"Because I Got High"

Whether it is fashion, cars, television shows, hair styles, or technology new trends are appearing every day and the biggest consumers of these trends are teens. Because teens are such consumers of fads it’s easy to see why they create their own trends, but some of their trends have a second meaning behind them. However, one of the darkest new secrets in the world of adolescent trends is that of drug abuse.

Because I am studying to be a high school counselor it's important to know about and understand all the drug related issues that are out there for teens to experiment with. I read an article entitled Trends in Adolescent Drug Abuse and this article opened up my eyes to what’s really out there for teens to use to get high. “Pharm” parties, for example, are when “teens take drugs from their home medicine cabinets to [a party] where the pills are mixed together in bags or bowls” (Wilson, 2010, p. 125). They then take turns picking random pills out of this giant grab bag and take them. There’s also a mixture called “cheese”. This is a mixture of heroin and cough medications that teens snort up their noses (Wilson, 2010). Ecstasy, MDMA, and Ritalin are among the top drugs teens use to get high as well (2010).

One maybe asking: how do teens get their hands on these drugs? Especially if these drugs aren’t readily available at home. Teens have rediscovered the internet as their in home drug dealer. “The internet allows teenagers rapid access to information about using new drugs of abuse, so adolescent patterns of drug misuse and abuse are continually evolving” (Wilson, 2010, p. 127) and these trends are in fact constantly evolving. Did you know teens can order Salvia Divinorum, a psychotropic drug that has been outlawed in all 50 states, on the internet! (2010).

It is also noted that “cheese” is used as “starter heroin” (Wilson, 2010, p. 125), but before teens even touch hard core drugs, such as heroin, they begin with gateway drugs; the most common gateway drug being marijuana. These drugs normally lead to harder drugs, but teens also use solvents that can be found at home, commonly referred to as huffing. Inhaling the fumes from spray pant cans, rubber cement, white out, permanent markers, and so forth. Some believe that teens use gateway drugs to try to recapture the very first high they ever had, and we've all experienced this high: spinning in a circle and getting dizzy. That's a high.

Another thing that really shocked me about this article is that it has information from 2007. That was four years ago! How can these trends and parties be so underground that they're just starting to come to light four years ago? It takes deaths. "Cheese" came to light in 2005 after several teens in Dallas Texas died. Then “in 2007, the Dallas County medical examiner reviewed cases from the preceding two years and suggested that as many as 17 deaths in teenagers were caused by cheese” (Wilson, 2010, p. 125). However, when drugs like heroin, or marijuana can't be found teens move toward another popular trend: The Choking Game. It produces the same type of high as spinning in a circle, but the effects last longer. But, once again, this trend has only come to light because of all the accidental suicides.

It's so important to be aware of the things teens are doing, not only to be able to recognize the effects, but also because parents, teachers, and counselors need to know how to educate and communicate with their teens about these things.

He who said nothing is impossible never tried to slam a revolving door, or raised a teen.

 
Wilson, H. T. (2010). Trends in Adolescent Drug Abuse. Annual editions: drugs, society, and behavior 2010/2011 (25th ed., pp. 124-127). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.