Deciding drug use is a problem depends on lots of things and is not always clear cut.

Drug use is not always a problem for people. Lots of young people use alcohol and other drugs without it ever becoming an issue. But for a small number of young people, drug use can escalate into a major problem.

There’s no clear line as to what’s a problem and what’s not – that depends on the person. But things are likely to be becoming an issue if the negatives of your drug use are outweighing the positives. It might help you to write a pros and cons list to check in to see where you’re at.

Sometimes your friends or family might be telling you that you’ve got a problem and you don’t agree with them. Ultimately, it’s you that needs to determine if your use is a problem for you or not, but remember, your friends and family probably mean well and care about you. If your drug use is negatively affecting your relationships, or if you have less control over your use that you would like, then it may be becoming a problem for you.