Q: My 16-year-old nephew's best friend recently died from a late-night combination of booze, cocaine, and mushrooms. It's a tragedy that has rocked a prosperous community and resulted in a lot of finger-pointing and poorly informed discussion. Their bedrock policy is zero tolerance, so that even though all the kids knew what this other kid was doing, none of them ever came forward and tried to alert anyone or get help for their friend. My primary concern, at this point, is for my nephew. He had been smoking pot regularly with this friend until he was caught and expelled from school – I am worried that he too is into coke now, and that if this isn't a wake-up call, he'll be next. Could you please offer any advice or point me in the direction of good resources?

A: In citing zero-tolerance policy you have identified the reason why your nephew’s friend was not helped. Under this mindset young people are not taught about overdose and how to recognize it, the dangers of combining different drugs including alcohol, or their moral responsibility to call for assistance. Even if they knew the situation was dangerous, they did not want to get into trouble, and they probably would have, since they were present and undoubtedly had used as well.

Your nephew does appear to be a youth desperately in need of intervention. One wonders about the role of his parent(s)? The responsibility to take action is clearly theirs. He is out of school and on the street (another dysfunctional “solution” of zero-tolerance policies) and very likely to be using any of a variety of available drugs, cocaine or methamphetamine included. As a first step, his parent(s) certainly are justified in asking him to take a drug test. Inexpensive testing kits are available in local pharmacies, but the most important first step is for you or his parent(s) to reestablish a personal connection with this young person. Threats, put-downs, and despair do not help in this process. It is hard, I know, but necessary to try!

Affordable drug treatment agencies for adolescents are hard to find. Phoenix Houses of California offer an adolescent program and often receive county financial support for young people lacking resources for private treatment. Unfortunately, the latter are usually identified through the criminal justice system. However, Phoenix House does obtain public support for youth referred by their families and private contributions. Please go to the Treatment section of our website to find resources in your area, along with other useful information. Most importantly, you should try to work with your nephew’s parents (if possible). 

Q: My son a few months ago was sitting on the couch and was acting odd. I asked him what he was on and due to the fact that he has smoked marijuana, I thought it would be something. At that time he denied being on anything. A couple days had passed when he finally confided in me that some of his friends had eaten whole nutmeg nuts. I read on a website that nutmeg nuts can have a euphoric effect, but it also stated that taking too much can kill. I had never heard of such a thing. Could you please add a section to your site with information on more rare methods of getting high and possibly about thing that kids try that do not work, like smoking cornhusk or peanut shells. Kids need to know.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. Nutmeg contains a drug called myristicin that may have psychoactive effects in the body similar to amphetamine-like psychedelics. When ingested in quantities required to feel the psychoactive effects, nutmeg is also fairly toxic, and has a history of abuse in prisons where other drugs are not readily available.

For more information about nutmeg, and other obscure psychoactive substances, check out Andrew Weil's book From Chocolate to Morphine (Houghton Mifflin, 2004).

Q: My son feels if perfectly fine to drive while high on marijuana. I can find plenty of information about drunk driving but hardly anything about driving while under the influence of marijuana. Any help would be appreciated.

A: Marijuana affects driving, yes. However, of all the psychoactive drugs humans take, marijuana poses the least affect on driving. It depends, of course, on one’s experience both with marijuana use and driving.

Experience helps, and there actually isn’t any good evidence about accidents and that sort of thing, but it still makes sense to me to advise people not to drive. People do learn whether or not it’s dangerous or not for them, so if they’re impaired, they know pretty quickly, and they stop doing it. I know lots of people who wouldn’t dream of getting behind the wheel of a car when they’re high, and then other people who it seems to make no difference.

But let’s look at the guilt factor. One of the worst things any of us can imagine is the idea of having an accident and causing harm to someone else. If that happens in life, you have to live with it, and if you’ve been drinking or if you’ve been taking drugs, you never know how much that contributed to the accident. So you’re always going have to live with the notion that maybe you wouldn’t have hurt this other person if you hadn’t been drinking, or if you hadn’t been smoking marijuana. So it seems to be a matter of self-protection, a general principle not to drive while high. I know lots of people do, and I’ve ridden with them and felt perfectly fine, but I’ve always known that I couldn’t, and, I wouldn’t, because it did not feel right. I did not feel in control of the car.

Q: I finally found you! I am urgently in need of help for my "stepdaughter" who is at high risk of running away among other things. She is 15 and has truancy, drug, and attitude problems. Please help if you are able. URGENT!

