It's Only Pot Posted by:Jenn--Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Today’s parents may have mixed thoughts about their teenagers' use of marijuana.  They may have personal memories of smoking pot when they were growing up, or they may have had friends who smoked, yet all of them (well, most of them) grew up to be responsible adults.  So why don’t their children deserve this same rite of passage, while their parents “look the other way”?

To add to this dilemma that parents face, the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana in various states raises even more questions about what behavior is acceptable.

Click here for an article by Dr. Jim Mastrich, who discusses the significantly increased potency of today’s marijuana, and the implications of that for the teenagers who are using it.  Below is a quote from the article:

High school kids who are “experimenting” with today’s marijuana are much less likely to know how to manage the effects of such a powerful substance and are likely to bite off more than they can chew.

Click here for an article that discusses the impact of the decriminalization of marijuana on current attitudes about the drug.  Many experts believe that use of marijuana will increase significantly if people believe that it’s safe for anyone to use.  A quote from the article:

People forget that marijuana can be addictive. It actually changes the physical chemistry within your brain.

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Kratom - the Trendy New High? Posted by:Jenn--Thursday, January 07, 2016

Remember when synthetic marijuana, also called K2 or Spice, was all the rage?  And it turned out to be a hallucinogen that was eventually banned under federal law? 

There’s a new kid on the block called kratom, an herbal supplement that may be brewed and served in drinks, or purchased as a powder in convenience stores or on the internet.  Click here to read an article from the New York Times that describes the emergence of this new drug.  Below is a quote from this article:

 “Some users embrace kratom as a natural painkiller and benign substitute for more dangerous substances that, in most states, is legal. But its growing popularity and easy availability are raising concerns among substance abuse experts and government officials who say it is being furtively marketed as a way out of addiction, even though it is itself addictive. Worse, some of those experts say, kratom can lead some addicts back to heroin, which is cheaper and stronger.”

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