Sue Scheff: Teens Smoking Pot

I still scratch my head when I hear parents say "he/she is ONLY smoking pot" - without realizing the dangers, not only to their behavior, but to their physical health.  Don't be a parent in denial, be educated.

Pot and Lungs

Source: Connect with Kids

“This latest study shows that you have destruction of lung tissue and reduction of lung vital capacity and a decreased ability to exhale if you smoke marijuana and what's probably the most disturbing part of this latest article is that it shows that a cigarette is really much less potent than a joint of marijuana.”

– Fadlo Khuri, M.D., oncologist

A new study of teen drug use and parent and teen attitudes reveals some troubling new highs. According to the 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, sponsored by MetLife Foundation, teen use of marijuana is on the rise, along with a growing climate of parental denial when it comes to addressing the issue with their teens.

The study reports that the number of teens in grades 9 to 12 that used marijuana in the past year shows a 19 percent increase (from 32 percent in 2008 to 38 percent in 2009).

According to the latest Monitoring the Future report, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 40 percent of twelfth graders have experimented with marijuana. In fact, it is the most commonly abused illicit drug. Plus, new information shows it's even more dangerous than we thought.

Andrew was 14-years-old when he first tried pot.

"I didn't, I didn't even inhale it all the way, I just took it into my mouth and stuff, but I loved the taste. I knew that I liked it and stuff," says Andrew Wolpa, 18 years old.

From there he experimented with alcohol, painkillers, mushrooms and almost every drug except one.

"I never smoked cigarettes because those things will kill ya, you know," says Wolpa.

But according to a study by the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, smoking one marijuana joint is equal to smoking five cigarettes at the same time.

"This study shows that you have destruction of lung tissue and reduction of lung vital capacity and a decreased ability to exhale if you smoke marijuana and what's probably the most disturbing part of this latest article is that it shows that a cigarette is really much less potent than a joint of marijuana," says Fadlo Khuri, M.D., oncologist and deputy director for the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University.

And he says smoking pot can lead to emphysema and lung cancer.

"That's a real problem because we only cure about 15 to 17 percent of all the people who present with lung cancer nowadays. So, this is a disease in which you have a one in six chance of surviving it for five years or longer," says Khuri.

He says talking about painful and serious diseases is one way to persuade kids not to use marijuana.

"Confronting them with the data, showing them what the outcomes are with lung cancer, with emphysema, with what even some individuals would consider moderate marijuana or cigarette use," says Khuri.

Andrew says even though he's in rehab he's not ready to quit.

"I don't want to be clean yet. I'm not there," says Wolpa.

What Parents Need To Know

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the plant Cannabis sativa. A stronger form of marijuana called hashish (hash) looks like brown or black cakes or balls. Street names for marijuana include pot, herb, weed, grass, Jane, reefer, dope, and ganja.

Marijuana is typically smoked in cigarettes (joints or spliffs), hollowed-out cigars (blunts), pipes (bowls), or water pipes (bongs). Some people mix it into food or brew it as a tea. It's tough – or tougher -- on your lungs as cigarettes. Steady users suffer coughs, wheezing, frequent colds, and respiratory (airway and lung) infections, like bronchitis. People who smoke marijuana have more respiratory problems — such as having more mucus, chronic cough, and bronchitis (irritated breathing passages). There are more than 400 known chemicals in marijuana. A single joint contains four times as much cancer-causing tar as a filtered cigarette.

Marijuana is easily available, relatively cheap, and kids say that it relaxes them, it's effective for stress, and gets rid of their anxiety. Anxiety is huge. In fact, by conservative estimates, half of young people who are addicted to chemicals—alcohol, marijuana or other drugs—also have a co-occurring mental health disorder.

The resurgence in teen drug and alcohol use comes at a time when pro-drug cues in popular culture – in film, television and online – abound, and when funding for federal prevention programs has been declining for several years. This places an even greater burden on parents. Among the parents surveyed for the PATS study, 20 percent say their child (ages 10-19) has already used drugs or alcohol beyond an "experimental" level. Among parents of teens ages 14-19, that percentage jumps to 31 percent, nearly one third.

Disturbingly, among those parents of teens who have used, nearly half (47 percent) either waited to take action or took no action at all – which studies show put those children at greater risk of continued use and negative consequences.

What can parents do? It's important to talk openly about the dangers of drug use – again and again. Children Now, a research and action organization, offers the following tips for discussing drug abuse with your child:

■Listen carefully. Student surveys reveal that when parents listen to their children's feelings and concerns, their kids feel comfortable talking with them and are more likely to stay drug-free.
■Role play about ways to say "no" without becoming a social outcast. Consider statements like, "My mom would kill me if I used drugs."
■Encourage choice. Allow your child plenty of opportunity to become a confident decision-maker.
■Provide age-appropriate information that fits your child's stage of development.
■Establish a clear family position on drugs, alcohol and marijuana. It is OK to say, "We don't allow any drug or alcohol use."
■Be a good example. Children will do what you do much more readily than what you say.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America offers the following strategies to help child can reap the rewards of a healthy, drug-free life:

■Get to know your child's friends and their parents. Call other parents and check-in to make sure they share your views on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Steer your child away from any friends who use drugs.
■Call teens' parents if their home is to be used for a party. Make sure that the party will be alcohol-free and supervised by adults.
■Set curfews and enforce them. Let your child know the consequences of breaking curfew.
■Set a no-use rule for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
■Get – and stay – involved in your child's life.

Resources
■Partnership for a Drug-Free America 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study
■Monitoring the Future
■Nemours Foundation
■Medical Research Institute of New Zealand

Sue Scheff: Fake Pot? What are teens smoking today?

