Well, I'm afraid I'm going to write another article that makes me sound like an old fart again. It seems I can not help. Perhaps this is the price you pay as a parent to two college students and a freshman high school. Again, sometimes it's just the price that pays for the fact that she really was an old fart.
However, this is not my fault. In fact, in this situation, I can not blame the great states of Colorado and Washington. This is because in November last year, both of these states decided to rally their population in order to enact laws that allow marijuana to be used for recreational use for adults aged 21 and older. Unfortunately, in the name of personal freedom and liberty, these states simply made our upbringing work much more difficult, as if it were not easy. So thanks for nothing, people from Colorado and Washington.
Now you may be wondering how the transition of these laws in these two states, applied only to adults, complicates our upbringing? After all, shouldn't adult men and women have the right to smoke a few weeds in the privacy of their own homes, if they don’t bother anyone else? And haven't most adults already had some time to smoke a pot during their life with the first side effect, other than stomach pain, of consuming too many corn chips after that? And do not most adults safely and responsibly consume alcohol in the same recreational manner? Well, if you clear the hint of sarcasm in these matters, you will be left with the three most popular arguments used by those who advocated the legalization of marijuana for years. Now I could jump right here, of course taking an old glove, but it doesn’t matter, since I don’t care what most adults do in the privacy of their homes. I worry about the kids.
Here is the problem: the laws and behavior of adults related to the use of psychoactive substances (regardless of whether these substances are legal or illegal) have a direct impact on the behavior of children. substance use. This is just a fact. And the proof of this fact is this: there is a direct correlation between the child’s perception of the safety of the substance and the children. the speed of its use. In other words, the more benign or less dangerous children perceive the substance, the more they will use and abuse it. This is one of the few substance abuse issues that most people agree with. This is because the facts are indisputable.
The University of Michigan is just one of many sources that shows the inverse relationship between cannabis use and perceived risk. Evidence shows that, due to history, when the perceived risk of marijuana decreased, its use increased. Conversely, when the perceived risk of marijuana increased, use decreased. This inverse graph of risk / use ratios looks the same for other substances, and also, in fact, along with access to the substance, explains most of the increase in substance use and abuse in history.
For example, in the 70s and 80s, children turned to inhalation adhesives and household cleaners, because they saw inhalants as a cheaper and easily accessible way to climb. Plus they were under the (very false) impression that these inhalants were safer than other drugs at the time. In addition, over the past two decades, the use and abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs has increased dramatically because children had easy access to their parents. and then also mistakenly perceived that these drugs must be safe (even with additional doses), because they were sold behind the counter, prescribed by doctors, or because their parents took them themselves. And more recently, the so-called "synthetic marijuana" has become popular because children turned to this substance, which is easily available in tobacco shops and stores, and then is perceived by children as completely benign. However, with the growing number of hospitals associated with K2 and Spice, states have since begun to knock down laws that will force these substitutes to be outlawed.
On the contrary, the same research shows that cigarette smoking in adolescence actually continued to decline since its maximum use in 1996. And in fact, the decline has been striking since (for example, in 1996, 49% of 8 graders tried to smoke, but by 2012 only 16% did it.) And, as predicted, this trend is due to two main factors. First, adolescents' accessibility to cigarettes has sharply decreased, since during this period the laws governing cigarette sales have declined significantly, while the cost of cigarettes has increased dramatically. Secondly, adolescent perception of the risk of cigarette smoking also increased dramatically during the same period (partly due to aggressive PR campaigns and educational campaigns that highlight the serious consequences of cancer and cardiovascular diseases). So, like all other substances, when it comes to tobacco, perceived risk combined with ease of access leads to increased consumption; but this time he works with parents and children. advantages.
So where does all this leave us parents when it comes to marijuana? Well, if this relationship between perceived risk / ease of access and adolescents use rates - this seems to be - then the laws in Colorado and Washington do not help our cause. (This, of course, means that our reason is to prohibit adolescents from using marijuana along with other substances, and hopefully this is a safe assumption for the most demanding parents.) If in most cases two states state that smoking marijuana for recreational purposes is good for adults, then the message for children "should be good for us children." And this is not the first such message our children received on this topic. In fact, between 1998 and 2012, 18 states passed the so-called laws on medical marijuana, and three more states consider such legislation in 2013. Here is also a growing message for children: “See, mom and dad, marijuana is becoming legal everywhere, because it is really good for you! "And with these laws comes not only this perception, but also increased access to the drug. (If you don’t believe me, ask any college student from the University of Colorado or the State of Colorado how easy it is to get a marijuana medical card for "stress" or other "medical conditions".
So these are parents. The perceived risk of marijuana is reduced, and its access is increased. This should be a pretty big “yikes” for any parent of high school children and above.
Rates are pretty high. As more and more states are passing these laws on medical and recreational marijuana, there is no doubt that adolescents' perceived risks associated with marijuana will continue to decrease. And the story proves that the pace of use, as a result, will continue to grow. This is problem. The National Center on Drug Abuse and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that since 1992 the frequency of clinical diagnoses for abuse of marijuana and / or dependence on minors increased from 492% (while the level of dependence on alcohol and other substances has decreased). Addiction to marijuana is considered by medical experts as a mental disorder and childhood illness, as nearly two thirds of all initiates start using it before the age of 18. Of course, not everyone becomes addicted to marijuana or dependent on it. But those who start smoking marijuana before the age of 18 almost double the risk of dependence on those who start later. And the health risks to young people are significant and well documented (for example, withdrawal, anxiety, depression, psychosis, trauma, sexual abuse, etc.).
Earlier this year, retired Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, began to speak out against what he called - this is a kneeling support for the legalization of marijuana, especially among its liberal democrats. Kennedy is currently leading a group project called Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana - http://learnaboutsam.com/), which opposes legalization. He argues that the laws on legalization were misled; that instead new laws should focus on decriminalization and drug treatment programs. (The theory here is that the war on drugs, which began several decades ago, was too harsh in criminal penalties for use and possession and too easy to treat, thus flooding the judicial system and prisons with harsh punishments without helping users / perpetrators recover. ) I am not sure that this movement will receive any transaction, but at least someone will raise several red flags there.
One of the most popular arguments for legalizing marijuana is that it is no worse and possibly safer than alcohol, which is already legal. As parents of adolescents, we should not settle down in this argument. There are two drugs that cause most of the world's mental health problems, physical injury, criminal behavior, and death. These drugs are tobacco and alcohol. They are both legitimate. So, the old fart in me should ask: why do we need a third one? But more importantly, we need to ask why our children need a third?
