Many of you know that the courts ordered JUUL Labs, Inc. to pay $463 million to six states for their nefarious marketing practices to teens (you can see more about their marketing practices in Screenagers Under The Influence). The ongoing high rate of nicotine use among youth is incredibly sad and problematic. Besides the problems with this practice, a study showed that teens who report using e-cigarettes were 3.5 times more likely to report using cannabis than non-e-cigarettes users.
Today, let's talk about cannabis — or, as teens mainly refer to it, weed. Weed is by far the most common term. “Pot” is rarely used by younger people. I have worked hard in my clinic to refrain from using that word. I also do not use the term marijuana, although that term often gets used in research papers.
Here are four important topics/ questions to discuss with youth in your life:
Many teens tell me the ways that cannabis comes up in their feeds. In Screenagers Under The Influence, we hear these examples:
A high school boy in California says, “People will literally just post them smoking a joint. You'll see a lot of celebrities.”
A teen girl in Seattle says, “Instagram, the explorer page, and there's a shop section, people selling bongs or stuff for marijuana.”
A young man in Oregon says, “Ads for dispensaries.”
Over the past several years perceived riskiness of cannabis in teens has been declining, yet research reveals that teens who believe that cannabis use has risks are less likely to use it.
Sadly myths prevail. For example, in the study I just mentioned, some teens believed things like “marijuana can help teenagers focus in school” and that “marijuana is safe because it’s natural,” and if they believed these statements, they were more likely to report use.
Therefore discussing the risks of cannabis, and dispelling myths, is a wise practice supported by research. What do kids think when asked this question? Talk about the merits of periodic conversations in which everyone shares science and societal observations regarding cannabis moving forward.
Weed is not the same as it was in our day. For many years cannabis plants have been specially bred to increase THC concentration. THC is the part of the plant responsible for the thoughts and mood changes that happen from cannabis.
The neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D., who is in Screenagers Under The Influence, states:
“Cannabis today is completely different from what it was in the past. The original plant had about two to 4% THC. Today strains of cannabis consumed recreationally can have anywhere from 16 to 24% THC, and can even go up to 80 or 90% THC.”
There are several issues, but today, I’m sharing data from Dr. Sharon Levy, who analyzed responses from a survey given to 14 to 18-year-old teens regarding their experiences using cannabis. Dr. Levy, who is in the Screenagers Under The Influence, is the Director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. She and her team found that 27% of the teens that use cannabis reported experiencing hallucinations. (The actual survey question asked whether they had “seen, felt, or heard things that were not really there.”)
Sharon told me, “When I saw that number come out of the analysis, I thought, wow, who would dream that 27% of kids would say “yes” about hallucinations? We're seeing this more commonly now that the products are more potent.”
In addition, 34% reported feeling “anxious or paranoid.” In total, 43% reported having at least one of those symptoms.
Let me add that this was a small study and was not a nationally represented sample. Yet that said, there is no reason to think these numbers are too far off.
Many of you know that the courts ordered JUUL Labs, Inc. to pay $463 million to six states for their nefarious marketing practices to teens (you can see more about their marketing practices in Screenagers Under The Influence). The ongoing high rate of nicotine use among youth is incredibly sad and problematic. Besides the problems with this practice, a study showed that teens who report using e-cigarettes were 3.5 times more likely to report using cannabis than non-e-cigarettes users.
Today, let's talk about cannabis — or, as teens mainly refer to it, weed. Weed is by far the most common term. “Pot” is rarely used by younger people. I have worked hard in my clinic to refrain from using that word. I also do not use the term marijuana, although that term often gets used in research papers.
Here are four important topics/ questions to discuss with youth in your life:
Many teens tell me the ways that cannabis comes up in their feeds. In Screenagers Under The Influence, we hear these examples:
A high school boy in California says, “People will literally just post them smoking a joint. You'll see a lot of celebrities.”
A teen girl in Seattle says, “Instagram, the explorer page, and there's a shop section, people selling bongs or stuff for marijuana.”
A young man in Oregon says, “Ads for dispensaries.”
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and I propose we use it as a time not to be overly fixated on the topic but to use it as a time to have one or two calm conversations. In today’s blog, I guide you through some topics and ideas to bring up with your kids about what they see in shows, movies, music videos, and social media and how it might influence their decisions.
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In Screenagers Under The Influence, we examine the scary reality that people use apps, such as Discord and Snapchat, to reach young people in the hopes of selling them drugs. They might advertise they are selling Oxycodone, Ativan, or some other substance. The buyer has no idea that many of these are not what the sellers claim but instead are fake/counterfeit pills and that part of what they have in them is fentanyl.
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We all would love for our kids not to smoke now or in the future. The reality is that some high school students, middle school students, and even some younger kids vape using e-cigarettes. As a physician, I can tell you that many of my teen patients have said they indeed use e-cigarettes, and their parents are unaware of this. Ellie, from the Screenagers Under The Influence film, indeed did not let her parents know she had been vaping for quite a long time. A survey of parents released last week provides some interesting data about parents’ beliefs when it comes to their children and vaping. Read on for a few of the findings.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
