Much of the focus of the Recovery Resource Club of Henderson’s parent education night was vapes and the danger hidden from parents.
Carrie Gentry, manager of the RRCH and community addiction awareness director, said Wednesday night that children as young as seven or eight years old have been caught with vapes in local schools.
It’s bad enough, she said, that vapes contain nicotine, but some hold THC or even fentanyl. The dangers include a child using a vape that unknown to him or her contains the harder drugs, leading to overdoses or deaths.
Gentry also warned parents about K2 or Spice. According to the DEA’s website, these are synthetic designer drugs often marketed as “herbal incense” or “potpourri.”
She also spoke about Delta 8, a kind of THC often made in labs. Gentry said people can buy this in local vape shops and many think because it’s legal, it won’t get you high. Gentry said those thoughts are inaccurate.
“For people who say this won’t get a kid high, they’re misinformed,” she said.
Parents also need to be aware of gummies that look like candy that can create a high—also legal—which students buy off the internet.
Gentry, who has a background in education, said she’s seen students change their demeanor, hygiene and attitude when they start to use drugs. The longer it continues, the harder it becomes to get them back on the right track, she said, and parents need to pay attention to changes in their children and have loving—not accusatory—conversations about what’s happening in their lives.
One parent who was present, spoke of her child’s drug use.
“We knew something was wrong,” she said. “We never dreamed it was drug abuse.”
