Is there a familiar aroma emanating from your kid's room? Do you shake your head and ignore it thinking, "Hey, I got high when I was a teen and I turned out OK, right?" Well, think again.
- Who is getting high and how often: Today, children are experimenting at increasingly younger ages. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that the average age of first-time users in 1999 was 16.4 years. More recently, studies are looking at the regularity of marijuana use by teens. A large group of 8th, 10th and 12th graders were surveyed in a study conducted under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Results showed that 6.5% of high school seniors smoke marijuana on a daily basis. Nearly 23 % of these seniors said they smoked in the month prior to the survey and just over 36 % said they smoked within the previous year. Among 10th graders, 3.5 % said they use marijuana daily, 17 % smoked in the previous month and 28 % in the past year. Close to half of all these students in the study viewed marijuana as having few, in any, adverse effects.
- Potential for physical addiction: The main psychoactive substance in today's marijuana (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or "THC") is the same as it was in the pot smoked years ago. But over the past 15 years, the concentration level of THC has more than doubled. Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, recently talked to the New York Times about the pot that kids are getting high on today. "It's much more potent marijuana, which may explain why we've seen a pretty dramatic increase in admission to emergency rooms and treatment programs for marijuana," said Volkow. Those who try to quit on their own face withdrawal symptoms -- including mood swings, anxiety attacks and depression -- and are often surprised by the intensity and duration of their discomfort. According to the Caron's Adolescent Treatment Center, marijuana has overtaken alcohol as the primary drug of choice for teens entering their inpatient treatment programs.
Parents may feel hypocritical lecturing their kids about marijuana, given their past experimentation with drugs when they were growing up. Or they may assume -- as they do about some other teenage behavior -- "this too shall pass." But it's important not to be lulled into looking the other way regarding the risks teens face today using marijuana. This is not the pot -- nor the counterculture -- that existed in the '60s, and our more lenient attitudes will only likely increase the prevalence and potency of what is out there today. While marijuana may, in fact, be a passing adolescent indulgence for some teens, there is enough research that suggests they face potential dangers that previous generations did not.
What do you think about marijuana use by teens today?
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Vivian Diller, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice in New York City. She serves as a media expert on various psychological topics and as a consultant to companies promoting health, beauty and cosmetic products. Her book, "Face It: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change" (2010), edited by Michele Willens, is a psychological guide to help women deal with the emotions brought on by their changing appearances.
For more information, please visit my website at www.VivianDiller.com; and continue the conversation on Twitter @ DrVDiller.