News

Current articles about marijuana use in adolescence

Asking kids about drugs doesn’t prompt drug use, study finds

It is an oft-repeated fear, particularly among parents: that discussing an undesirable behavior, or even an illegal or dangerous one, may encourage kids to try it. But when it comes to asking pre-teens about alcohol, drug and tobacco use, a University of Washington-led study finds no evidence that children will, as a consequence of being asked about it, use the substance in question.

read more

Council Requests Cannabis Ordinance Modifications

Council members met Monday, Oct. 2 to discuss a number of items but the one item that compelled community members to leave their homes for the night to attend, was the public hearing regarding the repeal of Article IV, Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Cultivation, and Delivery Ban of Chapter 14, Health and Sanitation.

read more

The struggle to keep teens off weed

The Oregon Health Authority’s new ad campaign to convince teens to prevent or delay marijuana use, Stay True to You, takes a decidedly softer approach than the “just say no” messages of previous anti-drug campaigns.

read more

Vermont’s DIU approach on marijuana

(NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 2017) Vermont lawmakers passed a bill this month that would let people 21 and older keep two flowering and four young marijuana plants at home. In addition, people 21 and older could possess up to one ounce of the drug.

read more

What Canada’s doctors are concerned about with marijuana legalization

(THE GLOBE AND MAIL, APRIL 2017) The Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society and other organizations representing front-line health-care providers have been busy broadcasting their concerns about the ill effects of cannabis, especially for chronic smokers under the age of 25.

read more

How to talk to your teen about marijuana

(YAHOO!, APRIL 2017) For parents, talking to teens can feel like tiptoeing through a minefield. And while part of it is because adolescents can be so volatile, it’s also because teens can be easily influenced, and it’s hard to know which way parental input will push them.

read more

Marijuana and teens: risky business

(Marinij.com, APRIL 2017) In 2016 approximately 35 percent of high school seniors and 10 percent of eighth-grade students reported marijuana use in the past year with 1 in 16 seniors — or 6 percent — reporting daily marijuana use.

read more

Speaker: Talk to your kids about pot

(RECORDER, APRIL 2017) TURNERS FALLS — A joint in 2017 is equal to 15 joints from the 1970s, speaker Jennifer Michaels told local parents during a two-hour presentation about teen marijuana use.

read more

Marijuana has proven to be a gateway drug

(THE NEW YORK TIMES, MARCH 2017) It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of heroin users have used marijuana (and many other drugs) not only long before they used heroin but while they are using heroin.

read more

Teen Brain on Pot: New Study Examines First Exposures

(Live Science, MARCH 2017) The chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana is known to trigger responses in brain regions related to thinking, perception, coordination and memory, and to have a lasting impact on users when taken frequently over time.

read more

Marijuana and the developing brain

(American Psychological Association, November 2015) More states are legalizing marijuana, but concerns remain about its long-term effects on the adolescent brain. Acceptance of marijuana is growing (ahem) like a weed.Those laws are not without controversy. Among the critics’ concerns is the worry that, despite age limits, legalization might make marijuana more accessible to young people. And adolescents’ developing brains may be particularly vulnerable to lasting damage from the drug.

read more

This is your brain on drugs

(NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 2014) The gray matter of the nucleus accumbens, the walnut-shaped pleasure center of the brain, was glowing like a flame, showing a notable increase in density.

read more

The hidden danger of marijuana edibles

(FORBES, JULY 2015) The death of 19 year old Levy Thamba Pongi, a Wyoming exchange student from the Republic of Congo visiting Colorado in March of 2014, who ate a marijuana cookie, deserves special mention in light of the growing trend toward legalization of recreational marijuana in the U.S.

read more

Marijuana and teens

(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, July 2013). Many teenagers experiment with marijuana. Friends, peer pressure, and portrayal of marijuana in the media often affect a teenager’s decision to use. Parents

read more

Principal: Cannabis use top reason for suspensions

(ASPEN DAILY NEWS, MAY 2016) Talk of neurons, cell death and synaptic terminals filled the District Theater at Aspen High School on Thursday evening, as did discussion of shatter oil and other potent forms of marijuana during a presentation on how pot may impact the teenage brain.

read more