Nicotine, Marijuana and the Teenage Brain

Hey friends! I am going heavy on this one but seriously, Houston we have a freaking problem. I should also clarify, in case you haven’t noticed, I am keeping shit real these days. Organized Squirrel is full of real life. And home decor. Whatever. I like to mix it up. You are going to see more and more authenticity here because I think it’s important. I have noticed this crazy little shift in keeping it real. When I share, you share and that my friends is like medicine for the soul. For all of us. None of us should ever feel alone in life. When things are hard, we should be able to talk about it.

Disclaimer: If you are a grown-up and up and you choose to smoke or vape nicotine or pot, whatever. I am not your mom nor do I care what you do. I personally hate cigarettes. The smell of them makes me nauseous and gives me an instant headache. I will also tell you that I have a medical marijuana card for migraines. I still don’t smoke it nor do I really even use it but if I am being fully transparent then I wanted you to know. I have a tincture and I have also taken CBD pills. I am also a GROWN-UP! My brain is not still developing and I am not overusing any substance.

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This post is a mix of opinions, articles, and statistics on marijuana and nicotine. I have also linked articles that I feel offer a great deal of helpful information. The bottom line, both nicotine, and marijuana are not good for the teenage brain. The prefrontal cortex is not fully developed and adding in substances such as nicotine and marijuana can alter the tracks of growth and forever change the pattern of the brain.

Where It Started

I have to let you in on a little bit of info – those in my inner circle know. We have gone through a lot of stuff with my 16-year-old. It started back in October of 2017. It started with vaping. Then he tried marijuana and he was hooked.  I am over it. I think if we did a poll, a heavy percent of parents know that their kid has vaped nicotine or THC. Or you don’t know that your kid has done it but trust me, a whole lot of kids have done it. Maybe once. Maybe they are hooked. According to this article, the numbers are rising. It’s widely accessible. “Everyone is doing it” per my son.  My kid confessed that he tried it. We acknowledged that, accepted that he had tried it and then hoped he’d stopped. Nope, it continued throughout the next year. We would have a calm couple of months and then things would blow up again. We found various paraphernalia including THC oil and a vape pen on our Hawaiian vacation. We found bongs, hemp cord, cardi chargers, and pot. We had enough last December and put our son in an outpatient program through Kaiser. This was not easy for our family. It was 2 hours of driving, 3-4 nights a week for 3.5 months. It was a major commitment and our son made it clear that he wanted to smoke again when it was done. He did, however, test clean for the entirety of the program. Awesome, right? Except we know he’s smoking again because we smell pot. We’ve seen him ‘high’ and we’ve found pot paraphernalia in his room.

What Is Vaping?

Is this a foreign topic for you? Let me try and bring you up to speed. Per this article from the Center of Addiction, “Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the aerosol, often referred to as vapor, which is produced by an e-cigarette or similar device. The term is used because e-cigarettes do not produce tobacco smoke, but rather an aerosol, often mistaken for water vapor, that actually consists of fine particles. Many of these particles contain varying amounts of toxic chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, as well as respiratory and heart disease.” Vaping devices come in the form of e-cigarettes, pens, and mods and the types more commonly used for THC are dab pens. Vape cartridges can be used with THC, Nicotine or just fun flavors. They are known to be stronger than a cigarette or even a joint or bong. Do you hear what I am saying? Higher potency = greater chance of addiction. The risks are quickly outweighing the benefits, especially in youths.

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Show Me The Money

I recently viewed my son’s bank account – which has very little money in it but it’s his money that he made working last year. I saw a $76 charge for a company called The Glass Lung. Are you freaking kidding me??? How disgusting is that? The Glass Lung is more geared towards bongs made of mason jars (how creative – insert eye-roll). I already have a message into them because somehow they sold to my underage kid even though the website specifies 18 or older. Bullshit. I am not stupid. I know these kids order from online companies all the time. These companies don’t care who they sell to. They are all about money. Kids are getting things delivered to their front door. Without parents knowing. Or maybe caring because that is a whole other problem.

Also, I should let you know that kids often times buy Visa gift cards with cash from birthdays, etc. and purchase things without there being a way to track it via bank accounts. These kids are savvy and quickly learn, via their peers, how to get what they want without being tracked.

Update: The Glass Lung sent me an email apologizing and offering to refund my money if I could provide an order number. I haven’t replied yet.

Are Your Kids Smoking

Unfortunately, my husband and I are not new to this whole finding stuff thing. Some of it just shows up. Sometimes in the washer or dryer after a load of laundry. We have found things in his room. In shoes, suitcases (we’ve confiscated two large bongs that he hid in his suitcase), in his fishing backpack, in a Hydroflask, under the boxspring of his bed, in the bushes on the side of our house. We have dumped his room – more than once. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, he can get access because it’s EVERYWHERE!!! They can get it at school, work, sending out messages via social media and quite obviously on-line accessibility is too easy. The marketing is heavy. The anti-marketing is happening as well but peer pressure and accessibility are winning.

Kids are vaping in classrooms. It’s become that easy to get away with it because of the lack of smell as well as the size of the devices. The number of kids being searched at our local high school is staggering. The number of users in middle school is rapidly on the rise. It’s a problem. A major and scary problem. It alters personalities. It hooks kids.

Vaping Is A Youth Epidemic

“We must take action now to protect the health of our nation’s young people.”

— U.S. Surgeon General

Marijuana And Vaping Use Are On The Rise

This graph from late 2018 shows the increase in usage from 8th – 12th grade.

