Thanks to Legalization, My Teenager Thinks Marijuana is Safe

(How many parents have heard this before?)

Dear Your Teen:

My teen does not think that marijuana is dangerous. With more and more states making it legal, he’s even more convinced. And as far as he is concerned, everyone he knows uses it without any detrimental effect. So why shouldn’t he? What can I do to convince him otherwise?

ANSWER | Mark McConville, Ph.D.

What You’re Up Against

Yours is an increasingly common challenge for today’s parents, for several reasons.  One is that there exists a growing trend in our culture to view marijuana as relatively harmless.  Medical marijuana has been legalized in some states, for one thing.

For another, many pot smoking teens have been indoctrinated about the supposed “harmlessness” of marijuana, promoting the message peer-to-peer and visiting web sites that promote and support this idea.

I can attest that many of my adolescent counseling clients come to me parroting a uniform “party line” of statistics and arguments about pot’s saving graces and relative harmlessness.  An argument that is particularly appealing to teens is the one about adult hypocrisy for condemning marijuana while embracing their own drug of choice — which of course is alcohol (and let’s face it, they have a point!).

Real Dangers of Marijuana: Impact on Brain Function

What invariably gets left out of these self justifying arguments are the undeniable facts that marijuana’s active agent — tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) stores in the fat cells of the brain for quite some time, and that the brains of young people — specifically the pre-frontal cortex, which is the center for executive function and abstract reasoning — is still developing.

This is why we see so much interference among heavy pot smokers with these exact brain functions.  Any irony of ironies, the part of the brain most affected is exactly the part of the brain that allows people to mentally step outside themselves and reflectively evaluate their own functioning.  This is why heavy teen-age pot smokers often display shockingly little insight into the negative effects that their pot use is having on their own development.

The negative effects of marijuana in the developing adolescent brain have been convincingly documented by neurological research. Frances Jenson, Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania points out that THC disrupts the development of neural pathways in the adolescent brain and cites long term consequences of  smaller brain volume, reduced gray matter, and increase damage to white matter — changes that have been shown to persist well into adulthood. In one longitudinal study conducted in New Zealand, former moderate teenage pot users were shown, in their 30s, to have lost 8 to 10 IQ points relative to nonusers. Significant consequences indeed!

How to Discuss Marijuana With Your Teen:

There are three specific things I would advise as you talk to your teenager about marijuana:

1. Adjust your goals for the conversation.

Teenagers, just like adults, are rarely “persuaded” from a well entrenched belief in a single conversation. A more realistic and  productive goal would be to have him open his mind rather than going for the home-run of having him change it on the spot.

You can accomplish this by offering an open minded exchange of viewpoints: Offer the following deal:  “I’ll read and thoughtfully consider any reading material you can give me defending marijuana, if you’ll agree to do the same with any reading material I provide you on its potential dangers.”

Asking for an open minded exchange is far more likely to get your teen considering the other side of the argument than trying to steamroll him with persuasion.  Opening one’s mind is the first step to changing it.

2. State clearly that you are opposed.

Regardless of your willingness to enter into such a two sided discussion, make it unmistakably clear that until you think otherwise, your sacred obligation as a parent is to do everything within your power to prevent him from engaging in behavior that can interfere with brain development and affect his future. There’s plenty of evidence suggesting that early and frequent pot use among teens can have long lasting effects on intelligence, judgement, and motivation.

3. Walk the walk.

You’ve got to walk the walk if you’re going to take the strong position I am recommending: examine, curtail, and consider eliminating your own drug and/or alcohol use.  I recommend a bi-lateral no-use contract: you’ll both abstain at least until he reaches the age when his frontal lobes have completed their primary development — around age 21.

Post is contributed by Your Teen Mag.

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Contact us if you have exhausted your local resources with your troubled teen smoking pot. We help you make smart decisions for teen help programs, therapeutic boarding schools and other options for struggling teens.

The post My Teen Thinks It’s Safe to Smoke Marijuana first appeared on Help Your Teens.

Today with some states legalizing marijuana, it can leave parents in a difficult position as some teens believe it is safe for consumption.

Your Teen Magazine interviewed Dr. Jack Stein, Director, Office of Science Policy and Communications, National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Now that marijuana is legal in some states, how do we convince teens that it’s not okay to smoke marijuana?

Just because it may be legal in some states doesn’t mean marijuana is safe to use, especially by teens. Three things to keep in mind about teens smoking marijuana:

1. Marijuana use can be addictive, especially if you start using when you’re young.
2. Marijuana use behind the wheel is unsafe since it affects alertness, concentration, coordination, and reaction time.
3. Marijuana use is associated with school problems as a result of decreased attention, memory, and learning.

What messages resonate with teens? 

Research shows parents have one of the biggest influences on their teens, even when it doesn’t seem that way. Talking openly with your teens and staying actively engaged in their lives is the key.

Do before and after stories have an effect on teens?

Teens certainly respond to seeing and hearing stories by, and about, teens. These stories can play an important role in helping teens understand the consequences of drug use.

Which medical facts seem to have an effect on teens?

One health message that seems to resonate with teens is learning that the brain develops until the mid-20s. The growing brain is more vulnerable to marijuana use. Exposure in adolescence may affect important connections in brain regions crucial for memory and learning as well as other functions.

Kids think that it’s okay to smoke marijuana, but not cigarettes. How do we counter their impression?

More 12^th graders smoke marijuana than smoke cigarettes. This increase of teens smoking marijuana corresponds to a diminishing perception of marijuana’s risks. Many young people (as well as adults) believe that marijuana is safe—but this belief is not aligned with the science. Although we do not know everything about the effects of this drug, the available science shows that marijuana use has a wide range of consequences for health, safety, and well-being. Long-term effects may be particularly significant when used heavily during adolescence. Countering kids’ impressions is indeed a challenge, but this is where community-based educational campaigns can really make a difference.

How does smoking marijuana affect driving? How do we get this message across to teens?

Marijuana significantly impairs coordination and reaction time, and it is the (illegal) drug most frequently involved in automobile accidents, including fatal ones. From what we now know, marijuana use roughly doubles the risk of having an accident, and the accident risk from combining marijuana and alcohol is greater than that for either drug alone. Getting these facts out to teens in school and community settings is an important first step.

Does smoking marijuana give boys “man boobs”?

Gynecomastia is the growth of abnormally large breasts in males due to the excess growth of breast tissue. According to some research studies, marijuana use may be a cause of this condition. The condition is not very common so discretion should be used in how such information is presented to avoid any over-generalizations regarding teens smoking marijuana and gynecomastia.

How harmful is “hot boxing”?

Hot boxing refers to smoking marijuana in an enclosed space like a car or small room to maximize the drug’s effects. Although research reveals the dangers of  “secondary” cigarette smoking, research is still underway to understand the effects of secondary marijuana use.

Any other advice?

NIDA recommends a comprehensive prevention approach to preventing drug (marijuana) use.

To help you get started, check out NIDA’s publication, Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know at http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana-facts-parents-need-to-know. Share the findings with your kids to help them sort out fact from myth, and help them make sound decisions.

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The post Teens Smoking Marijuana first appeared on Help Your Teens.