A: You are in a difficult situation, we know, and your question is not easy to answer because you stepdaughter is likely to resist help, as you have already discovered. Nevertheless, she needs to be in contact with someone who will take an interest in her, find out why she is behaving in this way, and guide her into an appropriate mode of assistance. We suggest that you start with the school or school district by finding out whether there is a social worker, counselor, or school nurse who could evaluate her situation and make a recommendation based on knowledge of local helping services.

You need to be persistent here, because somewhere in the school or district there is likely to be a professional who can start this process. Obviously, your stepdaughter may need treatment for substance abuse, although that too can be the result of other problems she has experienced. If treatment is appropriate, check out Phoenix House. They would do an evaluation to see if she needs and can profit by what they offer. However, Phoenix House is not a locked facility.

Alas, there is no magic bullet in this kind of situation. But if you keep trying, it is likely that you will find a source of assistance.

Follow-up Comment:
I am writing to extend my gratitude for your time and consideration. The advice, which you offered in response to my frantic request, it turns out, is approximately what course of action we are on as I write this. My stepdaughter is currently in a residential treatment center a short drive from us. It seems like things are going well and I have every reason to be hopeful.

If I may take just a moment more of your time I would say that the ideas, principles, philosophies that safety first advocates are some of the most sensible and caring of any in the arena of drug /alcohol issues that I know of.

As far as I can see, you are all Heroes and Champions! Three cheers!

Q: There's been a lot of fairly new legislation in California, one of which is Prop. 36, a law with which the Drug Policy Alliance says it was involved. Prop. 36 is very beneficial to youths, keeping them out of jails and prisons with their first drug arrest (or so). One thing that Prop. 36 addresses is licensed and unlicensed drug rehabs, making it mandatory that a rehab be licensed with the state before it can accept a court-ordered referral. This is good for both the youth and his or her parents. But what it doesn't address is the generations of persons that had to participate in an unlicensed rehab program. The devastation that can follow a person from a program such as this touches not only his or her life, but also that of the family. Prop. 36 has no retroactive effect - it does nothing about the damage that unlicensed rehabs have done to the family for decades. Before any progress can be made with legislation such as Prop. 36, a solid foundation must be laid for it to be built upon! Prop. 36 must be retroactive. Also, it needs to give persons who attended unlicensed rehabs per a court order another chance in court. That is good therapy. That is a good start in "drug education." Is Safety First taking a stance on this?

A: By the express terms of the initiative, Proposition 36 is not retroactive. According to Section 8 of the initiative, "Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of this Act shall become effective July 1, 2001, and its provisions shall be applied prospectively."

This effective date is firm, and the California Supreme Court refused to apply the rule of lenity for eligible offenders who would have qualified for treatment under the Act between November 7, 2000 (the date of the initiative's passage) and July 1, 2001. See People v. Floyd, 31 Cal. 4th 179 (2003).

The Safety First project, and its parent organization, the Drug Policy Alliance, generally support effective treatment for all those with substance abuse problems. We are continuously working hard to not only fill the unmet treatment demand, but also to secure continued funding for Prop. 36 and ensure that opponents of the measure do not succeed in turning it into a more punitive model like drug courts.

Q: My son has been in the YMCA substance abuse youth program for about 6 months. About a week ago I found some money and about five bags of marijuana. He claims he was holding it for someone. His father and I confronted him with it and told him we wanted him to give it back to the person or we would call the police. His counselor wants him to enter a residential facility although he has been clean. He has falling behind in his school although he did much better this period. He is 16 years old. I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to put him in the facility, but part is saying what if he is trying and by putting him in I’ll lose him completely.

A: In this kind of situation there is never a sure answer, only alternatives, each of which may have a downside. First, whether or not someone gave him the marijuana to “hold” is irrelevant. This is a common excuse heard by parents. Lying is inevitable when anyone is involved in an illegal activity. Getting angry about it doesn’t help. Second, how do you know that your son is “clean?” You cannot be sure unless he has been tested for drugs. Drug testing in this particular situation is appropriate. Third, if the marijuana is still in your house you are breaking the law. This makes you vulnerable. By bringing drugs into your home your son has compromised your personal safety. Your decision is whether to destroy the drugs or turn them over to the police. Returning them to someone who may not exist is pointless. It is true that notifying the police could harm the relationship with your son, perhaps for as long as he continues to be involved in drugs. No one has the right to tell a parent what to do in this situation, only to present the alternatives.

The counselor is right, residential treatment may be in order, but only if the drug test is positive. Be aware that the tests can detect marijuana for about a month after use. But drugs like speed (methamphetamines) are out of the system in about 48 hours. Possession means that your son is involved in drugs, whether he is using them or not. Finally, treatment for youth or adults who do not think they have a problem with drugs often does not work. This is a fact of life. But at this point it is probably your best option. We do wish you and your son a happy resolution to this tragic situation.