Is marijuana addictive?

CANRN, MSN, RN · Jan 28, 2003

Originally posted by OBNURSEHEATHER
Then I'm assuming the 12 year old patients I have on a semi regular basis are all products of immaculate conceptions? And their lengthy drug histories written in imaginary ink in their charts?

Perhaps things are a little different in the rest of the world than they are on your mountain.

Heather

Exactly! I raised three sons and taught them to be responsible, *knock on wood* they listened. Our daughter is now 16, when she was in MIDDLE SCHOOL she came home and told me about the FOUR girls in her seventh grade class PREGNANT!!!!

:confused:

I still wonder where in the heck are these parents??????

yodakelly · Jan 28, 2003

sex at 12 isn't too unusual in my neck of the woods either. i'm not in OB, so i don't see it regularly, but even when I was about 13, I heard stories about kids I knew having sex... and that was over 10 years ago, so I'm sure it's even more common now.

yodakelly · Jan 28, 2003

CANRN-

i don't know, but i had sex as a teen before i would have ever admitted it to my parents, and i had reasonably good, loving, nurturning parents (well, one anyhow). course they taught me enough that i knew how not to get pregnant too.

CANRN, MSN, RN · Jan 28, 2003

Originally posted by yodakelly
CANRN-
.........course they taught me enough that i knew how not to get pregnant too.

And that helped you! Your parents WERE THERE FOR YOU and did the best they could do. I wonder where some of these girls parents are and wonder if they even talked to their young daughters and sons about sex, and protection.

One thing I learned, do not tell your children DO NOT DO THIS...they will do it in a heartbeat. I tried to instill SELF RESPECT not abstinence. I never said DON'T I asked them "are you ready for the serious consequences of your actions? the fear you'll get or get her pregnant? and just as important, STD's And God Forbid, if they did think they were ready, USE PROTECTION and please, come to me if you need help or just to talk.

I am a very lucky, and once again, *knocking on wood* they trusted me enough to talk, My daughter is 16 and has talked to me and like I told her, I prefer you wait until your older and more mature to handle an adult situation, and I would not hesitate one moment to putting her on the pill if she told me she needed to.

It also helped me to remember what it was like to be young and *in love* for the first time! My parents did not talk to me about sex to teach me, they told me DO NOT DO IT, IT"S BAD, like it was taboo! It's not taboo, it's normal, our kids need to learn the good things about it and learn to respect sex and their sexuality. Not be ashamed of it.

EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN · Jan 28, 2003

Excellent post CANRN. It's not just teens that have unplanned pregnancies either-- college students do as well. This happened to about four of my sorority sisters. One had an abortion and stayed in school, but the rest dropped out to raise their babies. And all of them said drugs had nothing to do with their decision not to use contraception-- they weren't drinking or smoking pot at the time of conception. They just didn't think it could happen to them.

Flynurse · Jan 29, 2003

Okay. I wasn't going to post anything about this, well, mostly because there are SO MANY sides to this debate. I might just ramble on.

Replying to the latest part, sex propaganda. Now, its been my experience that most guys after using marijuana they, well how do I put this....don't make it to the finish line! :imbar :rolleyes: Enough said. I agree, the drug and sex "war" begins in the home with parents.

Secondly, I wanted to respond to the Amsterdam/Holland debate. I had watched a documentary about two years ago on one of those learning channels, maybe Discovery Channel. The show had stated that marijuana and prostitution (The Red Light Distrct) were legalized. It said nothing about any other drugs being legalized. It did, however, talk about keeping people "safer" when using illegal drugs. They have these "drive through" sort of areas where NEW/STERILE needles are handed out for free to decrease reusing/sharing needles, therefore, reducing the number of bloodboure disease cases.

Thirdly, I have learned through various drug abuse workshops back in nursing school that addiction is not a random thing. With any addiction there is a great chance of the individual being genetically predisposed to it (I don't want to get into the logistics of it), whether it be gambling or drug use. An addiction is an addiction is an addiction, no matter how you spell it. As with any human behavior; part is genetic, part is environment. So as for Marijuana being a "gateway" drug, that is pure BULL! If an individual is going to be addict to anything they go for the BIG stuff (i.e. the Gambler hits the $5 slots, not the nickel slots).

And here is some food for thought: If marijuana was actually legalized it would still carry negative conotations. So our dear senators, congressmen and women couldn't go out in public to buy marijuana for fear of being ostracized by the public. So don't you think they would rather buy in private than in public??? :idea:

"I did not inhale!" -George Clinton :smokin: Yeah right! :lol2:

See what happens when I smoke a little too much......Uh, I mean when I start talking about a broad debatable issue. I just ramble on.....

Stargazer · Jan 29, 2003

Originally posted by Flynurse
"I did not inhale!" -George Clinton Yeah right!

I'm going to go waaaaay out on a limb here and guess that George Clinton has never denied smoking pot unless he was talking to cops or Customs agents.

George%20Clinton.JPG

OBNURSEHEATHER · Jan 29, 2003

BWAAHA HAHAHAHA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Heather

sunnygirl272 · Jan 29, 2003

Originally posted by Stargazer
I'm going to go waaaaay out on a limb here and guess that George Clinton has never denied smoking pot unless he was talking to cops or Customs agents.

rotflmmfao!!!!!!

Flynurse · Jan 29, 2003

:imbar OPPS!!! I meant William Clinton....sorry!

I was remembering my smokin' days!

This is Bill Clinton!

This is Bill Clinton on pot!

allnurses Guide · Jan 29, 2003

Regarding your posts questioning where I live . . .I'll leave that one a mystery as everyone knows you keep things private online. However, I will tell you that the stats for babies born in my county with illegal drugs in their system is accurate. At least 50%. Granted alot of these babies are born to teenagers using drugs. Most married older couples are a bit smarter than that. The child abuse rate among teenage parents is high too.

I wonder if your head is in the sand? You also disbelieve that kids as young as 12 are having sex. Well, tell that to the my patient, a 14 year old whose first sexual enounter happened at 11 with a man over 18. She got pregnant, had an abortion and is now pregnant again. Her twelve year old sister is also pregnant. Their airheaded mom is so happy to be a grandma.

Just a few stats . . . .One is five kids age 11 have genital herpes, which is a 500% increase since 1976. A new study shows teenage girls have a 46% chance of contracting HPV which results in cervical cancer 99% of the time. 15.3 million new outbreaks of STD's occur EACH YEAR with more than half occuring to teens. 13% of girls age 15-19 test positive for chlamydia. The rate of gonorrhea is highest among 15-19 y.o. I'd say kids are engaging in sexual activity way way too early.

As to alcohol and marijuana being helpful to boys in getting girls to have sex . . . . .have you never heard boys talk about getting girls drunk so they can take advantage and have sex with them?

I wonder why those of us who are trying to keep our kids from making bad choices are seen as hopeless pollyanna's . . . .

This ain't the 60's anymore . . . . . sex is much more high risk. Sex can kill you. Marijuana lowers inhibitions. So does alcohol. Why in the world would I want my daughter to put herself in the position to be so high that she cannot make good decisions and ends up having sex with someone WHO DOES NOT CARE ABOUT HER, only his own orgasm, and puts her at risk for pregnancy and STD's? Why would I want my sons to put themselves at risk? Why is it bad to teach our kids to value themselves more? Why is everyone afraid to appear "judgmental"? Have we come so far that we turn a blind eye to injustice?

fergus51 · Jan 29, 2003