Home drug tests can be a lifeline to parents who feel their child or teenager may be taking drugs but who are frightened initially to seek help. The internet now provides parents with a means of obtaining information and advice about drug use anonymously, and this anonymity can be preserved a stage further by using home drug testing to ascertain whether or not their child requires professional help.

In the NHS report ?Statistics of Drug Misuse and Young People: England 2006?, 19 percent (one in five) of secondary school children claimed to have taken drugs within the last year in 2005. 4 percent of 11 year old children had sniffed a volatile substance and 1 percent had tried cannabis. In children aged 15, 27 percent had taken cannabis.

A disturbing 4 percent of secondary school children in 2005 admitted to having used a Class A drug in the last year (cocaine, crack, ecstasy, amphetamines when injected, heroin, LSD, magic mushrooms and methadone). 12 percent claimed to have used cannabis, currently a Class C drug.

With these statistics in mind, it is only natural for parents to be concerned about their son or daughter taking drugs, and the negative impact of this on their lives, from poor school performance, social / behavioural problems and severe health risks to the simple and frightening fact that they are breaking the law.

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 states that it is an offence to unlawfully possess or supply a controlled drug, even if the drug is supplied free of charge rather than the traditional ?dealing? whereby drugs are exchanged for money.

The penalties for dealing in a Class A drug can incur a sentence in prison of up to life. Possessing a Class A drug such as cocaine, ecstasy or heroin is up to seven years imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both. Dealing in a Class C drug such as cannabis currently carries a penalty of up to 14 years or an unlimited fine, or both. Possessing Cannabis can result in a prison sentence of up to two years or an unlimited fine, or both.

Results from an ICM Research poll which previously appeared in the News of the World on Sunday demonstrated that 82% of parents and 66% of children support drug testing in schools and of the 1,000 parents surveyed, 96% said they would want to know if their son or daughter was taking drugs. Unfortunately, few schools are yet signed up to testing pupils and many young people remain vulnerable to exposure to drugs with no formal programme to identify problems.

Home drug testing can offer parents the opportunity to test their child in the privacy of their own home as an initial step to determining if their child is at risk. The simple knowledge that a testing programme is in place at home can be an effective deterrent for recreational drugs use, plain old curiosity or peer pressure to share drugs handed out amongst friends.

A negative home drugs test result will bring peace of mind to anxious parents and if a home drugs test is positive, parents are forewarned and forearmed with the information to seek confidential, professional help from a doctor or a drug treatment centre.