Teens and legalized marijuana in Denver, Colorado: Drug Rehab in Denver Colorado
With recreational marijuana use being legal for about a year in Colorado, Denver parents are watching their teens deal with the pressures surrounding the drug more than ever before. If you ask teens, they say that most kids get marijuana from their parents or their friend’s parents. This is concerning as well. Many parents themselves don’t understand the dangers that marijuana poses to a developing teen brain. Addressing the dangers of marijuana use during the formative years is crucial to helping teens understand why they need to avoid marijuana use all together – and in Denver, these conversations should be happening more often.
Something that can be confusing to teens and young adults is the fact that a few years ago they were told everyone should stay away from marijuana because it was harmful. Now, they hear that it is legal and sometimes helpful for people. This mixed message is difficult for teens to understand and they may ask why they can’t use marijuana if adults are now allowed to.
Psychology Today author and social psychologist Susan Newman writes, “For years, the lesson parents tried to instill in their children about marijuana and other drugs was to ‘Just say no.’ Drugs were once universally bad. In recent times, the public conversation surrounding marijuana use has changed to debates over legalization and its medical benefits. The new discourse can be misleading and dangerous for impressionable teens. One study from the Partnership for Drug Free Kids reports that in the past the biggest deterrent for teens was a fear of getting in trouble with the law or with their parents. Now that legal punishment is being minimized or disappearing, it’s more important than ever for parents to step up and have that conversation with their teens and preteens. To young people, it may look like society is condoning marijuana use.” So, with all of the press about legal marijuana use, it is important to talk to teens about why marijuana use is not ok for them.
Recently, The Colorado Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee released a set of findings examining adolescents and young adults on the health effects of marijuana. Dr. Mike Van Dyke, chairman of the Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee indicated, “As a public health agency, we’re concerned with protecting our vulnerable populations, and that includes kids. We studied a lot of findings, and we came away with a clear message to underscore that marijuana shouldn’t be used by people who aren’t adults. It can affect how your brain develops.”
Van Dyke’s findings clearly suggest that marijuana and alcohol affects a teen differently than it affects an adult, and is scientifically supported. Having that conversation with your Denver teen is so important.
A pertinent section of the study, authored by Daniel Vigil, MD, Medical Resident, University of Colorado, produced six intriguing statements that are “plain language translations form the major findings in the systematic literature reviews. They are as follows:
- Regular marijuana use by adolescents and young adults is associated with impaired learning, memory, math and reading achievement, even 28 days after last use.
- These impairments increase with more frequent marijuana use.
- Regular marijuana use by adolescents and young adults is strongly associated with developing psychotic symptoms and disorders such as schizophrenia in adulthood.
- This risk is higher among those who start using marijuana at a younger age.
- This risk is higher with more frequent marijuana use.
- Marijuana use by adolescents and young adults – even occasional use – is associated with future high-risk use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, opioids and methamphetamine.
- Starting marijuana use during adolescence or young adulthood is associated with future marijuana addiction.
- Marijuana use by adolescents may be associated with low academic achievement, such as not graduating from high school or attaining a university degree, lower income, and more unemployment.
- There is conflicting research for whether or not marijuana use by adolescents and young adults is associated with depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts.
These findings indicate that marijuana can indeed rewire an adolescent brain and can produce negative outcomes for brain development and impairment in the future. They also indicate that for many teens, marijuana use is the gateway to use of other, more dangerous drugs.
Having a conversation with your kids and teens about legalized marijuana use can be difficult. Schools need to find ways to inform kids but not encourage marijuana use. The availability in the Denver area makes this an especially significant issue when talking with your teen. The main message Dr. Van Dyke wants to get out to the Colorado public is clear: “the use of any substance that affects your brain has long term effects. Kids should think twice about it.”