Marijuana: What parents should know!

Editor: The Hemp Plant (Cannabis sativa) – the parts used are dried, shredded leaves, stems, and flowers.

Cannabis is a term that refers to marijuana; the strong forms of cannabis include sinsemilla, hashish and hash oil.{{more}}

Some street names are: marijuana, Acapulco gold, ace, bhang, Colombian, ganja, grass, hemp, Indian, Jamaican, jive (sticks), joint, Mary Jane, Mexican, Maui wowie, Panama Red, Panama Gold, pot, reefer, ragweed (low-grade marijuana), sativa, sinse, tea, Thai, sticks, and weed. “Roach” refers to the remainder of a marijuana cigarette or “joint”, after most of the drug has been smoked.

All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs; they all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) the main active chemical in marijuana and more than 400 other chemicals.

The effects of marijuana depends on the strength or the potency of the THC. THC potency has increased from the 1970’s and continues to become very potent material from cloned and hydroponically grown plants. Stronger marijuana means stronger effects.

Marijuana has adverse effects on many of the skills required for driving a car; may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have, such as chronic cough and more frequent chest colds; smoking affects the brain and leads to impaired short-term memory, perception, judgment and motor skills.

Very regular high-dose use of cannabis may be linked to one pattern of behaviour, often referred to as the “amotivational syndrome”– personality changes that seem to grow subtly over long periods of time: diminished drive, lessened ambition, decreased motivation, apathy (lack of feeling, emotion, interest and concern), shortened attention span, distractibility, poor judgment, impaired communication skills, loss of effectiveness, introversion, magical thinking , a disorder that consists of feelings of being detached from one’s body, mental processes and surroundings, diminished capacity to carry out complex plans or prepare realistically for the future, a peculiar fragmentation in the flow of thought, habit deterioration and progressive loss of insight. (West 1970s).

There is no magic plan for preventing teen drug use, but parents can be influential by talking to their children about the dangers of using marijuana and other drugs and by remaining actively engaged in their children’s lives.

Marijuana can pose a particular threat to the health and well-being of children and adolescents at a critical point in their lives, that is when they are growing, learning, maturing and laying the foundation for their adult lives. As a parent, your children look to you for help and guidance in working out problems and in making decisions, including the decision to use drugs.

Remember this is the one and only life that we have to live and every action has a reaction.

Joann Ince-Jack