Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

Okay, so legalize heroin?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

Are other people around the users of alcohol, phones, and/or social media physically affected? I’ve never heard of anyone getting secondhand drunk, much less suffering from secondhand Facebook exposure. If you have studies to offer that show that using them in the vicinity of children causes similar changes to their biochemistry, then maybe we should consider banning them.

That’s the weakest argument I’ve ever heard. Is smoking weed inside legal? No. So no you’re not getting high from a faint smell walking down the street.

I didn’t say that people were getting high from a faint smell walking down the street. I said that anything (like marijuana) that can cause severe, lasting damage to others through secondhand smoke should be illegal. Do you think marijuana smokers DON’T smoke inside? What do you think 18 years of exposure is doing to the developing brains of their children? We already have problems with a poorly educated populace and behavioral issues in schools, do you think a generation of brain-damage will help? That generation is our country’s future, and we are sacrificing it just so their parents can get high? That’s a bad bargain for society.

Not to mention the dangers of driving under the influence. Yes, it’s technically illegal, but without a legal standard for impairment, nor even an objective measure, enforcement is subjective, and thus weakened. This leaves the only deterrent to driving that a marijuana user has to consider in their judgement-impaired state is whether their judgement is impaired.

Anonymous wrote:I have been involved in the legal marijuana business from the business side. The biggest issue for older folks is that today’s crops are much much stronger (with THC) than from “back in the day”. But - a continuing issue is that the “strength” of a given plant can substantially differ from the plant 5 feet away in a grow facility. So you have to mix and test but many places do not mix and test. This is also why personal growing of today’s plants is NOT a good thing for teens. The “dime bag” from the 80s/90s is a small fraction of strength of what you get today.

Frankly, our friends who partake now (in our 50s and 60s) do so with THC pills so they can control the dose. Not much “fun” but easier on the lungs and more controlled. This is a different way to get high though, and one that also is very different for older folks. Pills to get high back 15 years ago were not THC and very often not safely made.

Former medical cannabis patient here. It's not even just that weed is being bred for high-THC. The fertilizers, sprays, growth hormones, etc. are also contributing to illness, and there's mold, pesticides, and other things you don't want to smoke in most of the available weed, even "medical" from a dispensary.

As for the pills, or those godforsaken "gummies" that sound so cute and taste like candy, these are a largely unregulated industry. You don't really know what you're getting, even if it comes from the dispensary.

Think of a dispensary as a corner shop where all the dealers meet up to sell their wares. It's not like a pharmacy, where you would reasonably expect to find regulated goods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

Honestly? While "banning" isn't likely to happen, smarter people avoid these things. For a reason.

Save phones for straightforward communication purposes, none of the things you mention serve a valuable function. Alcohol and pot, along with other drugs, are for people who don't have the coping skills to deal with reality. Social media is a drug. If you don't believe me, delete your account. If you won't, listen to the excuses you make. Typical addict behavior.

I've kicked addictions to all these things. My kids never had social media. They may drink/smoke someday, but they've grown up watching their parent avoid these things, intentionally, and we've had some deep chats about why. Maybe that isn't enough to completely innoculate them, but it's probably more than most kids get these days.

Unfettered access to social media is just as toxic as unfettered access to substances. Maybe even moreso; everyone knows drinking/smoking is bad for you.

Anonymous wrote:Marijuana is more potent today. You shouldn’t compare it to when you were young.

This. I don't understand if people are being purposefully obtuse, or they actually think modern synthetic marijuana is really a lovely, benign substance.

I have been involved in the legal marijuana business from the business side. The biggest issue for older folks is that today’s crops are much much stronger (with THC) than from “back in the day”. But - a continuing issue is that the “strength” of a given plant can substantially differ from the plant 5 feet away in a grow facility. So you have to mix and test but many places do not mix and test. This is also why personal growing of today’s plants is NOT a good thing for teens. The “dime bag” from the 80s/90s is a small fraction of strength of what you get today.

