When Laura was 15 years old, she was already well down the path addiction. At the time, I was not educated about what to look for and the connection between changes in her behavior, friends, and school performance and the fact she was using drugs.

Because I have the privilege of hindsight, I can look back on how we attempted to help Laura and look at what we might have changed as we began our journey to address and treat the disease. If you think something is going wrong, the likelihood is that you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg and things are much worse than you think. Determine how big the problem is by investigating. Ask your friends, school teachers, and your family. Then, buy a drug test kit at your local store and get a definitive answer.