Pubdate: Sat, 22 Oct 2016
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Ty Pilson
Page: 15

TOUGH TOPIC FOR PARENTS

It's high time for many parents to start thinking about how they're
going to talk to their kids about marijuana.

The Trudeau government has said it will make the drug legal next
spring, fulfilling a campaign promise that, in part, helped them to a
majority government.

While the Liberals have wavered on some of the things they said they'd
deliver if they took power, they appear to remain committed to ending
pot prohibition.

When that happens, the bud will go from verboten to mainstream, and
expected to be regulated, sold and taxed like alcohol.

For many - especially kids - it will lose its stigma as it segues into
mainstream society.

Marijuana has been vilified for so long as a gateway drug that will
not only turn you into a burnout with fewer brain cells but lead you
down a path to more hardcore substances such as meth, cocaine, heroin,
prescription drugs and the latest killer on our streets, fentanyl.

By a certain age, most parents have had the drug talk with their kids,
the younger the better if you're smart. For many, they simply stuck to
the party line: no drugs are good. Period.

The last thing anyone wants is little Johnny heading to school to tell
the teacher during a drug awareness talk that mom and dad smoke pot
all the time and told them there's nothing wrong with it.

After all, it's an illegal drug. People go to jail for selling it,
growing it or being caught with it.

So while provincial governments and police forces across the country
are scrambling to figure out what legalized pot will mean for them,
parents also face an unknown on what it will mean to their households
- - raising kids in a world where marijuana isn't a bogeyman, it's
perfectly legal and acceptable to use.

When it comes to pot, you could likely split most parents into three
groups.

The first group is pro-marijuana - they use it and feel it never
should have been illegal. Many of them have probably told their kids
this and it's not a taboo in their houses.

The second group is staunchly against it - they don't use it, don't
like it and reinforce that message to their children.

The third group - likely the largest - is made of parents who have
used marijuana in their younger years and maybe still do on occasion
now. Many of them stick to the narrative that it's bad. Given it's
illegal, they aren't about to give their kids any sign it's OK.

Heck, many of those parents who do still smoke up guard it like a
dirty secret. It's not something you openly share with your
co-workers, your boss or maybe even your family and friends.

We all know people like that.

That may change once it's legal in the next eight months or so, though
the stigma will remain for some older generations.

But what do parents do right now when their kids ask them about pot;
those old enough to have heard it will soon be legal, or younger kids
asking after they get the drug talk at school?

"No, son, marijuana is not something you should ever touch. It's
illegal and horrible and bad. But come ask me again next year."

Much like alcohol, most folks don't want to encourage their kids to
like it but you know it's inevitable they will try it and maybe like
it and maybe make it a part of their life once they become adults.

This younger generation, especially those under the age of the 10,
will grow up in a world where pot is no different than alcohol. You
can buy it at a local store and likely see people using it out openly
in public.

As if parenting wasn't hard enough already.
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MAP posted-by: Matt