Parents today are more likely than ever to get the bad news that their teens need help with prescription drug abuse.  The family medicine cabinet is no longer the only source for prescription drugs, since they can be obtained illegally from drug dealers.  This is the sad reality with rising trends of adolescent prescription drug abuse.  The real shock, though, is when a parent discovers that their teen is an illegal prescription drug dealer.

Many of these parents would say that they had no warning.  Even parents that pay attention to their teens’ activities can miss what is happening right in front of them.  Adolescents use texting to communicate, and a text message can be deleted quicker than it was typed.  So drug deals can be made at the family dinner table, using an extreme example.

Some parents may know that their teens engage in occasional alcohol abuse or marijuana abuse, and others may feel certain that they don’t use any substances.  In either case, adolescents who sell illegal prescription drugs may not abuse them.  Occasional use is not necessarily abuse, but it has the potential to lead a teen to future alcoholism or drug addiction.

Drug dealing is usually a means of making either money or friends.  It can also be used to support a growing drug habit.  But selling drugs tends to strike fear in parents where alcohol and drug use may not.  They know the legal implications can have a profound effect on the teen as well as the family.

Since the outward signs of negative behavior are not always visible, a call from school or the police station can turn the lives of family members upside-down.  The legal problems are just the beginning.  This is because the illegal activity is only the presenting problem, and the real problem needs to be processed in therapy.

When a teen is arrested for non-violent drug crimes, it is likely that some form of drug rehab will be ordered by a judge.  Adolescent drug rehab includes family therapy, so healing can begin if all are willing to participate.  So what about parents who discover the drug dealing without the aid of law enforcement?

Some teens “slip up” and parents find a bag full of painkillers, a neighbor reports strange behavior, or an angry friend lets the truth be known.  The first thing a parent will do in these cases is call a friend and ask, “What do I do?”

The answer is similar to what law enforcement does.  Insist that drug dealing teens meet with an admissions counselor in adolescent alcohol and drug rehab.  It is better to be safe than sorry, and assume that adolescent drug abuse is a problem.  By taking quick action, you can keep your child out of the justice system, and prevent future problems with alcoholism and drug addiction.  

The approach to alcohol and drug rehab needs to be presented as the only acceptable option.  Parents need to make it clear that they care about their teens’ safety, and that the drug dealing is placing the entire family at risk of legal troubles.  No amount of illegal drug sales or use should ever be accepted in the home.

Adolescents perceive that there is little risk in using prescription drugs since doctors give them to patients.  But side effects and withdrawal symptoms can cause serious medical and emotional complications, and overdoses can be fatal.

If you need help with teen prescription drug abuse, including dealing, please call Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Rehab
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley, and in Santa Ana.