Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jun 2012
Source: Effingham Daily News (IL)
Copyright: 2012 Associated Press
Contact:  http://effinghamdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2281

EASING OF MARIJUANA LAWS POSES CHALLENGES FOR PARENTS

DENVER (AP) - Michael Jolton was a young father with a 5-year-old son 
when Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000. Now he's got three 
boys, the oldest near adulthood, and finds himself repeatedly 
explaining green-leafed marijuana ads and "free joint" promotions 
endemic in his suburban hometown.

"I did not talk to my oldest son about marijuana when he was 8 years 
old. We got to talk about fun stuff. Now with my youngest who's 8, we 
have to talk about this," said Jolton, a consultant from Lakewood.

A marijuana opponent with a just-say-no philosophy, Jolton, 48, is 
among legions of American parents finding the "drug talk" 
increasingly problematic as more states allow medical marijuana or 
decriminalize its use. Colorado and Washington state have measures on 
their Nov. 6 ballot that would go a further step and legalize 
recreational use of marijuana for adults.

Parent-child conversations about pot "have become extraordinarily 
complicated," said Stephen Pasierb, president of the Partnership at 
Drugfree.org, which provides resources for parents concerned about 
youth drug use.

Legalization and medical use of marijuana have "created a perception 
among kids that this is no big deal," Pasierb said. "You need a calm, 
rational conversation, not yelling and screaming, and you need the 
discipline to listen to your child."

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the pro legalization Drug 
Policy Alliance, says the family conversations "are becoming a lot 
more real" because most of today's parents likely tried marijuana themselves.

"Parents know a lot more about what they're talking about, and kids 
probably suspect that their parents did this when they were younger 
and didn't get in trouble with drugs," Nadelmann said. "There's still 
hypocrisy, but the level of honesty and frankness in the parent-child 
dialogue about marijuana is increasing every year."

The Haskins family of Olympia, Wash., provides a vivid example of how 
the conversations have evolved.

Sarena Haskins, 41, and her sister are both longtime users of pot for 
health reasons, and Sarena's 12-year old daughter, Hannah, has become 
an advocate of medical marijuana to the point of posting a video 
online expressing her views.

Yet Sarena Haskins opposes the ballot measure that would legalize 
recreational use of pot in Washington and advises Hannah to avoid 
experimentation with the drug.

"I'm a little a little nervous about those conversations, but I'm 
having them now," Haskins said. "I tell Hannah it's not a smart 
choice, that she needs to focus on school ... You can't just be a pot 
head and be lazy."

Another longtime parent/pot user is Tim Beck, a Detroit insurance 
broker who succeeded in getting a marijuana legalization measure on 
the city's ballot for Nov. 6.

The measure wouldn't supersede the state law against non-medical 
marijuana use, but would let adults possess small amounts of pot on 
private property without facing arrest under city ordinances.

Beck says his 17-yearold daughter, Maria, who is now studying at the 
Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, observed his pot smoking throughout 
her youth.

"I decided I wouldn't hide it ... no big deal, no lectures. It's 
something she grew up with," said Beck, 60. "I don't know whether 
she's tried marijuana or not, and I don't care. If we detect any 
evidence of dysfunctional behavior, which we never have, then we'd 
focus on that."

The legalization campaign grates on Yolanda Harden, 47, officer 
manager at a Detroit middle school who has raised five kids of her 
own and a dozen others from her circle of friends and family.

Harden said her own parents battled drug problems that started with 
marijuana use, and she tries to convey to the youths in her care they 
could risk the same fate.

But she finds it harder now to get that message through. "Because 
it's so popular, they truly believe it's harmless."

Michigan, Colorado and Washington are among 17 states where medical 
marijuana is legal.

More than a dozen states, and many municipalities, have scrapped 
criminal penalties for small-scale pot possession or made it a 
low-priority crime for police.

In Colorado, hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and growers 
operate legally, and ads invite new patients to try their pot.

In Boulder, Colo., home to nation's largest college pro-marijuana 
protest each spring, city councilwoman KC Becker doesn't oppose 
Boulder's thriving marijuana business but realizes that, within her 
family, she'll have to approach the topic differently than her parents did.

"My parents definitely didn't talk to me about drugs, ever," Becker 
said. Marijuana legalization, she said, "does force you to talk about 
it and explain it - but that's not necessarily bad."

What will Becker tell her 4-year-old when he learns to read the pot ads?

"I'll say, 'That's a store where people can get medicine to help them 
when they feel sick, but you have to be responsible in using it and 
old enough,"' Becker said.

In Portland, Ore., a 29year-old mom found out the hard way that her 
kids needed more information.

Serra Frank uses marijuana to treat a bladder condition. When her 
8-year-old son heard last fall in a school anti-drug campaign that 
marijuana harms the brain, he burst into tears and told school 
authorities he was scared because his mom uses pot.

Police came to their house, and Frank had some explaining to do - to 
the authorities to prove she was using pot legally, and to her son.

"I tell him it's medicine. It helps with pain, but it's not for 
kids," Frank said.

Six years ago Frank created a Facebook page called Moms for Marijuana 
to ask advice from other marijuana users with children. The group now 
has some 17,000 online members and chapters in 40 states.

"Nobody really wants to talk about it," said Frank. "It's been 
ingrained into our brains that it's a bad, bad thing and we're 
supposed to be afraid of it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom