INDIANAPOLIS — Parents are being encouraged to have more conversations about drugs with their kids. This comes as the county is seeing an increase in drug use among young people.
Administrators at Eastwood Middle School sent a note home to parents after multiple students ate edibles that were laced with an unknown substance.
The executive director of Drug Free Marion County said parents should be having conversations about drugs with kids as early as 5 years old, and kids are beginning to use drugs as early as 10 years old.
Students at Eastwood Middle School learned a hard lesson after taking candy that contained an unknown drug.
“That’s not foreign to us at all,” said Michaelangelo McClendon, of Drug Free Marion County. “When it comes to edibles, there’s no way to tell what’s in them.”
An email sent to parents of Eastwood students by principal James Tutin said students who took the edibles appeared to be under the influence. Medical attention was provided to those students.
“This is a good reminder to all families that our children have influences around them that threaten their welfare,” Tutin said. “With the access to illegal substances becoming more and more prevalent, our students can find themselves in some vulnerable situations. Having candid conversations with your children about how to navigate these situations, even if they never encounter them, is more important than ever. Unfortunately, the days of accepting a piece of candy from a friend may need to end.”
Perhaps what’s more alarming, according to McClendon, is that more and more children start experimenting with drugs even before middle school.
That email sent by administrators urged parents to talk with their kids and educate them about the risks of taking drugs: find out what they know, then provide the education.
“What does that look like, how to prevent that, not to start using and what that could mean if they do start using them,” McClendon said.