Peer pressure plays a role in teenager’s drug use the same way it plays a role on almost every aspect of teenagers’ lives. Teenagers are exquisitely sensitive to how their friends and peers perceive them and they assigned great importance to those relationships. As they try to navigate the rocky waters of puberty and they try to find their place in the world, they naturally move from their parents to their friends as the most important social group in their lives. This is normal. It’s natural and it should be expected by parents. The thing that parents shouldn’t do is assume that once they’ve been resigned as a second place that they’ve lost their power position. Maybe they’ve lost a little bit of their absolute control but they have not lost the ability to influence their kid’s decisions. When parents stay involved with their kids’ lives, they directly impact how those kids act and it’s really important that they not fall afraid to peer pressure because kids that feel supported and loved and maintain relationships with their parents are less likely to succumb to peer pressure than kids who don’t have their relationship with their family. The most important thing that parents can do is never stop trying, never stop telling their kids that they love them, never stop telling them that their safety is their first concern and it’s also important that parents to continue to review rules, consequences and expectations because that kind of clarity really helps kids succeed in the face of peer pressure.