I don't know anymore if there is anything to be done to improve the situation

[Biscuit]

Having studied pharmacology, I can say there is a huge difference between most Rx anxiolytics and weed : anxiolytics gets you down and weed gets you "high", which is not the opposite of down but something different.

The anxiolytic properties of weed are part of a huge stack of effects that heavily differs from people to people. There is also a huge difference between street illegal weed consumption, which involve dealers and no external control, and a consumption medically controlled...

From my personal experience when I was younger, I just noticed that getting involved with weed was linked to a huge drop in school results, with loss of memory and focus ability, a period I would call latency on my personal development, a lot of fun with stoners and a lot of problems with non-stoners.

Being a stoner has a lot of subtle effects, your life become a succession of getting high and coming-down, anxiety is often relieved but it is mainly "put away", not dealt with, and interaction with non-users become difficult. Overall activity level diminishes, life pace becomes slower, and I believe you can get stuck between child and adult for a long time.

My issue is that I don't know how to speak with this kid about it. Moral lessons don't work at all, I know that for sure, speaking of personal experience is dangerous and can be taken as an enabler, so it's quite difficult.

 

[BusynMember]

GN, I didnt want to say nay about two of the named drugs, but youre right about pot too. Not only did my short stint of pot cause worse anxiety, it made me paranoid. And gave me bad headaches. I did not try it for long. At least in my case, it made me feel worse and very out of it. I can see how it kills motivation. And I tried it back in the 70s.
Maybe it does help some but not all. in my opinion some, not all, just want to stay high. I do believe it blurs reality. I dont see how daily users can be productive. To me it was like being slowed down in body, reflex and brain, yet it scared me.
Biscuit I really appreciated your post. I noticed that the folks here who have kids who use pot often tend to do very little with their lives. I believe pot is a prominant feature in failure to launch adult kids. Yet they claim its harmless. I dont buy it
I forgot to add that I once ate five hot dogs after pot. Extreme munchies, I guess

 

[Biscuit]

They say harmless because it does not kill people or cause serious physical damage. Same as you, I don't see how a daily user can be productive.

 

[BusynMember]

The thing is, it is a huge Gateway drug. So it can lead to a drug that CAN kill ya. I am not a pot fan.
Im waiting for the day we learn what the smoke does to our lungs and breathing. Cigarettes were once thought to be harmless too.

 

[GoingNorth]

Actually, I tried another, "harder" drug before trying pot, and well before trying "recreational" alcohol. I had had "religious" alcohol from childhood on, and was less than impressed with recreational alcohol.

Something that might interest you is that the medicinal part of pot is CBD. The part that gets you high is THC. CBD extract is legal in all 50 states.

Breeders have also developed strains of weed that are very low in THC and very high in CBD. One, called "Charlotte's Web", has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of epilepsy in children. (an extract is used, as opposed to the children smoking it.)

I am interested in trying the CBD only extracts, but am unable to afford the high % extracts which are very expensive. They are taken by mouth. Interestingly, they are made from industrial hemp grown in Europe or Canada, and not from marijuana. (Industrial hemp does not contain THC.)

Supposedly, CBD is useful for anxiety and pain/muscle spasm.

I didn't find weed to be a gateway drug in my case, but I was never a heavy smoker. I also preferred hash and oil to the actual plant, and since my priorities at the time were working and saving for a car, I couldn't afford to buy drugs very often. I refused to sell, "carry", or middle-man, so had to pay for my highs.

One of the things I disliked about weed was that I felt like a "slug" for a couple of days after using it, and it sometimes gave me migraines. Migraine medications in those days REALLY turned you into a slug, as in, knocked you cold.

 

[Verydistressedmomofodd]

Fist let me say it's so brave of you to want to find help or feedback and even more for reaching out somehow in any form for it. This is a very very trying time for you as a parent and it will try to break you but stay strong. Love him but not without rules and structure and limits. Hopefully if your able to take control now it will minimize the time he spends his life on messing up and will bounce back sooner. Maybe not bc I do not know if he has a diagnosis of some kind and his history but for your sanity and outcome have hope don't give up and know your trying. Don't allow him to control you and your outcome. Let him know he is only in control of his own life. God bless and I hope i in no way offended you or anyone else.

 

[pigless in VA]

Welcome, verydistressedmomofodd,

To start your own thread, go to the general forum page and look up at the top right portion of the page. You will see blue button labeled "post new thread". Click it and write us your own story. We're here and we care.

 

[Percy]

So many of us are dealing with similiar circumstances in my community. Teenagers that are doing just fine and then "harmless"( NOT) marijuana comes into their lives and things start falling apart. My son began to unravel around age 14 and although we did not know it then, he was smoking weed. Fast forward 2 years and he is still smoking. He has decided that he is not going to college and spends a lot of time mulling over how he can avoid having to work as an adult. It is shocking how much potential and motivation can be stolen through the use of marijuana. He was a talented athlete that now has no outside interests.

Yes, Yes, and Yes. Living almost exactly the same story here.

 

[Copabanana]

My issue is that I don't know how to speak with this kid about it. Moral lessons don't work at all,

Me too. I wish there was a new thread about marijuana. This is an old thread.

I hate marijuana!