Mfcttrf

Drugs are bad, m'kay.
In the area where I live, one of the unfortunate facts of life is widespread drug abuse. So, at night junkies use local playgrounds to shoot up then leave syringes and needles lying around, which is obviously dangerous for kids using the playground during the day. Today, we found a needle at the top of a slide and four syringes a few feet away.

I've already explained about the need for wearing shoes at all times. I've also explained that neither needles nor syringes must be touched because they carry infection. That went across very well when I added that should an accident with a needle occur then a visit to the hospital will be mandatory and most likely involve several injections (show me a kid who isn't scared of injections!).

What I couldn't explain was why the syringes and needles were there. My child thought they were used by doctors or nurses but was puzzled why doctors or nurses would use such things at playgrounds and leave them lying around.
I almost went ahead and explained intravenous drug use wanting to stress the deleterious effects of drugs but stopped myself as didn't want to plant the idea of drugs or drug use in a small child.

Now comes the hard part. How would you explain intravenous drug use to a 6yo?

Just be truthful. While the details about chemical addiction may fly over a 6 year old's head, the general idea is really not that hard to understand. Tell them that drugs are chemicals that can make people feel really good, but that are very unhealthy. Fundamentally, it's like candy and sweets, but far more dangerous (the consequences are more than obesity and tooth decay). This is something a child can easily relate to without making it appear alluring (who would want poisoned candy, anyway?).

You could try to leverage the knowledge your child already has about who normally uses syringes ("doctors or nurses"). Suggest that there are some people, who aren't doctors or nurses, who use medicine in ways they aren't supposed to. If you get a followup question like "why do they do that?", then maybe say those people might be sick and they really need to go see a real doctor.