LPKNC

A pill from a friend isn't safer than a pill from a stranger.

"It's just a Xanax, my cousin had extra" is exactly how fake pills move around.

If it didn't come from a pharmacy in a labeled bottle, nobody in that chain actually knows what's in it, including the friend handing it to you. Real medicine has your name on it. That's the whole test.

Source note: DEA, Fake Prescription Pills, dea.gov.

Regreso a clases: ¡Comuniquémonos desde el principio!

Back to School- Let's communicate early.

"It's natural" doesn't mean it's harmless.
Your brain keeps building until about age 25, especially the areas responsible for decision-making, memory, learning, and emotional regulation. THC, the main psychoactive compound in ma*****na, can interfere with those developmental processes. The CDC links teen w**d use to a higher risk of mental health problems and not finishing school.
It's also stronger now. The carts and dabs going around are nothing like what the "it's just w**d" line is picturing.
Source note: CDC, Cannabis and Teens, cdc.gov.

If you are picturing a joint, you are picturing the wrong decade.

A lot of what teens use now is a v**e pen that looks like a USB drive, or concentrates like wax and dabs that NIDA says run 3 to 5 times stronger than the plant. You might not recognize it if you saw it sitting out. The point is not to become an expert in paraphernalia. It is to know that "a little w**d" and today's products are not the same conversation.

Source note: NIDA, Cannabis (Ma*****na), nida.nih.gov.

July is minority mental health month. A lot of us come from families where you don't really talk about this stuff, you just push through. Pushing through is real, but it's not the only tool you've got. When the stress piles up, the things that actually help are kind of boring. Move your body, talk to one person, sleep. A substance just hits snooze on the feeling. Saying something doesn't make you weak.

Source note: July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Month.
Support: Teen Lifeline, call or text 520-327-8336, 3 to 9pm daily.

If your teen drinks, the most likely source is not a store. It is a home.

NIAAA notes that most underage drinkers get alcohol for free, often from a family member or straight from the house. You do not have to turn your kitchen into a vault. Just know what you have, notice if it moves, and keep an eye on the bottles at the houses they visit this summer.

Source note: NIAAA, Underage Drinking, niaaa.nih.gov.

If you can't wake someone up and their breathing is slow, weird, or stopped, that's an emergency. call 911 and say where you are. the thing that stops people from calling is being scared of getting in trouble, so know this: in Arizona, calling for help during an overdose means you can't be charged for having or using drugs, and neither can they. while you wait, roll them onto their side and stay with them.

if you have naloxone, use it. free naloxone info at naloxoneaz.com.

law: A.R.S. 13-3423.

Quick reality check. It can feel like everyone's drinking by high school. They're not. In the latest Arizona youth survey, fewer than 3 in 10 students had ever even tried alcohol, and that number keeps dropping. So if you're not drinking, you're not the odd one out. You're the majority.