Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Teens and Marijuana

There has been a growing trend among teenagers to perceive marijuana as having little to no negative impact on their well-being. In an age in which THC levels have more than tripled since I was a young lad, it is a scary scenario when teens do not make any connection between pot usage and the potential for problems in their lives. It is true, that many teens have perceptually benefitted from marijuana by avoiding their problems. Of course, this is a temporary panacaea. However, it is difficult to penetrate teens on the idea that marijuana is a dangerous drug. Therefore, there is some use to the idea of discussing addiction across multiple areas of life. This can be a way of helping kids think about addiction in general and can keep the conversation from getting to risky. Teens will know what you're getting at if you make the connections. It's important to avoid any discussion of marijuana that has a lecture feel to it. It simply won't fly with teens and you will end up being told nothing or just what you want to hear. Either is useless. Developing a way to communicate more openly about the temptations in kids' lives will allow for the possibility of understanding and consideration of adult thoughts.

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