Category Archives: Teens

From PotHead to Pot Educator

By Bart Bright

I once was pure Libertarian, an ally of Dennis Peron, and especially a Libertarian when it came to marijuana. Here’s how I transformed from a PotHead to a passionate Pot Educator.  My love of children makes this urgent.  ……

 It was in the 1970s, growing up in Marin County, that I became a pothead.  I went to college in San Francisco. My roommates and I grew pot in our apartment. It wasn’t so unusual at the time.  Continue reading From PotHead to Pot Educator

Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk

What do parents say?

“I smoked pot in high school and I’m ok, so I won’t make an issue of it now that I found out my teen is doing it. I prefer my kids don’t smoke pot, but it didn’t really harm me, and I don’t want a be hypocrite.”

“At least it’s pot and not opioids or fentanyl.” 

“It’s not addictive.”   

Is this reaction ok?   No it’s not.  Wake up parents; there’s a new landscape today and you had better be concerned.   Do everything in your power to stop it.

A Washington Post article earlier this year warned:  “That sense of disbelief — pot wouldn’t do this — is prevalent among parents who have watched their teenagers become gripped by addiction.”

One of the most impactful side effects of the expanded legalization movement is normalization.   Another outcome is the advertising to youth, and packaging made to imitate popular candies.  And yet another aspect is higher potency THC.

The narrative from the Big Cannabis industry and its special interest lobbyists is that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine…a harmless social vice…an expression of personal freedom…it’s ANYTHING but a dangerous and addictive drug. Continue reading Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk

It’s way to easy for kids to buy marijuana online

One of the major criticisms of expanded marijuana legalization is that it makes the drug more accessible to minors. A recent study  published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that has turned out to be a valid concern. Because of this problem, please tell  your representatives in Congress and the Senate to oppose the SAFER Banking Act.

We also urge our followers to write the DEA and DOJ and tell them not to reschedule marijuana, using the address published by SAM.  if you have not done so.  More than 100 victims of marijuana  from many states already sent such a letter to the DEA and DOJ on December 2nd.

The JAMA Study

“Pediatricians and caregivers must be aware of the widespread availability of online dispensaries and potential dissemination of marijuana to minors.”

~ Access to Marijuana by Minors Via Online Dispensaries, JAMA Pediatrics

According to the study, which looked at online weed sales in 32 states, internet dispensaries are woefully negligent when it comes to age verification safeguards that are supposed to prevent underage purchases.  To understand what to today’s marijuana looks like in its many disguises, go to THCphotos.org.

This new information should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who thinks that making marijuana available everywhere for adults won’t have an effect on children.

Troubling Findings

By nearly every measure, online cannabis dispensaries are failing at keeping the drug away from adolescents and teens. Of the 80 internet weed shops looked at by researchers:

  • Only 70% asked website visitors if they were of legal age. The standard is 100%.
  • Less than 4% asked for a specific birthday.
  • NONE of the dispensaries “required verified age documentation to enter the website”.
  • Just 1 in 5 required formal age verification at any stage in order to purchase a cannabis product.
  • 1 in 4 would deliver marijuana across state lines.
  • Of those, 95% would deliver their products even if the other states had different laws.
  • 84% of the cannabis stores accepted non-traceable payment methods such as cash, prepaid debit cards, or even digital cryptocurrency.
  • The authors noted that this allows “youth to hide their transactions”.

Verification failures at so many dispensaries demonstrate just how egregious the lack of regulation, enforcement, and accountability is within the cannabis industry.

Targeting Youth or Turning a Blind Eye?

Despite most of the dispensaries listing their policies prohibiting sales to minors, there was not much done in practice to prevent it. Worse still, it seems as if some of the products were aimed specifically at young people.

The vast majority offered marijuana edibles such as candies, gummies, chocolates, baked goods, and sweetened drinks. Among these, 67% used colorful packaging that could be attractive to minors.  California’s AB 1207 addressed the problem, but Governor Newsom vetoed the bill — under pressure from the cannabis industry.

More Marijuana Means More Problems

The study shows what we have been warning about for years. Marijuana use was on a decades-long decline thanks to the concerted work of prevention efforts, but the legalization and commercialization of marijuana is threatening to erase those public health gains.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and former Senior Drug Policy Advisor to the White House

A study published in the March 2023 edition of Addictive Behaviors found that youth marijuana use increases after state recreational marijuana is legalized.

Key findings include:

  • Past-month cannabis use went among adolescents and young adults.
  • Among young people, the perceived risk of harm went down.
  • Use increased, but treatment admissions for Cannabis Use Disorder decreased.

Dr. Sabet continues, saying, “There is no question that CUD is stigmatized and proponents of legalization have told us that legalizing marijuana will lead to more and better treatment options for those struggling with a substance abuse disorder. This study shows that in reality, legalization normalizes use and creates heavy users who are less likely to seek help.”

Good Drug Policy

“The goal of good drug policy should be to decrease access to addictive substances and increase access to treatment. Studies like this one show that legalizing drugs makes matters worse, especially for kids.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions.

Weed Doesn’t Deserve its “Chill” Reputation

Recent news stories of homicide prove that marijuana does not deserve its reputation as the “chill” drug.  Otherwise, why would people do such stupid things and even kill others after smoking weed and then not remember why?  Are blackouts from weed similar to alcohol-fueled blackouts?

In Illinois on August 14, a father apprehended his son for smoking weed at breakfast, claiming he should not go to work at a coffee shop while stoned.   The son, Isaac Thurston, got out the kitchen knife and killed his father, Perron Thurston, 50.  “I don’t know why I did it,” he said according to bond proffer of the Cook County prosecutors.  Isaac Thurston had never been arrested before, and his uncle posted bond for him. Continue reading Weed Doesn’t Deserve its “Chill” Reputation