A German child guidance specialist is advising parents to remain calm if they discover that their child has experimented with marijuana.

Andreas Engel from Germany's Bundeskonferenz fuer Erziehungsberatung ... says parents should inform themselves about marijuanas main active ingredient, THC.

Only then is it a good idea to raise the matter with your child and talk about the effects of smoking the substance. If you are strictly against smoking cannabis, you should make that perfectly clear and ban its use. ...

Cannabis-smoking teenagers are demonstrating to themselves and their peers that they can break conventions. They're also testing the limits of their independence from the norms of the adult world and showing their affiliation to a youth sub-culture, says Engel. (Source: Earth Times)

Parents should be consistent in educating their children about the health issues, legal consequences, and other negative aspects of illegal drug use among young people.

Labels: teen_drug_use, marijuana, parents

Posted By: Aspen/CRC