“It’s just marijuana. It’s not like he’s doing heroin or meth.”
“I can’t worry about pot and drinking? We all did it in high school.”
“We didn’t want him to get arrested so we let him smoke marijuana at home. It’s a harmless drug.”
“His anxiety is so bad, we let him smoke marijuana.”
“My son is not smoking marijuana. His grades are perfect and he’s just not the type.”
I have heard parents say all of the above statements, dismissing marijuana as harmless. But today’s pot is far stronger than the seventies pot and as an illegal drug for those under 18, there is no regulation as to what’s in it. And while addiction experts rarely agree on everything, they do agree that substances are not good for the developing brains of teens and young adults.
Giving your underage child permission to use substances means you run almost double the risk of their becoming addicted since they are more vulnerable to substance use disorder during their brain development years. Pot also lowers inhibitions for kids to try other substances. And worst of all, studies show it triggers psychosis and schizophrenia (permanent changes).
That’s dangerous in a culture where drug use for dealing with emotional and physical pain is so normalized.
Add to that equation, the caffeine, stimulants, and other energy drinks that often keep kids up longer, increasing their risk for overuse and overdose of other substances. While I believe marijuana should be decriminalized for those over 21 which means eliminating criminal penalties for or removing legal restrictions against possession, that doesn’t mean I think it’s harmless.
It was a gateway drug for my son and it is for a lot of kids struggling with trauma, problems at home mental illness. Those with a family history of addiction have an even higher risk of early addiction. All of this increases a child’s suicide risk.
Mobile phones allow kids to live secret lives parents know nothing about. And while parents can’t necessarily stop drug abuse, it’s a good idea to make it more difficult with home and phone restrictions and having a conversation to let teens know where they stand.
Denial that “It’s not my kid,” or denial about the seriousness of the substance to the brains of our children puts them at risk for relationship problems, prison, and early death.
People don’t start with heroin. They graduate to more concentrated forms of marijuana and other hard drugs. Which means we can’t dismiss marijuana as harmless.
- Free eBook: Is Your Child or Spouse Using? Signs of Drug Use
- Support: Johnnysambassadors.org/parents– resources on how to find help for you and your child
- Support: MarAnon and MarAnon Meetings– Support for family members who have a child using THC
- Information/Resources: Substance Misuse/Addiction resources
- Information/Resources: Everybrainmatters.org
- Information/Resources: iasic1.org– Iternational Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis
- Study: NCBI- Cannabis-induced psychosis study
- Study: Harvard Health Publishing- Teens who smoke pot at risk for later schizophrenia, psychosis–
- Article: Very Well Mind- Can Marijuana Cause Psychosis?sis: A Review
- Article: Marijuana: Facts parents need to know (National Institute of Health)
- Article: Does marijuana use increase teen suicide risk?
- Article: Mental health care fails at addiction treatment, Part 2
You are spot on! I concur with every single thing you mentioned! As a former detox and juvie nurse, I have never had a patient with substance use disorder who didn’t start with marijuana at an early age.
I would bet all that I own that ALCOHOL was the “gateway” drug.
Johnny disliked alcohol tremendously! Sometimes he would taste a cherry cider, but he didn’t like the taste of beer and especially hated hard liquor.
It typically starts with what you have in your home which is why alcohol and cigarettes are the primary gateway drugs. Some do start with marijuana. It’s the normalization of it all that makes them think it’s nothing. None of them are good for a developing brain.
You are 100% correct. If I hadn’t been so woefully naive, I could have seen it and would have attepted to thwart it. My son DID graduate to pills and a few other substances, with ugly results. His argument was always, “alcohol is way worse”. I don’t drink but his father does. So I not only lost battles, I lost the war. My FA supprt group helped. I have made a reluctant peace with his choices, but the sadness and regret roll in like a fog nearly every day.
Well if it helps we got right on it and set limits and our result was terrible. So we can’t always divert that use like we think