As the father of two teen-aged boys I can tell you that condoning underage mj use is a place I would never go. I consider weed analogous to alcohol. If they are too young to drink with, they're too young to smoke with. Just as a parent would never encourage underage drinking, so should a parent not encourage minors they're responsible for to use pot. On top of that comes the social taboo enforced by our justice system which holds a parent who smoke weed with his kids on par with parents who shop-lift with their children or who sexually molest them.
I think HCL makes a valid point when he says,
Quote:
Originally Posted by HCL
If you really think it's that bad and don't want them smoking weed as kids/teenagers (and hope that they don't want anything to do with them as adults), then how about you start leading by example and quit the smoking?
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Leading by example is a valid way to deal with this issue. But just as responsible drinking can be taught to teen-agers, so I believe responsible mj use can be taught.
My older teen-aged children know we smoke, but they also know it is not a lifestyle. It does not define us. We don't smoke every day, and sometime go months at a time without lighting up. They have NEVER been around us when we've smoked or we were high. The small quantity of weed we have is kept locked in a safe where our children could NEVER have access to it. My wife doesn’t even know the combination. If I die she'll be SOL. In short we advocate NORML's Principles of Responsible Cannabis Use, which read:
I. Adults Only
Cannabis consumption is for adults only. It is irresponsible to provide cannabis to children.
Many things and activities are suitable for young people, but others absolutely are not. Children do not drive cars, enter into contracts, or marry, and they must not use drugs. As it is unrealistic to demand lifetime abstinence from cars, contracts and marriage, however, it is unrealistic to expect lifetime abstinence from all intoxicants, including alcohol. Rather, our expectation and hope for young people is that they grow up to be responsible adults. Our obligation to them is to demonstrate what that means.
II. No Driving
The responsible cannabis consumer does not operate a motor vehicle or other dangerous machinery while impaired by cannabis, nor (like other responsible citizens) while impaired by any other substance or condition, including some medicines and fatigue.
Although cannabis is said by most experts to be safer than alcohol and many prescription drugs with motorists, responsible cannabis consumers never operate motor vehicles in an impaired condition. Public safety demands not only that impaired drivers be taken off the road, but that objective measures of impairment be developed and used, rather than chemical testing.
III. Set and Setting
The responsible cannabis user will carefully consider his/her set and setting, regulating use accordingly.
"Set" refers to the consumer's values, attitudes, experience and personality, and "setting" means the consumer's physical and social circumstances. The responsible cannabis consumer will be vigilant as to conditions -- time, place, mood, etc. -- and does not hesitate to say "no" when those conditions are not conducive to a safe, pleasant and/or productive experience.
IV. Resist Abuse
Use of cannabis, to the extent that it impairs health, personal development or achievement, is abuse, to be resisted by responsible cannabis users.
Abuse means harm. Some cannabis use is harmful; most is not. That which is harmful should be discouraged; that which is not need not be.
Wars have been waged in the name of eradicating "drug abuse", but instead of focusing on abuse, enforcement measures have been diluted by targeting all drug use, whether abusive or not. If cannabis abuse is to be targeted, it is essential that clear standards be developed to identify it.
V. Respect Rights of Others
The responsible cannabis user does not violate the rights of others, observes accepted standards of courtesy and public propriety, and respects the preferences of those who wish to avoid cannabis entirely.
No one may violate the rights of others, and no substance use excuses any such violation. Regardless of the legal status of cannabis, responsible users will adhere to emerging tobacco smoking protocols in public and private places.
Adopted by the NORML Board of Directors
February 3, 1996
Washington, DC