As parents scramble to keep up with the challenges of raising teens today, they are now thrown another curve ball. Most know that smoking pot, although not legal and seems to becoming more addictive among youths, is a trend that some parents brush under the rug with the justification that "it is only pot."

Recently after speaking with a parent of an at risk teen, she said her therapist actually told her teen it was "okay" to smoke marijuana. Excuse me? This parent was horrified and this only empowered the teen. Obviously they are not returning to that therapist, but how many others feel this way?

Parenting is hard enough, and it is the parent that is the strongest tool in helping our teens to understand the dangers of drug abuse.

Now we have what is being called, K2 - or "Spice," Genie" and "Zohai" - that is commonly sold in head shops as incense and referred to as the "fake-pot". Produced in China and Korea, the mixture of herbs and spices is sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Users roll it up in joints or inhale it from pipes, just like the real thing. - AP

K2 costs between $20 and $50 for three grams, similar to the street price of marijuana, but with the key advantages of being legal and undetectable in drug tests. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has classified it a "drug or chemical of concern."

Kansas and Missouri already have bills to ban the mystery substance. What is your state doing about this latest trend?

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.

Read more on Examiner.

Pot in the Summer

By Connect with Kids

“During the summer, I went out more. And during the school year, I was focused on my homework and stuff, and the summer was mostly just a time for me to relax and just chill out and go party.”

– Angelique, 18

For most teens, the summer brings sun, swimming and maybe some extra time spent on the skateboard. But for others, the season marks the time when they first try pot.

“Beginning of summer, first day of summer, in fact,” says Sarah, who’s 19.

“It was during the summer because then we could stay out later and a lot of other kids were out of school, too,” 18-year-old Angelique adds.

In fact, studies show 40 percent of teens who smoke marijuana first tried the drug during the summer.

“They have a lot of free time. A lot of kids are bored during the summer. They’ve got nothing to do. So the fact that a lot of kids are starting to get into things they shouldn’t and experiment isn’t surprising at all,” says addiction counselor Dr. Robert Margolis, who serves as executive director of Solutions Counseling in Atlanta.

Experts say for that reason, parents should keep their children busy during the summer break.

“I think they ought to ask themselves do they have any plan going into the summer for their kids. What are their kids going to do? Are they going to get a job? Are they going to maybe go study someplace … are they going to have something that’s structured to do?” Dr. Margolis says.

He says that regardless of their own personal experiences when they were young, parents should explain the dangers of marijuana, especially at the beginning of the summer.

“What parents need to understand is that this is a very harmful, addictive drug that ruins people’s lives. And they better be prepared with facts to discuss this with their kids,” Dr. Margolis says.

Talks with her parents, and her doctor, finally convinced Angelique to stop smoking marijuana.

“Like they’re more dangerous than cigarettes and all that stuff. I didn’t know that,” she says.

Tips for Parents

The summer months often bring more freedom to teens. But many of them abuse this freedom, as evidenced by data released by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse that shows 40% of teens first try marijuana during the summer. In fact, about 5,800 teens try marijuana for the first time each day in June and July.

According to the C-D-Cs annual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance report more than 38% of teens report having use marijuana in their life. Nearly 20% admitted to smoking pot within the past 30 days. 8% of kids tried marijuana prior to turning 13 years of age.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the prevalence of drug use can, in part, be attributed to the overall perceptions and attitudes that drug use – particularly that of marijuana – is not harmful and is insignificant. Yet, those who choose to use this substance do risk developing serious health problems. The NIDA says that marijuana is responsible for the following physical effects in a user:

THC – the main chemical in marijuana – changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by particular systems in the brain. The system most affected is the limbic system, which is crucial for learning, memory and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that THC suppresses neurons in the information-processing system of the brain.
A person who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers develop. The individual may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.
Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs.
In order for parents to help curb the growing problem of marijuana use among teens, they must first understand the dangers involved in using the drug. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign cautions parents to be aware of the following points about marijuana use:

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today.
More teens enter treatment for marijuana abuse each year than for all other illicit drugs combined.
Marijuana is addictive.
Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person’s development.
Adolescent marijuana users show lower academic achievement compared to non-users.
Even short-term marijuana use has been linked to memory loss and difficulty with problem-solving.
Time and again, kids say that their parents are the single most important influence when it comes to using drugs.
As a parent, how can you determine if your teen is using marijuana? According to the NIDA, you should look for the following symptoms associated with marijuana use:

Appears dizzy and has trouble walking
Seems silly and giggly for no reason
Has very red or blood shot eyes
Has trouble remembering events that have just occurred
Although these symptoms will fade within a few hours of use, other significant behavioral changes – including withdrawl, depression, fatigue, carelessness with grooming, hostility and deteriorating relationships with family members and friends – may signal that your teen is in trouble. If your teen is using drugs, he or she may also experience changes in academic performance, have increased absenteeism, lose interest in sports or other favorite activities and develop different eating or sleeping habits.

Whether or not you suspect your child is using marijuana, it is crucial that you discuss the issue at an early age. The experts at DrugHelp suggest following these steps when discussing tough issues, like drug abuse, with your child:

Create a climate in which your child feels comfortable approaching you and expressing his or her feelings.
Don't shut off communication by responding judgmentally, saying, "You're wrong" or "That's bad."
Give your child an opportunity to talk.
Show your interest by asking appropriate questions.
Listen to what your child has to say before formulating a response.
Focus on what your child has to say, not on language or grammar.
Use probing questions to encourage a shy child to talk.
Identify areas of common experience and agreement.
Leave the door open for future conversations
References
DrugHelp
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention