THE DALLES — Youth marijuana use is down from years ago, but remains at a steady rate, experts told a local audience recently. Meanwhile, the strength of marijuana has increased sharply and packaging and promotion is aimed at youth.
Officials with the Partnership to Prevent Addiction spoke at an event sponsored by YouthThink, Wasco County’s drug and alcohol prevention program.
Most youth don’t use marijuana, and that’s a key takeaway, said Linda Richter with the Partnership to End Addiction. Kids want to fit in and can feel like everyone is using marijuana, but it’s just not true, she said.
A national survey showed a third of 12th graders have ever tried marijuana, and 10% use it daily, she said. Wasco County youth use is even lower.
As more states legalize it, marijuana has come to be seen as less harmful. But the level of THC, the psychoactive part of marijuana that creates the “high,” has increased significantly over the years, Richter said.
The level of THC in smoked marijuana, or flower, was just 3-5% in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, smoked marijuana has about 35% THC, and there is upward of 90% THC in oils and edibles, Richter said.
While the perception of harm has decreased, the reality is that today’s high potency marijuana means higher risk for addiction, psychosis, uncontrolled vomiting, nausea, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, apathy, memory loss and even suicidality, Richter said.
People used to believe marijuana was not addictive, she said, and maybe that was true previously with lower THC levels. But now with higher THC concentration, about 10% of marijuana users, especially those who are regular, heavy users, are addicted.
Some teens and adults say they take it to help with sleep, and while it may seem to help at first, eventually it makes it worse, Richter said. Heavy use over time is strongly linked to insomnia and daytime sleepiness.
Because marijuana is legal to use in many states, about a third of teens think it’s legal to drive under the influence of marijuana, Richter said. Now, more vehicle crashes are due to marijuana use than alcohol use.
A fourth of teens admitted to driving while on marijuana, she said.
People think driving while high makes them more cautious and they drive more slowly, but it slows reaction times, leading to a higher likelihood of crashes.
A key goal of preventing addiction is to have people delay the age at which they start using substances, because the older a person is when they start, the far less likely they will become addicted. That is true for all substances, she said.
Marijuana affects brain development, and significant marijuana use is associated with absenteeism, lower grades, not graduating, not going to college, and an increased likelihood of joblessness, she said.
For heavy users, it can lead to mental health problems, including schizophrenia and psychosis.
The marijuana industry is making marijuana more youth friendly through attractive packaging and promotions by influencers, while movies, TV, music and social media tend to glorify marijuana use and downplay its harms, Richter said.
It is also packaged to look like candy. For adults who use edibles that may look like candy, it is key to lock it and keep it away from children. Her message was: You’re an adult. Use if you want to. But keep it out of reach of kids.
What can parents do to help their kids avoid or delay using marijuana?
Richter said a key step for parents is talking to their kids early on about their expectations and setting consequences.
A parent who uses marijuana can tell their child “it’s less harmful when an adult does it than when a teenager does it because their brain is still developing.”
Parents are key role models and can prevent impaired driving by never driving themselves while impaired. Talk to your teen about the dangers of impaired driving before they get their learner’s permit, she said.
If a youth doesn’t want to talk about their own use, ask them about other kids, or their friends, without asking for names. They may be more willing to talk about someone else’s use.
And if a kid argues it wouldn’t be legal if it was harmful, point out that alcohol and cigarettes are legal “and just because something’s legal doesn’t make it safe and it doesn’t mean it’s harmless,” she said.
As for when to be concerned, she said, “If your spidey senses are tingling, something is going wrong.”
People interested in viewing a recording of the presentation can contact YouthThink at debbyj@wascocountyor.gov.
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