Millions of American teenagers have abused drugs or alcohol in the past 30 days, and many of them are chatting about it online with a frightening degree of openness, according to a Caron Treatment Centers study published June 19.

The study, which reviewed 10.3 million online messages posted by teenagers over the past year, found that many regularly chat about drinking alcohol, smoking pot, taking hard drugs, partying and hooking up. With one in ten teenagers reporting that they currently abuse drugs and over 20 percent currently abusing alcohol, perhaps parents who don’t know what their children are talking about online should take a closer look.

Teens posted messages asking how much cocaine they should carry, how long to wait between getting high, how to combine hard drugs with household products, and for other tips on substance abuse. Some used message boards to contact drug dealers. The study also found that teens regularly go online to boast about and share drug memories, as well as chat about getting high or drunk, attending drug and alcohol parties, having sex while under the influence, self-mutilation and other experiences.

Posts cited included teens seeking or offering advice not only on alcohol and marijuana, but also on hard drugs including cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, ecstasy and lsd.

Lucky O’Donnell, 19, who has been off drugs since 2005, used the web to find out how much cocaine to carry without being charged as a drug dealer, what he could combine with it, and how much he could take. Just before he turned 17, his mother found him on the floor convulsing after combining the drug with alcohol and a pain reliever.

“One site said it was fine, one site said it wasn’t,” O‘Donnell said.

Information—and misinformation—about drug abuse once available only in the seedy parts of town or from certain kids at school is now streaming through thousands of Internet cables in middle- and upper-class homes across the United States. Combine this frightening new danger with the threat of Internet predators and the seething sewer line of pornography, and parents wanting to protect their teens from filth are left only one choice. That computer is going to have to move to the family room after all.

To find out how you can not only save your child from inhaling away his or her mind but also enable him or her to lead a life of safety, accomplishment and fun, read “Taking Time to Save Our Teens.”