and Here's Why ...

Talking the C-word with the Kiddos

By Peter Dugré

Picture this. A billboard towers over the gridlock of Interstate 5 as a family in an SUV crawls toward Disneyland. It projects glowing imagery of cannabis with an ad for a chain of dispensaries. What do Mom and Dad say about this sales pitch to a curious pre-teen in the backseat?

Now, whether it’s a billboard or a storefront, cannabis is publicly portrayed as having healthful qualities along with producing a pleasant high. For many parents, the D.A.R.E. message becomes the knee jerk reaction to this type of advertising. Cannabis is bad—JUST SAY NO!

We’ve long been comfortable with the hypocrisy of “mommy and daddy drink,” but adultuse cannabis has left parents longing for a little nuance. The plant was strictly forbidden just a handful of years ago, but today you can walk into a store and choose between strains that offer relaxation, creativity, or even something on par with a spiritual awakening.

When it comes to youth, it is crystal clear that cannabis should not be used or taken lightly. Science says that full cognitive maturity is not attained until the age of 25, so even the 21-years-or-older restriction poses a risk to the developing brain.

According to Toni Wellen, a family and marriage counselor based in Carpinteria, Calif., honesty and clarity about cannabis is the best path for a parent discussing cannabis with kids. If young children consume edibles, there can be severe health consequences, and small children have even fallen into comas from THC.

“We must educate parents and especially teens about the lasting effects and dangers regarding early use of marijuana,” says Wellen.

As a therapist, Wellen says the science on what cannabis can do to a developing brain is catching up to experience long observed in behavioral development. What has been evident is impaired young minds do not retain information or learn as they should. Cannabis use, particularly heavy use, by youth not only has the immediate effect of altering a youth’s mental state, but it disrupts the way one develops and learns to cope with the real world and adulthood.

That’s a “just say no” message wrapped in critical thinking and supported by science. What we now know about youth sensitivity to concussions in football also has a through-line to substances like cannabis and alcohol. Developing brains are nothing to mess with. High teens and young adults are at a heightened risk for serious long-term behavioral wellness issues.

Give it to them straight, Mom and Dad. Wellen recommends reading, “Buzzed, The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs” by doctors Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson. C S

Peter Dugré is co-owner of Two Trumpets Communications and consults with CARP Growers, the cannabis farmers association in Carpinteria Valley. Peter & partner Lea Boyd manage both internal communications and public outreach for associations, public agencies and charitable organizations.