The average age for children to begin drinking and experimenting with drugs is 12 and a half years old, according to Stephanie Siete, the Director of Community Education for Community Bridges on Thursday, August 13th.

With the sole purpose of discussing the popular drug trends among teens, Siete met with parents in the auditorium in order to inform them of these dangers that teens face on a daily basis.

Siete warns the parents, and the few students in the audience, that the major drugs have not changed, but the way they are made and the potency have. “Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana have always been the popular drugs for young people, but now they are much different in look and strength.” Siete stated.

Siete’s presentation to the parents touched on their actions that may encourage their child’s drug use. She claims in her presentation that a parent who actively discourages drug and alcohol use can better avoid that dreaded midnight phone call from the police that their child has been found intoxicated.

Some of the highlights of her presentation were statistics, such as the prime age to use drugs is from 12 to 29 years old, during one of the most fundamental developmental age ranges for the human brain. She also shares that, “Marijuana is [now] a wax substance that is nearly 90% THC versus smoking weed, which is 15% THC.”  THC is a chemical that causes hallucinations.

Siete shares the dangers of prescription drug abuse among teenagers and adults stating, “Prescription pill use is an epidemic… 60% of the time someone dies from a drug overdose in the US it is from a prescription pill.”

Last year, Siete came and spoke to the class of 2017. When Principal Dan Serrano was asked about bringing her back to speak to the class of 2016, he stated, “there [are] a lot of things out there that parents, teachers and even students need to know.”

Siete’s presentation provides parents with information that they may not have known and is informational and resourceful; she gives parents follow up research and links if they suspect their child of such abuse.