The Internet acts as a megastore where young people—
- Can purchase almost anything, including prescription drugs, marijuana, cocaine, club drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.
- Find online directions to concoct drugs such as methamphetamines
- Learn how to get high on household products such as cough medicine or aerosol sprays. 1
Legislators and law enforcement are finding new ways to address drugs in cyberspace. But parents and caring adults must be on the alert to ensure that their kids don’t buy drugs online or obtain them from other kids who are buying them online. After all, even if your child doesn’t have Web access, nearly 69 percent of youth ages 10 to 14 and 80 percent of youth ages 15 to 17 do have access. 2
Teens Online.Teens spend an average of 16.7 hours online weekly—more than they spend watching TV. 3 Some Internet drug sellers use this fact to market directly to kids and teens.
Web Purchases. With a credit card, teens can buy drugs online as easily as they can purchase a book or download music. Many Web sites sell prescription drugs, such as narcotic pain relievers, stimulants, and sedatives, without asking for a written prescription or the age of the purchaser. Then, the drugs are mailed in unmarked packages. 4
Safety Concerns. Some prescription drugs sold on the Internet have harmful ingredients, are fake, are stronger or weaker than listed, or are manufactured without proper safety standards. 5
What to Look For. The Internet is one of the few centers of teen culture that mentions—even promotes—cough medicine abuse. Several Web sites promote the abuse of cough medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM), recommending how much to take to get high, suggesting other drugs to combine with DXM, explaining how to extract DXM from cough medicines, and even selling a powder form for snorting. 6 Marijuana, as well as pipes, seeds, and other related items, also can be bought online.
Busted! People who buy and sell illegal drugs online risk being scammed or busted in a sting operation, even though dealers and buyers can mask their identities.
Parents and caring adults can help protect young people from marijuana or other illegal drugs on the Internet by following these tips:
Talk with your child about how to use the Internet safely. Check out the online safety rules for kids from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Make rules and set limits for Internet use, and be firm with your child about keeping them. These rules may include time limits for Internet use or not using the Internet for play until after homework or chores are done. To learn more, see the Family Guide site’s article "Gadgets and Gizmos and Games, Oh My! Setting Rules for Kids and Technology."
Monitor your child's Internet use. Keeping the computer in an area where the entire family can see and use it makes it easier to monitor activity. Check out the Web sites your child is visiting and what they are about. Be careful about letting your child visit chat rooms—keep an eye on what is being discussed, and make sure he does not give out his personal information on the Internet.
Invest in filtering software. You can purchase software that helps block access to unsafe Web sites. However, filtering software does not replace parental guidance.
The Internet can be a great resource for your child to get help with her schoolwork, talk with friends, play games, or read a newspaper. But if your child has access to the Internet, she also has access to illegal drugs. Discuss with your child the rules of safe surfing as well as the consequences for misusing the Internet. Setting limits on Internet use and monitoring your child’s computer usage can help you keep your child safe on the information superhighway.
- What do you like best and worst about using the Internet?
- Do you think the Internet has made our lives better since “the old days” before it was invented?
- What would you change, if anything, about the way the Internet affects our world today?
- What needs to be done to make the Internet safer to use?
- What games, music, or programs do other kids like to download? How do you feel about these programs?
- What advice would you give other parents about knowing what their kids are doing on the Internet?
- What slang words are used to describe kids that use the Internet for different purposes—to research topics for homework, talk in chat rooms, look up information about medicines, etc.?
- If you were going to get a job working with the Internet, what would you like to do?
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SAMHSA’s Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy & Drug Free. Know What Your Child Is Doing on the Internet, referenced 12/29/06.
SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, 2004. Tips for Teens: The Truth About Marijuana, referenced 12/29/06.
FBI.gov. A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety, referenced 12/29/06.
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