Get Very Specific About the Danger

It is very common for parents to tell their children that they must not use any drugs. They may mention alcohol, marijuana or pills. It is essential to be very specific about the dangers associated with use of these hallucinogens and similar drugs. In addition to telling them not to abuse these substances, tell them these reasons why not:

• Many of these drugs have fatal or very damaging effects.
• It is typical that a person using hallucinogens will have a later recurrence of the effect of the drug, called a flashback. He will have no warning and no control over this phenomenon.
• It is very common that a drug in this class will not actually contain the substances that are claimed. Dosages are completely uncontrolled. Even if someone previously used a drug that was labeled just the same and everything went okay, the next package could contain different chemicals or could be much stronger.
• For some of these synthetic chemicals, the difference between a recreational dose and a fatal dose is very tiny, meaning that if they get just a tiny bit too much, they could overdose fatally.
• As seen in the examples above, the reactions of people when they use these drugs can be violent and harmful.
• The people creating, manufacturing, shipping and selling these drugs care nothing about your child’s health, sanity or life. They are only out to make money. It would be terrible to lose everything or harm or even kill someone just because a chemist and a businessman wanted to make millions of dollars.

If your child goes to a club or party, the synthetic hallucinogens described here could be administered without their knowing it. You should warn your children about consuming anything at a party or dance club that could be drugged. This is a very important message. A punch bowl is easy to contaminate with one of these dangerous drugs but a water or soda bottle opened by your child and kept in hand until the drink is gone will be safe.

If a young person goes off to dance, he needs to take his drink with him or get a fresh one when he is done. He should never drink from a bottle or glass that has been left unprotected even for a minute.