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Worst Pot Prohibition Article Ever!!
By admin | March 30, 2010
Marijuana far from harmless
Danielle Aldcorn, Richmond News
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010
What do you know about delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol?
If you are the parent of a child who is 12 years old or older you might want to get familiar with delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; TCH for short. TCH is the main active chemical in marijuana. As a parent reading this you are probably thinking one of two things; “My kid would never use marijuana,” or “I know my kid is probably going to try marijuana, but I did it as a kid and I turned out fine, so what’s the big deal?”
Weed, pot, reefer, cannabis, whatever you want to call it, the kids tell me it’s the only thing that makes them happy. It takes away all their cares.
Well, they are right that pot takes away all their cares. If you ask them about their parents getting divorced, they’ll say, “I don’t care.” Ask about their girlfriend breaking up with them, they’ll say, “I don’t care.”
Tell them they’re failing school, they’ll say, “I don’t care.” Ask how they feel about quitting their sport and losing their old friends, they’ll say, “I don’t care.” Eventually, if they smoke enough weed, they won’t even care about living anymore.
But marijuana is all natural and harmless, isn’t it?
Many people consider marijuana mild and comparable to alcohol.
One big difference is that students are not typically getting drunk every day at school.
They are, however, getting high at break, at lunch, after school, on weekends.
If they are “burnouts,” they also get high before bed and when they wake up in the morning.
Another difference between alcohol and marijuana is that marijuana is fat soluble, so the adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days after the high wears off.
A student who smokes marijuana on the weekend will still be a little dazed and confused on Monday and Tuesday.
A student who smokes every day is functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time. Teens will argue that they are actually more alert and perceptive when they smoke weed, but they only think that because they’re high.
It is similar to the drunk who thinks he’s being hilarious, when everyone else thinks he’s being a fool.
You might be comfortable with your teen using marijuana, especially if you also use, or used as a teen.
You may know that the amount of TCH is higher in today’s marijuana, but do you know that, because the adolescent brain is developing rapidly, pot will interfere not just with learning, but also mood.
They experience problems with attitude, initiative, focus, and commitment, otherwise known as depression.
It is difficult to say which came first, the weed or the depression, but regardless, it is nearly impossible to help a teen with depression if they are using drugs.
I don’t need to remind you that teens are already risk takers and a little bit dense because of the changes that are occurring in their brain.
When they impair their judgment even more with drugs, it leads to really poor decision making that could involve sex, school failure, a criminal record, getting into a car with someone also under the influence of drugs, or suicide.
So what harm does a little pot do?
If a student gets high at lunch break, he will not learn anything during his afternoon classes.
If he only blazes after school, he won’t feel like doing his homework, or might forget to pick up his little brother.
If he only smokes on weekends or at a party, he won’t want to get up for his soccer game, or he will call in sick to his part-time job.
I guess it depends on your definition of harm.
They might be so high that they don’t care anymore, but you can care.
If you know someone who is affected by addictions you can call Richmond Addiction Services at 604-278-4156 or check out their free services at www.richmondaddictions.ca.
Danielle Aldcorn is a registered clinical counsellor at the Satori Integrative Health Centre.
© Richmond News 2010
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