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Coming from someone who reads a lot of children's books alongside books targeted at adults, I can say I have the same tastes no matter who the audience is: good characters, a strong story line, and scenes that stick in my memory. There are some things that stay specific to both mediums, though:

-Age of the characters. High school rarely works for an adult audience. Harry Potter made it work because they were written with the intent that its audience would grow up with them, and thus, college-age and older were eating them up (it did not hurt that parents who were reading them to/with their kids got into them too). The same works in reverse. Having an adult as the main character in a children's book does not always work, either. Put it simply, people generally want to read about people who are more or less their own age.

-Depth. A children's book can get pretty intense (again, Harry Potter), but a lot do not deal with a lot of different subplots at once, and they often remain relatively simple. Adult novels tend to have a lot more going on, simply because adults have a longer attention span and memory for details. Thus, it is more likely for an adult book to have five or more subplots going on to better develop its characters than a children's book (not saying characters in a children's book never get depth, just not always as much as in an adult's book. A kid who simply learns a lesson in the end still grows and changes, but not as much as an adult who faces a lot more challenges).

-Content. It is true that some adult themes are not going to be seen in a children's book. However, this does NOT mean that it has to be included to make it an adult book. I think what better separates this one is those themes handled maturely and incorporated as a part of the story, not simply "thrown in" to make the story edgy, more adult, what have you (one reason why I cannot really stand teen novels).

-Character's problems. Kids books are more likely to have the protagonist deal with homework, chores, school, dealing with whatever literal and figurative monsters are thrown their way, and in-general, growing up. Adults are more focused on things like jobs, relationships, parenthood, addictions, religion, politics, and dealing with life in general. Some things are interchangeable with both (solving the mystery, figuring out who you are, politics with friends, that kind of thing), but the perspective for a kid and the perspective for an adult are two entirely different things.

-Subtle actions/details. I definitely see these more in adult books than ones aimed at kids (mostly because they have more room for this), but characters who twirl their hair when they get nervous, or smoke a certain brand of cigarette, or quote long-dead poets or continually straighten things in the room or that their speech patterns change around certain people can say a lot about them, especially if those habits remain consistent. Adult books also have a bit more room to give a bit of detail to the scenery (preferably when it becomes relevant). How someone keeps their house or decorates their room can say a lot about them (compare, for example, Sirius Black's room to the rest of his family's house).

Try aging your characters up. Give them jobs and relationships. If you must include drugs in your story, use it to your advantage. Maybe show a character suffering an addiction (so much potential for plot right there), or use it to show who the character is (maybe a respectable character once in a while smokes a recreational joint, but does not let it consume their life or become an addiction). Blend it into the story; do not just throw it in and hope for the best. If a character is at all important, show us who they are.

Even minor characters can get a lot of depth from their actions (there was one chapter in Salem's Lot that dealt with a bus driver who hated kids. Through a few memories and his current actions, we got to get to know him...and get a sadistic kick when his karmic death came upon him). You have more room for your story to grow and expand; use that room to flesh out both the characters and the plot.