It’s the type of news that one might instinctively shake their head at – people dying from ingesting some foreign and illicit drug mixed up in a clandestine lab somewhere.
The simple solution to recent ecstasy deaths in B.C. and Alberta would be: don’t do drugs.
Unfortunately, achieving that outcome isn’t that simple.
The fact of the matter is some teens are going to experiment with drugs. And for too many, those experiments will lead to a life-long addiction.
But if any good can come out of the recent tragedies, it is heightened awareness around drugs, ecstasy in particular.
For some parents, instinctively wanting to shield their children, such news may seem too scary to be posting on your fridge at home or chatting with your kids about.
But the fact of the matter is, it is life.
This is what can happen if you put this poison in your body. And it’s not just such cases of bad batches, laced with lethal ingredients. Even a ‘good batch’ (if there is such a thing) can turn horribly wrong for anyone. One could easily overdose, have an adverse reaction or unknowingly be poisoned with the drug.
So rather than waiting for your kids to find out the hard way, through their own tragedies, a friend’s or classmates, use this opportunity to educate and create greater awareness with your kids.
Teenagers, being teenagers, you might get the same old, “I know,” line. But maybe, just maybe, your words could make a light turn on somewhere in that know-it-all brain.
Considering the grave dangers of such drugs, it seems worth a shot.