How NOT to Argue with Your Kids About Marijuana

Excerpted from A Parent’s Guide to Teen Addiction: Professional Advice on Signs, Symptoms, What to Say, and How to Help (Skyhorse Publishing) by Laurence M. Westreich, M.D. Marijuana, the illegal drug most commonly used by teenagers, is widely accepted as harmless, but is it? Its effects range from the trivial — silliness, bloodshot eyes, etc. — all the way to catastrophic — paranoia, depression, and more. Many teenagers and parents don’t realize that although not as potent, it’s a hallucinogen similar to LSD and Ecstasy. Marijuana and the other hallucinogens can cause serious problems for teenagers who use them: The drugs can make them hear and see potentially dangerous things that aren’t there, and can loosen or completely wipe out the user’s grip on reality. However it’s used, marijuana normally causes symptoms such as silliness, difficulty walking, bloodshot eyes, and memory problems. Taken heavily or recurrently over a long period of time, marijuana can bring about paranoia, lack of motivation, depression, and profound fatigue. It’s fairly easy to spot a teenage marijuana user. You’ve heard a lot of talk about what marijuana is and is not. Some people claim that it’s a “gateway” to harder drugs, and a lot of teenagers agree. While it’s true that almost all users of hard drugs first used marijuana, alcohol, and cigarettes, we can’t say that those substances are to blame for their leap to harder drugs. Whether or not marijuan...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Addictions Children and Teens Parenting Substance Abuse cannabis Communication Marijuana marijuana abuse recovery Teen Addiction Teen Substance Abuse Source Type: news