Parents: do you know the warning signs that your teen may be drinking or using drugs? They include dropping out of usual activities, attempting to mask the odor of alcohol or marijuana, not caring about things they used to be interested in or their appearance, becoming unusually aggressive, hanging out with different friends, being secretive, struggling with grades or skipping school.

MADD understands that COVID-19 has been stressful for all age groups, and teens are not immune. Stress during an infectious disease outbreak can sometimes cause increased use of alcohol and other substances.  Recent research shows that since COVID-19 related social distancing began, the number of teens who drink alcohol and use marijuana has decreased, but the frequency of use increased.  In other words, fewer teens drank alcohol and used marijuana, but those who did, abused the substances more often. Depression and fear of COVID-19 infection were among the predictors of teens using substances in isolation during the pandemic.

Alcohol and marijuana use are not healthy coping mechanisms for teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drinking alcohol weakens your body’s ability to fight infections, increasing the risk of complications, and making it harder to get better if you are sick. Alcohol use can increase the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia, which are sometimes associated with COVID-19. Because it attacks the lungs, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could be an especially serious threat to those who smoke marijuana.  Further, alcohol and marijuana use by teens is illegal and never safe for consumption due to teens’ developing brains, risks of injuries and death, as well as the higher likelihood of alcohol dependence in adulthood as a result.

If you suspect a problem, it is important to talk to your kids. MADD has free tools to help. Contact us at [email protected] to sign-up for our FREE Power of Parents Workshop on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, at 12pm-1pm or to request another date/time to participate.