Well this is the next one in my articles on drugs and teens...At the moment I am looking in the kitchen cupboard with what teens are doing these days to get drunk or high on  legal substances...Some of them I knew about and some of them have shocked me so I thought I would add them to the articles I have already written...So here we go..

Mint Extract

Mint extract can be found in most cupboards or pantrys in peoples kitchens...If you like mint flavoured things then you have this for flavouring your cooking...But from what I have read on the internet this is another normal kitchen ingredient that is being abused...Mint extract is any where between 80% to  98% alcohol so a full bottle of it is enough to get anyone drunk...In most of the articles I read about it people talk of the effect this gives when drunk as being drunk without all the stumbling...It is usually mixed with a soft drink of some sort or even  milk as I have read....

Lemon extract

This one is also talked about so I thought I would write about it here also...It has the same effects as the mint extract on the kids who use it..It contains anwhere between 80% to 84% alcohol and alot of the time is mixed with ice tea again giving the feeling of being drunk without the slurring and stumbling....

Both of these extracts can have an um wanted effect giving the user a terrible stomach ache and feeling just off colour some it does not have this effect on...

I think the biggest concern I have with these two extracts is they are so readily available to kids...The kids can go into any supermarket and buy these for themselves and mix them at home and be drunk in no time...There is really not anyhting we can do to stop our kids trying these if they are going to... but being aware of what might be happening is a good idea and one I think that helps me and my kids talk so much...

I have a close relationship with my kids and talk to them about anything if they bring it up...I think this is a really important thing when you have teens to know they will come and talk to you about something if they want to know about it...So keep the lines of communication open and just chat with them about anything they want to know about...

My thoughts on writing this were if you knew it could be used like this you could be prepared if one of your bottles went missing from your cupboard...If your teens are drinking this then they have reached that experimental stage which means it is time for you to have a chat about other things they might be experiementing with...things that may really harm them...

Just my thoughts on this I thought I would share...

Have a great day
Cheers
Angie