Risks and harm reduction

What are the risks?

There are many risks specific to individual substances, which you can find out about here, but it is important as a parent or carer to have a general understanding of the careless, random and unknowable nature of drugs that are manufactured and supplied through a criminal process. Each pair of hands illegal drugs pass through will tamper with them in some way or other in order to maximise profit, and minimal care or responsibility is taken for the effect on the user at the end of the process, other than for repeat business. By the time illegal drugs reach the average teenager, it’s impossible to know their exact contents without professional drug testing, and where this happens, the results show a wide range of variations in strength, purity, contaminants and even the drug contained within.

The three dimensions of risk

There are a lot of variable factors that affect the risk of a substance of an individual, which are often divided into three dimensions:

The drug

For instance:

What substance has been taken?
Has the user mixed with other drugs, including alcohol or medication?
How pure or strong is the drug?
Are other substances mixed with it?
How has the drug been taken – swallowed, smoked, snorted?

The person

Some of the variable factors include:

How are they physically?
Any ill health or allergic reactions?
Any medical conditions?
How are they feeling at the time (excited, anxious, angry)?
What are their expectations of the drug?

The place

The environment has a significant bearing on what happens, for example:

Who are they with?
What is the place they are in like? Hot, cold, crowded, lonely?
What are the people around them like? What are they doing?
Are they at risk of having an accident, or of putting themselves at risk of other potential harms?

The law

The legal situation surrounding alcohol and drugs can quickly get complicated as the information here describes, but there are additional areas of consideration for parents and caregivers, including the following:

If you provide alcohol to under 18s at a party in your home, or at a party for which you are responsible, it is on you if something goes wrong, so it is sensible to ensure other parents are OK with your plans.
If you take drugs from your child, you must either destroy them or hand them to the police as soon as possible. By having the drugs in your possession you may be committing an offence.
If you allow the smoking of cannabis, or the use of any other illegal drug in your home, this is also an offence.
As a parent you risk breaking the law by turning a blind eye to drug use.

Not a lot of young people know that…

Supply: Simply giving an illegal drug to another person is classed as supply, whether money passes hands or not.
Possession: Looking after or ‘holding’ drugs for someone else is classed as possession, even if they don’t belong to you, as does having them elsewhere and not necessarily on your person. 
Getting caught: There can be implications for anyone who gains a criminal record for a drugs offence, such as having it to declare it on an application form for further education or a job, or even for a visa to travel to the USA or Canada.
Drugs abroad: Anyone caught with illegal drugs abroad, for example on a holiday with friends, can find not only that there are very severe penalties in many countries (many countries have a mandatory death sentence for drug offences), but they will also have their passport confiscated on their return to the UK because of having been arrested in another country, and will be unable to have it back for two years.
Drink driving: Although most young people are aware that there are blood-alcohol limits for driving, most are unclear that it’s very difficult to gauge exactly how much and what this would allow any individual to consume and when.
Drug driving: Drug driving is also an offence, and unlike with alcohol there is no upper limit to consumption, which means that even passive smoking of cannabis can produce a positive test result, as well as impair judgement and ability to drive safely.

Find out more about drugs and the law on the DrugWise website.

Harm reduction

Giving harm reduction advice to your child can feel uncomfortable, almost like it is telling them how to do drugs safely. It most definitely isn’t that, and it is always important to emphasise the fact that the only way to eliminate the risk of drugs is not to take them at all. However, for teens who are around drugs and alcohol socially, and especially if you’re aware your child may be experimenting, or their friends are, it’s very important they have some understanding of how they can reduce the risks. A good way to approach it can be in terms of helping a friend to stay safe if they take something, rather than your child themselves, as this may create a more open response while providing advice they may themselves find useful.

Know stuff – Make sure they know lots about anything they’re taking, by consulting useful resources such as those linked to here.

Stay together – Friends are good harm reduction tools for each other, as they will be able to look out for each other… and there is a lot to be said for having or being a clear-headed and responsible friend.

Check in with them – Look for physical signs and check in with them regularly in case they’re not feeling right.

Don’t mix – Mixing substances, including with alcohol or medication, changes the effect and makes managing risk much more complex.

Start low, go slow – Anyone taking the risk of taking illegal substances is basically testing it on themselves unless they can get them professionally tested – they can’t know the strength, or what contaminants might be in it – so, the best advice, if going ahead, is not to have a whole pill or bag of powder, but to take a little, wait, and see what the effect is.

Remember the law – Legal consequences can have a lifelong impact and limit options significantly.

Fed and watered – Advice relating to different substances around food and water is different depending on what it is, and specific harm reduction advice for the substance being taken is important.

Be in a good space, inside and out – Most drugs lead your brain in the direction it was pointing before a drug is taken, so someone who is in a negative headspace is likely to have a bad time… but someone who starts more positively may end up losing their inhibitions and taking risks they would normally dream of.

Don’t be afraid to call 999 – Many young people worry about getting in trouble, or getting their friend in trouble, or panic generally if they call emergency services – but they could literally save someone’s life by getting help fast.