Compared to 30 years ago, today’s teenagers are drinking and smoking less. If you’ve got a teenager those kinds of stats are encouraging news, but unfortunately it’s too early to let your guard down completely. According to a new study more kids are using marijuana than before and start smoking at a younger age. The cause of the spike is still unclear, but John R. Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR), says mixed messages about pot’s dangers are likely to play a role.
Have you found drugs in your child’s room and are unsure what to do? Here’s more advice from Dr. Knight.
To learn more about how marijuana’s softening reputation could impact your kids, read this interview with Dr. Knight. If you are concerned about your child’s substance use, contact a member of Dr. Knight’s team for help in scheduling an appointment.
Is smoking marijuana more harmful than most people think?
After nearly a decade of declining popularity, marijuana use among teenagers is on the rise—at a time when use of the drug is becoming more socially acceptable and has an increasingly benign reputation. According to a study released by the Partnership for a Drug Free America, 25 percent of U.S. teens reported smoking marijuana in the last month, up 6 percent from previous years.
Coincidentally, marijuana’s popularity boost is being reported just as science sheds new light on its harmful effects. The British Medical Journal recently released a study showing young people who smoke marijuana regularly double their risk of developing psychotic symptoms as they grow older. It’s one of many studies published in the past few weeks indicating that marijuana may not be as benign a drug as some people think. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 30, 2010
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High cholesterol is putting 20 percent of teens at risk for heart disease. Healthy kids are more likely to die from ecstasy use than regular drug users. If your child smokes cigarettes, it’s much more likely that pot is next.
The federal government’s annual report monitoring kids’ alcohol and drug abuse has been released. The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that while use of cigarettes, methamphetamines, cocaine and binge drinking is down the use of prescription drugs and smokeless tobacco is up. Marijuana use is holding steady.
John Knight, MD, director of The Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASER) at Children’s says those findings aren’t particularly surprising. What we do need to worry about, he says, is that the survey also reports that adolescents’ perceived harm of marijuana is way down.
What exactly does that mean? Knight says that when adolescents think a drug has little or no harm, they are much more likely to use it. So, be ready for marijuana use to jump along with other drugs. “Marijuana is a gateway drug that leads kids towards all kinds of other drugs,” Knight says. Full story »
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Other stories we’ve been reading:
More high school athletes are using 
High cholesterol is putting 20 percent of 
The federal government’s annual report monitoring kids’ alcohol and drug abuse has been released. The 
