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Would You Rather Your Child Experiment With Pot Or Alcohol?

Jessiesgirl1108

Jessiesgirl1108

Chameleon
Personally, if given the choice, I would much rather my children experiment with pot than with alcohol.

A leading paediatrician has said he would rather his children used marijuana than alcohol, such is the devastation that drink can cause.
Aaron E. Carroll, professor of paediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, said while he would prefer youngsters to use neither, if forced to make a choice, he would opt for pot.

[...]

He goes on to argue that while research has linked marijuana to changes in the brain and psychosis, as well as changes in lung function and cancer risk, 'these are all associations, not known causal pathways'.
Instead, he explains, there may be other factors that explain these links - perhaps people with mental health problems are more likely to use the drug, he suggests.
However he warns what many of us - especially parents - do is overlook the huge dangers of alcohol.
He cites statistics from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, which state that alcohol use is a factor in 40 per cent of all violent crimes in the United States, including 37 per cent of rapes and 27 per cent of aggravated assaults.

What many of us - especially parents - do is overlook the huge dangers of alcohol, he warns
No such association has been found among marijuana users.
'People who are high are not committing violence,' he explains.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...e-leading-pediatrician-s-says-d-pot-time.html
 
Ugh. Neither. Yeah, but that's not an option. And no that's not a crazy, over-protective Mom answer entirely, I'm an addict, my mother is a still using addict, my grandparents were alcoholics, my aunt an addict/alcoholic, my cousin an alcoholic. It runs in the family.

But if I had to choose, it would be pot over alcohol. Alcohol is super addicting, pot isn't physically addictive like alcohol.
 
And I've never seen road after street after boulevard after highway loaded with white crosses and street side memorials, or entire neuro hospitals full of destroyed human beings because someone fried a bowl of illegal weed. JMO/E.
 
Krystal said:
Ugh. Neither. Yeah, but that's not an option. And no that's not a crazy, over-protective Mom answer entirely, I'm an addict, my mother is a still using addict, my grandparents were alcoholics, my aunt an addict/alcoholic, my cousin an alcoholic. It runs in the family.

But if I had to choose, it would be pot over alcohol. Alcohol is super addicting, pot isn't physically addictive like alcohol.
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There have been studies that show it can have neurological impact on "developing" brains though.

Personally, I pity my kids when they enter the age of experimentation. I am not a cool mom. I can't make this choice, because either/or there would be some serious repercussions.
 
DaemonSadi said:
There have been studies that show it can have neurological impact on "developing" brains though.
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And alcohol wouldn't?

Most anything we post someone can find a study to back up the opposite opinion. But I stand by my statement that pot does not have the physically addictive qualities of alcohol. Alcohol withdraw can kill you, pot withdraw, not a chance. I've cold turkeyed drugs, withdraw is a Hell I cannot explain to you and I wouldn't wish on my enemies, hence the reason I pointed out the physical addiction not any possible psychological or neurological effects.
 
Hmmm.... I don't really care about either as long as she keeps her shit together and she is old enough to understand what she is doing, like not 10, but 16 or 17.

To be completely honest, I would hate to have a straight edge kid. I drink, everyone in my family drinks, and a lot of them smoke weed. HOWEVER, the vast majority of them also lead productive lives with good jobs and healthy relationships. As long as she ends up like one the them I will be a happy mom.
 
Anything taken while a brain is developing is a risk factor but pot although used for forever cannot be directly linked to mental health issues, violence, nor intense dependency therefore is the safer choice should a choice need to be made. Pot heads if not on anything else tend to be relaxed, mellow, and just chill.
 
Krystal said:
And alcohol wouldn't?

Most anything we post someone can find a study to back up the opposite opinion. But I stand by my statement that pot does not have the physically addictive qualities of alcohol. Alcohol withdraw can kill you, pot withdraw, not a chance. I've cold turkeyed drugs, withdraw is a Hell I cannot explain to you and I wouldn't wish on my enemies, hence the reason I pointed out the physical addiction not any possible psychological or neurological effects.
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To clarify: yes, alcohol sucks. My point was more, marijuana is perceived as some totally benign substance.
 
