In the wake of revelations that dozens of young people were involved in a Virginia heroin ring that has been associated with four deaths, Washington Post reporter Caitlin Gibson wanted to know what leads a "good kid" to start using heroin. Her investigation led to a two-part article series titled When Heroin Hits Home.

The answer is simple, according to Edythe London, a neuroscientist and pharmacologist at UCLA who is at the forefront of addition study: "Heroin is an equal-opportunity substance." The factors that make a person susceptible to drugs cross ethnic and economic lines in ways many people dont fully realize, London says.

The best that parents can do, Gibson opined, is pay attention, be involved in their kids' lives, and watch for signs of trouble.

Labels: teen_drug_use, parental_involvement, heroin

Posted By: Aspen/CRC