Harm Reduction Tips
Parents Supporting Smart Choices
Telling your student how to safely use alcohol or marijuana/cannabis rather than telling them not to seems like you're giving them permission to participate in risky behaviors. We get it – ideally, your student would avoid drinking or using marijuana/cannabis, but the reality is that your student may experiment in college.
Harm reduction is exactly as it sounds: reducing potential harms through a variety of educational and behavioral strategies. We are not so naïve that we think parents talking with their college students about alcohol and marijuana/cannabis will put an end to consumption. However, you should do everything in your power to discourage underage drinking and marijuana/cannabis use, or at least encourage responsible behavior that does not put your student at risk for serious negative consequences.
How to Talk About Safer Use
Alcohol Harm Reduction Tips
Tips to share with your student include:
- Know what a standard serving of alcohol is.
- Know your limits, stick to them and stay in control.
- Determine how many drinks to have and stop at your number.
- Eat right before and while drinking.
- Don't mix alcohol with marijuana or other substances.
- Limit yourself to one drink an hour. Remember, shots take about 20 minutes to hit.
- Drink a non-alcoholic "spacer" between drinks and stay hydrated.
- Check if any medications you're taking interact badly with alcohol.
- Don’t drink if you have a strong family history of alcoholism.
- Drink for quality, not quantity (a 6-pack of imported or micro beer).
- Be aware of your situation. If you feel unsafe, leave.
- Watch your drinks while being made and after. Never leave your drink alone, even if you only have a soft drink.
- Don't drink and drive. Depending on your sex, body composition, and how much you consumed, it may take between 12-24 hours for your body to completely metabolize alcohol.
Ways Your Student Can Help Friends
Help your student understand they can be a good friend by:
- Being the designated driver
- Being a role model for your friends
- Knowing and responding to alcohol poisoning
- Never leaving an intoxicated person alone
Help your student understand that if they are concerned about the physical well-being of a friend who is overly intoxicated, they should call 911. The Nebraska Good Samaritan Law gives minors limited legal immunity if they call for medical assistance, remain on the scene and cooperate with law enforcement.
Marijuana Harm Reduction Tips
Share the following tips with your student:
- Avoid using daily or almost daily.
- Be sure you trust your source. You might not know the purity or potency of the cannabis/marijuana you are taking.
- Don't mix marijuana/cannabis with alcohol or other substances. Using two or more drugs at the same time can amplify the impairing effects of each drug.
- Be honest with yourself about why you want to use marijuana/cannabis, especially if you are using it socially or to cope with stress. Talking with someone, such as a friend or counselor about what you are experiencing is a better alternative to using marijuana/cannabis to mask negative emotions.
- Find healthier ways to deal with stress, such as daily exercise, practicing yoga, listening to music, meditating or learning relaxation techniques.
- Understand that marijuana/cannabis use can make anxiety and stress worse and lead to poor sleep quality, irritability and depression. Marijuana/cannabis use may also increase the risk of psychotic symptoms for those with a pre-existing vulnerability to psychosis.
Avoid using marijuana/cannabis, if possible, as marijuana/cannabis may result in DUIs, and problems with attendance as you may stop caring about the consequences of missing class or failing assignments. If you find that you no longer care about your performance in your classes, seek out a medical healthcare professional for support and guidance related to your use of marijuana/cannabis. - Take your time. It can be hard to find the right dose with edibles or other derivatives. You may get much higher for much longer than you wanted to. To prevent this, use a small amount and wait at least one hour to feel the effects before using more.
- Remember: If you feel different, you drive differently. Marijuana/cannabis can impair your motor coordination, judgment, and other skills related to safe driving. Wait at least 6 hours after using marijuana/cannabis before driving, biking or performing other safety-sensitive activities. Depending on the quantity you have used, you need to wait longer.
- Plan for a safe ride home. Driving impaired by any substance whether it is legal or illegal, is against the law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which means you can get a DUI if you are driving while impaired by marijuana/cannabis. You can designate a sober driver, give your keys to a trusted friend who is not under the influence, and/or use a ride-share service.
Bystander Intervention Tips
The 5 D's will help you understand how to respond safely, early, effectively and with kindness. Share these with your student:
- Direct: Stop the person immediately if the behavior is dangerous. Take the substance away to keep them from drinking or using. Take their keys away to stop them from driving.
- Distract: If the person is in a risky situation, invite them to join you in a safer environment and stay with them.
- Delegate: Find someone else who can intervene – bar staff, an organization leader or someone who knows the person better.
- Delay: If you’re not able to intervene in the moment, and the problem isn’t urgent, follow up the next day to calmly share your concerns about how substance misuse is affecting them. What specific behaviors worried you?
- Document: Take a screenshot if you see a concerning text or social media post and follow up.
Encouraging Assertiveness
One of the most important ways for your student to stay safe is to develop assertiveness. Whether it’s related to being assertive and standing firm in their plans for how to deal with being offered alcohol or in how much they’ll drink, assertiveness will help minimize the risks they’ll have.
College students often drink not because they have been pressured by their friends into drinking, but rather because they think everyone is doing it and that it’s an appropriate thing to do. Talk to your student about how assertive they are now with their peers and how they can strengthen that assertiveness.
Situations Where Assertiveness is Important
Certain situations can be more challenging than others. Discuss how they would react in the following scenarios, and how they can safely navigate challenging situations:
- Your student is at an activity with friends. The host had not planned on serving alcohol, but someone else brought it.
- Your student is pressured into driving while drunk or under the influence of marijuana, or pressured into getting in a car with someone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- The designated driver for the group doesn't do his job and drinks at the party but says he's sober enough to drive. Your student feels pressure to ride with them.
- Your student goes to a party where alcohol is present. Your student is offered a drink but refuses. Their friends start teasing them about "needing to get used to college" or "needing to grow up."
- People pressure your student to play some type of drinking game.
- Your student is at a party and people pressure them to drink more than planned or wanted, or to try marijuana.
- Your student's fraternity brothers try to pressure him into participating in a hazing ritual.
