teenagers and pot

[nursingaround1]

I had a worrying interaction a couple of weeks ago, which fits in with a disturbing trend I've noticed with teenagers.

A 16yr old boy was in trouble because of marijuana, and I got chatting with him about it. He genuinely believe it's harmless, but it got worse. He has a cousin and uncle who have battled cancer, and lost. He then said pot helps fight cancer, and he then told me that marijuana is actually good for you.

For all those pro pot people out here, surely you are aware of the dangers of pot and young minds - there is plenty of research to prove that. But what worries me is the growing number of teenagers who feel it is harmless for them. I have also had a couple of other kids say it is actually good for you as well, although this was the first time someone had linked it to fighting cancer.

I often ask the seniors about pot and other drugs, including alcohol, and quite a lot see pot as a healthy alternative to drinking.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

You've got Doritos? I'm on my way, bringing the Oreos.

Can I come? I don't know what else I could bring that would top Doritos and Oreos though..

Alcohol is KNOWN to cause harmful effects, yet is legal. I think that medical marijuana has its place. I don't plan on toking up once its made legal, but don't get too upset about others that do. Teens are already smoking pot regardless of its legal status. Just like they drink, abuse Rx medications, and do all of the other dumb things kids (and adults) do. I focus on what I CAN change.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Are you working in a juvenile detention center now? You "just happened" to start chatting to a 16 year old about his legal troubles with pot?

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

The Pot... it is bad. Any one who has seen Reefer Madness knows this.

Meh. Pot can be anything and the dumb kids will buy it. The kids in my HS actually say they get "better pot than those other crappier" school districts.

Sorry, kids, it's the same dealers, and the same pot, which may or may not be laced with God knows what.

Agree 100% teens should NOT be smoking pot, nor drinking. But they will.

Legalize it, regulate it, know what is IN it. Export it as a cash crop. Sell it like alcohol.

Pass the Doritos.

Do you like the spicier ones or just plain old Nacho Cheese? :Emoticon-Devil:

You've got Doritos? I'm on my way, bringing the Oreos.

You can have the Oreos. . . .

I don't even BUY Oreos because I love them so much.

Disclaimer: I don't smoke pot. Just love Oreos.

We can still be friends though, right?

Re: marijuana use in teens. Definitely a dumb and dangerous idea. Same with cigs and alcohol.

As many AN folks know from the anti-vaccine (anti-science) threads, I and many other posters fight against misinformation out there related to medical pro's/con's of different things. Marijuana is being touted as a cure-all now for everything. That's frustrating, regardless of what magic elixir someone is talking about. Let's not even go the Holy Vitamin C route . . .

I rode the "anti-legalization" bus for a long time but think we are well past that so working with the system that we will eventually end up with seems a smarter choice to me.

Had a kid a couple of weeks ago bring pot to school and put it in his gym locker. Well . . geez kid . . . that stuff stinks. That was a dumb move. He got suspended for a week. He is living with his grandparents who took him in as a young child because his parents ended up in jail for marijuana/honey oil/meth. I give his grandparents kudos but this kid is at risk for falling down the same rabbit hole his parents fell in . . .very sad.

I hate the smell by the way.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Active THC is only present for a few hours after ingesting marijuana, drug tests typically look for THC metabolites (non-psycoactive components resulting from the metabolism of THC).

Marijuana is not a "gateway drug", there is no evidence that marijuana leads people to harder drug use, there is however evidence that legalization/decriminalization of marijuana reduces hard drug use, likely because the illegal drug distribution infrastructure is severely weakened when it doesn't have marijuana as it's foundation.

IMHO Alcohol is a much greater risk factor than pot, they make some REALLY stupid decisions while drunk out of their minds.....

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

IMHO Alcohol is a much greater risk factor than pot, they make some REALLY stupid decisions while drunk out of their minds.....

Statistically, that doesn't work because more people drink alcohol than smoke marijuana.

You'd have to have similar samples to compare to see which one was worse.

Personally, anyone impaired shouldn't be driving. Marijuana and alcohol dull your reaction time. And people make stupid enough errors while driving. Just saw this today:

Montana Highway Patrol Releases Frightening Dash-Cam Footage [VIDEO]

[CryssyD]

Kids get crazy ideas, sometimes--especially in the highly-esteemed school of Local-Weed-Dealer-Wisdom; you know--it's right next door to Trust-Me-You-Can't-Get-Pregnant-The-First-Time.

When we refuse to give our kids honest information about drugs, or alcohol, or sex, we set them up for all kinds of misinformed idiocy because they know we aren't being straight with them. Not everyone who smokes a joint goes on a wild-eyed killing spree (see "Reefer Madness," as referenced by previous poster). Not everyone who snorts a little coke on the occasional Saturday becomes a crack fiend. People drive drunk and don't always wind up killing somebody. And I won't even go into the nuts who refuse to tell their kids about sex, condoms, birth control, or alternatives to intercourse because they think kids won't be sexual creatures if they don't know the truth; believe you me, they'll bumble around quite happily until they figure it out--well, enough to get pregnant, or herpes.

The main problem with getting accurate information about pot (let alone harder drugs) is that research is so incredibly difficult to do. Anyone ever try to get permission from the government to do research with marijuana? Better limber up first--those hoops are awfully high. We honestly don't know how safe if is. But studies in other, more enlightened parts of the world would seem to indicate that it's actually got real medicinal value, with fewer side effects and long-term organ damage than many pharmaceutical meds. And, for what it's worth, long-time anecdotal evidence also appears to support the possibility that marijuana is much safer, and less destructive (in multiple ways) than alcohol or most other recreational drugs.

