talking to kids about drugs

[downwardsfromzero]

One might wonder how Endy feels about this now, being a parent. There have been several similar threads since this one and it might be worth compiling an index of them to facilitate comparison.


I've already informed my kids that there is an area of study known as pharmacology. The ones that are old enough can read but seem fairly oblivious to the contents of my bookcase. In a few years the risk time for social exposure to the crappy stuff will occur. That time is challenging for pretty much any parent.

It pays to have established from early on a solid, open, trusting, loving and age/maturity appropriate basis for communication because there will be a whole range of areas where guidance may be needed.

 

[PedroSanchez]

Yes Pedro

But it is still such a taboo topic for society.

this is the big problem. those people do not realise the potential damage they are doing by trying to shelter children from it.
i cant believe how many people are still so anti-drugs. the part that blows my mind the most is the "drugs" part. they think alcohol is one thing, cigarettes are another and drugs are another :?
i know a guy who thinks that, in his exact words, "drugs are worse than alcohol". i asked him which drugs he was referring to. he did not like that question. i never did get an answer :lol:

 

[PedroSanchez]

One might wonder how Endy feels about this now, being a parent. There have been several similar threads since this one and it might be worth compiling an index of them to facilitate comparison.


I've already informed my kids that there is an area of study known as pharmacology. The ones that are old enough can read but seem fairly oblivious to the contents of my bookcase. In a few years the risk time for social exposure to the crappy stuff will occur. That time is challenging for pretty much any parent.

It pays to have established from early on a solid, open, trusting, loving and age/maturity appropriate basis for communication because there will be a whole range of areas where guidance may be needed.

my girlfriend and i raised our nephew from a very young age. we were always very open with him about drugs and our use. we are big believers in being open and honest with children so we told him everything, the good, the bad and the messy. we have also told him that we understand he will probably try drugs at some point and that we are okay with it, but we would rather he was here in the safety of his home than out on the streets (like we were) or somewhere where he was not at his most comfortable.

he is 20 now and he barely touches any drugs. he has tried weed twice and an MDMA pill once and did not really care for either of them. he is also VERY open and honest with us both, so we have more opportunities to protect him from dangerous situations. when he tried the XTC he called us and told us he was going to try it
he doesnt even really drink much, certainly much less than his friends he is around. and cigarettes are a laughing matter for him, although that seems more common with kids these days

i love our relationship with him, we are all very close. we continue to tell each other everything and i have never looked back.

 

[OneIsEros]

I would talk about specific truths and facts. I would also say..... “Just say no”, isn’t completely stupid. It’s completely stupid as a general propositiom, but you know what? Pointing out that certain drugs are way more likely to cause pointless harm (say for example, tobacco, or cocaine, opiates, etc.) isn’t a terrible idea I don’t think. I would actually talk about “just say no” to them, and explain it as a tactic that has generally been agreed to have been a failure - but then explain why it was in any way a desirable tactic in the first place.

I’d point out the difference between drugs that are basically a bullet train to heck (like opiates), and other drugs that responsible adults use, and describe the risks they come with - and how extreme those risks can become. Talk about how alcohol can* become as extreme a problem as opiates become (while being careful to explain how opiates almost universally develop into that level of extremity when used recreationally on anything approaching a regular basis). Explain how in some states marijuana is being legalized and how in Canada it is legal because it does not have the extreme problems associated with alcohol - and then explain the problems that can indeed come with marijuana.

Basically, tell them where “just say no” actually is a rational proposition, and where in other cases they may want to tread carefully, and how carefully they may want to tread in those areas. Describe a realistic hierarchy of risk and fill in the details of why and how they earn their places in that hierarchy. “Just say no” to cannabis or even alcohol, is dumb. These are drugs that have risks, but are acceptable in terms of risk for experimentation for responsible adults. Just say no to dilaudid? Not a bad idea. That one’s gonna come with so much risk it’s just better to not bother there, ever.

 

[potnoble]

My girlfriends niece is 10 years old. She just visited our home and watched a kids show
on you tube. There was a drug dealer giving kids black afghan hashish.
He disguised it as licorice!
The kids didn´t know and ate it.
Luckily they were able to catch the bad guy so no one had to endure the bad cannabis high.

I have nothing to say now. What the hell are they thinking?

And OneisEros: I absolutely agree with you. It is really important to teach the kids but also
not give them the wrong impression. For me alot of drugs are fun.
Some are so much fun for me that i can´t do them anymore.
I don´t want to be the guy that made them go down the road i chose in life.
If i can make the kids around me be just as open about drugs as Pedros nephew everything will be allright.

Thanks for your posts. Only time will tell

 

[PedroSanchez]

My girlfriends niece is 10 years old. She just visited our home and watched a kids show
on you tube. There was a drug dealer giving kids black afghan hashish.
He disguised it as licorice!
The kids didn´t know and ate it.
Luckily they were able to catch the bad guy so no one had to endure the bad cannabis high.

I have nothing to say now. What the hell are they thinking?

:lol: :lol: :lol:
i can remember being warned as a kid that people would give me free drugs throughout life.
i am still waiting :?

all their lies did was push me further away from society and closer to drugs. to be honest i am glad they pushed me away though! now i am older and wiser i can see how bad it really is for those poor suckers obeying their overlords

 

[BeJake]

I think you should only say the truth and also contextualize the term "drugs".
There are drugs with an high potencial of abuse and dependence and some others, like psychedelics, that have different risk, in particular in a uncorrect enviroment.

 

[○]

i can remember being warned as a kid that people would give me free drugs throughout life.
i am still waiting :?

:lol:

 

[Egzoset]

Hummm...

