Pubdate: Tue, 28 Oct 2014
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://static.tallahassee.com/contactus-form/
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Terri Friedlander
Note: Writer, parent and educator Terri Friedlander

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PRESENTS CONCERNS FOR SCHOOLS

After months of political advertisements and frenetic sign waving, 
election day is just hours away.

The debate about the benefits of medical marijuana has dominated the 
airwaves. This year, Maryland's governor signed a bill making it the 
21st state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. In May, a 
Florida marijuana legalization bill was approved by the Florida 
Senate, making a strain of marijuana that is low in THC 
(tetrahydrocannabinol) and high in cannabidiol available to patients 
who meet certain requirements. The strain provides positive medical 
effects without the feeling of being high. Known as "Charlotte's 
Web," the cannabis oil has successfully treated the epileptic 
seizures of a 5-year-old girl named Charlotte.

But critics believe that Amendment 2 contains language that is rife 
for misinterpretation and abuse. And the broader question still 
unanswered is whether the increased availability of medical cannabis 
in those states where it already passed has affected today's chronic 
drug problems in high schools. Are teens aware of the differences in 
the types of marijuana?

 From the hippie culture of the 1970s to the timeless popularity of 
Bob Marley, kids experiment with pot, whether legal or not.

Teens test their limits and arrive to the classroom with glassy, 
bloodshot eyes, doped and dazed. They sell pot brownies in the 
hallways. Kids who get stoned lose all motivation to do well in 
school. Expulsions occur when they're caught with possession but 
accurate statistics are difficult to obtain. Now add to the mix the 
temptation of cannabis as a legalized substance, and it seems like a 
recipe for disaster.

According to the site www.drugabuse.gov, "marijuana is addictive. 
About 1 in 6 people who start using as a teen, and 25-50 percent of 
those who use it every day, become addicted to marijuana." It further 
states that "compared with their peers who don't use, students who 
smoke marijuana tend to get lower grades and are more likely to drop 
out of high school."

A close friend, whose son attends high school on Long Island, has 
been living every parent's worst nightmare for the last two years. In 
9th grade, her son began sneaking out at night, skipping school, 
failing classes and stealing money from her wallet. The teenager fell 
in with the wrong crowd and began a downward spiral that could not be 
stopped without professional help. His addiction began with smoking 
pot but quickly escalated.

After discovering a program called Outreach (www.opiny.org), she 
enrolled her reluctant teen to detox and reside at the facility for 9 
months of in-depth counseling.

Get help if you suspect your teen is involved with drugs. And think 
twice before voting yes for medical marijuana. Schools don't need any 
more stoned pupils than they already have.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom