Pubdate: Fri, 28 Mar 2014
Source: Concord Monitor (NH)
Copyright: 2014 Monitor Publishing Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/WbpFSdHB
Website: http://www.concordmonitor.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/767
Author: Sandra Stonebanks

DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN'S BRAINS

The regulation of marijuana is much in the news. Should it be 
legalized? Should the law allow medical marijuana?

As a retired mental health and alcohol/ drug counselor I asked some 
colleagues for their thinking about marijuana. In every instance 
there was a lack of decisiveness and clarity.

Marijuana is the most commonly used drug in the world, and it is the 
most dangerous because its use is on the rise with 12- to 
18-year-olds, a time when the brain is still actively forming.

Scientists have been telling us since the late 1970s and early '80s 
that marijuana affects working memory, motor skills, judgment, 
thinking, the movement of chromosomes, and sex and reproductive 
hormones. It creates behaviors such as lack of motivation and 
feelings such as anxiousness and anger.

Since practitioners know this, why would they not be clearer about 
the law? One reason might be that some practitioners have been lulled 
into a trance as patients are into heavier drugs such as heroin. 
However many opiate users began their history with drugs by using marijuana.

Is there any doubt about what needs to be done about marijuana? If we 
care about the culture we live in and the developing minds of the 
children who occupy it, marijuana needs to continue to be classified 
as an illicit drug and kept far, far away from our children. If you 
are wondering if your children are experimenting with marijuana, ask 
if their friends are using; that will help to open the discussion.

The web has an abundance of information a parent can access 
concerning marijuana or any other drug you might be concerned about 
such as: Scholastic.com/headsup/endocannabinoid.

SANDRA STONEBANKS

Concord
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