Mata Hari said:
To be completely honest, I would hate to have a straight edge kid. I drink, everyone in my family drinks, and a lot of them smoke weed. HOWEVER, the vast majority of them also lead productive lives with good jobs and healthy relationships. As long as she ends up like one the them I will be a happy mom.
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This.

The potential for damage is substantially less with pot, so if it were an either/or, I'd choose pot. But it's not an either/or. If you're lucky it simply won't be too many ands.
 
Myself I'd rather they use pot over alcohol. I know I won't be there to watch them every moment of every day, so they will do what they do. But, we've started a dialogue (at an age appropriate level) with them about the effects of drugs and alcohol and what each of these can do to your decision making skills and ability to function.
 
I'm on the pot side as well. In my HS the stoner crowd was relatively benign. More likely to fall asleep on the couch playing video games. The alcohol/"in" crowd were the ones getting blasted in the woods and driving home with various horrifying consequences. Then again, kids in the south take drinking to a whole 'nother level.

ie:
http://www.wistv.com/story/15137488/police-wrong-way-on-i-26-left-1person-killed-1-injured
eta : http://www.live5news.com/story/21979107/woman-charged-with-dui-in-shem-creek-bridge-wreck
 
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I have a 20 year old who I know has done both, pot he sits around, plays video games, gets the munchies, goes to sleep. Drinking he acts like a complete idiot, throws up and feels like shit the next few days.

So, yeah, Ill got with weed over alcohol any day
 
Pot absolutely! Kids who are experiment with alcohol before the age of 16 (maybe 15 IDR) are 3 times more likely to have alcohol problems as an adult.
 
BostonBurns said:
Pot absolutely! Kids who are experiment with alcohol before the age of 16 (maybe 15 IDR) are 3 times more likely to have alcohol problems as an adult.
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Agreed. Do you think the ease of availability has anything to do with it? Like b/c it's legal and sold at almost any grocery store, drugstore, liquor store, etc., it's more likely parents will have a bottle or two, even up to a full wet bar easily accessible in the house, whereas since it's still illegal in the vast majority of states and on the fed. level in certain situations most parents, if they do smoke, are more likely to hide their stash (or try to)? We *know* the ETOH genetics are a factor, too, but I'm just curious what others think (speaks to future legal availability of weed like ETOH).
 
gatekeeper said:
Agreed. Do you think the ease of availability has anything to do with it? Like b/c it's legal and sold at almost any grocery store, drugstore, liquor store, etc., it's more likely parents will have a bottle or two, even up to a full wet bar easily accessible in the house, whereas since it's still illegal in the vast majority of states and on the fed. level in certain situations most parents, if they do smoke, are more likely to hide their stash (or try to)? We *know* the ETOH genetics are a factor, too, but I'm just curious what others think (speaks to future legal availability of weed like ETOH).
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It's just my speculation, but I would imagine when a younger teen learns to habitually use alcohol to have a "good time," it gets deeply seeded in the behavior of "having fun."
Of course not all kids would be a high risk, but the kids who habitually equate, "Friday night fun" with alcohol, might become habituated into the behavior. It's been a while since I read the study.
 
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BostonBurns said:
It's just my speculation, but I would imaging when a younger teen learns to habitually use alcohol to have a "good time," it gets deeply seeded in the behavior of "having fun."
Of course not all kids would be a high risk, but the kids who habitually equate, "Friday night fun" with alcohol, might become habituated into the behavior. It's been a while since I read the study.
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I think so, too. When I was a kid, we could get weed, but alcohol was always available at somebody's house. I remember it being the very first mind-altering thing I could get high on and have a good time. And get sick on. And puke on. And omg, the hangovers, lol.
 
All other things being equal, I know that pot is far less damaging than alcohol. It doesn't fuck people up so completely, it is not physically addictive, and it is impossible to overdose on it. And those under the influence of pot are far less likely to indulge in antisocial behaviour - vandalism, violence, etc - than those who are drunk.

Problem is, where pot remains illegal - as it is here in the UK - it's supply is in the hands of criminals who often sell much harder drugs too. Therefore, people buying pot regularly find themselves coming into contact with other drugs and their users. This would be a major concern for me.

Pot acts as a "gateway" drug to other drugs in this way pretty much BECAUSE it is illegal. Which pretty much means - once this is understood - that to use the fact that it is a gateway drug to justify it's continued illegality is actually idiotic.

Nevertheless - for as long as that is the reality of the situation - I would worry more about children coming into contact with pot, simply through fear of who they might end up mixing with and what other drugs they might be intoduced to.

If pot were legalised, I'd be less worried about kids experimenting with that than with alcohol, though.
 
HagarTheHorrible said:
Pot acts as a "gateway" drug to other drugs in this way pretty much BECAUSE it is illegal. Which pretty much means - once this is understood - that to use the fact that it is a gateway drug to justify it's continued illegality is actually idiotic.
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I really like the way you brought out and phrased that point. I've mentioned before that here, in addition to the local neighborhood dealers who sell MJ out of their homes and nothing else, we have certain areas of town on both sides of the state line where you go to get your drug(s) of choice. If you want meth, you go to a few specific areas, heroin, a few other areas, crack, PCP (Sherm/Water/Wet/Dip), LSD, 'Shrooms, Ecstasy, Mescaline, Rx Narcs, Sizzurp/Lean, and so on all have their respective areas, too.

While some of these drug dealers are pretty exclusive and don't trade in weed, a lot of them do, and we have about half a dozen, super popular areas in the K.C. Metro area that are full-service, one-stop shopping areas - anything you want, they've either got it or they can get it for you while you wait (one very exclusive one, in particular).

I've personally never been with a multi-sub shopper (though I have picked up the odd sack of weed here and there from a neighborhood dealer as an errand/favor for friends), but from working in Detention/Corrections, both adult and juvenile, I *know* for a fact this happens, but for the sake of argument I'll say, I can absolutely see a kid/adult who goes to buy weed illegally saying something like, "Hey, you got any [insert drug]?" Even if the seller doesn't, it's as likely as not they would/could tell the kid/adult where they could get it. Even if they don't know/tell them, they'll still seek it out and I guarantee you it *won't* be hard to find around here. K.C. is ALL about customer service when it comes to selling drugs.

So, in this context, I can certainly agree that MJ could be considered a "gateway drug" simply b/c of the multi-substance dealers who sell it.
 
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gatekeeper said:
.....alcohol was always available at somebody's house. I remember it being the very first mind-altering thing I could get high on and have a good time. And get sick on. And puke on. And omg, the hangovers, lol.
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I think we've all been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt, lol.
 
HagarTheHorrible said:
Pot acts as a "gateway" drug to other drugs in this way pretty much BECAUSE it is illegal. Which pretty much means - once this is understood - that to use the fact that it is a gateway drug to justify it's continued illegality is actually idiotic.
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I have argued this point with some very thick teachers since 5th grade. They didn't seem to understand I was telling them this as a known fact. I started smoking weed with my mom, but even before I did, she used to send me to get it for her. I had a pretty wild childhood, meeting people more than open to discuss with me that pot doesn't make the money, so they sell the other stuff. Pot is harder to conceal vs coke, more risk over less money type of deal, and they usually smoked pot too. I didn't even smoke yet when my mom taught me how to roll joints for her. I was anti-drug, gifted classes, straight A's, D.A.R.E. Class hero, lol. But they repeatedly dismissed me when I made this point; telling me pot lead to a break down in morals, the catalyst to the downward spiral that will have you shooting smack in an hour or 10 minutes or whatever, lol. I tried to make it rather plain for them, 'the only reason pot is a gateway drug is because to get pot you will inevitably be exposed to other drugs. And like any good businessman trying to launch his own startup he will invite you to buy'. Even if they are telling you you should just sell it, so you'll have more money to buy with, and it's bad for you so don't do it. Even if you're 10 yrs old, lol. But just try saying stuff like that to blindly religious zealots in the south lol. They referred to me as the girl from the movie 'The Bad Seed'.
I never told any of them I had personal experience in these matters, I never wanted to get my mom or anyone else in trouble. And that concludes this segment of useless info about me that no one wanted lol. Sorry about the tangent, but this used to frustrate me so!
As to pot or alcohol, pot for sure. I was allowed to drink too, and alcohol just got old by 15 or 16 on it's own. That was super lucky because my family has alcohol history, and it could've gone the other way. I was losing my infatuation with alcohol, because I was so sick of drinking and feeling like shit. I drank a lot through those years.
 
Pot.
In Australia I've seen a lot of drug campaigns focused on cannabis. I know there are higher risk of psychiatric disorders brought on by regular, and heavy use. Long term affects on brain structure and memory, concentration etc

...but I think alcohol is a much slipperier slope. I dislike the whole culture around drinking, I never really 'experimented' too much but drank at 17/18 & stopped drinking socially when I was 19 (and lost a whole group of friends, because that was all they ever did)

When I was at university I saw a lot of alcoholic behaviour, men and women not going a day without drinking, but noone ever seem to class it for what it was.

Now in my social circles we're in our mid-late 20's I know several people struggling with alcohol problems, or their younger siblings getting black out drunk a few times a week, or a parent.

Everyone seems to know someone in their lives in the past or going through it now.
 
HagarTheHorrible said:
Pot acts as a "gateway" drug to other drugs in this way pretty much BECAUSE it is illegal. Which pretty much means - once this is understood - that to use the fact that it is a gateway drug to justify it's continued illegality is actually idiotic.
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While I know that for some people pot has been their gateway drug, for many that have tried pot it was not. The concern or even fear in some cases is based on the actions of a few or even just some who have tried pot.

But as someone who posted that I'd rather have my children try pot, I can pose this argument: Alcohol is also a drug as it is an intoxicant, alcohol can be just as much of a gateway as pot. Alcohol lowers one's inhibitions tremendously making a person more susceptible to the suggestion of trying another drug, susceptible to peer pressure. And of course alcohol can lead to other bad ideas/choices/consequences. Alcohol is the leading cause of alcoholism :)) yeah, that was a jackass comment), but alcohol use and the increase of alcohol use can easily lead to an addiction, drunk driving, wrecks, injuries, death.

You can't say pot is a gateway drug without saying the same about alcohol, when used irresponsibly both can be dangerous and they are both drugs, it's just that one is legal and the other isn't.
 
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Krystal said:
While I know that for some people pot has been their gateway drug, for many that have tried pot it was not. The concern or even fear in some cases is based on the actions of a few or even just some who have tried pot.

But as someone who posted that I'd rather have my children try pot, I can pose this argument: Alcohol is also a drug as it is an intoxicant, alcohol can be just as much of a gateway as pot. Alcohol lowers one's inhibitions tremendously making a person more susceptible to the suggestion of trying another drug, susceptible to peer pressure. And of course alcohol can lead to other bad ideas/choices/consequences. Alcohol is the leading cause of alcoholism :)p yeah, that was a jackass comment), but alcohol use and the increase of alcohol use can easily lead to an addiction, drunk driving, wrecks, injuries, death.

You can't say pot is a gateway drug without saying the same about alcohol, when used irresponsibly both can be dangerous and they are both drugs, it's just that one is legal and the other isn't.
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Yup, agreed. My personal "gateway" acceptance point was based specifically on Hagar's point that ease of availability concomitant with other illegal drugs dealers may be selling could definitely define it as a "gateway drug" in an alternate use of the word, rather than the old argument that 'all kids who smoke pot will end up trying harder, more dangerous drugs.' Some will, and do think, "Well, that was kinda cool and it didn't kill me, so I think I'll try (whatever)', but in the sense of a kid/adult choosing to use mind-altering substances, the same argument can definitely be made for alcohol, esp. since it's the easiest, most abundant drug there is to get hold of, esp. as a kid. Both of my kids smoked, my dtr. still does and throws back a couple once in awhile, but she's never had an interest in trying anything more/harder.
 
Edit - I have no kids, but...

Pot - absolutely. I think pot is safer and much less addictive. I was smoking weed in high school and drinking even younger than that. I don't smoke anymore, I still drink.

My hubby still lights up daily, and he's been doing it since before I met him in 1975...he's been responsibly managing his work team for 30+ years.

My three closest friends - their husbands have been arrested for drunk driving. I don't know anyone who's been busted for under influence of weed.

Excellent topic question, @Jessiesgirl1108!
 
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