Controversy: Drug-Sniffing Dogs to Sniff Out Drug Abuse?

It seems that now parents, suspecting that their teens may be abusing drugs, don’t have to go to the police. They can hire drug dogs to sniff out the truth.

ABC News reported Oct. 22 that a company located in New Jersey can rent a drug sniffing dog to check the premises of those teens they suspect may be abusing drugs.

“Who would have thought,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia, “that we would ever see the day that parents would feel the need to hire police dogs to see if their kids have drugs.  It seems far-fetched, but it is happening and the reasons are easily understood.

“Drug tests can be fooled which can be extremely dangerous.  A parent may be content thinking that their teen is not taking drugs, when the actual fact is that the teen is faking the test results.  There was a recent report of an overdose when a family thought their son had stopped using opiates because he had a clean drug test.  The truth was that he was cheating the test and overdosed and died.  He had been using drugs in their presence, but they were looking at the tests, not him.”

Some psychologists, however, say home surveillance, such as global positioning devices, software that can read text messages, and drug sniffing dogs can be damaging to parent-child relations. "There are major repercussions for this type of intervention," said Neil Bernstein, a Washington, D.C.-based clinical psychologist, who said that such snooping "erodes trust and goodwill."

“However,” comments Ms. Rieser, “with all the peer pressure and MTV, it is almost impossible for a teen to escape the opportunity to use drugs.  Some of them may simply be using drugs because their friends are and inadvertently become drug addicted through the social drug use.  Then the real problems for the family of theft, possible jail time and death begin. 

“A police dog might be a welcome relief – a good excuse to tell the friends why drugs cannot be around. “

Another solution is for parents to learn the signs of drug abuse – methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and opiates.  They all have their own signs and one can tell by observing if they are in the midst of a drug abuser.

However they do it parents have to know if their child is on drugs.  Failing to find out can be fatal. 

Call Narconon Drug Rehab 1-877-413-3073 for more information on effective drug treatment or drug education.

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