Frankly, our friends who partake now (in our 50s and 60s) do so with THC pills so they can control the dose. Not much “fun” but easier on the lungs and more controlled. This is a different way to get high though, and one that also is very different for older folks. Pills to get high back 15 years ago were not THC and very often not safely made.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

Are other people around the users of alcohol, phones, and/or social media physically affected? I’ve never heard of anyone getting secondhand drunk, much less suffering from secondhand Facebook exposure. If you have studies to offer that show that using them in the vicinity of children causes similar changes to their biochemistry, then maybe we should consider banning them.

That’s the weakest argument I’ve ever heard. Is smoking weed inside legal? No. So no you’re not getting high from a faint smell walking down the street.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

Are other people around the users of alcohol, phones, and/or social media physically affected? I’ve never heard of anyone getting secondhand drunk, much less suffering from secondhand Facebook exposure. If you have studies to offer that show that using them in the vicinity of children causes similar changes to their biochemistry, then maybe we should consider banning them.

Anonymous wrote:There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

So we should ban alcohol, phones, social media and what else?

There has been a nationwide explosion of teen mental health problems over the last 20 years.

I believe social media and phones are primarily behind the overwhelming majority of new teen mental health disease cases.

Do we really want to add Marijuana use to the existing crisis? Marijuana should never have been legalized.

And before anyone states the obvious (21 is the legal minimum age to smoke Marijuana), the same is true for alcohol yet teens get that often too.

Anonymous wrote:Mom of pre-teens here. I've been thinking how to handle the issue of drugs and teenage years since they were babies!

Question- would buying weed legally and finding something with low THC, kind of organic, whatnot, be closer to the pot available when we were kids?

Like, definitely don't buy anything off the street, never, but perhaps a legal shop with people who know what they are selling isn't dangerous (?)

Perhaps just tell them to definitely avoid it all, always. Some types may be more dangerous than others, but people can react differently and there’s none that is guaranteed safe for everyone.

Really, even OTC medicines can have negative side effects, they’re just relatively rare and mild. Marijuana directly affects the brain, that’s why people take it in the first place. Do you really want your kids to play the odds when it comes to their brains, which are still developing?

This is a chilling example of cannabis induced psychosis - a rare condition but psychosis always has the potential to be violent.

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/woman-who-became-acutely-psychotic-after-smoking-marijuana-and-then-stabbed-a-man-108-times-before-trying-to-kill-herself-is-convicted-of-involuntary-manslaughter/amp/

Anonymous wrote:How much weed use might precipitate psychosis? Is it regular use, or can it even occur with first-time or minimal use?

There’s also the issue that with edibles, teens might keep nibbling more if they don’t feel the effects right away, and then it hits them all of the sudden and have “overdosed” and just feel terrible. This has happened several times in our HS, where kids leave in an ambulance due to suddenly feeling ill or hallucinating, etc. at school.

It CAN happen with first-time or minimal use, but it is more often associated with heavy and frequent marijuana use.

Anonymous wrote:Mom of pre-teens here. I've been thinking how to handle the issue of drugs and teenage years since they were babies!

Question- would buying weed legally and finding something with low THC, kind of organic, whatnot, be closer to the pot available when we were kids?

Like, definitely don't buy anything off the street, never, but perhaps a legal shop with people who know what they are selling isn't dangerous (?)

You want to procure legal weed for your teens so they don’t buy illegally? You must also be the kind of mom who buys alcohol for their kids in the name of preferring them doing it under your roof rather than a stranger’s house.

Mom of pre-teens here. I've been thinking how to handle the issue of drugs and teenage years since they were babies!

Question- would buying weed legally and finding something with low THC, kind of organic, whatnot, be closer to the pot available when we were kids?

Like, definitely don't buy anything off the street, never, but perhaps a legal shop with people who know what they are selling isn't dangerous (?)