Dealing with Drug Use

Drug use is widespread in Britain. According to the Home Office, 12 per cent of people aged 16 to 59 had tried an illegal drug in 2004, and 3 per cent had used a Class A drug, such as heroin, cocaine or ecstasy. Amongst people under 29, this figure was more than 12 per cent. That means more than five million people in the UK are using illegal drugs.

When does drug use become a problem, and how should you deal with your own, or a relative or friend’s use?

Each drug has different patterns of use, intoxication, overdose and hangover.

Many people use drugs for years with little effect on their social, professional or family life. Others will quickly develop a pattern of dependency and addiction which can be very destructive to themselves and their families, and very hard to break.

For both the occasional and the heavy user, the use of drugs has physical and psychological effects. It is often the psychological effects that are the hardest to overcome: they can include anxiety, depression, moodiness and problems with self-esteem.

Worried parents often ask for telltale signs of drug use, but the simple answer is that it's very hard to spot. Many users who have contact with mental health services manage to conceal their use from the professionals, so it's obviously difficult to identify.

Parents concerned about whether their children are taking or abusing drugs should strive to maintain good communication with them. It is imperative to try to find out as much as possible about a child’s life, thoughts and fears through talking. Overly simplistic or controlling reactions may well drive the child further away and make any problems more difficult to solve.

There is much hysteria and misinformation about drug use and addiction, but each drug is different, each individual’s reaction to those drugs is different. There are also many groups and places to turn to for information and help.

Narcotics Anonymous, http://www.ukna.org

Families Anonymous: Support for the relatives and friends of people with drug problems, http://www.famanon.org.uk

The National Drugs Helpline
Free help and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tel: 0800 776600