What Parents Should Know (part III)

 

Drug Paraphernalia

 

As well as strange powders, tablets, capsules and other substances, there are various items of drug paraphernalia to look out for. These will depend on what drug is being used, and how it is taken -

• Incense sticks or room deodorizers to conceal the smell of dagga
• Plastic bank packets or unidentified packages wrapped in brown paper
• Unusual pipes or broken off bottlenecks
• Scorched tinfoil, tinfoil tubes and matchbox covers
• Syringes and needles
• Scorched spoons, ligatures and citric acid
• Small mirror, razor and straws
• Tiny spoons (sometimes ornate) and small containers
• Cigarette papers and home-made cigarettes
• Bloodstained cotton wool or other material.

What Parents Should Know (Part II)

 

Some common symptoms of drug taking are:

• Loss of appetite
• Being either unusually sleepy or
• Unable to sleep at night
• Bouts of talkative, excitable and over reactive behaviour
• Being unusually irritable, aggressive and even violent
• Telling lies, or acting secretively
• Losing interest in schoolwork and bunking classes
• Losing interest in hobbies and favourite sports
• Money or valuables disappearing from home
• Unusual spot, sores and marks on and around the mouth and nose
• Stains and chemical smells on clothing and about the body
• Changing friendship patterns
• Coming to the notice of Police for unruly behaviour

What Parents Should Know (Part I)

Parents often ask, “How can I detect if my child is using or experimenting with drugs?” and “What signs should I be looking for?” There is no simple answer.

In the current climate of growing public awareness about drug abuse, many parents have recognized the value of being forewarned in order to be forearmed should they have to deal with the problem in their own homes.

The fact is that there is no such place as a drug free environment. Although the majority of young people do not take drugs, the temptation is all around them. It cannot be ignored, and it is the parents’ responsibility to be aware and informed about the availability and dangers of different drugs.

It is important to remember that the majority of teenagers who are exposed to drugs either do not use them or experiment briefly then give them up. Many of the attitudes and forms of behaviours associated with drug taking could be confused with the difficult process of growing up.

However, some teenagers continue to experiment and begin to use drugs regularly. They may deny to themselves and others that they have become drug addicts , and the as the time goes on, greater and greater problems develop. At this point they will need help.

Teens, Depression and Marijuana (the facts)

Marijuana and Depression.
Marijuana and Suicidal Thoughts.
Marijuana and Schizophrenia.

Do we have your attention? As parents and caregivers, you probably never thought you’d see marijuana associated with these mental health problems … but it is. New research is giving us better insight into the serious consequences of teen marijuana use, especially how it impacts mental health.

Today’s teens are smoking a more potent form of marijuana and starting use at increasingly younger ages during crucial brain development years. ¹ There is plenty of evidence indicating the ways pot impedes, even changes, the mental health of adolescents. In fact, those changes in the brain are similar to those caused by cocaine, heroin and alcohol.² The overall impact that pot has on the brain can have long term consequences, and it’s up to you to influence your teen’s life when it comes to drugs.

Depression

Weekly or more frequent use of marijuana can double a teen’s risk of depression and anxiety. ³ Teens who smoke marijuana when feeling depressed are also more likely to become addicted to marijuana or other illicit drugs. Eight percent of depressed teens abused or became dependent on marijuana during the year they experienced depression compared with only three percent of non-depressed teens.⁴

Teen girls are especially at risk. More girls than boys felt depressed in the course of a year and substance abuse can compound the problem. Daily use of marijuana among girls is associated with a fivefold increase in the odds of developing depression and anxiety.⁵

Suicidal Thoughts

Marijuana can also be linked to suicidal thoughts. A study based on data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that teenagers 12 to 17 who smoke marijuana weekly are three times more likely to have thoughts of committing suicide.⁶ The same study linked increased anxiety and panic attacks to past year marijuana use.⁷

Schizophrenia

Several studies have documented marijuana’s link with symptoms of schizophrenia and report that cannabis is an independent risk factor for schizophrenia. Heavy users of marijuana at age 18 increased their risk of schizophrenia later in life by six times.⁸

Further reports have found marijuana use increased the risk of developing schizophrenia among people with no prior history of a disorder, and that early use of marijuana (age 15 vs. age 18) increased the risk even more.⁹ In addition, youth with a personal or family history of schizophrenia are at an even greater risk of marijuana-induced psychosis.¹⁰

(In the next part learn why teens feel depresses, and the solution)

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1. El Sohly, M.A. University of Mississippi Potency Monitoring Project, 2004
2. Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, Revised, NIDA, November 1998
3. Patton, GC et al. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. British Medical Journal, 325:1195-1198, 2002.
4. 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, SAMHSA, 2007. Table 6.36B. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k6nsduh/tabs/Sect6peTabs36to37.pdf
5. Patton, G.Cet al. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. BMJ 325, 1195-1198, 2002.
6. Greenblatt, J. (1998), Adolescent self-reported behaviors and their association with marijuana use. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994-1996 SAMHSA
7. Ibid.
8. Andreasson, S. et al. Cannabis and schizophrenia: A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet, 26: 1483-1486, 1987
9. Arseneault L., et al. Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184: 110-117, 2004
10. van Os et al. (Dec. 2004) Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people, British Medical Journal, 330

Myth Busters

Mythbusters: Some Myths You've Heard Before, And Maybe Even Believed, Until Now

Many people say that pot is harmless because it's natural. But tobacco and even poison ivy grows naturally and they have some nasty effects. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the chemical that causes some smokers to develop "tolerance" to its effects, and crave more of the drug, leading to addiction.

Today's marijuana is twice as powerful on average as it was 20 years ago and its effects and risks vary. Also some weed is laced with acid, PCP or even includes chemicals like formaldehyde (yes, that's the stuff they put into corpses and the dissection frogs in biology class).

MYTH: There are no long-term consequences if you smoke weed.
Smoking up can lead to significant health, learning and mental health problems, which can ruin your future. It impairs judgment, which can lead to risky decisions when it comes to sex, reckless driving or doing things that would normally seem stupid to you, like illegal pranks or dares.
Weed can also affect your performance in school and in sports. You may even get kicked off your team completely or lose your driver's license or other privileges if you lose your parents' trust and respect.

MYTH: Magazine models are the ideal and all women should look like them.
Did you know that the average American(I am talking about American because this is where our teens take their greenwich time from, unfortunately!) woman is actually 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 142 pounds? These days you can hardly turn a few pages in a magazine without getting flooded with images of the "perfect" man or woman. But look around – there are all sorts of successful, attractive, interesting people in the world all with different shapes and sizes.
Hadeeth tells us that Allaah do not look at our faces or our forms, but He does look at our deeds and our hearts. Unfortunately all WE do care about is face and forms. Todays Teens have a low self-esteem, and hence are most susceptible to body image pressures and may suffer from eating disorders that are harmful to the body and mind. And without treatment, up to 20 percent of people with serious eating disorders die. With treatment, that number falls to 2 - 3 percent.

MYTH: Smoking pot is safer than smoking cigarettes.
Neither is good for you and here's why: Inhaling burning dried plant smoke into your lungs, whether it's tobacco or pot, is bad for you. Maybe you aren't too worried about cancer at this point in your life, but, just so you know, one marijuana joint can deliver four times as much cancer-causing tar as one tobacco cigarette. (NIDA)

MYTH: Everyone in high school smokes pot nowadays.
Actually not everyone's smoking pot. The simple fact is that most teenagers do not use marijuana. Among students surveyed in a yearly national survey, fewer than one in five high school seniors has smoked pot in the last month and the trend of teens using marijuana has been down in the past few years. (Monitoring the Future). You will have to believe that the world is a different place than what movies try to make us believe!

MYTH: You can't get addicted to marijuana.
Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction in some people. Each year, more teens enter treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined. (NSDUH)

MYTH: Niacin (vitamin B3) can help you pass marijuana drug tests.
Despite what you may have heard, no scientific evidence indicates that taking niacin can alter a urine drug test result for marijuana. And taking excessive amounts of niacin can also cause severe side effects such as hepatotoxicity (serious liver damage). (CDC - Morbidity & Mortality Report, April 20, 2007)