The public school system taught me everything I needed to know about illegal substances at the tender age of eleven.
“This is your brain on drugs,” the deep-voiced narrator warned over a video of an egg scrambling on a hot skillet. Consider sixth-grade Emily ready for a life of sobriety.
Marijuana, the scary video convinced me, was a gateway drug that led to using other, scarier drugs. Somehow, that made marijuana seem like the worst of them all. I wanted nothing to do with it.
Sometime in the next eight years, weed went through an image overhaul. By the time I got to college in free-wheeling California, it was practically medicine.
“It’s all about the dosage,” one friend explained, describing the kinds of strands, flavors and products cannabis stores offered consumers. It sounded so legitimate — healthy, even! After all, how harmful could a plant possibly be?
Pop culture is inundating kids with these same messages. My formative, negative impressions of marijuana kept me from falling for them hook, line and sinker. You can give your kids the same protection by busting these modern marijuana myths.
Myth: Marijuana is safe.
Truth: Marijuana can wreak havoc on your mind.
Experts freely acknowledge the association between marijuana and psychosis. A recent meta-analysis of 162 studies documenting cases of cannabis-associated psychotic symptoms (CAPS) found:
The same analysis found incidents of CAPS reported across observational, experimental and medical research studies, suggesting the ingestion of THC alone causes risk of psychosis.
Cannabis can also trigger the development of life-long psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. In 2019, The Lancet found people who smoked high-THC marijuana daily were five-times as likely to develop a psychotic disorder than people who didn’t smoke.
Laura Stacks’ 19-year-old son Johnny committed suicide in 2019 after prolonged-marijuana usage caused him to develop a schizoaffective disorder. She writes of her “beautiful boy,”
The internet is littered with heart-wrenching stories just like Laura and Johnny’s.
Myth: Marijuana is safe because it is natural.
Truth: Modern cannabis products are almost entirely synthesized, which makes them more dangerous.
In 1995, marijuana products contained an average of 5% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the chemical that gets people high. The legal marijuana industry has since released a bevy of powerful, synthesized THC products to give consumers faster, more potent highs.
Modern marijuana products contain an average of 15 – 20% THC concentration. Some offer THC concentrations as high as 99%, according to a New York Times report released last week.
Products with high concentrations of THC increase people’s risk of experiencing CAPS.
Myth: Marijuana isn’t addictive.
Truth: Marijuana is addictive, and the legal marijuana industry wants to keep it that way.
Cannabis use disorder (CUD) encompasses a spectrum of people who can’t stop using marijuana when they want to. The Times puts it this way, “[People with CUD] continue to use the drug despite significant negative effects on their lives.
A Times’ analysis of the 2022 U.S. Survey on Drug Use and Health found 18 million marijuana users demonstrated symptoms of CUD — about a third of all users over 18-years-old. By the paper’s count, approximately 3 million of these users are addicted to marijuana.
The same survey further revealed 16.6% of 18- to 25-year-olds use cannabis daily or almost daily. Of those 4.5 million young people, 81% met the threshold for cannabis use disorder (CUD).
The marijuana industry has incentive to make their products as addictive as possible. That’s why they advertise to underage users. In a 2021 interview with the Daily Citizen, Dr. Kevin Sabet, the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), explained:
Less than two months ago, California officials discovered more than two million packages of illegal cannabis in Los Angeles disguised as candy. Nicole Elliot, the director of California’s Department of Cannabis Control, commented, “Illegal packaging is dangerous to consumers, especially when it is ripping off well-known brands that are attractive to children.”
Myth: Marijuana is good for you.
Truth: Repeated, sustained use of THC products can make people severely ill.
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) causes frequent, debilitating nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The disease affects long-term marijuana users, and cases are rising across the U.S., according to the Times.
Left untreated, CHS can lead to dehydration, seizures, kidney failure and cardiac arrest.
CHS receives relatively little attention compared to (largely false) claims that marijuana helps with anxiety, sleep, pain and a plethora of other disorders. That’s why its so important for parents to keep their kids apprised of the facts.
You don’t need a scary video to keep your kids on the straight and narrow — just be honest about what marijuana does to developing bodies and brains.
Additional Articles and Resources
THC-Laced Snacks Marketed to Kids, Hemp to Blame
Marijuana Causing Psychosis in Young People, Legacy Media Late to Party
The Vicious Truth About Drug Addiction and Alcoholism
Talking With Tweens About Marijuana
Talking With Your Teens About Drugs and Alcohol
How the Marijuana Industry is Campaigning to Hook Your Kids on a Drug that Will Damage their Brain
Federal Legalization of Marijuana Gains Steam. Here are the Downsides to Legalization.
Focus on the Family Resources for Mental Health
The post Parents — Time to Tackle Marijuana Myths appeared first on Daily Citizen.
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