Marijuana

The Alice in Wonderland bedtime story is turning into a daytime tale. Children are free falling right into the rabbit hole. The secret is coming out of the ground and into the open. D.A.R.E I say it? Drug Abuse Resistance Education has taken on a different meaning with a majority of states legalizing the use of recreational or medical marijuana. Kids are being instructed on how to make informed decisions so they can realize the cause and effect of their choices.

Something just seems off about bringing children up with legalized pot for recreation, when through the years so much effort has gone into instructing our youth that marijuana is illegal and against the law. Giving them the green light to go ahead when they are of age is defeating the purpose, and has red warning flags waving in the field. How surreal it is to go against the grain, or in this case leaf, to consider planting weed in your own home when you used to be arrested for that very act. All I can think of is that when I was growing up one of the worst chores I had to do was pull out the weeds in my backyard!

Could it be that people are living in a smokescreen when it comes to marijuana? How can smoking pot be more acceptable than it used to when the harm to vital parts of your body such as the brain, heart, lungs, eyes, throat, and gums has remained a constant? Isn’t it contradictory to be telling school age children to eat well-balanced meals that include meat, vegetables, and fruits, but then lecturing them on the legality of a substance that can be dangerous and addictive as they get older? While I’m all for limiting candy, cookies, and cakes, the sugar in that mix sounds more appeasing than a wrap of cannabis.

Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes is easy to inhale. That aspect of the drug is understandably a no brainer, but the other side is foggier to comprehend. What smoke signals are we sending our children when the very bodies they are striving to keep fit with exercise can become undone in the name of recreation? Does today’s diet of eating right and being healthy include smoking pot to get high to give the illusion of feeling good? Along with the mixed leaves are the mixed emotions when you do, and even when you don’t.

What the law is saying is right simply sounds wrong. Just saying the words legal is like a potsticker in my throat and makes my mouth go dry. I’m not OK with my kids using marijuana, let alone my grandchildren. But I understand that the choice is not mine to make. The conscious decision to use pot can be justified by a young adult when all he has to do is point a finger at the law and say it is legitimate now. However, what about the impressionable younger middle school and high school students? What sense will they make of it all when you tell them that a drug that can harm you has been legalized for recreational use? It kind of makes you wonder if this is a precursor of meds to come for public use.

I tend to believe the lines will get blurred, presenting teens and adults with driving dangers and employment issues all rolled into one. And as issues crop up the root of the problem will be that people start burying their heads in the dirt. While grass is a novel idea, when you add in the human ingredients of man, woman, and child can you see the reality through the haze?  Will the federal government have the final say when the ends get twisted closed, or does getting tax revenue from marijuana sales trump all even when it puts users at risk?