MARIJUANA CLEARLY NO LAUGHING MATTER

I heard a rather tragic story recently. A father learned that his
middle-school-age son was smoking marijuana. He told the child's
mother about it, and he found it funny to think of his son getting
high after school, just like Dad did.

Mom was not amused, either by the boy's drug use or Dad's attitude
about it. Dad told her, "Oh, don't over-react! We both smoked dope at
his age - it is no big deal. It is just pot."

The same attitude was portrayed on a television show just last night.
Very well-to-do high school students, and their parents, considered
marijuana as "it's just pot - it's not like real drugs."

The debate about the safety of marijuana use has gone on for many
years. Marijuana use and possession was not illegal during the time of
alcohol prohibition, and marijuana intoxication often became a
replacement for alcohol intoxication.

Prior to that time, marijuana use was limited to certain pockets of
our culture rather than being widespread. As its use became more
common, the negative effects became more visible. Marijuana was
recognized as an addictive drug that impaired judgment and often
served as an introduction to the use of harder drugs. Efforts toward
reducing access to marijuana began shortly thereafter, from both
public health officials and law enforcement.

Many of us in our 30s and 40s and 50s remember a time when students
could smoke a joint before school, at lunch or after school and still
go to school and pass their classes. They felt like they were getting
away with something, and the use of pot did not appear to disrupt
their lives. Because that was our experience, we presume it is the
same for students today. It is not.

Advances in agriculture and chemistry and international trade have
impacted the marijuana industry. The marijuana available today is more
potent than that of the pot of "our day." Today's marijuana has a
higher concentration of THC (the addictive chemical in pot). The
result is a drug that is strong, highly addictive, seriously affects
clear thinking and impairs the user's ability to drive a vehicle
safely. Children (including middle school and high school children)
should not be exposed to even second-hand pot smoke, much less
actually smoking or eating marijuana directly.

Parents who used to smoke pot sometimes feel like hypocrites for
telling their kids not to do it. They may have told their child about
their past, and then buy into it when the child says, "Well, you did
it - why shouldn't I?" The truth is, all adults can look back and
identify choices we made that were not good choices. One of our roles
as adults is to encourage children to benefit from the mistakes we
made and avoid the same mistakes, rather than repeating them. In fact,
it would be irresponsible to know of a dangerous situation for your
children and do nothing to protect them from it.

If you were a drug user at one time, here is a suggested response if
your child asks about your drug use: "Yes, I did it, but I wish I
never had. I did it because I thought it was necessary to be accepted
by my friends. But now I know two things - real friends like you just
the way you are, and using drugs is not a good choice. In those days,
we did not know as much as we do now about the bad effects of
marijuana and other drugs. I don't want any bad things to happen to
you because I love you. I don't want you to use drugs, including marijuana."