Excellent post! I'm an addiction and maternal mental health therapist and the biggest way I see cannabis impacting kids right now is their PARENT'S use! Which is turning into a total nightmare. So many parents escalating to daily use, triggering mania of previously mild of unknown cyclical disorders, driving under the influence, and divorce. And don't even get me started on the disaster of accidental ingestion, such a mess. Glad these conversations are happening.
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer
This is an interesting conversation. The way legalization (and the changing composition of the drug) will affect kids and teens is not something I had put much thought into. I do think even comparing cannabis with opioids is ridiculous and turned me off from the conversation initially however. I am in public health and think honesty and messaging are important. Cannabis needs to be given the respect it deserves but it is not an opioid.
I had a similar reaction to the opioid comparison, which affected my read of the discussion of the changing composition of marijuana -- because when I was a kid in DARE in the 1980s, they were telling us the exact same thing: "This is not the drug your parents knew in the 60s, this is much stronger and more dangerous." I can't assess the truth of the statement at any point, I just know it's a recurring claim, and taken along with the opioid comparison really made me react skeptically. But given how many dispensaries are everywhere these days, I guess at some point (hopefully not for a number of years given my kid is seven now) we'll have to have a conversation with him. Maybe even one beyond "[shrug] the stuff just never appealed to either of us."
I absolutely see your point, both of you, and I really appreciate your speaking up. I will revise the newsletter subtitle for the web version to remove the comparison so it’s not so heavily emphasized. Thanks for the feedback!!!
Thanks for writing this. I knew I didn’t understand a lot about cannabis, and this helped illuminate those dark areas. I’m fascinated that it’s so hard to research! We’ve told our kids about the effect of cannabis on developing brains, and now they respond in chorus with “not until we’re 25!” when we talk about it. I just hope we can keep talking about it and that our message sticks. Thanks again for this thoughtful, and thought-provoking, article.
Thank you for your post. I still have time to have this talks with my children and I was wondering when the brain stops developing? Because my children can decide to use drugs when they are only 18.
Excellent post! I'm an addiction and maternal mental health therapist and the biggest way I see cannabis impacting kids right now is their PARENT'S use! Which is turning into a total nightmare. So many parents escalating to daily use, triggering mania of previously mild of unknown cyclical disorders, driving under the influence, and divorce. And don't even get me started on the disaster of accidental ingestion, such a mess. Glad these conversations are happening.
Thank you for sharing your perspective!!!
This is an interesting conversation. The way legalization (and the changing composition of the drug) will affect kids and teens is not something I had put much thought into. I do think even comparing cannabis with opioids is ridiculous and turned me off from the conversation initially however. I am in public health and think honesty and messaging are important. Cannabis needs to be given the respect it deserves but it is not an opioid.
I had a similar reaction to the opioid comparison, which affected my read of the discussion of the changing composition of marijuana -- because when I was a kid in DARE in the 1980s, they were telling us the exact same thing: "This is not the drug your parents knew in the 60s, this is much stronger and more dangerous." I can't assess the truth of the statement at any point, I just know it's a recurring claim, and taken along with the opioid comparison really made me react skeptically. But given how many dispensaries are everywhere these days, I guess at some point (hopefully not for a number of years given my kid is seven now) we'll have to have a conversation with him. Maybe even one beyond "[shrug] the stuff just never appealed to either of us."
I absolutely see your point, both of you, and I really appreciate your speaking up. I will revise the newsletter subtitle for the web version to remove the comparison so it’s not so heavily emphasized. Thanks for the feedback!!!
Thanks for writing this. I knew I didn’t understand a lot about cannabis, and this helped illuminate those dark areas. I’m fascinated that it’s so hard to research! We’ve told our kids about the effect of cannabis on developing brains, and now they respond in chorus with “not until we’re 25!” when we talk about it. I just hope we can keep talking about it and that our message sticks. Thanks again for this thoughtful, and thought-provoking, article.
Thank you for your post. I still have time to have this talks with my children and I was wondering when the brain stops developing? Because my children can decide to use drugs when they are only 18.
The prefrontal cortex stops developing around the age of 25. So late, I know!