Teens Tokin?

My thoughts on teens getting high...

First of all, I would like to start by saying that most marijuana activists I know who have a adolescent child or grown children do not have children that smoke marijuana. This leads me to believe that just because a child grows up in a household where they may see cannabis consumed or hear the topic of marijuana being discussed does not result in the child growing up to be an adult cannabis consumer. What it does mean is that the child of the marijuana activist is more than likely going to be extremely educated on the subject of hemp and cannabis, probably more so than some of their teachers.

I have also seen from personal experiences that children of marijuana smokers usually produce are usually higher functioning children. They are usually well behaved children or sometimes extremely hyperactive, but most always above average intelligence. I found no supporting research articles worth linking on this, only my personal observation of dozens of children I have seen develop over the years.

Most people started smoking marijuana at the average age of 14 from the statistics I have seen from a variety of surveys and polls. I personally did not try marijuana until I was 17, but I started drinking vodka like a fish at age 14. I think the general fear of teenagers using drugs including alcohol, pills, and nicotine is because it is damaging to a young person's emotional and physical health. The younger a person starts using a substance the harder is to quit and your body becomes more physically and psychologically dependent on the substance. Parents, teachers, and society do not want kids drinking alcohol, tripping on LSD, snorting cocaine, shooting heroin, having sex, smoking marijuana, or trying any other substance such as dangerous bath salts that could result in you running around naked eating someones face off. Teenagers have plenty of time being adults to do all that.

Think of it this way... teenagers are know it all, selfish, some-what "stupid" people for all of 7 years (teenage years), but then they have 80+ years to make choices to destroy their mind, body, and life. At least they should be encouraged to listen to their parents and other respectable adult figures for that 7 years and stay clean, and focusing on being a productive not destructive citizen. The teenage brain is still developing and it is very sensitive to external stimuli and chemical compounds that effect brain function even pharmaceuticals. My main reason to ask a teenager to wait to start smoking marijuana is to give their brain time to develop fully and properly, as well as, learn appropriate natural coping skills needed to get through life without needing to roll a joint, fix a drink, light a cigarette, swallow a xanax, or have some one night stand. Learn to cope with life without reaching for an alternative, one day there might not be an alternative to reach for... then you'll be screwed without getting fucked.

But having said all that, lets not be too hard on kids turning to pot instead of alcohol. I don't think there are too many times I have woke up from a night of getting high and said "damn, I don't remember a thing." or "omg, I'm so embarrassed I did that" or my favorite "i can't believe I had sex with him/ her" but how many times have those words been said after a night of drinking, and they seem to have been said more when we were underage.

Which brings me to my last point, keeping marijuana illegal is making a dangerous black market for our children. The black market also includes dangerous drugs much more addicting than marijuana more available to teenagers and children.  There are no warning labels that come with the drugs that your teenagers can purchase on the streets without an ID.

Kids are going to experiment. They are going to break the rules and disobey their parents. The best way to protect them as parents is to love them unconditionally and teach them like as if we are an open book of endless knowledge and always keep an open mind.