Klonopin, a prescription drug, has become an alternative to drinking alcohol by many young people. That’s according to police. So Klonopin is a drug substituted for alcohol by underage people.
Unintended Consequence
With increasing crackdowns on the availability of alcohol to youth, they increasingly turn to alternatives. Although readily available, Klonopin can be very dangerous. Especially when it’s taken with certain other substances.
“The schools have been very effective in tackling the use of alcohol at school functions.” That says the police chief of Arlington, Virginia. To counter that effectiveness, young people are turning to drugs like Klonopin. These are which very hard to detect.
“Safer” than Pot or Alcohol
Marijuana can affect behavior much longer than alcohol. And it may be much more dangerous for driving and other activities. But it is much safer in that people are very rarely arrested for driving while drugged.
Drug counselor Allison Whitney says that she got into several crashes as a teenager. That was because of smoking pot while driving. She would get pulled over for erratic driving. Yet police would always let her go because she always passed breath tests.
Ms. Whitney says marijuana is especially attractive to teenagers. It’s easier to hide than alcohol. Also a person can get high faster than they can get intoxicated. Another advantage is that most parents don’t detect pot.
In addition, nation-wide research shows it’s easier for young people to buy marijuana than beer. That’s because of increased crackdowns against the sale of alcohol to underage persons.
Klonopin is now on the growing list of alternatives to alcohol. It includes Ativan, Oxycontin, Valium, Xanax, Librium and Vicodin, among others.