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In part 1 of this 4 part series we looked at how fear can prevent us from pursuing a home business, and some ways to handle that fear. Now, let’s examine a few ideas for a home based business and see if we can shed some light on various assumptions that can trigger fear or concerns that might prevent us from moving forward.Selling art, jewelry or crafts onlineDo you wish you were artistic enough to make this a home business? Imagine how you would feel if you had this as a business and could create art that people really liked and were buying. Now consider this – you don’t need to be a nationally recognized artist to create art that people will buy. Abstract art is a perfect example. This became clear to me when I watched a video online of a person creating abstract art with scraps of paper, string, other odds and ends, and some glittery paint. At the end of the video the artist said in effect: what looks like a mess to you looks like beautiful art to someone else. She has a thriving business.As for jewelry and crafts, take a slow walk through the big craft stores in your area. Beads and wire jewelry are huge these days and you’ll find lots of books explaining exactly how to create beautiful jewelry with simply a few different pliers and various sized wire. While looking, take in the number of craft items that are available. The selection is enormous. You simply need to add some paint or combine items into a craft you think others would enjoy. Again, you can look through the craft books to get lots of ideas. It doesn’t take skill to create these so much as it does simple determination and some inspiration.Freelance writingThe first time I heard of freelance writing, I assumed it meant writing articles or stories for magazines, newspapers, journals, publishers and, well, you get the picture – the classic print media we are all familiar with. I thought, clearly one would need a degree in journalism or something before you can have a career as a freelance writer. The fact is, many individuals from all walks of life, are earning a living as freelance writers, writing (drum roll please…) content on the internet. The number of people connecting to and shopping on the internet, and, the number of businesses that are establishing a presence on it are increasing at a phenomenal rate. The web is so vast that we typically use sites like google, yahoo or bing to help us find the information we are searching for. Businesses pay people to write content for their websites that help draw in potential customers. You don’t need to be a journalism major to fulfill this need. Do a search on freelance writing and see if you don’t find some inspiring material to help you take the next step with your ideas for a home based business.Internet MarketingI once thought Internet Marketing meant haggling on the phone with some cigar smoking advertising executive over the price of running an ad on some web site. Or, worse, attending meetings with executives where I have to pitch some marketing plan they should buy into, only to get shot down and ridiculed. Sound like a nightmare? Being a somewhat shy person at heart, anything with the word “marketing” was not on my list of ideas for a home based business. Again, I had let fear, and therefore ignorance, prevent me from looking any further. It was only when I did some research into internet marketing that I found out I was completely mistaken. The bottom line is, make a conscious effort to realize you may have had assumptions about what a business involves, and be willing to drop them and do research to get a more accurate understanding of the business.Above are three examples of ideas for a home based business that may have been discarded initially since we have assumptions about ourselves or the business itself. By looking more closely at the business or opportunity, as well as ourselves, we might find a source of inspiration that has been waiting to be untapped. The idea here is to give yourself an honest chance to think through and understand each opportunity, despite the fear that may present itself. Ask yourself, am I really risking anything by simply researching the idea and gaining knowledge about it? The fact is, there is no risk in doing this.