The thought spontaneously occured to me, reading this title, that the original Star Trek series of Gene Roddenberry actually depicted alcohol as something of great value using silent body language in its "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode. Then in Star Trek TNG that same author gave moral lessons over "drugs" and "addiction".

Now, since there's mention of Public Institutions and their installed gurus perpetuating such unbalanced approach to consumption habits and "disorder" profiles, i dare ask this simple question: what if the "harm" of cannabis (e.g. "dope" i know-1st hand), to begin with, actually results from mis-guided 3rd-party interference denying a most basic human need to experiment and learn by trial & error??

What if cannabis appreciation requires "filters" to be acquired exactly during this period when doctos & friend$ warn us that it destroys the brain below 25-yr old or so?... What if the effect of a succession of socio-toxic laws ultimately ended up with a generalized 1st-time exposure to extreme vilification, eventually transmitted to more young people and hence turning them into self-vilification agents! What if the "Harm" is nothing but a void of alternatives to systematic dose abuse, never leaving any room for healthier ways except total perpetual abstainance?...

My reasoning is that music must be learned through trial & error before people can start leading orchestras, etc. Nobody can hope to change into a maestro if they never cared for music before 25 i think, it's when the mind still has its "plasticity" that new skills get learned best, so if that's also true of cannabis (and possibly other substances) then the real effect of prohibitionist ideologies made law is to deprive future adults from a durable protection against vilified habits, provided healthy models were available when needed most in the 1st place and that's about initiation i believe. Which all too often is bound to be clandestine IMO.

So, what if adults in panick actually cause more permanent prejudice by disproportionate trauma, while alcohol is being deified on cable TV?...

But i don't suppose that's even on the table, to just mention such matters might as well get perceived as a crime. It wouldn't be surprizing in days when governments want to cease control of the internet while shaming anti-cannabis adds paid by public money are dispatched throughout the nation, right before a 15 minutes "connoisseurs" editorial on craft beer and so on!

Good day, have fun!!

 

[potnoble]

Egzoset that´s a good question.

I think once you start to develop an interest in drugs you see through their bs
and it detaches you from society.
Now you are on that side and they are over there.
I don´t know if i can properly explain my point. But that mindset put me further away
from a normal life then my drug use.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[OneIsEros]

Hummm...

The thought spontaneously occured to me, reading this title, that the original Star Trek series of Gene Roddenberry actually depicted alcohol as something of great value using silent body language in its "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode. Then in Star Trek TNG that same author gave moral lessons over "drugs" and "addiction".

Now, since there's mention of Public Institutions and their installed gurus perpetuating such unbalanced approach to consumption habits and "disorder" profiles, i dare ask this simple question: what if the "harm" of cannabis (e.g. "dope" i know-1st hand), to begin with, actually results from mis-guided 3rd-party interference denying a most basic human need to experiment and learn by trial & error??

What if cannabis appreciation requires "filters" to be acquired exactly during this period when doctos & friend$ warn us that it destroys the brain below 25-yr old or so?... What if the effect of a succession of socio-toxic laws ultimately ended up with a generalized 1st-time exposure to extreme vilification, eventually transmitted to more young people and hence turning them into self-vilification agents! What if the "Harm" is nothing but a void of alternatives to systematic dose abuse, never leaving any room for healthier ways except total perpetual abstainance?...

My reasoning is that music must be learned through trial & error before people can start leading orchestras, etc. Nobody can hope to change into a maestro if they never cared for music before 25 i think, it's when the mind still has its "plasticity" that new skills get learned best, so if that's also true of cannabis (and possibly other substances) then the real effect of prohibitionist ideologies made law is to deprive future adults from a durable protection against vilified habits, provided healthy models were available when needed most in the 1st place and that's about initiation i believe. Which all too often is bound to be clandestine IMO.

So, what if adults in panick actually cause more permanent prejudice by disproportionate trauma, while alcohol is being deified on cable TV?...

But i don't suppose that's even on the table, to just mention such matters might as well get perceived as a crime. It wouldn't be surprizing in days when governments want to cease control of the internet while shaming anti-cannabis adds paid by public money are dispatched throughout the nation, right before a 15 minutes "connoisseurs" editorial on craft beer and so on!

Good day, have fun!!

Interesting thought, but having seen the effects of cannabis in people prone to psychosis, an interesting thought is ultimately not very powerful in the face of what I have seen there.

With people not prone to psychosis in my mind, I feel a little warmer toward this thought.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations PotNoble,

...and it detaches you from society.

Or society detaches you from it after being mislead by self-serving "elites" still rooted in the Victorian-age, when substances got used to control sex slaves... With an obvious exception for alcohol & tobacco initially.

The fact is my father didn't wait that i reach 18 to "educate" me on alcohol, and certainly not by systematically exposing me to SELF-VILIFICATION, e.g. in my analogy including THC-centric genetic selection intended to "fidelize" clients at the expense of some broader spectrums valorizing other features than the buzz alone. At least i know my parents served us alcohol in small glasses, while young persons typically blow an entired 300 mg cigarette/"joint" loaded with THC-centric stuff and now nearly a hundred "legal" pest control products mixed as savvy soups designed to pass bogus quality testing. To continue feeding contaminated statistics, etc. On top of self-poisoning (combusted!) wood fiber + glue while actually denying "Harm Reduction" alternatives.

Who ever gets initiated 1st by being offered acces to this 2:1 THC:CBD void zone as illustrated above??

Never getting a chance to try anything else but extremes, as if that's THE "normal" way for cannabis and its adepts...

Anyway you won't learn how to drive a bicycle if not prepared to accept a few falls 1st, e.g. our socio-toxic system is quite probably creating consumption-related problems by design.

Good day, have fun!! 8)