Teenagers looking to get high no longer need to go to the streets to buy drugs like marijuana or cocaine. They just have to sneak some pills out of their parent’s medicine cabinet where they can score prescription painkillers like Vicodin, OxyContin, or Percocet or anti-anxiety medications such as Valium or Xanax. Teens can raid the family medicine cabinet or simply go the local drugstore and get over-the-counter cold pills containing DXM. This active ingredient is found in cough suppressants which are labeled DM, cough suppressant, or containing “tuss” in the title.

Various pills (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They can take these pills on their own or get together with friends at a “pharm party.”All those invited each bring some pills, which will be combined in a bowl to make “trail mix.” Teenagers are either ignorant of the potential danger of taking pills to get high, are in denial, want acceptance by their friends, are rebellious, or simply don’t care about the risks they are taking.

The immediate potential side effects of using anyone else’s prescription, abusing a medication, and especially mixing medications includes: impaired judgment, nausea, loss of coordination, headache, vomiting, loss of consciousness, numbness of fingers and toes, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, aches, seizures, panic attacks, psychosis, euphoria, cold flashes, dizziness, and diarrhea. Of course, there is always a possibility of over dosing which can lead to becoming comatose or a drug related death.

A young person looking to get high can avoid going out to the streets by purchasing marijuana alternatives on the Internet. The following is an ad from an online herbal smoke shop:

Description: WITHOUT A DOUBT ONE OF THE HOTTEST MOST SOUGHT AFTER EXTREME MARIJUANA ALTERNATIVE HERBAL SMOKES IN THE WORLD!                                                        Fusion Herbal Smoke is right up there with Spice Gold Herbal Smoke and is positively without a doubt among the strongest most potent USA legal herbal smoking blends currently being offered by any U.S. herbal smoke website.

Marijuana Plants (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

An additional marijuana alternative is the use of nutmeg which has some mild hallucinogenic effects. Teenagers sprinkle nutmeg on rolling papers and then smoke it in a way similar to marijuana.

Another alarming trend is the use of the new synthetic and highly addictive drugs called “bath salts” which are intended to be snorted, smoked or injected. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the U.S. Department of Justice, bath salts” were being sold on the Internet and at gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores under such street names as “Blizzard,” “Cloud Nine” and “Ocean Snow.” These products contain psychoactive chemicals known as mephedrone and/or MDPV. Side effects include tachycardia, hypertension, euphoria, hallucinations, psychosis, paranoid delusions, agitation and diminished requirement for food and sleep. The psychosis can cause extreme violent, combative and self-injurious behavior. The most profound side effects from large overdoses include seizure, rhabdomyolysis and renal failure.

Besides the abuse of prescription medications, smoking herbal marijuana alternatives and nutmeg, and the synthetic bath salts drugs, teenagers are getting drunk by using hand sanitizers.

Hand sanitizers use a formula up to 62 percent ethyl alcohol to kill germs, but some students desperate for kicks are using salt to separate the alcohol from the sanitizer, and making a potent 120-proof liquid equal in strength to a shot of hard liquor. Health effects from the drink reportedly include diarrhea, memory loss and even blindness and irreversible organ damage.

In America, we have taken the Bible, prayer and the Ten Commandments out of our schools and the public arena. The vast majority of our young people no longer have a moral compass. Broken homes, single parenting, the corruption of our culture and the secularization of society have led to  an entire generation of young people feeling lonely and hopeless. As teens tattoo and pierce their bodies for attention and peer acceptance, we find that sexual promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide rates for young people are on the rise.

What can we do to turn the tide? How can any individual make a difference?

First of all, we must recognize who or what we are fighting:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

Drug abuse is not just a physical addiction or a biological or chemical problem – it is a spiritual stronghold.  Pharmakeia is a word found three times in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. It is the root word from which we get our English word pharmacy or pharmacist. Pharmakeia is translated as witchcraft or sorcery. It speaks of the occult magical arts which are often found in connection with idolatry. Drug and alcohol abuse like witchcraft, are powerful, demonic strongholds.

Secondly, we must know how the battle is fought:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4

To break the bondage and tear down the strongholds of addiction, we need to pray for the addicted so that they will come to the end of themselves and seek God.

If you are abusing alcohol or other drugs and want to lead a victorious life and be set free from addiction you need to have a relationship with the LORD God, Creator of the heavens and the earth. To find forgiveness and freedom,  pray the following prayer or a similar prayer in your own words –

“Lord Jesus Christ,

I know that I am a sinner and there is nothing that I can do to earn my way to heaven. Although I deserve God’s wrath, by God’s mercy, I accept your free gift of eternal life by faith. I believe that You were born of a virgin and died on the cross to pay the price of my sins. I believe you were buried, rose again on the third day, have ascended into heaven, and will soon come again.

Lord, please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and take control of my life.” AMEN

If you sincerely prayed this prayer, then you have just made a decision by faith, to accept the free gift (God’s grace) of the substitutionary sacrifice of the Messiah (the Christ), whose suffering and death paid the price of your sins. You have been born again. As a new born, you need to be nourished.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

In order to grow and mature spiritually you need to:

•Be baptized into Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ)

•Speak to God each day through prayer. (Pray each day in the name of Yeshua/Jesus).

•Read your Bible every day. When you read the Bible, God speaks to you through His Word. (If you don’t own a Bible, then we will help you get one.)

•Find a Bible believing church and attend regularly – both worship services and a Bible study.

•Share with someone what God has done for you.

We have a variety of resources for you on our website such as:

Biblical Insights into Combating Addiction, Teachings on Prayer and Fasting, links to Christian resources for the addicted: Find Help, Healing Scriptures and information on our Annual Weekend of Prayer event.