Question:
My friends have discovered their 16 yr old son is getting high on marijuana. Besides taking him to a therapist what else should they do?Answer:
ParentingTeensOnline expert, Stephen Wallace, fields questions about drugs and alcohol. Stephen Wallace is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), and has served as school psychologist, camp director, and college professor. You can read more about him on SADD's site. Stephen answers:
I applaud your friends' decision to get help for their son. Too often adults don't take marijuana use all that seriously, believing there's no real harm. In fact, Marijuana is addictive and, much like alcohol and other drugs, it directly affects the brain, impairing the ability of young people to think, learn, and grow . . . and all of this at a time when significant cognitive reorganization is taking place. In addition, clinicians observing kids on pot note increased apathy, loss of ambition, diminished ability to pursue long-term plans, and a decline in school performance. Marijuana is also used by more than a few teens to avoid dealing with, or to mask, important emotions brought about by a lot of "first-time" situations, thus deferring problem solving and delaying healthy emotional development.