Son asking for rides

[Entlover]

My 16 yar old son has a new habit. He goes places with his friends, gets stuck there, and calls me for a ride home. The other day he wanted a ride home from a town 50 miles away -- he had his bus pass but didn't know which bus to take, and had only enough money for 1 pay phone call as his cell phone was not charged. I looked up the bus for him and told him to come home on his own, which he did. Now he has lost his bus pass.
Last night he was 15 miles away, had spent all his money, and his bus transfer had expired. I went to pick him up at 10 PM, but I'm not a good night driver and can't keep this up. But I couldn't let him spend the night on the street. He's very self centered, and I know his thinking is fuzzy because he's smoking a lot of pot: we will start him in counseling for that next week. I will not be supplying any more money since I learned about the pot, but that won't keep him home.
Any suggestions?

[Esprit]

Dear Entlover,

Your son's behavior is a big concern and the drug issue, plus his going to far away at night with friends and getting stuck places sound like a scary combination. It also sounds like he does not abide by any rules of the house which are typical with drug use. When I say rules, I don't mean small, inconsequential ones, I mean BIG ones like not engaging in the behavior you describe and understanding that you can't go and pick him up 50 miles away. Very tough situation. It makes me think of Dr. Bradley's statement about "loving him to much to allow him to hurt himself." What he's doing sounds dangerous!

Did he start with the counselor? It really sounds like you need an experienced drug and alcohol/teen counselor to help you sort all of this out and that in addition to individual meetings with him and his counselor, you'll need family meetings.

Hope his meeting with the counselor went well. By the way, I like your name on here. Lord of the Rings fan I assume?