How to Talk to Your Child About Drugs

A practical and accessible guide for parents, empowering them to have supportive and effective conversations with their children about drugs

Owen Bowden-Jones (Author)

9781009374811, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2025

272 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.6 cm, 0.36 kg

Broaching the topic of drugs and drug use with your child can feel particularly daunting. With the illegal drug market constantly evolving, it can be difficult to stay up to date with the latest information. How to Talk to Your Child About Drugs is an evidence-based, practical guide from a leading addiction specialist. The book offers clear and accessible guidance for parents on how to have effective conversations with their child about this difficult topic. It provides a summary of both established and newly emerging drugs, how drugs work in the brain, how they cause harm, and why some people are more vulnerable than others to problems, including signs parents should be looking out for. This is a book that all parents will need at some stage. It will help you feel better informed about drugs, more confident in talking to your child, and better equipped to tackle any problems.

1. What are psychoactive drugs, who uses them and why?
2. Understanding adolescence
3. Having the drug conversation with your child
4. Drugs and the brain
5. How do drugs cause harm?
6. Types of drugs
7. Rise of the synthetics
8. Legal but harmful: Prescription medications, vaping and alcohol
9. Behavioural addictions
10. Detecting drug use and what to do about it
11. Treatment and recovery
12. Final thoughts
Useful resources.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ]