cannabisnews.com: Parents Antimarijuana Message isn't Getting Across





Parents Antimarijuana Message isn't Getting Across
Posted by FoM on July 19, 1999 at 21:01:02 PT
When it Comes to MJ, Parents are not Speaking
Source: Star Tribune
While 98 percent of American parents say they don't want their children to smoke marijuana, only 40 percent have told them that, according to a nationwide survey of parents released today by Minnesota's Hazelden Foundation. 
And only 20 percent specifically have told their children that marijuana is illegal, the survey shows."It's a situation where parents believe they don't have a lot of influence but the fact is they do," said Ariel White-Kovach, executive director of Hazelden's Center for Youth and Families. "And they need to use that influence to give a clear message not to use alcohol and drugs."The survey comes just one week after a report showing that marijuana sends more youngsters into treatment than any other drug. In fact, it's responsible for almost as many as all other abuses and addictions -- including alcohol -- combined, according to the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York.Citing figures from the National Institutes of Health, the report says 48 percent of the 182,000 youngsters, 19 years and under, who entered treatment in 1996 were admitted because of marijuana use. Marijuana use is also up in Minnesota, according to the periodic Minnesota Student Survey by the state's Department of Children, Families and Learning. In 1998, 24 percent of Minnesota's ninth-grade students said they had used marijuana within the past year, compared with 9.6 percent in 1992. Among high school seniors, that statistic rose from 20 percent to 30 percent.From fun to Sobriety High Medical professionals connect the increase to two changing attitudes among teenagers: Fewer disapprove of marijuana use, and fewer believe it to be harmful."Kids think it's an OK thing to do, that it doesn't do anything to you," said Scott Ballantyne, a junior at Sobriety High School in Edina. "It just makes you really happy. It's fun, not what anybody considers a hard-core drug."Ballantyne entered Sobriety High, an alternative school for children in recovery, in April. He had just finished treatment for a marijuana problem at Hazelden. Scott's mother said her family would fit the survey. They hadn't had a serious talk about marijuana with Scott until his drug use started in about eighth grade. They never thought they they'd have to."We were pretty naive about how much drug use there was in the schools," Linda Ballantyne said. "I mean, we would have discussions about drugs occasionally when the subject would come up. "But I don't remember ever consciously sitting down and having 'the talk' about drugs. I do remember we had it for cigarettes. But I felt really quite sure that it [drug use] wasn't going to happen to my children."Parents should say: Don't Studies, including the Minnesota student survey, show that parental opinion is one of the key factors that discourage children from trying drugs and alcohol. In the Hazelden survey of 505 parents of teens, 86 percent of respondents said they have talked to their teens about marijuana. Parents who have smoked marijuana themselves are more likely than the nonusers to have that talk -- 94 percent to 82 percent. Overall, more than half of the parents -- 55 percent -- have told their teens what punishment they could expect if they do smoke it.But only 40 percent had specifically told their children: "Don't do it."Hazelden said its survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.The survey findings are consistent with others that show parental opinions often don't get through, said Alyse Booth, a spokeswoman at the Columbia University center on substance abuse, which will release its own survey of 1,000 parents and 2,000 teens on Aug. 31."[Our] preliminary findings also show . . . that more parents say they have discussed the dangers of illegal drugs with their teens than teens say that their parents have done so," Booth said.White-Kovach said parents need to be clear about their disapproval of drugs -- and to listen to their children."It's really important not to give orders to a child and then walk away," she said. "Their children probably know more about the availability of drugs in their schools than they do. They can tell their parents the challenges they face every day." But surely some youngsters won't be forthcoming."Parents need to know that drugs are available in high schools, middle schools and elementary schools," White-Kovach said. "Parents may not know the details. But if a parent says, 'I do not want you using alcohol and drugs,' that should be understood."Published Tuesday, July 20, 1999 H.J. Cummins / Star TribuneH.J. Cummins can be reached at hcummins startribune.com.© Copyright 1999 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. 
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Comment #1 posted by rainbow on July 20, 1999 at 05:53:01 PT:
Hazelton on Minn Public Raadio
I just heard an interview by MPR of an "official" at Hazelton this morning.It was okay untill she told us the three reasons why marijuana is bad. The announcer asked if marijuana was safe.1) The potency of marijuana has increased from the 1-3% in the sixties to the now 20-30% (according to the DEA)2) More young kids are smoking marijuana (down to 13)and 3) Kids are soaking their joints in formaldehyde. Kids in Texas are showing up with signs of solvent in their systems which causes brain destruction and it is because they are dipping their joints.Well I was a supporter of MPR but I gotta tell you that to allow such bias and crazed reporting is unbearable. I will be calling the MPR news editor today and asking why they allow such trash.CheersRainbowP.S. Hazelton is a prohibitionist organization that reputes to helps people. 
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