Tag Archives: NIDA

Cannabis during pregnancy may cause mental health issues in children

Mental health is the buzzword of today. Children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy may develop attention and behavioral problems around ages 11 and 12. The findings come from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, also called the ABCD Study.  Scientists at Washington University analyzed data and published their findings in JAMA Pediatrics last month.

Considering that prenatal cannabis use increased from 3 % to 7 % between 2002 and 2017, the warnings against pot use for pregnant women need to get stronger.  (The first two states voted to legalize pot in 2012, and now that number stands at 19 states.)  While mental health problems in youth are growing, it’s shocking that states follow policies that increase mental health risks. Continue reading Cannabis during pregnancy may cause mental health issues in children

The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Published on Parents Movement 2.0.  Most parents of teens today don’t realize there was a massive parent movement (1979-1992) that influenced Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign of their youth. Prior to the slogan in the early 1980s, those parents were taking very practical steps to change the local environments in which their kids grew up – reducing access and visibility of pot and drug paraphernalia and offering other parents at the time a way to think about teen drug and alcohol use and team up against it. Continue reading The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Surgeon General, HHS Secretary issue blunt warnings About Marijuana

Parents from every part of the country tell us that their teens claim “marijuana is safer than alcohol.”  That’s because many teens take messages from social media and fake news.

The Surgeon General and Secretary of Health and Human Services issued a blunt warning today, clarifying why cannabis is not safe.  Together with the heads of SAMHSA and NIDA, Dr. Jerome Adams and HHS Secretary Alex Azar spoke at a Press Conference today, detailing the risks of pot.

Continue reading Surgeon General, HHS Secretary issue blunt warnings About Marijuana

Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12

Monitoring the Future,* the nation’s annual survey of students, reported today marijuana use in 8th, 10th and 12th grades was higher than last year.  The survey also found that students in medical marijuana law states vaped marijuana at higher rates than students in other states, and consumed pot edibles (that can come in candies, sodas, or ice-creams) at double the rate than in non-medical marijuana law states. The survey does not include youth who drop out of school.

Misuse of prescription opioids continued its 10-year decline.  Virtually all other substances are at their lowest point in the history of the survey. The contrast is very significant, because many people think the overprescribing of opioids is the only reason our youth die of drug abuse.  They fail to reflect on the fact that early marijuana use is a predictor of other substance abuse.  Continue reading Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12