Any attempt to scare kids away from drugs is going to have the opposite effect. The more negative hype you feed them, the less they're going to believe it, beca

Any attempt to scare kids away from drugs is going to have the opposite effect. The more negative hype you feed them, the less they're going to believe it, because they're going to meet many, many functional non-addicted drug users in their lives. When they get to college and see people casually doing some drugs at the occasional party, while remaining perfectly functional at school and work, they're going to completely dismiss all the fear-mongering hype you've fed them. Drugs can be very bad for many people, but they are not universally bad for everyone. Be honest with kids about the dangers of addiction, the poor decisions that can result when inhibitions are lowered, the health problems, and most of all, how being high is an escape mechanism and a boredom solution, when a better idea might be the find a healthy hobby. There are plenty of negative things about drugs that can be discussed without resorting to the kind of extreme fear-mongering that is certain to backfire. And if you drink in front of your kids, have a good long think about the hypocrisy before you preach. Alcohol is the most dangerous drug in the world, yet it's legal almost everywhere. Kids are not stupid. They'll see their pothead friends acting a lot better than their drunk parents, and they'll reject everything they've been told.