The drug conversation - Dr Owen Bowden-Jones

'Should I drug test my child?'
'I've just found drugs in their room, what do I do now?'

The Drug Conversation is a guide for parents about how to raise the thorny issue of drugs with their children. It will help you begin a useful conversation about drugs with your child.

The book provides information on the different types of drugs available, their attractions and harms, how they work in the brain, and who uses them and why. It covers issues such as how to detect drug use, drug testing, synthetic drugs ('legal highs'), accessing help, effective treatments and what to expect from professional medical services.

The Drug Conversation also gives practical advice on how to prepare for and have a conversation about drugs with your child - including examples of actual conversations between parents and children. Case studies from the author's own clinical practice are used to illustrate the main points.

All parents will need this book at some stage. It will help you to feel properly informed about drugs, more confident in talking to your child, more able to keep drug-related problems from developing and better equipped to tackle problems if they do arise.