Cannabis and Parenting: Be Responsible, Honest, and Approachable

Kids and cannabis, for the most part, don’t mix, or do they? It wasn’t long ago that people openly and regularly smoked cigarettes around kids, and many still do. People drink beer, wine, and liquor around kids all the time. Go to any major sporting event or concert, and you’re sure to find alcohol and children. A lot of people take prescription pills around children without a second thought. Yet, if you have cannabis anywhere around your child or children, you can lose them in some states. This is a sad side of the law that shows precisely who sold out, who is bought and paid for, and what groups are financing their political agenda.

Many people drink, smoke, or take their prescription drugs responsibly around children every day, so why should cannabis be any different? When parents have a cocktail, glass of whiskey, or wine or a cold beer after a day of work, and a child may ask why? The most common response is to unwind or to relax after a hard day. This should be the same with cannabis.

The Future Looks Elevated With Less Youth’s Experimenting With Cannabis

We are starting to move past decades-old draconian cannabis prohibition and into a greener future. Even If I could smoke a joint walking across the parking lot, I wouldn’t because it isn’t the responsible thing to do. Those who oppose cannabis legalization screamed that making it legal would make it easily accessible to our country’s youth and that kids’ addiction rates would rise. Wrong, in fact, states that have legal access to cannabis have seen a decline in youths using cannabis. Many kids consider it an old person drug.

It’s Medicine and Also a Way For Parents to Relax

Suppose a parent wants to smoke one or vape while at a backyard BBQ, it should be no different than having a beer or cocktail. Know your limits and always consume responsibly just like you are supposed to do with alcohol. This shouldn’t be too hard. All of my children are educated about cannabis. They know the history of it and are continually learning about the many potential medical and industrial applications of this fantastic plant. Kids are our future, and our future needs to understand cannabis. It plays a vital role in the way our bodies function via the mammalian endocannabinoid system. It can reshape the future of industry, providing a material with countless industrial applications that leave behind a significantly reduced environmental footprint compared to current applications.

These are all things we want our children to know and learn about. Cannabis isn’t just about smoking and getting high. It holds the potential of endless medical and therapeutic possibilities. Only those vested in private agendas would try to keep this knowledge from the people and from children. Oh wait, they’ve been doing that for over eight decades now since back in 1937 with the signing of the MJ Tax Act. I think it’s time for a change, don’t you?

The Manipulation is Astounding

Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, the alcohol industry, and private prison groups have manipulated today’s society into a disarray of sickness and incarceration. Meanwhile, they push, excuse me, I mean market their poison to the planet with open arms. Beer and prescription drug commercials plague television these days. It seems you can’t open a magazine without seeing an ad for a new pill that may fix something but may also cause a multitude of dangerous side effects. But this is ok and even accepted as informative marketing.

Big Pharma has consistently been fined for poor and deceptive business practices. Even for outright lying. Companies that are still in business today like Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and Perdue Pharma for example. GlaxoSmithKline was hit with a 3-billion-dollar settlement in 2012. They were charged with the off-label promotion and failure to disclose safety data. They were also found guilty of paying kickbacks to physicians, reporting false best prices, and making false and misleading statements about Avandia’s safety, as well as underpaying rebates they owed according to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. Johnson & Johnson was hit with a $2.2 billion fine for off-label promotion/kickbacks. Perdue Pharma is at the center of the opioid epidemic that was and still is plaguing our country and other places around the world.

These drugs are all largely responsible for helping perpetuate addiction and even death. Yet cannabis is the demon.

Be Transparent and Give Kids the Answers They Seek

Many people believe cannabis should be kept away from kids all together. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. This is one that I’m afraid I have to disagree with. If kids see parents using cannabis, it should be no different from having a drink, a cigarette or cigar, mood stabilizers, or even painkillers. Kids should be informed and not left to wonder. This is what causes them to seek out answers on their own.

Be Honest, Approachable, and Responsible

When it comes to consuming cannabis, parenting, and talking to your kids about cannabis, treat it responsibly, and always be honest. It is medicine after all, and no one should have to hide or feel ashamed of their cannabis consumption. Unfortunately, in many places still to this day, should your children tell the wrong person about your medicine, it could land you in trouble and your kids in the custody of the state. This is a continued failure of prohibition that has torn families apart for decades and something that must end once and for all.