Marijuana Using Parents Have Trouble Delivering Straight Dope to Kids

Parents who use marijuana have a difficult time talking to their kids about drugs, even if they believe use of the drug should be legal, the San Francisco Chronicle reported April 22.

Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the Drug Policy Alliance's San Francisco office, says she is often approached by adults who use marijuana occasionally for advice in parenting a child they suspect of smoking pot or who has stumbled across mom and dad's stash. Rosenbaum says there aren't many resources for parents who want to offer their kids anything other than "just say no."

Some parents have turned to "Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs," a guide put together by a group of California educators and activists. The guide tells parents to educate their kids about the danger of alcohol and other drug use and advise abstinence, but also talks about responsible use for those kids who have or will experiment, anyway.

"If young people continue, despite our admonitions to use alcohol and/or other drugs, they must control their use by practicing moderation and limiting use," the guide says. "It is impossible to do well academically or meet one's responsibilities at work while intoxicated."

The California PTA has distributed more than 200,000 copies of Safety First since 2002, with the group's vice president of health, Pat Klotz, calling it "a more realistic approach about drugs."

But Bertha Madras, deputy director of demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, calls Safety First "quite defeatist."

"It says that we can't really get a handle on this issue, so let's just accept casual use," she said. Madras rejects the notion of responsible use of drugs other than alcohol. "A glass of wine does not intoxicate most people. A glass of wine is a relaxant," she said. "People, when they smoke marijuana, they're not just relaxing. They're laughing louder, their appetite is increased, they are hearing things differently than normal. There's a whole range of distorted perceptions and distorted behaviors that come with that.''

Madras said that parents who smoke marijuana should examine their own behavior if they want to advise their kids about drug use. "Children really do see things in black-and-white," she said. "A parent cannot say that 'I am unique, I'm special, I can get away with it, but you shouldn't.' That doesn't resonate with kids."

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