Thread: my son is smoking pot

Not much to add that hasn't been said. I experimented with pot for a few years growing up. After a certain point you either want to move on in life or you don't. I'm in my late 30s and I would say 80% of my peers at least tried it out. Most everyone moved on. As was stated above, I would be more concerned with the type of friends and excessive alcohol consumption.

I hope things work out for your son.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Today with the internet, social media, the perversion of morals in this country, and around the world. How do you influence your children ? Even if parents are offering positive role modelling to their kids, how much time do the kids spend with the parents ?

I don't see the facts supporting a "moral decline of the society" argument.


The peak for cigarettes and marijuana is in the late 70s which is the children born around 1960 i.e. to parents who were brought up in the 50s which seems to be viewed as the moral hight of america.

And another graph for all illicit drugs and alcohol but since 1994 again a pretty steady decline or somewhat leveled. All data is from NIH

The perversion of morals argument is a slippery slope. One generations "normal" is the previous generations definition of deviant and the next generations definition of boring.

I think we all know our kids personalities, let that be your guide. Some people have little self control, and others seem to think their actions through, yet others follow the crowd, lead, or some even just observe.
Either way, I would let him know you disapprove (if that's the case) not sure of his age. Be a parent not a friend, when he's older he will need you to be both but now is not the time to be a friend. Personally I don't have an issue with pot, whether I'm right or wrong seems no worse to me than alcohol if not abused.

Lots of good advice but as someone as already said the difference between the old resin based stuff and the new super skunk Kids smoke today is like water & Whisky, and the link between mental health and smoking skunk is a massive problem today it's certainly something you need to know.
Super strong cannabis responsible for quarter of new psychosis cases - Telegraph

"It's the drug, it's the drug..." How many times we blame the external influence as part of the problem. There is no question that potency has increased. That seems typical human nature as well. If a razor shaves well, it's bigger brother has to be better, right? If chewing the leaves calms us, then smoking is better, then extracting the active compounds and concentrating them is better, right? We are smarter, I suppose, than our ancestors.

Cannabinoid Receptors

Each of us has cannabinoid receptors (and opiate and coca and other) in our body. They didn't get there by accident. Human beings are predisposed to react to this set of chemicals, if they ingest them because their nervous system and other tissues have these receptors. The anti inflammatory and anti cancer potential of these chemicals will always get buried in the social politico-economic forces that drive the arguments about them. Opiates do relieve pain and are addictive. My suggestion remains to develop the human being as a richer source of protection from behaviors that do not promote adaptation.

Originally Posted by gugi

I don't see the facts supporting a "moral decline of the society" argument.

Perhaps a matter of perspective. I think that there are those that agree with your view, and others, generally from an older generation perhaps, that agree with mine.

This all stems from Nixon, and his ridiculous war on drugs crusade. We grow up hearing drugs are bad, don't do drugs. Then you find out half of your friends, family members, doctors, lawyers, school teachers, and parents all smoke weed. Marijuana is only considered a gateway drug because we have put it into a grouping called "drugs". Pot has been cultivated for thousands of years, it's nothing "new". Personally, my dad, both my uncles, my siblings etc all smoke pot on a regular basis. All these people are successful in life. Nicotine, caffeine, alcohol are all considered worse drugs than pot in my family. Be honest and let them decide for themselves...

Mike made some valid points. There is a combo here...nature and nurture. I feel this a genetic predisposition to addictive behaviors, BUT their environment has a profound effect on whether some experiment or become life long addicts. I smoked weed and drank a lot in high school and I see now it was more due to the friends I hung with and boredom. I still partook of the occasional beer and "j" every blue moon into my sophomore year in college. I started finding hobbies and became more serious with my music. As some have said it was a light bulb moment. I realized I could spend money on pot and sit around and be high and bored or buy a new bass or amp or other things to further my hobbies. I"m 32 now, and may have a beer once every 4-5 months with a friend b/c its just not fun getting wasted or buzzed and I would much rather spend time working out, playing music, restoring razors. Find some hobbies and other likes of his to do together. Show him there are way better and funner things than getting high and laying around to spend his time and money on.

Originally Posted by prodigy

This all stems from Nixon, and his ridiculous war on drugs crusade. We grow up hearing drugs are bad, don't do drugs. Then you find out half of your friends, family members, doctors, lawyers, school teachers, and parents all smoke weed. Marijuana is only considered a gateway drug because we have put it into a grouping called "drugs". Pot has been cultivated for thousands of years, it's nothing "new". Personally, my dad, both my uncles, my siblings etc all smoke pot on a regular basis. All these people are successful in life. Nicotine, caffeine, alcohol are all considered worse drugs than pot in my family. Be honest and let them decide for themselves...

I'm curious as to why caffeine is worse than pot. The rest of the stuff, I'm agnostic on - I can't see a reason to do any of it in excess. there's not a great deal of tracked data on pot smoking, but I would imagine that in the long run, it will probably reduce life expectancy just like anything else done regularly that isn't otherwise outwardly healthy. It takes many decades to get actual data on that stuff, and unlike cigarettes, a lot of people smoke it just for part of their life, so the data won't be consistent.

I'm assuming caffeine is mentioned as delivered by coffee, but I've never seen any real great data about coffee reducing life expectancy, nor does it (when used moderately) have a negative effect on mental proficiency (actually the opposite).