LOVING TO GET HIGH SYNDROME

Reefer Madness? Marijuana, increased potency is the gateway to a debate on addiction and treatment.

“It was as if she woke up one day, and decades of her life had disappeared. Joyce, 52 and a writer in Manhattan, started smoking pot when she was 15, and for years it was a pleasant escape, a calming protective cloud. Then it became an obsession, something she needed to get through the day. She found herself hiding her addiction from her family, friends and co-workers.”

Loving to get high can happen to people of any age, from all walks of life and on any chemical. Your kids may tell you that pot is not addictive. Well it is. With the higher potency of THC, the chance of addiction and the need for treatment is on the rise, according to a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It’s time for us as parents to look at pot from a new perspective. The pot that our kid’s parents and grandparents used, (that sounds weird) can’t be compared in “addict-ability” or “Loving to Get High-Ability” to the  pot today’s kids are using!

It’s time to to talk.

One of my part time jobs is driving Limousine. This is my 10^th Prom season, which I thoroughly enjoy. It is fun to see all of the young people decked out in full regalia.

My last prom was two weeks ago, with eight kids from the suburbs. I gave them the usual no smoking and no drinking lecture. They were fine with that. They had no intention of smoking or drinking. At least they didn’t plan on drinking alcohol. An hour later when I dropped them off for dinner, I found 22 empty bottles of “5 Hour Energy, extra strength”. That’s a lot of Caffeine. They were flying high. And it was all legal; they didn’t break any rules, mine or those of their High School.

I really don’t know much about these kids other than they were pleasant, polite, personable, and popped-up on caffeine. I don’t even know if any of them love getting high; all I know is that their first hour of the prom was a blast, loud music and a lot of energy. They opted for an experience that took them out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.