How To Talk To Your Teenager About Cocaine

In this lesson we are going to explore cocaine.

In it you will learn:

What cocaine is
Signs to look for
How it affects your teenager
Why your teenager will like it
How concerned should you be
How to best approach the situation
A sample talk you can have with your child

Overview

Concern Level: 8

Cocaine is an interesting substance and was hard for me to categorize. It’s not your typical recreational drug and it’s not a “hard drug”. It lands right in the middle.

Cocaine is a highly concentrated drug taken from the coca leaf in South America. In its purest and natural state, the coca leaf actually has many healing purposes and the natives chew on it to give them energy. Of course here in the states cocaine is a toxic and cut version of the pure form.

Why Your Kid Will Like To Do It

Many people like cocaine because it gives them a lot of energy and makes them feel good about themselves – like they’re on top of the world. The high people get from cocaine is similar to the high that people get from making lots of money (which is why rich people and cocaine tend to go hand in hand) in that they feel powerful and feel like they can do anything.

What it does

When you snort cocaine, it passes through the lungs and goes into your blood stream raising your heartbeat and giving you the sense you’re “high”; a state of euphoria that last about ten to fifteen minutes.

Some Facts

Cocaine (once brought here to the US and cut up) is a terrible drug and wreaks havoc on the body by destroying the lungs, liver, and heart. Unfortunately what most people are getting from the street is so cut up with toxic chemicals (bleach and baby powder) that the real damage is coming from those substances, and not so much cocaine itself.

If done moderately by a person who has a strong self-esteem and sense of balance, it will not cause too much damage.

Cocaine can be addictive depending on the person although it is not as physically or chemically addictive as heroin or crack (it’s sister). If anything, it’s more mentally and emotionally addictive because a person who doesn’t feel good wants to keep doing it so they feel better about themselves and their life situation.

Signs To Look For

Sniffling and rubbing their nose. This is due to them snorting it.
White powder around their nose.
Sweating a lot. The body has to release this chemical instantly because it’s a poison so people will sweat.
Going to the bathroom a lot. A commonplace people do it.
Loss of appetite. Getting thinner then usual.

Approaching the Situation

First and foremost your energy and thoughts should be calm and centered remembering your unconditional love for your child. The most important thing is to find out if the drugs are being taken for recreational use or to suppress some emotional issues. If they’re just doing it for fun, while I am in no way condoning the usage, you do not need to be “as” concerned. Concerned yes but not as much as if they’re taking the drugs to suppress some emotions or because they don’t feel confident about themselves without it. I suggest that you be straightforward with your teenager and say something to the effect of:

“I know that if you want to do cocaine there is nothing much I can do about it. I prefer that you not do it as it absolutely wreaks havoc on the body and destroys the liver, lungs, and heart. If you’re doing it because you don’t feel good about yourself this drug is just a quick fix and will never really resolve your feelings about yourself. If you really want to feel better about yourself then we should talk about some ways of doing that without you needing cocaine. If you’re just doing it for fun, then please be safe, drink lots of water, and don’t get into a habit of doing it regularly because it can become a serious problem for you both mentally and physically. I love you with all my heart and please know my door is always open if you need to talk”.

If your teenager or young adult is doing this for fun, then your best bet is to educate yourself as much as possible about the drug so that “if” anything comes up you can be armed with information when they need you.

If they’re doing it because of some emotional issue, then focus on that (the emotions) and not the drug.

See also…

Drugs

Ecstasy

Hard Drugs

Marijuana

Prescription Drugs

Psychedelics