How do you start your own home based business? Just have your criteria ready so you can find a business that matches up to what’s important to you. If you want to go into business, think of it more as, and additional selling tool, not an exclusive selling machine. As an example, my wife was looking for a home based business or work from home program, her friend always tried to sell her candles and you see this product a lot in stores, craft shows, flea markets, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. No one starts a business NOT to make money. Every business needs traffic on their website to earn cash. For Your Information just as a side note, if you have your own business or product and you are looking for a way to get noticed don’t forget about press releases.Being in Business for Yourself Operating a home based business, is now more popular than ever. However, this may not be for everyone and some questions need to be answered to determine the right home based business for you. There are tons of home based business ideas you can adopt, and choosing the right one may not be easy, however, knowing what to look for will definitely make things much simpler. How much startup capital are you willing to invest? When determining the investment, it should be an amount you are comfortable with to start your home based business. It does not necessary mean that you have to invest the full amount, but rather as gauge to filter out high costing ideas. Since you will be working from home, you need not pay the high cost of rental for office space and depending on the business you are in, possibly no management of employees and salary required. Product fulfillment is very important in a business. Keep a lookout for partners or mentors who are more experience, whom you can leverage on to guide and assist you towards your success in your business. How much time am I willing to spend is another question to ask yourself. There are quality websites that will provide you with steps to take in starting a small home based business without cost or low cost.You need to network, and find out what other people do to get their money and follow them. Alternatively, you could also be in a home based business that you market frequently and make money on every sale made. Always do your research to find what is in demand before you waste all your money, time and effort. Just imagine not having to worry about any bills anymore, no commute, and money in your savings account (Who has that these days?) I always thought that if you could really order all your needs for your family from home and save time and money I would show people the way and no one would have to buy brainwash tapes or have to find sitters and money to attend all those damn functions. There are home based businesses that are low cost and low risk level and still make you tons of money.

The IRS has been aggressive recently in pursuing tax cheats who have hidden assets in offshore accounts. Penalties for not reporting the existence of foreign accounts are steep, which concerns even honest businesses and individuals that are unsure about their filing obligations.

Generally, U.S. taxpayers with a financial interest in foreign financial accounts are required to file Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (often referred to as the “FBAR”), when the aggregate value of those accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during a calendar year. Such accounts include, but are not limited to, checking, savings, securities, brokerage, mutual fund and other pooled investment accounts held outside the United States. Individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, one or more accounts with the same qualifications must file an FBAR as well. This latter requirement has caused much confusion and concern among executives with some level of discretion over their employers’ foreign financial accounts.

Last February the Treasury Department published final amendments to the FBAR regulations to clarify filing obligations. These regulations became effective on March 28 and apply to FBAR filings reporting foreign financial accounts maintained in calendar year 2010 and for all subsequent years.

These new regulations also specifically apply to people who only have signature authority over foreign financial accounts and who properly deferred their FBAR filing obligations for calendar years 2009 and earlier. The deadline for these individuals to file the FBAR was extended until Nov. 1, 2011.

The IRS also ended an offshore voluntary disclosure initiative as of Sept. 9. During this initiative, the IRS offered a uniform penalty structure for taxpayers who came forward to report previously undisclosed foreign accounts, as well as any unreported income generated or held in those accounts, during tax years 2003 through 2010. Even though the window to participate in the program has closed, the initiative’s FAQs make clear that those with only signature authority on foreign accounts should still file delinquent FBAR reports.

Signature Authority Exception

What does signature (or other) authority mean, as far as the IRS is concerned? The final regulations define signature or other authority as follows:

“Signature or other authority means the authority of an individual (alone or in conjunction with another) to control the disposition of money, funds or other assets held in a financial account by direct communication (whether in writing or otherwise) to the person with whom the financial account is maintained.”

According to this definition, executives and other employees aren’t necessarily required to file an FBAR simply because they have authority over their business’ foreign financial accounts. Under the final regulations, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) grants relief from the obligation to report signature or other authority over a foreign financial account to the officers and employees of five categories of entities that are subject to specific types of Federal regulation. Among these categories are publicly traded companies listed on a U.S. national securities exchange, and companies with more than 500 shareholders and more than $10 million in assets. For publicly traded companies, officers and employees of a U.S. subsidiary may not need to submit an FBAR either, as long as the U.S. parent corporation files a consolidated FBAR report that includes the subsidiary. These exceptions only apply when the employees or officers don’t have a financial interest in the accounts in question.

However, the regulations provide that the reporting exception is limited to foreign financial accounts directly owned by the entity that employs the officer or employee who has signature authority. The exception doesn’t apply if the individual is employed by the parent company, but has signature authority over the foreign account of the company’s domestic subsidiary. Further, foreign accounts owned by foreign subsidiaries of a U.S. corporation are not eligible for this reporting exception.

