Consequences

I worked for a community-based substance abuse prevention agency and so did my son, Jason. Jason knew the dangers. We believed that he was not using drugs—we talked about it often. I was so convinced that he was not using that it became a sort of joke between us—as he would leave home at the end of a weekend, I would frequently say, “Jason, don’t do drugs.” “I know, Mom,” he would say, “I won’t.” But he did.

In his senior year of high school, his car was firebombed in the driveway of our home. In retrospect, we realized it was drug related, but at the time, the explanation he gave us made sense. It was all a lie. Drug activity is typically associated with violence and deception.

When our son, David, was 13 and 14, we discovered he had tried drinking alcohol and smoking pot. We reiterated our rules that alcohol and drug use was unacceptable, and imposed what we felt were appropriate consequences. 

Dave spent most of his teen years looking for answers in a mixture of marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol.

Montana and his brothers thought they would have some fun trying LSD for the first time while their parents were out of town. Instead, the freshman football player took a deadly, clandestinely-made synthetic version that killed him.

Are you looking for accurate info about marijuana online? We've pulled together a few of the most frequently asked questions about weed and answered them.

(National Institute on Drug Abuse)  Unintentional drug poisoning deaths can happen when a drug or drugs are taken on purpose (or mixed together).

Adam Moser was popular, adventurous, athletic, a college grad, a top fisherman and a World War II history buff who fluently spoke French. In 2015, he died at age 27 after overdosing on the powerful synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

Cash Owen, described as intelligent and charming by his family, was only 22 years old when he died from a drug overdose. Watch as his mother talks about his addiction and his final days.

William “Will” Christian Doerhoff, a top-notch student in high school, didn't touch drugs until college. That decision ended up costing him his life.