MARIJUANA: How to Keep Youth Safe

The strength of marijuana has increased dramatically in the past few decades, and there are new products such as oil, shatter, wax, dabs, and budder. Marijuana can be smoked, vaped, dabbed, or eaten.

How to create a safe environment:

• Know the signs of marijuana use and what paraphernalia looks like. Visit Hidden in Plain Sight to strengthen your detective skills as a parent. Signs of use include sleepiness, lethargy, bloodshot eyes, and increased appetite for snacks.

• Disapprove of youth marijuana use. You are your child’s number one influence: research shows your teen will be less likely to use marijuana if you disapprove of youth use.

Some tips on what to say to your teen:

• Talk about marijuana's effects. Marijuana distorts how the mind perceives the world. It alters senses and perception of time, changes mood, slows reaction time, reduces coordination and balance, makes thinking and problem solving difficult, and disrupts learning and memory. It can cause hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and psychosis. 

• Bring up the long-term risks of use. Marijuana can affect decision making, motivation, concentration and memory for days after use, and even permanently. 

• Point out marijuana's negative impact on mental health. Youth marijuana use has been linked with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Teen use increases the risk for developing psychosis. 

• Make sure they know marijuana can be addictive. In addition, youth use can change how the brain responds to other drugs, increasing the risk of addiction to other substances later in life.  

• Emphasize risks of use that your child cares about, such as reduced school performance, reduced life satisfaction, and impaired driving.

• "Never drive high." Make sure your teen knows that combining marijuana with drinking even a small amount of alcohol greatly increases driving danger.