For example, if the Acme Corp. owns foreign financial accounts, the executives with signature authority over those accounts must also be employees of Acme Corp. in order to qualify for the exception. If a U.S. subsidiary of Acme Corp. owns those accounts, the executives with signature authority over the accounts must be employed by the subsidiary (not Acme Corp. directly), and Acme Corp. must file a consolidated FBAR that includes the subsidiary for the exception to apply.

Determining Signature Authority

Even if a company’s officers or executives do not qualify for the signature authority exception, it is still possible that they may not be required to file. According to the final regulations:

“The test for determining whether an individual has signature or other authority over an account is whether the foreign financial institution will act upon a direct communication from that individual regarding the disposition of assets in that account. The phrase “in conjunction with another” is intended to address situations in which a foreign financial institution requires a direct communication from more than one individual regarding the disposition of assets in the account.”

An executive who merely participates in the decision to allocate assets, or who has the ability to instruct others with signature authority over a reportable account, is not considered to have signature authority him- or herself, unless the foreign financial institution will accept instructions from that executive with regard to disposing account assets. If the individual in question only advises or oversees the account’s direction, it is possible he or she doesn’t have to file.

Penalties for Not Filing

According to the FBAR filing instructions, a person who is required to file a FBAR may be subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000 if he or she fails to properly file. If there is reasonable cause for the failure and the account balance is properly reported, no penalty will be imposed.

Although not defined in the final regulations or the FBAR filing instructions, it appears that the Department of Treasury will follow the reasonable cause standard defined in the Internal Revenue Code (Sections 6664 and 6724) and the Treasury Regulations (Sections 1.6664-4 and 301.6724-1). Generally, these are circumstances out of the taxpayer or entity’s control. Note that the IRS does not consider being unaware of the FBAR filing requirement as a reasonable cause.

Determining whether “the account balance was properly reported” is less clear. Individuals report their interest and dividend income on Schedule B of their income tax returns. Part III of Schedule B pertains to foreign accounts and trusts. Checking “yes” in this section to indicate a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account in a foreign country may or may not be sufficient for meeting the “properly reported” standard. Reporting all of the income generated by the foreign account may or may not be sufficient either. According to a reader of Palisades Hudson’s Current Commentary blog, the latter does not satisfy the requirement to avoid penalty. The reader is a U.S. citizen living in New Zealand and is married to a nonresident alien. He mentioned that he reported all of his income from foreign financial accounts on his U.S. individual income tax return, but has been assessed the penalty because he did not file a FBAR.

The penalty is more severe, of course, for a person who willfully fails to report an account or account identifying information. Such person may be subject to a civil monetary penalty equal to the greater of $100,000, or 50 percent of the balance in the foreign financial account at the time of the violation, as well as possible criminal penalties. The reasonable cause exception does not apply to willful violations.

In the course of researching this topic, I contacted the IRS Bank Secrecy Act Telephone Helpline to get a better understanding of the penalty for employees with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, an employer’s foreign financial account. According to the representative with whom I spoke, the penalty would not be assessed on the employees for merely having signature authority over assets for which they have no beneficial interest. The representative has not seen an instance in which the employee was assessed a penalty for not having filed a FBAR under these circumstances.

The IRS representative also mentioned that the IRS has been very lenient on such filers. If anything, she said, the penalty would be assessed on the employer, if the business had not been reporting the accounts and the income generated in those accounts. If it is determined that the executives have a filing requirement, the representative said that the executives should file the FBAR by completing Parts I (Filer Information) and IV (Information on Financial Account(s) Where Filer has Signature Authority but No Financial Interest in the Account(s)), along with an attachment explaining why this is the first time the executive is filing the FBAR.

If it is still unclear whether an employee qualifies for the signature authority exception and it appears that the employee has discretion over a business’ foreign financial accounts, we recommend filing the FBAR. The form generally does not take much time to prepare, and the potential cost of not doing so is too high to justify the risk.

Executives who prepare – or hire an accountant to prepare – FBARs for business accounts over which they have signature authority must also report any personal foreign financial accounts for which they have a financial interest or signature authority (regardless of the balances in those accounts). The filing requirement mandates that all foreign financial accounts be reported if the aggregate value of the foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

While foreign financial accounts have become a favorite IRS target, executives and the companies who employ them generally needn’t worry. Awareness of the rules and attention to the accounts will ensure tax compliance and the avoidance of incurring needless penalties.

