Marijuana Harmless? Think Again

By Lisa Adler

You might say I’ve got marijuana on the brain. Last week I attended a night meeting in Arlington discussing “Is Legalizing Marijuana a Good or Bad Idea?” The next morning headed to Richmond for a two-day state conference on “Marijuana? Virginia’s Big Question!”

I’m not going to debate the issue of legalization right now, but I did want to share some of the information I picked up that might be useful to parents. This from a “Marijuana: What Can We Say?” informational sheet shared by Kate McCauley of the READY Coalition, a substance use prevention group supported by Arlington County, at the Arlington meeting of the Committee of 100:

Kids Say: Didn’t you use it (marijuana) when you were younger? 

We Say: You know what, when you know better you do better. Back when we were kids no one had any idea about how much brain development goes on in a teenager. We had no idea how much introducing substances could impact that developing brain. We just thought you had to add more experiences to get a more mature brain.

 We know better now.

Kate’s absolutely right, we do know better now, and this is what we know.

Marijuana is NOT a natural, harmless herb. Uranium and hemlock, arsenic and the coca plants producing cocaine are natural but are they harmless, NO! Marijuana has 400 chemicals very similar to tobacco tar and chemicals. Does that sound harmless?

Again from Kate McCauley, “Today’s weed has been progressively genetically engineered so that it doesn’t look like the marijuana of the ‘70s, ‘80s or even the ‘90s. It is no longer a ‘natural substance.’ Even the THC levels in marijuana that is sold legally are not standing up to testing.” (Denver Post, March 9, 2014)

At the Richmond conference sponsored by Chesterfield’s SAFE coalition, Virginia Commonwealth University, Community Coalitions of Virginia and the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, one of the presenters was former federal prosecutor Monte Stiles who worked for many years bringing drug lords to justice and trying to get drugs off of our streets. Stiles shared many things with the audience, but as he closed, this is what stuck with me, “People trade love, humanity and personal freedom to drugs.”

As Steve Garrison, the medical director for Caron Texas, a highly respected substance abuse treatment and recovery organization, notes:  “Despite the growing mountain of scientific evidence of physical and psychological effects, many marijuana users still believe its use does not have a negative impact or that it is addictive. Yet, more than 50% of those admitted to Caron who were under the age of 25 indicated ‘pot’ as their drug of choice.”

PARENTS, talk to your children. Start the conversation when they are in elementary and middle school. Here are tips from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:

• Ask what he/she has heard about using marijuana. Listen carefully, pay attention, and do not interrupt. Avoid making negative or angry comments.

• Offer your child facts about the risks and consequences of smoking marijuana

• Ask your child to give examples of the effects of marijuana. This will help you make sure that your child understands what you talked about.

• If you choose to talk to your child about your own experiences with drugs, be honest about your reasons, be careful not to glamourize marijuana or other drugs, and discuss the negative things and dangers that resulted from you or your friends’ drug use.

If you want to learn more on this topic, join the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County for “Marijuana Harmless? Think Again,” a community forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 27 to be held in Fairfax. It will be a very informative evening. Go to www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org for registration information.

Lisa Adler is the president of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County and has been involved in prevention and substance abuse work for nearly 20 years.

The Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County is a nonprofit organization with more than 60 community partners working together to keep youth and young adults safe and drug-free. Visit www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org and www.facebook.com/unifiedpreventioncoalition. Follow the group on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keepyouthsafe.