Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jun 2014
Source: Portland Tribune (OR)
Copyright: 2014 Pamplin Media Group
Contact: http://www.portlandtribune.com/forms/letters_form.php
Website: http://www.portlandtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2056
Author: William Moyers
Note: William Moyers is the vice president of public affairs and 
community relations for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the 
author of "Broken,"

TALK STRAIGHT TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT POT

We can debate the science of marijuana, a drug, and challenge the 
soundness of public policy about it without ever reaching a consensus 
about the wisdom of legalizing or criminalizing it or finding some 
sort of middle ground.

But in the meantime, there should be no dispute among us that we must 
openly and honestly talk about it with our kids or grandchildren, 
especially when it comes to our own use way back when or now, 
regardless of whether we ever inhaled.

Five years ago, my organization asked young people about the 
influence their parents have on their own perception or use of 
substances. Among other things, the "Four Generations Overcoming 
Addiction" survey found:

Half of teens said it would make them less likely to use drugs if 
their parents told them about their own drug use when they were younger.

Two-thirds of teens said their parents had already told them about 
their experiences with alcohol and other drugs when they were young, 
and these teens almost unanimously said such honesty about drug use 
is a good thing.

About 75 percent of teens said they'd turn to their parents as their 
No. 1 source of advice about the use of alcohol or other drugs, even 
though 26 percent had seen their parents drunk or high.

Parents who had not yet told their teenage children about their own 
use of alcohol or other drugs most commonly said the reason was 
they'd rather have their children do as they say and not as they did 
when they were their children's age.

My hunch is that an updated survey would not show much change in such 
sentiments. Even in the rapidly expanding universe of social media 
and instant access to information, parents (and grandparents) remain 
a potent force for the truth with children.

What's changed is the radical proliferation of efforts to make it 
easier to buy and use marijuana and the mixed messages about whether 
this is a good idea or a bad idea. Voters in Colorado and Washington 
have legalized it; marijuana is being sold in everything from 
expensive coffee blends to cookies to hard candy. Policymakers in 
Minnesota just voted to allow doctors to prescribe it in pill or 
liquid form for some patients with certain illnesses, and "medical 
marijuana" is legal in 21 states. (I'm still waiting for the alcohol 
industry to wake up and start pushing "medical wine.") Some experts 
predict that within a few years, marijuana will be as easy to obtain 
and as socially acceptable to use as alcohol. And therein lies the 
danger. For though many people use alcohol, a drug, responsibly 
without consequences, we all know the toll of excessive alcohol 
consumption. The same is true for marijuana, a drug that affects some 
people in ways it doesn't affect most. When it comes to driving under 
the influence, health problems and crime, a drug is a drug is a drug.

"The gap between the scientific understanding of marijuana's harms 
and the public misunderstanding has never been greater - in part due 
to a relentless campaign by would-be profiteers who stand to make 
billions of dollars if marijuana is fully legalized," warns Kevin 
Sabet, a former senior drug policy adviser in the Obama 
administration and the executive director of Smart Approaches to 
Marijuana. Sabet is the visible and vocal national advocate pushing 
back against the tide of legalization. The issue won't be resolved 
for a long time.

In the meantime, what's a parent to do? Talk to your kids. They want 
to hear from you. And you want to hear from them.

It starts with sharing your story of experience with marijuana or any 
other drug. Many baby boomers have a storehouse of insight made 
credible by what we did in high school or in college or later. You 
don't need to glorify or demonize substances. But shoot straight 
about it - because kids want us to tell them, as the survey said - 
with accurate information that comes from personal knowledge.

It shouldn't be a fire-and-brimstone rant or a "just say no" 
monologue, either. And it mustn't be, "It's OK for you to do it 
because I did it, too." Either extreme shuts down the opportunity for 
ongoing conversation, which, when it comes to tough topics such as 
drugs, is a discussion best had as time unfolds. Engage your children 
by empowering their voice and their perspective - today and whenever 
they want to talk or listen.

The reason that those who think it's OK for young people to use 
marijuana because we did way back when are wrong is that the 
intricately modified and grown strains of marijuana of today's 
generation are far more potent than what was around when we were 
young. And that's the truth nobody can deny.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom