Easing of marijuana laws can complicate parents’ ”drug talk” with their kids

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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-year-old daughter, Maria, who is now studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, observed his pot smoking throughout her youth.
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full article @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...h-their-kids/2012/06/17/gJQAveMWjV_story.html
 
I believe the Nazis also refused to surrender because the doctrine of Aryan supremacy would be falsified.
 
One reader comment...

Duncan-20903
7:37 PM GMT+0100
Gosh I feel so sorry for the poor, beleaguered prohibitionist parasites! Propaganda is so much more difficult to spread when it has to compete with the truth!
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Amen!
 
Oh no, you have to talk to your kids about drugs now!

Parents everywhere will crumble under this ghastly burden! Right after sex education, stranger education, home safety, pet safety, social safety, on-line safety, school safety, sports safety, alchohol safety, sex abuse safety et cetera.

This should be a non-issue for most people. Don't you talk to your kids about consuming alcohol, or taking medication as directed by their doctor?
 
How does he explain alcohol or tobacco use to his kids? Both of which are addictive and deadly but perfectly legal. How is he going to explain that nobody gets in trouble for drugs that cause a lot of harm to society but that people get in trouble for something thats main harm is rooted in prohibition?

I mean, marijuana certainly isn't perfection in a plant but it's pretty damn useful in medicine and while I enjoy it, it certainly does need to be used responsibly like any other drug. The dad should teach his kids to respect drugs when asked about them and not "just say no."

"Just say no" didn't work on me and it didn't work on any of my friends either, not that all of my friends do drugs but that all of my friends saw through the bullshit eventually, even those who don't partake in any substances.

I mean, how is it okay to use those two if its not okay to use a plant that is never killed anyone from direct effects? By doing this, his kids will hopefully realize their dad is full of shit but at the same time understand that all drugs aren't as safe as marijuana.
 
If we base our public policy solely on how easy it is to explain the concept to children, then we better stop using and teaching mathematics.
 
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