Why do many consumers take dietary supplements to grow taller? The reasons are varied-many times medically valid, sometimes not. In low or appropriate dosages, some supplements offer health benefits under some circumstances. Some people use supplements with good intention: perhaps in search of protection from or a remedy for health problems such as depression, aging skin, cancer, or arthritis. Still others seek added benefits: perhaps better athletic performance or sexual prowess. Too often, supplement use is based on scientifically unfounded marketing promises. But, some people still claim to undeniable scientific proofs.

It would be great, but boosting your nutrient intake won’t cause your cells to produce extra energy or more brain power. Only three nutrients carbohydrates, fats, and proteins supply energy or calories to grow taller. Vitamins don’t. Although B vitamins do help body cells produce energy from the three energy nutrients, they don’t produce energy themselves. Many powerful drugs and toxic chemicals are plant-based. Varieties of mushrooms can be classified as “culinary delicious” or “deadly dangerous.” In the same vein, herbal supplements should be used with caution! Any healthy natural supplements to grow taller, without proper doctor acknowledgement and governement authority approbation sounds really fishy to me.

Athletes and other physically active people need about the same amount of nutrients as others do to grow taller just more energy, or calories, for the increased demands of exercise. The extra amount of food that active people eat supplies the very small amount of extra vitamins needed to grow taller and have more energy production, too.

Although protein needs are somewhat higher for some athletes, especially for those in strength-training sports, food can easily provide the extra. On another note, physical activity, not extra amino acids (protein), builds muscle. For more on nutrition for athletes and ergogenic aids.

Dietary supplements to grow taller won’t protect you from the harmful effects of smoking or alcohol abuse. Here’s the real scoop: Smoking does increase the body’s need for vitamin C; drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages can interfere with the body’s use of most nutrients. If soil can grow crops, the food produced is nutritious. When soil lacks minerals, plants don’t grow properly and may not produce their potential yield. Growing area does affect a food’s iodine and selenium contents.

Supplements won’t give you instant grow taller results, it would take at least a 2-3 months training for instance. For vitamins and minerals to do their work, they need several hours or several days to interact and do their work in your body. For any benefits from other dietary supplements to grow taller, you likely need to take them even longer. Supplements to grow taller are easy to spot. By law, they must be labeled “dietary supplements.” About eighty thousand dietary supplements are marketed in the United States with multivitamin/mineral supplements being the biggest product category-and with an average of 500 new products launched each year. They’re sold in many forms-for example, tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, powders, and bars.

Do you consume a varied, balanced diet to grow taller? With some exceptions, supplements usually aren’t necessary. If you’re healthy and if you’re able and willing to eat a balanced, varied diet. You probably can get the vitamins and minerals you need from smart food choices. According to national studies, most Americans have enough healthful foods available to do that, yet they may not. Under some circumstances, vitamin/mineral supplements offer benefits and are advised; like those for growing taller.

A woman with heavy menstrual bleeding? You may need an iron supplement to replace iron from blood loss. To enhance absorption, take iron supplements with water or juice on an empty stomach. If nausea or constipation are problems, take iron supplements with food. Absorption may be decreased by as much as 50 percent when taken with a meal or a snack. A woman who’s pregnant or breast-feeding? You need more of some nutrients, especially folate and iron-and perhaps calcium if you don’t consume enough calcium-rich foods. Check the label’s Supplement Facts to make sure you get enough for a healthy pregnancy. Ask about a prenatal vitamin/mineral supplement.

Someone unable or unwilling to regularly consume a healthful diet to grow taller? You likely need a dietary supplement to fill in the nutrient gaps. However, eating smarter would be better if you don’t have food-related health problems! Take a supplement with the advice of a doctor or a registered dietitian. For example, pre-menopausal women who don’t consume enough calcium to grow taller and stronger bones from food likely need a calcium supplement-unless they’re willing to improve their diet. Some babies after age six months, children, and teens may need a fluoride supplement to grow taller and perhaps iron or vitamin D.

If you are not able to meet your calcium and vitamin D recommendations with foods to grow taller, you may need calcium or vitamin D supplements to grow taller. Ask a dietitian or your doctor about the right dosage and type. And enhance their absorption by taking them with food. Only food can provide the mixture of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and other substances for a health quality that can’t be duplicated with dietary supplements to grow taller alone. Fortunately for most Americans growing taller, there’s plenty of quality, quantity, and variety in the food marketplace.

Enjoy plenty of calcium and vitamin D-rich foods. They provide more for bone health calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and overall health than supplements do. And a varied, well-balanced eating plan offers other nutrients that appear to promote bone density, including magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K

Supplements to grow taller carry labeling, showing the amounts of vitamins and minerals in a single dosage. If you already eat a healthful diet, you probably don’t need any more than a low-dose supplement. Taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement, with no more than 100 percent of the Daily Values (DVs) as a safety net, is generally considered safe. Most nutrient supplements are produced in low dosages.

Supplements with water-soluble vitamins or minerals can be risky if taken in excess, over time. For example, taking extra vitamin B6 has been suggested to help relieve premenstrual tension. Yet there’s limited evidence to support large vitamin B6 doses for relief of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Many women have viewed large vitamin B6 doses as harmless, since they are water-soluble. Instead, they may cause irreversible nerve damage when taken in very large doses above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): 500 to 5,000 mg vitamin B6 per day.

That said, can you overdose on vitamins or minerals naturally as you grow taller with food? That’s highly unlikely. As we mentioned, taking very high doses of dietary supplements or taking too many, too often can be dangerous. The vitamin and mineral content of food is much more balanced fortunately. In amounts normally consumed, even if you enjoy extra helpings, you won’t consume toxic levels of nutrients. So eat a variety of foods-and enjoy! Note: Nutrient amounts to grow taller can add up if you consume a lot of highly fortified foods.

You may take dietary supplements to grow taller for potential health benefits. It’s not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer, AIDS, or other life-threatening health problems, who are desperate for a cure, to put their hopes and healthcare dollars in alternative treatments, including dietary supplements. However, supplements may offer a false sense of security-and a serious problem if you neglect well-proven approaches to health or delay medical attention.

Drink plenty of fluids with calcium supplements to avoid constipation. The lactose and vitamin D in the milk help to enhance calcium absorption. If you don’t drink milk and want an alternative to calcium pills, consider calcium-fortified juice or soy beverage. One cup of calcium-fortified juice or soy beverage can contain about 300 milligrams of calcium, the same amount as in a cup of milk, and provides vitamin C, folate, and other nutrients. Still, you need a vitamin D source to aid absorption; some calcium-fortified juices and soy beverages are also fortified with vitamin D.

Calcium supplements help to protect against osteoporosis (brittle-bone disease) It can’t make up for your lifestyle choices or poor health habits. Regular weight-bearing physical activity is important to grow taller and obtain healthy bones. For healthy bones, avoid smoking, too.

Vitamin nasal sprays or patches are effective to grow taller? No research evidence says so, even though they’re promoted for faster, more efficient absorption. In fact, they may not be absorbed at all. Here’s the reality check: Fat-soluble vitamins need fat from food to aid absorption. Vitamin C in your intestine aids iron absorption-a problem if vitamin C comes from a spray. Vitamin B12 binds with intrinsic factor made in the stomach during digestion. That cannot happen with a spray or a patch! So that means all the place that try to claim that you could grow taller with that are just scam.

Indeed, herbals and other botanicals have known medicinal qualities helping us grow taller; 30 percent of today’s drugs come from plants. Yet, herbals and other botanical supplements also are sold as dietary supplements rather than regulated as drugs. Like many plant-derived pharmaceuticals, these supplements can offer both positive health benefits and harmful side effects.

