When someone is in recovery from a substance use disorder, aka "addiction" we hope and pray that it will last for ever. The truth is that just like with many other illness, it might not. 60% of people in recovery experience a relapse in some point of their lives.
A great friend once told me that if someone relapses, you can't discount all the work and time it took to stay in recovery in the first place. She said it was like going on a diet and losing 100 pounds, but eating a box of cookies over the weekend and gaining 10 back…..YOU CAN'T discount the fact that you still lost 90 pounds! You just get back on track!
Having a strong network of friends and family to provide love and support is so important!

Here are a few warning signs that you and they can watch out for. 

• Romanticizing or longing for the old days
• Believing you are strong enough to use again without falling back into addiction
• Starting to reconnect with old friends from your addiction days
• Becoming defensive and no longer able to accept constructive criticism
• Beginning the pattern of denial that was present during the addiction
• Changes in attitude or behavior
• Sudden feelings of depression and loneliness
• Breaking down of social relationships
• Beginning to feel extremely stressed out and constantly tense
• Resenting those who are trying to help
• Withdrawal symptoms suddenly start to reappear
• Loss of belief of their recovery program.
• Thinking "only one drink" won't hurt

Remember treating someone with respect, speaking to them like the human being they are, telling them you support them if they need help (just as you would with any other illness) instead of yelling and judging will be more productive and you'll get better results.

The most common form of drug screening is done with urine, but tests can also be performed by taking a saliva or blood sample. Hair samples can also be used and are nearly impossible to cheat because nearly all drug residue can remain in follicles for as long as 90 days. The presence of illicit substances and how long they stay in the blood system depends largely on the frequency of use and amount used, along with other factors, such as bodyweight.
How Long Do Commonly Used Drugs Stay in the Body?

• Marijuana – 2 days to 40+ days
• Cocaine – 2 to 4 days
• Heroin – 2 to 4 days
• Methamphetamine – 2 to 5 days
• Amphetamines 2 to 4 days
• Ecstasy (MDMA) – 2 to 4 days
• Alcohol – 6 to 24 hours
• PCP – 3 to 14 days

While there are ways for a person to “flush” their system out before a drug screening, they are chancy at best. Professional screeners have seen it all, from detecting bleach in someone’s urine to being handed a cold, purple colored urine sample. To reduce the likelihood that an individual will substitute their urine sample with someone else’s, many labs require that a test administrator be present as it is being taken, which ensures the origin and purity of the sample.
In 2013, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimated that 9.4 percent of the population, nearly 25 million people, had used drugs in the past month. Continually failing drug screenings or being unable to stop using an illicit substance in the case of an impending test might be a signal of a greater issue, one of dependency or addiction.
Source: www.inspiremalibu.com and NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse

There are lots of ways to stay one step ahead of what your teen is doing on their cell phone and on social media platforms. Learn about the codes of net-lingo or text lingo on cell phones and hashtags. You'll be shocked to see what some of these mean.
Here are some that I have found:

• GYPO – Get Your Pants Off
• GNOC – Get Naked On Camera
• ASL – Age/Sex/Location
• GKY- Go Kill Yourself

Hashtags are sometimes used to follow communities that promote problematic behaviors like suicide, drugs, cutting, sex….. etc. Searching for certain hashtags on Instagram will pull up millions of pictures, not all of them positive. 
I found these #hashtags for Self Harm and eating disorders:
#ana, #mia, #cuttingCheck out the below resources and remember that information is powerful:
Text ingo-  www.helpyourteens.com/text-lingo-secret-language-of-teens/
Hashtags- blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/teen-hashtags-every-parent-know/

Thank you to the Partnership of Drug Free N.J. for adding our website to their resource list and for mentioning us in their blog. Your organization works endlessly to prevent substance abuse disorder in or state. It's an honor to work with your amazing team.
http://www.drugfreenj.org/blog 

When you've been through a not so great journey and you've survived it, you sometimes have insight to feel and see other peoples pain. My daughter Laura wrote the following post:
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There are always people that are going through things way worse than you. But that doesn't mean your pain isn't real. Everyone is entitled to their feelings. They're feelings, its not something we have a choice about.

So if someone you know is going through something, and its causing them pain, remember the feeling you had when you went through the worst time in your life. That's how you relate.

I hate when people say that. Everyone's pain is real, and even though it may be something silly to you, to them its real. You never know what someone is going through, Or what kind of day they're having. Be nice to everyone, even if you don't want to be. If someone is nasty to you, maybe they're just going through a bad time. Maybe try to give someone a reason to smile, instead of another reason to be mad. Just saying..think about it.