Ah, kids these days. Marijuana is like candy to them— they know they probably shouldn’t take it from strangers but otherwise, it’s sweet, harmless fun. Our nation’s youth simply are not scared of pot the way they were in the past. Remember McGruff, The Crime Dog? He told me to say no to drugs and I believed him! Sixth graders in 2015 would probably light up a joint in his face while polishing their pistols. I guess some other drugs might still scare youngsters, but pot? Please.
Too Cool for School (And Good Choices)
Is their easy breezy attitude about weed concerning though? It very well could be, according to a Los Angeles Times report that detailed a study of youth in the Greater Los Angeles area. The RAND Corporation studied the results of the surveys from CHOICE, a voluntary after school substance abuse prevention program. CHOICE was developed to help Los Angeles County schools monitor alcohol and drug use among middle schoolers. Conducted over the course of four years, one of the program’s specific aims was to determine viable risk factors for the kids operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs once they turned 16. The 1,124 students completed the questionnaires when they were roughly 12, 14 and 16 years old.
Older But Not Much Wiser
Apparently, the more pre-teens view marijuana as something that’s medicinal, relaxing and harmless at 12, the more likely he or she will get behind the wheel, or get into a car where the driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol at 16. So basically the researchers took answers these kids provided at 12 and correlated them with their answers and behavior at 16.
The kids who had favorable feelings about pot when they were 12 were 63 percent more likely to drive after drinking or get in the car with a tipsy/buzzed/drunk driver. Or as the report says, perhaps more gently, these respondents are “63% more likely than their peers to admit either driving under the influence themselves or to ride with someone who was under the influence.”
Either way, I think the point is made. If they weren’t intimidated by drug use at 12, what makes anyone think that’ll change by 16? Especially because that’s when boys and girls are truly at the apex of thinking they know it all?
Another risk factor? The more bulletproof they felt, the more likely they were to place themselves in dangerous situations. According to the study: “The 12-year-olds who felt most confident that they could resist marijuana use wound up being 89% more likely to mix alcohol and drugs with cars, motorcycles or other vehicles.”
The Downside of Fearlessness
There is one constant that will never change—young people believe they’re invincible on a lot of levels. They also reported that by 14, kids with friends who smoked pot regularly were more than twice as likely to be in an intoxicated driving situation. Those with family members into weed were “67% more likely to mix alcohol, drugs and motor vehicles at age 16.”
I get that a lot of people think driving high isn’t nearly as dangerous as driving drunk. However, when someone is brand new to driving, as 16-year-olds are, both are awful. I was terrified to merge onto the small interstate in Alabama stone cold sober when I turned 16. I can’t imagine pulling onto the 101 freeway in Los Angeles, or a busy thoroughfare in any other major city, with a joint in my system at that age.
So, as much as I acknowledge that weed doesn’t have some of the same bad ramifications as alcohol, I think we need to make sure young people know it’s not magic. There are consequences and—based on the results of this particular CHOICE study—being so Casual Friday (they’ll learn about that soon enough) about it is clearly a slippery slope.
After that, we need to convince them to change their minds about Snap Chat being cool.
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