On the up side, enough scientific evidence has been collected on a handful of botanical supplements to support their limited use. For example, under a doctor’s guidance, gingko biloba may be used to help treat the symptoms of age-related memory loss and dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease); green tea extract may help reduce cancer risk. A growing body of research evidence is being gathered about their safety and effectiveness, as well as their limitations and dangers.

On the down side, like other supplements to grow taller, herbal and other botanical supplements are regulated differently from pharmaceuticals, which are meant to cure or prevent disease. You aren’t as protected from misleading claims as you might think. When you think about the quality and effectiveness of these grow taller methods; you can see that the marketer’s are absolutely in control of the quality…

According to current law and regulations, herbal and botanical remedies to grow taller and other dietary supplements to grow taller can enter the marketplace without FDA approval. The burden is on the FDA to remove a dangerous dietary supplements to grow taller from the marketplace. Currently dosages of herbal remedies aren’t standardized, so dosages vary among products. Some are even copies of the actual real-product that is made by legitimate herbal company; they put the same product name change what is inside and put the same label. Be very careful, you can look up grow taller 4 smarts free scam alerts to be ahead of scammers.

Although packaging claims can’t say that a supplement to grow taller cures or prevents disease, it may carry claims for its purported health role. Many claims have only limited scientific evidence. Are herbal supplements or botanicals are safe during pregnancy and nursing? There’s not enough scientific evidence yet to recommend safe levels for herbal supplements for pregnant or nursing moms. However, some are known to be harmful to a baby.

The effects of substance abuse in teens are not only individual; they can also be seen on the society. They may face problems at school or college and may involve in criminal activities. It is therefore very important to detect drug abusing teenagers. Drug testing should be conducted on a regular basis at schools and homes to identify and save them from harmful drugs of abuse.

Signs of drug abuse
Identifying certain signs helps you to detect if the kid is addicted to the drugs. Some of the common physical and emotional signs are:

• Change in sleep patterns
• Poor motor coordination
• Poor hygiene and illness including nausea and excessive sweating
• Irregular heartbeat
• Impaired thinking
• Mood swings
• Hyperactivity or overtired
• Depression

Drug abusing teens lose their interest in family activities, often abuse verbally and physically at home or school, and disrespect the family or school. In addition, abrupt decrease in grades, memory and attention loss, and lack of interest and concentration on studies are some of the signs at school. The moment you observe any of the above mentioned signs, you need to immediately check if the kid is abusing drugs. Drug testing is one of the safest and easiest ways to detect the drug abuse among teens.

Types of drug tests
There are different types of methods to detect the teens who are using drugs. Some of the common ones are urine, saliva, hair, and blood tests.

Urine drug test
Of all the types, urine testing is used most commonly as it is inexpensive method used to detect a drug user. You can use urine test kits at home or school to check if the child is addicted to illegal drugs. Quick and accurate results are obtained by these test kits.

Saliva drug test
It is more advantageous as it is relatively non-intrusive. Saliva from the mouth is taken through a swab and is checked for the presence of drugs. Most recent drug abuse can be detected by saliva tests. Conducting saliva test is very easy and also provides accurate and immediate results.

Hair drug test
This method is also non-intrusive. A hair sample of 1.5 inches in length is enough for conducting the test. Drug or its metabolites deposited at the hair shaft are detected by hair tests. You can get very reliable and accurate results by this method.

Blood drug test
You can also use a blood sample of the teen to detect illegal drug usage. It is however expensive and you need to approach laboratory as you cannot conduct it at your home.

Detection periods
The detection period depends on the method of test conducted. These detection periods vary from the type, dosage, and frequency of drug used.

Urine drug test can detect drug or its metabolites for 30 days in frequent users and for 2-3 days in occasional users. The test detects Cocaine for 4-5 days, Heroin for 2-4 days, Methamphetamine for 3-5 days, PCP for 3-7 days, and Codeine for 2-4 days.

A saliva test is mostly used to detect recent drug usage. However, it can also detect drugs consumed 3 days back. Of all the methods, hair drug test has a longer detection period. It detects illegal drug consumption for about 90 days.

