Good morning. One of the most upsetting things about your kids using things like cannabis is knwoing that they feel they NEED to get high to get away from their stressful lives. Makes me sad. Teens these days have so much stress on them, more than I did their age. I always begin and end any conversation on cannabis use I have with my son with two things: 1. what you are doing is illegal 2. I do not approve of using cannabis or any other drug as a minor; that said you do not have my permission. However, if he is looking for accurate information from a trusted source, I'm in. I tell him I will answer any question he may have about drugs, alcohol, girls, life... anything. I will be as accurate and honest as I can in the hopes he will take the information and work toward making good choices for himself. We talk all the time. Yesterday he asked if smoking pot is really that unhealthy. I aswered with the most accurate information I could and told him that breathing in any combusted material (smoke) is unhealthy and could potentially cause long term health issues like respiratory desease and even cancer with prolonged use. Burning cannabis also quickly eliminates most of its medically beneficial properties This question was quickly followed up with "...then, what is the least harmful way to use cannabis?" Ugh... Ok, so after a little more research I found that vaporizing organic cannabis flower (pesticide free) seems to be one of the least harmful ways to use cannabis. I told him edibles are off limits! They are largely uncontrolled and can often times have imbalanced measurements in the ingredients and can lead to excessively high THC levels. If it is made in a lab or someone's kitchen- leave it alone! So the next day I saw an empty package for a new vaporizer in his trash. Heavy sigh... My first thought was "That's it! He's grounded!", then after more thought, I quickly realized he IS listening to me. I certainly did not suggest a vaporizer for him, just answered his question truthfully. In fact it, I suppose, could be seen as a little move in a good direction. He no longer uses synthetic cannabis products, shatter, oils or waxes. He now vaporizes organic flower only. Yes, he is still using it; but in a less harmful way. The ground rules stay in place: If you are suspected of using cannabis while driving a car, your license and car keys will be taken (by me). If you are using it in our home, with younger siblings around, same consequence. If you are caught at school with cannabis, same consequence. This is really hard. He had a big school dance last night, off site at an event hall in the city. He went with 15 of his friends. The event did not end until 12am. (Why do schools organize events that are off site, in the city and so late at night? How can we parents possibly protect our kids??). I was terrified he would get into an accident so I waited up for he and his friends to get home. We talked in the kitchen until after 1am, then they went to bed and were up again at 5:30am to go snowboarding. I got up before that and made a big breakfast and checked in with all of them again. Another sleepless night as a parent of a teenager... Exhausting...
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