve heard kids say that they’ve been given ice for free, not realising that sooner or later the people giving them their free ice will want something in return. People are making it available to kids to suck them into using it and then they hit them up for money or sex.

“For the 12 to 14-year-olds, it’s a time of experimentation. For the slightly older group, things happen when they’ve been intoxicated that they are embarrassed and ashamed of, like their behaviour or having unprotected sex. The 17-plus age group are using more and more alcohol and substances to get through the day. They’re binge drinking on weekends and using whatever they can get their hands on with school friends or social groups outside school. After a couple of appointments here, when they feel comfortable, they may tell us they’ve been drinking until they black out, that there are photos of them floating around that they don’t recall or that they lost their virginity because they were drunk.
Read more

12 Jul 2015
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Isn’t it time we heard something positive about drugs?

Sticky Post By On July 12, 2015
Isn't it time we heard something positive?

Parents: It’s important to stay optimistic. Things can change for the better, even when you least expect it.

One thing we’re trying to do differently at Parent Guides is to highlight the importance of telling stories and sharing experiences. Shocking statistics and fear often underpin a vast majority of educational material relating to drugs. Unfortunately much of what were hear are horror stories.

Isn’t it about time we heard something positive?

Sally’s* 16-year-old daughter has successfully pulled herself out of drug addiction to pursue her childhood dream. She told us her story.. Read more

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