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4 reasons why parents should be concerned about vape pens, weed pens and e-cigarettes
Did you know that “420” is code to young people for a time to get high? Teenagers use discreet language and other tools to hide things from their parents. If the term 420 is news to you, there’s a lot you can learn from this article.
McFarland RADAR Coalition is informing parents about the latest trend — vape pens, weed pens and e-cigarettes — used by the youth of our community to get high. Yes, parents should be concerned with young people using these devices. Here are a few reasons why:
(1) Young people use vape pens and other devices because they are small, easily concealed and portable devices that allow users to inhale marijuana without producing any smoke. The JUUL (a brand of e-cigarettes) is used frequently because of its size and odorless vapor.
Have you checked your child’s room lately?
JUUL is deceptive: it resembles a USB Memory Stick. The Vape Pen looks like a ball point pen or stylus. Don’t feel guilty when checking a young person’s room for devices that look like a USB, ball point pens or stylus. It is your right and responsibility as a parent to protect the health of your child.
Vape pens, e-cigarettes, and marijuana
(2) Inhaling marijuana from a vape pen or e-cigarette intensifies the user’s high. Studies have found that certain misused and dangerous liquids can be 30 times more concentrated then the marijuana plant. Also consider marijuana dabs, wax, or shatter. These forms of concentrated marijuana can be 40 to 80 percent THC.*
*Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of at least 113 cannabinoids identified in cannabis. THC is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis.
What teens are learning on YouTube
Take a minute and take this in: The marijuana plant normally measures 25 percent THC. How does this work? The user takes the oil, dried marijuana, dab, wax or shatter, then heats the substance using the e-cigarette/vape pen, producing vapors that ensure an instant high. How-to videos that demonstrate these techniques are easily accessible through YouTube — and to impressionable young minds.
Who is home when packages are delivered?
(3) All of these products are easily obtained through the internet. In order to purchase the JUUL in a retail store you must be 18 years of age. With online ordering there isn’t a way to make sure that the person ordering these devices is 18 years old. So ask yourself, who is home when your packages are delivered? We know that some youths order these devices online and have them delivered right to their front door and unfortunately parents don’t even know.
Marijuana is addictive and harmful to the developing brain
(4) Our brains don’t stop developing until around 25 years of age. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that “Marijuana use interferes with brain development.” A new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) suggests that cannabis (marijuana) may actually have a more negative impact on a teenager’s cognitive development than alcohol.
The surprise of this study was to see just how impactful cannabis (marijuana) was on young people’s cognition. The AJP findings suggest that young people should do everything they can to delay the onset of their cannabis use, if not avoid it entirely.
Parents, please take a moment and get online and educate yourself about marijuana
Share with your children your feelings and expectations when it comes to smoking marijuana. Educate your children about how their brains are not fully developed until age 25. Talk to them about the impact smoking and vaping marijuana can have on the brain.
Recognize the way young people see it. They view smoking marijuana, using vape pens, etc., as healthier than smoking cigarettes — and they think it is “trendy”. Although trendy or popular, the health impact on their futures is unknown.
The situation today is much like previous generations that smoked tobacco cigarettes without knowing the horrible consequences. Do we want this generation to follow in those footsteps? Do we want our children to be the next generation that learns much too late that smoking marijuana and using these devices was ruining their lives?