People believe that if/when cannabis is legalized; it will be easier for children to have. While it may be easier to get, the responsibility is on the parents. But children have a mind of their own, you need to find that middle ground that shows them you have their best interest at heart. I’m not telling you how to raise your child.
If more people spoke to their children, about cannabis legalization there would be a stronger understanding about cannabis in the community. With the revenue from legalizing, it can help bring money to schools, hospitals and roadwork. An epileptic child has over 200 seizures a day. Marijuana could reduce-even stop seizures. The episodes can go down to 30 episodes a day- at the most. Isn’t this worth learning a little bit about?
Just like anything, this is something you teach your child about. Know the pros and cons of cannabis. Why do people use cannabis? Answer their questions, study up! I feel like people just hide cannabis from children. I have friends who I know their parents hide their own usage of marijuana from their kids. The kids end up doing dangerous things to try to get marijuana. “Just to see how it is. Everyone else is doing it!” The parents end up scaring kids about it and yelling at the children, and never speaking about the situation or cannabis again. Does anyone else see a problem with this?

I think you should be teaching kids about cannabis. Don’t wait for them to find out about it on their own.

Some say, “Marijuana is a much more subtle drug than alcohol. It gets them into the culture of the drug world, which can lead down the path to drug addiction.” The drug dealers that kids get the weed from, will end up selling them worse things. So in a way it is a gateway drug. This is where you show what to do and what not to do.

So…. What should you tell them? Well, “You’re just not ready for it. If you’re tempted to smoke pot, please hold off as long as you possibly can. Your beautiful brain is still developing.”

Explain how, and why.  “If a teen introduces the abuse of marijuana at that point in their life, it could have consequences for their ability to problem solve, for their memory and for critical thinking in general. The earlier the drug was taken up, the worse the effects on the brain.”

So show you’re just looking out for their own well being. Sometimes THC (psychoactive-ness) can be too much for somebody and they don’t know how much they are taking and they overdose. It won’t do anything serious, (they won’t get hurt) they will just not be having a fun time like they intended.

Most parents will be very upset to find out their child is using marijuana recreationally. I get that. You’re very protective of your child, you don’t want them hurt. You should also know the “dangers of marijuana” such as how it has been used as medicine for over 10,000 years. How it can help people, maybe you will see why your child is using cannabis. Talk to your kids. Don’t yell because you heard bad things. Study, back up your facts. Show your kid the facts. While will be difficult for an uptight parent, it will show your child you care, without scaring them to have the same views as you. What I am trying to say is, have communication with your teenagers. I think this is so important for a healthy relationship with your child- this applies to all things really. Now again, this is not a parenting lesson. Just my thoughts as a younger human being!

I am sixteen-year-old girl. I know what you might be thinking here, “Oh she uses marijuana and her parents were mad at her or something so she wrote this little article.” Quite the opposite! I have grown up with great knowledge of cannabis all my life, but the thing is I never smoked, nor thought about trying it. I think it’s funny how that works. Or maybe not, my parents educated me on what marijuana is and why people use it. I am not hidden from it, I didn’t find out about it accidentally. I think because of that, I am not curious about using it. Most articles about this subject I have noticed talk about ‘scary terms” So I want to say some things that will help you. I can’t stress enough; know what you’re talking about. Literally just take 10 minutes a day to study about cannabis, the plant’s effects on the body. See if your views change. Don’t go seeking for the negatives.

Other things that you and your child can do consider take cannabis classes together, go to local cannabis meetings, go to a legalization rally together, watch marijuana documentaries. Learn about the community.

Here are just a few pros and cons of cannabis usage.

Pros: Can lower anxiety, help with depression, relieve chronic pain, nausea and vomiting, and stimulates the appetite.

Cons: Sometimes causes short-term paranoia, short-term memory recall, and rapid heartbeat.

 

So is marijuana ACTUALLY bad for kids? It’s not bad to talk about it. Happy conversing!

 

Charlie Monrose

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