Have you talked to your teen about marijuana?
Is America becoming a pothead nation? Pot logic is taking over the brains of the misguided. Because medical marijuana is legal in several states does not justify the risks. Because recreational marijuana is legal in several states, the imprudent crowd argues that it’s benign. Common sense has gone up in a puff of smoke. And teenagers are listening in.
Cannabis products contain the mind-altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). They can also contain 400 other chemicals. Hmmm. Today’s weed is more potent than yesterday’s weed. How can inhaling 400 chemicals into your lungs be healthy? Only time and more studies will determine whether long-term smoking of marijuana causes lung cancer. Tobacco, move over.
What will you tell your teen when he/she makes an illogical case for the weed seed?
According to a 2019 article by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, teenage marijuana use is at its highest level in 30 years, and today’s teens are more likely to use marijuana than tobacco.
“But it’s not addictive,” whine the clueless. Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is addictive. Research shows that 1-in-6 people who start using the drug before the age of 18 can become addicted and 1-in-10 adults who use the drug can become addicted, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website.
“But it’s legal, so it must okay.” Legal does not mean safe. SAMHSA says, “Using marijuana can affect performance and how well people do in life. Research shows that people who use marijuana are more likely to have relationship problems, worse educational outcomes, lower career achievement, and reduced life satisfaction.” Well, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
“But it’s natural.” So is poison ivy, but I don’t see users huffing and puffing the leaves of three and celebrating the itchy vine.
“But it calms me down, so what’s the harm?” A 2014 study in the Journal of Neuroscience found changes in parts of the brain associated with reward and addiction, even among users who were not judged to be drug dependent. Marijuana has negative effects on attention, motivation, memory, and learning.
What is its effect on the mind? When marijuana is smoked, the THC passes from the lungs and into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the organs throughout the body, including the brain. In the brain, the THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Read more at www.dea.gov.
As a former alcohol and drug counselor, I witnessed the crash and burn of many weed-smoking teens. Motivation ended up in the toilet of “I just don’t care about school or grades or rules.” Purpose and passion centered around buying and smoking potent pot from the powerful plant.
Street names include: Aunt Mary, BC Bud, Chronic, Dope, Gangster, Ganja, Grass, Hash, Herb, Joint, Mary Jane, Mota, Pot, Reefer, Sinsemilla, Skunk, Smoke, Weed, Yerba.
With legalization and use of weed in pop culture and new ways of using (edibles, vaporizers, concentrates), it’s becoming even more important for parents to consistently converse with teens.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), as part of the National Institutes of Health, offers an extensive collection of publications, education materials, and videos to help parents talk to their children about drug use. www.drugabuse.gov.
With the legalization of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, have adults sent the wrong message to teens?
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in Ohio. Contact her at melissamcolumnist@gmail.com.
Melissa Martin, Ph.D, should have appeared on an episode of Dragnet! She is an example of an educated idiot. Marijuana has been consumed by humans in all of recorded history, and likely millions of years before that. She speaks of, “the crash and burn of many weed-smoking teens”? WHEN, WHERE Dr.? This story is a complete distortion of anything resembling the truth, government endorsed propaganda and complete HOGWASH! Marijuana has harmed no one at all. I don’t endorse kids smoking pot, but for adults 21 and older it should have been legalized many years ago. The constipated minds of people like Dr. Martin misinform people, and people who don’t know better swallow the government bait hook, line and sinker. After they have spread their lies, they likely go out and have some mixed drinks and pat themselves on their backs for all the good work they’ve done. They make me sick, because I do know better.
Also Dr., I’m 63 years old have a MA, and am slowly working on a PhD myself. I was a police officer for 16 years, and have smoked pot for 50 years. My experience is first hand, and didn’t come from a textbook. Perhaps you should have a more informed perspective on your subject; rather than obtain grants from the federal government to back up their lies. Knowledge is learned, wisdom is earned.
Alcohol is a much bigger problem with teens (and adults) than marijuana ever was.
Why is alcohol legal, but pot isn’t?
it’s in the constitution DA
I most certainly agree Super!
I notice KAG is trolling me again. 😉
i like to but in when smart people ar talkin so they think i is smart two
Yeah. KAG is pretty pathetic. She fools no one.
Every one of these “facts” are being used by the writer to support an argument they don’t support on their own. She cited 1/10 and 1/6 to support levels of addiction as a means to say it is addictive. Yet, in any scientific stretch of
The imagination of you had a repeatable test, and you received 10% every time, one could assess that this is probably not correlated.
As a doctor, I’m fairly concerned that none of her information contains any Tests of significance or correlation. It lends credence to the fact that she might not be a very good doctor after all.
Thank you Doctor, I wish I had explained it that well! 🙂
In her whole article she didn’t mention anyone dying from using marijuana, because it doesn’t kill anyone. Alcohol, pills, tobacco and hard drugs kill and addict people on a daily basis, marijuana doesn’t. Also the stronger the marijuana the less you need to get the same effect. G13 in 1992 was just as strong as anything we have now. It’s been around since there was dirt to grow it in and no one has died from smoking pot. Pot wasn’t made illegal because it was killing people, it was made illegal mostly because of racism. Look it up. She has a case of “reefer madness in 2020” lol she’s an educated idiot.
Chris, I would not be surprised if the good doctor watched “Reefer Madness”, she would actually think it to be true.
http://www.webmd.com has an interesting article entitled “How Marijuana affects Your Body.”
Does it make you jittery? Does it give you a high? Does it affect your ability to think? Does it affect your brain? Does it affect your ability to drive? Does it affect your ability to work? Does it affect your relationships with others?
These are a few of the symptoms that marijuana can unleash upon those who are willing to trade health for a few moments of a high that doesn’t last forever.
Teens apparently are more susceptible to having major changes in these areas than adults. But who cares?
Apparently not those who exchange a healthy brain and body for a few brief moments of a “high.”
Another opinion from someone who has not one clue what she is talking about. The so called Doctor at the top said “a few states had legalized Marijuana”, It is 33 states Diane. You know nothing, you have an opinion, nothing more. You post a WebMD link, that proves that point. You need to smoke a joint, at least one time in order to have ‘some’ information. Right you have nothing dear, except your own misinformed opinion.
I smoke weed daily and have over $1 million in net worth, which I have worked for, saved, and invested. I also have great relationships with friends and family. Please tell me how this is harmful?