Is your teenager showing symptoms of drug use? Drug addiction in teenagers is any parents’ worst nightmare. 
Drugs are now, more than ever, can be a major force in the lives of teenagers. In their struggle to be cool, teenagers will often find themselves in risky situations.
1. Drugs and drug addiction can cause extreme behavioral changes. If your normally gregarious teenager is more silent and sullen than usual, or if your usually quiet child is overly exuberant and suddenly talkative, then you may want to investigate your child’s activities further.
2. If your child is losing weight, or is often sickly and pale, he or she might be addicted to drugs. If you can, smell your teenager’s breath when you are close to each other, or if you embrace him or her. Marijuana and cocaine will often have telltale odors.
3. If your teenager is often out late, and is evasive when you ask about his or her company, or his or her location, then you have good reason to be suspicious. If your teenager’s sleeping patterns are also disrupted, then you should have cause for worry.
4. If your teenager has a hard time remembering things, or is fidgety when you ask him or her to remember something, then your teenager may have an addiction to drugs.
5. Be on the look out for sniffles or a runny nose and red eyes in the absence of the flu or cold. Discreetly check the condition of their arms for bruises or possible puncture marks.
6. Check into your teenager’s finances, notice if money has been disappearing around the house, do they no longer have money they worked for or allowance money for activities they were in the habit of engaging in.
7. Be on the lookout for any drug paraphernalia such as rolling paper, odd chemicals, pipes, small glass vials or pill bottles.
Perhaps the most telling symptom of all is if your teenager is overly defensive when you discuss the subject of drugs, or even late night partying. If you are suddenly confronted, shouted at, or walked out on for the slightest reference to drugs, then you should indeed be suspicious. However, it is not productive to shout back or engage in violent confrontation, no matter how suspicious or frustrated you are. You need to be the parent to trust, not one to be feared or hated.
We hope these symptoms of teen drug use has helped to possible signs of behaviors that need to be confronted or addressed.
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