My two cents: Some of the smartest, most successful people I've known were bona-fide potheads in high school and college. (They often had a smoker's hack, though, unfiltered joints not being the best way to ingest the stuff). Is it good for kids? Of course not. But developing brains are probably not much helped by a lot of the drugs we happily feed them on a doctor's recommendation, either. If we stopped trying to scare our kids away from drugs with lies and half-truths and concentrated on arming them with good, honest information, maybe they would make better choices. Like telling the local drug-dealing doofus to get a clue, already.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Kids get crazy ideas, sometimes--especially in the highly-esteemed school of Local-Weed-Dealer-Wisdom; you know--it's right next door to Trust-Me-You-Can't-Get-Pregnant-The-First-Time.

When we refuse to give our kids honest information about drugs, or alcohol, or sex, we set them up for all kinds of misinformed idiocy because they know we aren't being straight with them. Not everyone who smokes a joint goes on a wild-eyed killing spree (see "Reefer Madness," as referenced by previous poster). Not everyone who snorts a little coke on the occasional Saturday becomes a crack fiend. People drive drunk and don't always wind up killing somebody. . .

I only have one little issue with your post and that is the last sentence above. It makes it sound like it is ok to drive while drunk because the stats are in your favor that you won't kill someone.

As a former ER nurse, I would beg to differ with that message. Just because every time someone drives drunk they don't kill someone, doesn't mean you should do it.

Having also lost family and friends to drunk driving makes me a tad more sensitive to this issue.

[CryssyD]

I only have one little issue with your post and that is the last sentence above. It makes it sound like it is ok to drive while drunk because the stats are in your favor that you won't kill someone.

As a former ER nurse, I would beg to differ with that message. Just because every time someone drives drunk they don't kill someone, doesn't mean you should do it.

Having also lost family and friends to drunk driving makes me a tad more sensitive to this issue.

Sorry for your losses.

Yeah, after reading it, I realized it didn't come out quite right. My point is that we try to scare kids with bad stuff--don't drink and drive, you'll end up dead; don't drink and drive, you'll kill somebody. And those things are definitely possible. But, as with so many things, kids experiment; they make dumb mistakes; they drive drunk...and get home safely. They don't kill anyone. And every time it works out OK, the more sure they are that "It won't happen to me." Until it does.

It would be more honest to give them the truth: Many times people who drink and drive don't hurt anybody; but many times they do. Just because you or your friend Joey made it home safe Friday night doesn't mean you "can handle it." And when you don't "handle it" you may make a mistake you regret forever. I am a huge MADD and SADD fan, because they focus so much on victim impact, the pain of losing someone to something as preventable as a drunk/impaired driver; and they emphasize enabling kids to make good decisions--your kid won't call you for a ride home if she's afraid you'll bawl her out for drinking at all. I'll never forget the meeting I went to in which a guy told us about trying to give his buddy ("who was really drunk") a ride home, even though he had also been drinking; he knew he probably shouldn't drive, but he figured it would probably be OK. And of course it wasn't. He lived, his buddy didn't.

That's what kids need to hear. Not worst-case scenarios or lectures or dry statistics. They need to hear from real people, making ordinary decisions that they might well think about making some day, too. The vast majority of the time, life is fairly dull, mundane, and ordinary. It's not a Lifetime movie. But those mundane moments are what they should be hearing about--from all kinds of people, especially parents. Dire warnings won't have half the impact on kids that a couple of honest stories about their parents' experiences with and thoughts and feelings about alcohol and drugs--good and bad--will.

Many kids already know alcohol and marijuana aren't always bad or harmful or deadly, through their own or their friends' experiences. When we pretend they are, they just stop listening.

[Farawyn]

It's also the parents think pot is fine for their kids. Seriously.

Again, POT is not my issue. Kids buying pot on the street laced with god knows what from god knows who is my issue.

I agree drinking is a much bigger problem for kids.

You don't want to say, Go ahead and drink, but you don't want to be so punitive they feel safer driving drunk than facing you.

[BCgradnurse, MSN, RN, NP]

My teenager/young adult children do think pot is harmless...after all, it's "natural"... I also believe in legalization for most of the reasons stated by other posters, but like alcohol, it is not a good substance for developing brains. It is not a cure all for what ever ails you. It looks to have some medicinal benefits and I wish good solid studies could be performed. I would much rather deal with a stoned patient than a drunk one. I've never had a stoned patient vomit on me or try to hit me. They just nod off to sleep......

And it's M&Ms for me.......

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Let's just say I was a "relative" of a man who was a stoner . . .and he vomited on me when stoned.

No guarantees there BC.

Recent story here just broke in the paper with more details. A local couple hosted a party at their home with 20-25 teenagers. Alcohol was procured via a local 22 year old woman. Lots of drinking went on; one kid passed out and was unresponsive and went to the ER with alcohol poisoning and a BAC of .251%.

CPS is involved now.

Local couple ID'd today - I know them.

SMH

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I had a stoned parent just recently. He made three trips out to various fast food restaurants in the middle of the night, and his questions he asked me were stupid and made no sense, but he sure did find the entire situation hilarious.

Drunk parents are the ones I end up having to call the police on after they start wailing on each other in the patient room.