NYPDS - Northamptonshire Young People's Drug Service
This is CAN's page for all young people under 19 that have a problem with drugs or alcohol, or are worried about a friend or family member's drug or alcohol use.
For Young People
CAN Young People's team has joined with Sub 0 to form a bigger team that will provide a better service. If you would like to see, or talk to a young person's drugs worker <click here>.
For Parents and Carers
If you are a parent or a carer, and are worried about a young person's possible or actual drug use, <CLICK HERE> to find out what support CAN is able to offer you. This will take you to another page giving details of how you may contact a CAN counsellor to discuss your concerns and if necessary make an appointment to meet with a counsellor.
Some of CAN's experience working with young people in the drug and alcohol field
The first thing for you to know as a parent or carer with concerns about a young person's drug or alcohol use, is that you are not alone and that there is help available.
A question we are often asked is; How can I tell if my child is using drugs?
During our work with adult groups we often do an exercise where we divide the group in two. We ask half to describe a typical teenager (moody, unkempt, argumentative, etc....) and the other half to describe what they think a young person on drugs would be like...(moody, unkempt, argumentative, etc...) I am sure you can see where this is going.
The second thing you need to know is that there is no such thing as a safe drug. That is true whether you are talking about paracetamol, alcohol, or heroin. The one virtue that alcohol (a very dangerous drug is misused) has is that its manufacture is closely controlled. This cannot be said of illegal drugs.
Research shows that the majority of young people appear to have no long-term negative affects from their drug experimentation. Remember also that it is natural part of growing up to want to experiment.
You are your young person's best chance. We have found that young people make up their own minds as to whether they are going to try drugs or not. If you are able to stay open and discuss calmly with the young person in your life, issues in and around drug use, this is the best support they will ever have. If they can't talk to you, then the chances are the only people they will be talking to are the pushers or people advocating drug use.
Having said that, to experiment is natural. By its very nature often the experiment stage can be the most dangerous as knowledge of the effects of the drug may be unclear or unknown. This is where good drugs education enables a young person to make an informed and in fact, safest choice. For example, ther is no such thing as safe experimenting with aerosols.
Finally, always remember to think of drug or alcohol use in context.