Your Friend Becomes Addicted

How can you help someone who has a problem with drugs?

If you think a friend or family member has a problem with drugs, there are many ways you can help.

• Talk to your friend or family member about their problem and communicate your concern that they are hurting themselves and others with their drug use. Encourage them to seek help for their problem. Understand that they may deny they have a problem.
• Get the phone numbers of hotlines where teens can talk to drug counselors and peers about drug use.
• Tell them about other teens in treatment, so that they know they’re not alone.
• Attend Alateen (meetings for teens who have a family member or friend with alcohol or drug problems) Alanon, meetings for family members of persons with alcohol or drug problems, or Narcotics Anonymous meetings in your community.
• Organize an intervention to discuss with your friend or family member the truth about their drug abuse and how it affects the people who love them.