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Thread: Help - what do street drugs smell like?

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  1. #1
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    Help - what do street drugs smell like?

    A guy came to my office for the first time - never met him before.

    He wants to be more savvy about protecting his teenage children. He smells odd smoke in his house and has seen bits of fine black ash behind boxes in the garage. He knows what marijuana smells like and it is not that.

    I would appreciate anyone's street knowledge about what street drugs smell like when burned or smoked.

    You can share your knowledge here or e-mail me privately at 'revbkent@sbcglobal.net.


    I'll also accept recommendations about where to look for this information. My google searches haven't been fruitful - probably asking wrong. I want to help this guy out if his kids are in trouble. At my former location we housed a CA group where I could ask these questions.

    Thanks in advance.

    Brian
    Last edited by Lee Schierer; 06-01-2022 at 6:59 AM. Reason: removed active email link
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  2. #2
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    I believe most Police Depts. offer classes and info on this.
    They go through extensive training on it, so would be an excellent source.
    Corner a cop at the donut shop.
    (Just kidding. I have the utmost respect for them).
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  3. #3
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    My experience is limited but when I have been around people who had recently been smoking pot, it smelled like a sweet musty odor.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  4. #4
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    It might be easier to educate yourself about what people look like when high...for example pupils dilated, etc. granted, such things are subjective, and easier spoted with personal experience, but they may be easier to delineate than smells.
    ymmv.
    Paul

  5. #5
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    I agree, Paul. I'll pass that along, while I try to find a direct answer to his "odor and ashes" questions.

    I did find some info on the smell of Meth - like burning rubber or plastic - but that it varies with the impurities in the Meth. I also could not tell whether they were talking about the smell of production or the smell of use.


    Edit: He said the smell was like when a steak our ground beef has to much blood and the blood is burning in the frying pan. (Sorry. That's really gross.)
    Last edited by Brian Kent; 02-19-2012 at 4:13 PM.
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  6. #6
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    Maybe he should ask his kids? Tell them what he found in the garage, and see what they say. No need to be accusatory...just have the conversation. For the record i raised 2 daughters...both of them experimented in school..as every kid does...and now one does not drink or use drugs, and the other drinks some, but does not do drugs.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Morton View Post
    Maybe he should ask his kids? Tell them what he found in the garage, and see what they say. No need to be accusatory...just have the conversation. For the record i raised 2 daughters...both of them experimented in school..as every kid does...and now one does not drink or use drugs, and the other drinks some, but does not do drugs.
    Absolutely
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Morton View Post
    ?..experimented in school..as every kid does...
    I can't believe that someone would make such a blatantly untrue statement....... I know lots of kids that have not and would never consider taking drugs.

  9. #9
    Here's some background music for this thread, courtesy of Lynyrd Skynyrd:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6q9nBusrq8

    One thing is for sure, just about everyone I have known with big problems has "experimented" with drugs, and just about everyone I have known who has "experimented" with drugs has big problems.

    If I were this guy, I would get right on top of this.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert McGowen View Post
    I can't believe that someone would make such a blatantly untrue statement....... I know lots of kids that have not and would never consider taking drugs.
    sorry to offend..a better less offensive choice would have been "as some kids do"...

  11. #11
    I wouldn't waste any time on smells. There are too many ways that people will try to hide or mask a smell, resulting in a different smell altogether.

    And anyone that has watched Cops knows that people caught red handed won't admit to drug possession or use. You won't get honest answers from the kids. I've known parents that were told "it is just a little pot" only to later discover the kids were doing heroin.

    I'd waste no time in getting them to the doctor to run an illicit drug panel.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Thien View Post
    I wouldn't waste any time on smells. There are too many ways that people will try to hide or mask a smell, resulting in a different smell altogether.

    And anyone that has watched Cops knows that people caught red handed won't admit to drug possession or use. You won't get honest answers from the kids. I've known parents that were told "it is just a little pot" only to later discover the kids were doing heroin.

    I'd waste no time in getting them to the doctor to run an illicit drug panel.
    You don't think that might be a tad heavy handed?

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Morton View Post
    You don't think that might be a tad heavy handed?
    It is all in how you approach it.

    But first, let me say that, where there is smoke, there is fire. I cannot help unless I have all the facts. I cannot count on the drug user to provide me with all the necessary details. Therefor the drug test is pretty much required.

    If I had to order drug tests, I'd simply explain it thusly: "I don't like it any more than you do. But drugs are a powerful motivator and users will lie, cheat, and steal. I don't want to put you in the position where you feel you have to do any of those things, so we're going to do the smart thing and get some testing going."

    Thankfully, I have never been put in this situation, but I know quite a few others that have.

    Without getting too political I feel all drugs are gateway drugs.

    I watched as my very first best friend (friends from the time we were two or three years old) became an alcoholic, then started using marijuana, then started using all sorts of prescription pills, then started using all sorts of other drugs.

    You see, his parents thought it was cute to have him mix their martinis starting at about ten. By twelve he was a secret alcoholic. By fourteen he was smoking pot, and it just got progressively worse.

    He died from an overdose three years ago. He had been clean for several years, but pain killers after a motorcycle accident got him going again.

    His parents were unable to cope. He manipulated them like a virtuoso playing a violin.

    I've noticed that most of the kids I've known that have become heavily involved in drugs had/have parents that were completely ineffectual. Probably the single biggest failure I've seen is that the parents attempt to reason with the children. IMHO, there is really very little reasoning with someone addicted to drugs.

  14. #14
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    You can check my credentials to answer this question in this thread, second post down.......
    Here

    In reality, a police department is not going to help you with identifying the smell.

    Even if he knew EXACTLY what the smell was, that does not tell him at all who is using.

    Someone mentioned that you do not have to be accusatorial, and that is true. In my opinion though, you DO have to hand them a drug test that tests at a minimum heroin, cocaine, meth, and marihuana. Explain to them why you are handing it to them, and make them take it right then. Anything short of that is doing a disservice to your children. A parent's job is not to be their child's friend, it is to be their parent.

    Off rant!

  15. #15
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    That addresses the fact that he doesn't even know if a family member is using. Thank you.
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

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