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Smoking pot can cause a lot of trouble for parents
Caution to New York parents: being caught with a joint might not be a crime in New York these days, but it could still cost you custody of your kids.
The New York Times has a scary story out today about the pattern of neglect charges being brought against parents who are busted with small amounts of marijuana.
The story opens with the sad tale of Penelope Harris, a mom who temporarily lost custody of her son and niece after police found just 10 grams of marijuana in her apartment. That was a small enough amount that no charges were filed. But the state swooped in and took her kids anyway.
The Centers for Disease Control’s National Youth Risk Behavior Survey monitors the health risk behaviors of children and young adults in the U.S. The 2009 report was released this week and the results reveal interesting trends and at least one frightening new statistic.
The good news is that teens seem to be more health conscious than ever. As compared to previous surveys, fewer reported drinking soda and more are eating fruit. Extreme dieting tactics such as fasting, taking diet pills and laxatives as well as intentional vomiting are also on the wane. However, while more kids may be getting wise to the benefits of healthy eating, many are doing something far worse than skipping meals. Continue reading »
Moms got MADD about drunk-driving and pushed for stiffer laws. They helped to pass and then later repeal alcohol Prohibition. And now the nation’s mothers — or at least a vocal segment of them — are lobbying to legalize marijuana.
According to the AP, their key argument is that pot is safer than booze and cigarettes. Moms for marijuana believe that teens shouldn’t be tossed in jail for experimenting with marijuana. They also point to pot’s health benefits, claiming it can help ease postpartum depression. Some mothers also say it helps to treat autism.
Moms for pot legalization say that prohibition creates a black market which leads to the sale of dangerous drugs to their children. Continue reading »
Most of us teach our kids that medicine is not candy. But at the medical marijuana dispensaries in California, sometimes it is. They sell THC-imbued candies, or “medibles”. They also sell plain old pot, in a variety of exciting flavors. The difference between a dispensary and a Dutch coffeeshop is just that in California, you need a doctor’s note to shop.
This week, the New York Times reports that some Bay Area doctors have begun giving those notes to kids as young as 14. They’re not just treating cancer or AIDS anymore, either. Some of these kids are getting the referrals for ADHD.
Should Whitney Houston have disclosed all the dirty details of her freebasing past? Was it a necessary cautionary tale, or would the revelation make her teen daughter, Bobbi Kristina, want to pick up the pipe?
USA Today described the aftermath of five L.A. nursery school teachers accidentally eating pot brownies as suffering “neurologic symptoms commonly associated with being stoned.”
So we’re going to assume they got the munchies and called the pre-schoolers “dude” a lot?
OK, end of making light of a serious situation. Continue reading »
In middle school and high school, I used to feel secretly sorry for the kids who were known for having “cool” parents. Everyone else seemed to think that having a dad pull up outside the school building blasting Eminem, or a mom who hung out and chatted about boys with her daughters’ friends was something to be envied. Continue reading »
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