For Parents

parents

While it may not feel like it much of the time, the most powerful influence in your child’s life is You. Parents have more influence over their child than friends, music, TV, the Internet and celebrities.

- www.drugfree.org

Marijuana and Your Kids

A parent’s guide to preventing underage marijuana use. Marijuana is addictive. Most teens who enter Seattle Children’s substance abuse treatment program report that marijuana is the main or only drug they use. Teens who identify other drugs as their primary drug of choice often say they use marijuana too. Adolescents who start using marijuana before the age of 14 are four times more likely to become addicted by the time they are adults. Marijuana addiction is more common among teens than adults because their brains are still developing and vulnerable.

Alcohol Screening

Is the way or amount I drink harming my health? Should I cut down on my drinking? Answering questions on the Alcohol Screening site will take only a few minutes, and will give you personalized results based on your age, gender and drinking patterns.

Partnership to End Addiction

It helps be be informed, and the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids translates the science of teen drug use and addiction for families, providing parents with direct support to prevent and cope with teen drug and alcohol abuse.


On our website, families can find the information they need to understand the ever-changing drug landscape, which now includes abuse of prescription drugs and over-the-counter cough medicine. In response, we created an expansive national action campaign, The Medicine Abuse Project, to rally parents, educators, health care providers, communities and law enforcement to collectively help end this epidemic and prevent half a million teens from abusing prescription drugs and over-the-counter cough medicine.

Intervention Guide

If you’re concerned about your teen’s drug or alcohol use, then it is time to take action. You can never be too safe or intervene too early – even if you believe your teen is just “experimenting.” Read on to find answers to parents’ most pressing questions about interventions.

CAMY

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth. Reducing high rates of underage alcohol consumption and the suffering caused by alcohol-related injuries and deaths among young people requires using the public health strategies of limiting the access to and the appeal of alcohol to underage persons.

Additional Resources

Resources for Professionals and Others Supporting Young People During Times of Uncertainty

This webpage from the Child Welfare Information Gateway shares resources on how professionals and other caring adults can support young people who are in their care during times of uncertainty.