There is little doubt that strong social pressures exist among young people who come into close contact with drug takers to also use drugs. It is at this time when many adjustments have to be made as teenagers transition into adulthood. Often, youngsters find shifting gears out of adolescence a formidable challenge, one that is truly frightening. This is why youngsters bond together for security reasons as they attempt to walk the difficult road to adulthood.

 For many, however, this road is a trap. Peer pressure can drive them to do things they might never do otherwise. Fear of rejection by their peers makes young people vulnerable to drug use.

I remember once doing some work in a small high school in the province. After interviewing all the students, 20 percent of the boys admitted to using shabu. And those who were using were concentrated in groups of students who went together. Like the ripples from a stone thrown into the water that moves outward in every direction, drug abuse afflicted those who were greatly exposed to the users. Like the flu, the contagion spread to those closest to the drug takers.

Now, these were all teenagers, young people still immature, still struggling to become men, still vulnerable to the dictates of the group. It was clear that to truly belong to certain group, drug taking was part of the required package.

All this seems to prove that youngsters are introduced to drug mostly by kids their own age. This is why parents need to be extra vigilant when it comes to individuals their children associate with. If it can be established that your youngsters are hanging around with kids who are known or suspected drug users, that should set off warning lights. Understand that association with drug users automatically puts your children at risk. The closer the association, the greater the risk.

Remember that drug abusers always go around in packs. They know each other, need each other, and look to each other for support. If you can find one teenager on drugs, chances are some of his close friends are also using. It’s just the way things are. It’s pattern of drug abuse that is commonly found all over the world. Parents need to aggressively look into the friends of their kids and not take likely rumors about their drug use. Next, they must do whatever they must to separate their children from these friends. And if, in the process, they suspect that their own children might be using drugs, they must act quickly and decisively.