What if results are positive?
Once the kid is tested positive by drug test kit, talk to him/her about the result. You can get a confirmatory result through laboratory tests. Communicate with him regularly regarding the effects of drug abuse. Ask him to leave companions or friends who are habituated to drugs. If necessary, send him/her to substance abuse treatment program.

Importance of intervention
Detection and intervention of drug abuse at primitive stages can prevent further damage. Drug intervention is an attempt made by family members or school authorities to help the teen get out of drug abuse or addiction. The main objective of intervention is to make the teen understand the physical and mental destruction caused by drug abuse. If you are not able to speak to the kid on this, you can take help of your friends or relatives. You can also consult specialists who counsel drug abusers and help them get back to their normal life.

Parents and school authorities should always keep an eye on the behavior and activities of the teens. Necessary measures have to be taken in order to prevent them from taking drugs.

Teen drug abuse became a serious health problem in United States. It is hurting the healthcare system, burdening the economy, and causing millions of deaths every year. Of the many causes that promote drug abuse among teens, lack of parental supervision is a major one. Teens should be guarded properly by their parents as they are still immature.

Since, early intervention leads to effective prevention of this unhealthy habit, parents should identify drug abusing habits in teens and take preventive measures. Parents can take help of home drug testing kits which are effective and easy to use.

In this article, we will discuss about teens and their vulnerability to drug abuse; how to identify teen drug abuse and how important are drug testing programs at home to prevent teen drug abuse.

Teens – vulnerable to drugs abuse: Many scientific studies have already proved that teenagers are more prone to risk taking and are vulnerable to drug abuse when compared to adults. This typical behavior of teens during adolescence is because of the major changes in parts of the brain that are responsible for functions such as self-control, judgment, planning, organization, and emotions. Since teen brains are not yet fully developed, they cannot take proper decisions and fall victims to unhealthy habits like drug and alcohol abuse.

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse: The primary step towards prevention of drug abuse in teens is to identify their unhealthy habits. Prominent changes, both in their behavior and in physical appearance can be noticed even at the early stages of abuse. Following are the warning signs:

Physical and emotional changes:
• Red eyes
• Finding difficulty to speak
• Sudden fall or rise in weight
• Lack of hygiene and showing less interest in personal grooming
• Aggression and arrogance
• Depression and irritation

Social and behavioral changes:
• Dissociation from old friends and acquiring new social group
• Sudden anger or depression
• Poor attendance and academics at school
• Spending time lonely
• Abnormal odor in breath or clothing
• Pipes, needles and other suspicious substances in their room

Importance of home drug test kits: The moment you see the signs that indicate drug abuse in your teen, it is the time to confirm drug abusing habits using reliable methods. They are useful devices for the parents to confirm these unhealthy habits in teens. They are simple, easy to use, provide instant and accurate results, cost-effective and above all ensure privacy. Some multi-panel drug testing kits can detect multiple drugs of abuse at a shot.

Best drug test methods to implement: When it comes to home drug testing, urine and saliva tests are considered to be the best methods. There are two other methods – blood and hair tests also, but they need special devices and expert supervision, hence are not recommended for home testing.

Urine test can detect the drugs in your teen’s system up to three days after use. If you believe that your teen has taken drugs during the last few days, then this method is effective in offering accurate results. However, it is necessary to check that your teen is not providing fake urine sample which can lead to false results.

Saliva drug testing is an ideal drug test if you suspect that your teen abused drugs on that particular day. These kits can detect drug use up to 48 hours.

Need for random drug testing: If you are conducting drug tests on your teens at regular intervals, following a regular pattern, your teen may notice the pattern and either try to manipulate the sample before the test or stop abusing drugs few days before the test. Hence, practicing random drug tests is always an ideal way to identify the drug use which effectively helps in detecting the drug abuse among your teens. Random testing makes teens say ‘NO’ to drugs as they know that you can conduct drug testing any time at home.

Home drug testing kits can be considered as effective solutions in controlling and preventing drug abuse in your teens. So, make sure that you have some of them at home to test your teen to help him stay away from drugs.