First of all, I will neither confirm nor deny my own usage of marijuana. Being that it is illegal in my country I feel a need to just not talk about my own personal experience or lack thereof.
I'm also not going to get into the whole political part of it. The war on drugs is a mostly racist program that other people should definitely write about. I'm against incarceration for victimless crimes; petty possession of drugs and stuff like that. I also think marijuana (from here on out called "pot") should be decriminalized because of this. I'm going to focus more on what message we send children and teens about drugs and how I think it's kind of bullshit.
Personally I think we need to calm the fuck down about pot. I have known several drug addicts and alcoholics in my lifetime. I get it, drugs can get really out of hand, but for the most part the drug itself isn't to blame, it's the person's genetic background and childhood and environment that turns them into an addict. I mean in no way to make their illness seems less than it is. I'm talking about the majority of people who use pot occasionally.
I was part of the DARE program when I was in school, a program that actually showed to INCREASE drug use among the people who participated in it. It was supposed to teach us to resist drugs, they told us that drugs are everywhere and we just need to say no and be able to tell our friends no and the dealers on the street no. Turns out, for many kids, that actually made it seem like drugs were what everyone was doing, so they might as well do it themselves; resistance is hard, let's just do drugs instead.
What I think we need to do is give kids and teen REAL information about drugs. They don't need scare tactics, they don't need to resist; they need real facts about the dangers and the prevalence of drugs. Lots of people I knew growing up occasionally smoked pot, but it wasn't like I was being offered it everyday, I only once had a guy on the street ask me if I wanted to buy weed (I politely declined), and I didn't know anyone who was high all the time and in need of some serious drug counseling. There were a few who smoked it a bit too much and probably did cause their brain some harm. Pot is actually not so great for a developing brain, neither is alcohol, in fact if you can avoid all brain altering drugs until you are 25, your brain will be happiest. But most of us have already had a drink by 21, so whatcha gunna do?
So what I plan on telling my kids about pot and alcohol is this:
For godsakes, if you are going to do pot, have a reliable source. Some of the scariest stories I have heard are people getting pot that has been laced with something else, this can kill you or make you really sick or go insane temporarily. Find trusted friends who have a trusted dealer. I may know some who know some, but don't think this means you can start smoking pot in this house under my nose!
Your brain is still growing, I know you think you know everything, but pot should be avoided while your brain is maturing, if you do smoke it, keep it to a minimum. Same for alcohol.
If you don't want to do it, that's great, please don't freak out on your friends that are doing it. A polite "no thanks," is good enough. I know you'll hear that you should not even talk to people who do drugs, but really some of the coolest, smartest, most interesting people you will ever meet will be those who do drugs or who are in recovery from chemical addiction. Establish good boundaries with your drug-doing friends and come to me or another trusted adult if you think there is a bigger problem going on. I knew a guy who used to just say, "my body is a temple," and everyone laughed and stopped offering him anything and we were all still friends. Chemical abuse is a little rampant in our society, so chances are you'll meet quite a few, but chances are most who you see doing pot occasionally will not be addicts, learn the difference and accept it all.
Wait until you are in college, but drinking a beer totally helps with paper writing if you are a perfectionist. I would freeze up at the computer screen sometimes and then crack open a beer, try again and punch out a 5 page paper in no time. Proof-read it the next day.
If one hit or one drink is good, two will NOT be twice as good. Best to keep your tolerance low, it will cost you less calories and money later.
Pot is illegal, so if you get caught by the school or the cops there can be some real life consequences, be smart. No one will bother you if it's a couple people in a privet residence, and the fact that you are white makes pot practically legal for you. And don't drive, you know how to use the bus system, you know a cab number, you can crash on someone's floor.
If one of your friends is getting really sick or possibly ODing or has drank ALOT and is passed out and you are worried, for godssake, call 911. You will regret it if you don't. Same for your friends that are drink driving, call 911 and give the license plate number, you could save two lives, including your friend's. An underage/or legal age DUI will not ruin their lives, driving drunk might. If this ever comes up, which is probably won't, but if it does, it might be met with resistance, be the hero, even if you will be the only one who feels that way at the time.
It's always better to NOT injest or smoke any drug that you don't need, same for Tylenol. Drugs will not make your life better or turn you into someone great. Drugs are just drugs. Most of us occasionally consume some of them and most of us do not have problems with it. I promise not to freak out over any discovery of drug use, but I will get you help if you need it.
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