5 Signs your Child Might Be a Drug Dealer (and What to Do About It)

If you’re worried your teen might be selling drugs, it’s an awkward question to come right out and ask. You might want to avoid an argument, even though there may be an important discussion to be had. Perhaps your teen is just acting very different from the way they normally act, and it’s beginning to raise suspicions in you that something’s not quite right. It’s time to observe your child’s puzzling behavior and try to put the pieces together.

1. Your Child Appears to Be Under The Influence of Drugs

It’s a disappointing situation to see your child appear to be dabbling in drugs. It’s an unfortunate reality that it happens sometimes, and it’s not necessarily indicative of your failure as a parent. Sometimes social pressures push teens to do things they never thought they’d do. If it happens once or twice, talk to your child about it. If it seems to be happening often, your child could be selling drugs, or perhaps, be in a close social relationship with someone who is.

2. Your Child Has an Abnormal Need for Privacy

Absolutely every teen wants boundaries. It’s a part of growing up, and some of those boundaries should be respected. They’re healthy and they’re an excellent sign of maturation. When the need for privacy becomes unreasonable, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that your child might be hiding something. If your child seems to sneak in and out of the house at odd hours or is oddly protective over his or her smartphone (rather than in the way a normal teenager wouldn’t want his parents to read his text messages), you might want to watch your child closely to see the established pattern.

3. Your Child Is No Longer Involved In Their Own Life

Being a drug dealer (or a frequent drug user) is an abrupt change in lifestyle. If your child is drastically underperforming in school, skipping after school activities they previously loved, or skipping school entirely, this is worrying enough. It’s even more worrying when they aren’t doing the things they never need to be asked twice to do, like playing video games or seeing movies with their friends. This should be an even larger cause for concern if your teen still seems to be busy, despite no longer doing these things.

4. There’s Something Peculiar Happening With Money

If your teen is spending more money than you give them or more than what they make at their job, that money has to be coming from somewhere. If the source was ethical, the teen would probably be proud to tell everyone of her successes. Money coming in from a mysterious source is never a good sign, whether or not the teen is actually a drug dealer. This is something that should be confronted immediately.

5. Your Child’s Social Group is Abnormal

Drug dealers serve all kinds of people, many of which are people they would never ordinarily call a friend. If people come and go quickly, showing up at odd hours or bringing friends with them that you’ve never seen before, keep your eyes peeled. The same goes for your teen claiming to be meeting a new social group at odd hours, especially if they return home much sooner than they would have on a normal night out.

How to Intervene

Unless you have concrete evidence, it’s best not to immediately assume your child is a drug dealer. Even if you spot multiple warning signs, this may not be the case. A teen who seems to be groggy and withdrawn all the time may actually be experiencing severe depression, and the last thing that teen needs to hear is that you suspect them of doing something highly unethical.

No matter how you decide to approach the situation, it’s important to gather your feelings first. Yelling and screaming won’t fix matters – if your child isn’t afraid to sell drugs, they’re certainly not afraid of you. You might want to contact a lawyer if you suspect your child has been committing drug crimes, and you might want to seek rehabilitative services for the teen who may be hooked on addictive drugs.

Drugs like cannabis (which happens to be the most commonly used illegal drug in Australia) aren’t physical addictive, but you still might want to direct your teen to a mental health professional. Don’t think about it as punishing your child – think about it as giving your teen the tools they need to do better.

Lucy Taylor is an avid blogger who enjoys sharing her tips and suggestions with her online readers. Working as a legal expert at LY Lawyers, Lucy often helps people dealing with legal problems, addictions and crime.