What’s The Problem

This stuff smells and tastes like candy. These kids are hooked. We have no idea what the health repercussions will be. This stuff is new and these kids are the guinea pigs. I’ve heard terms like ‘popcorn lung‘. I don’t know about you but that is disgusting. I love my kids and I would give my life for them. To think that they are basically slowly killing themselves due to some big business making money then you bet your ass that I am going to pitch a fit. Hopkins Health says, “You’re exposing yourself to all kinds of chemicals that we don’t yet understand and that are probably not safe.”

The same article goes on to say that “there are three reasons e-cigarettes may be particularly enticing to young people. First, many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes. Finally, vape cartridges are often formulated with flavorings such as apple pie and watermelon that appeal to younger users.” Great. Let’s hook em early and kill em young. Isn’t that what’s going to happen? My husband’s mom died of lung cancer. My dad was a smoker and also died of cancer. He also had to have a triple bypass. Smoking is bad. Vaping is proving to be worse.

Kids are self-medicating because they think it helps their anxiety and depression. They are hurting their developing brains because they like how they feel and how good this stuff tastes because it’s been marketed to rope them in with the flavors and highly addictive levels of THC and nicotine. It’s creating addictions in children. According to Safety and Health Magazine, vaping has hit a record high. With teens. I should also tell you that saying it’s prominent in teens is an understatement. The amount of tweens that participate in vaping is staggering.

Partnership for Drug-Free Kids shares this “Vaping chemicals used in the liquids can be more concentrated and dangerous. Inhaling from a vape pen or e-cigarette, especially in the case of one containing nicotine or THC, can enhance a drug user’s high and can amplify a drug’s side effects. Vaping is also very new and there are literally hundreds of brands, so there’s not a lot of firm information about what chemicals might be in what vape liquids. But even beyond nicotine and THC, synthetic chemicals that make up these liquids – including “herbal incense” like spice and synthetic marijuana – expose the lungs to a variety of chemicals, which could include carcinogens and toxic metal nanoparticles from the device itself. Not only could these chemicals make their way into young lungs, causing irritation and potentially “smoker’s cough,” but they could also damage the inside of the mouth and create sores.”

A friend sent me this article from the CDC which lists the risks of e-cigarettes and the dangers they bring. Scientists are still learning the long-term effects of e-cigarettes. So again, we have no idea exactly what health issues are going to present themselves in the years to come.

Flavors Hook Kids is also proactively trying to get ahead of this fast-growing problem. Did you know that 1 in 4 high school students have tried a tobacco product? The e-cig usage in high school students increased by 78% from 2017-2018. That is a mind-blowing rise in a short period of time.

The Side Effects of Marijuana

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Marijuana is known to make people feel happy and ease the pain in cancer patients but it’s negative side effects should be taken seriously. Especially in our youth where the brain is still under construction and they are often impulsive so adding in drugs can make that rational part of the brain even less effecient.

The Punishment For Possession

Last November, we received a call from the high school. My son was busted for possession of marijuana. This was actual weed but the punishment would be the same if it was in oil form. So what does the punishment for possession look like? He was suspended for 4 days. We then received a notice in the mail from the county that he had an order to appear in court. We showed up to court on April 9th. The courtroom was filled with parents and kids. I’m going to guess that the youngest child there was around 11. Yes, eleven. Every single kid there was there for the same reason. Possession. This has become the norm. The judge even said that with the legalization of marijuana, the shift has tied her hands from a legal standpoint. Every kid in that room got a 4 hour mandated on-line class for marijuana. It cost $60. She tried to briefly give the kids some feedback on how dangerous this is for their growing brains. I feel like it fell on deaf ears.

What We Have Done

We’ve had the positive talks. We have explained the negative consequences that can come with mind-altering substances. We have grounded him. We have taken away electronics. We’ve cut access to money. We have searched his room and removed paraphernalia on numerous occasions. We have put our son in a drug program. We have him starting therapy. We have postponed him getting a drivers license and access to a car. Nothing is effective. The bottom line is that he likes this crap which has now turned into him being hooked on it.

I had a therapist tell me that at least it was pot which is better than alcohol. Nope. The teenage years are ones of experimenting, of testing boundaries and I get that. There is room for error but consistently using is a whole other issue. It’s a dangerous time. The teen brain is growing but not developed and they are lacking the maturity to make all of the best choices. It is already a tough season in parenting but when you add drugs and alcohol, it’s that much worse.

What About The Other Kids

Yes, I’ve heard it a million times, “Who does he hang out with?” Well, my son has always bounced around in his friend groups. I have met most of his friends and they are nice kids. Do they vape or smoke? Probably. Some parents are totally OK with these activities and even let it happen in their homes. My husband and I are not. Recently he came home and told us that his girlfriend’s mom gave him a ride and they smelled like pot which then cut their hang out time short. He said that he wasn’t smoking (we knew better – he was definitely high) but that they smelled like it because they were with friends that were smoking. OK – we are seriously not stupid but he thinks he’s pulled one over on us. Anyway, I asked why he would choose to be around people who smoke so much that he smells like it? I asked why he continues to spend time with people who just sit around and smoke? If it drags him down then what’s the point? No comment.

So yes, lots of kids do this. Some are habitual users and others are experimental. Either way, the vape companies are getting rich with their young clientele. Over 18 means nothing. These kids are bypassing the age requirement because the regulations aren’t strong enough. My 16 year old ordered online. It was likely delivered to the home of a friend whose parents aren’t home to intercept it.

What Can We Do

In hindsight, I would have had more discussions about the effects of smoking with my boys. I felt that my husband and I articulated our dislike for ‘smoking’ enough but we didn’t realize the pull of ‘vaping’, addiction and how much they’d be exposed might win over our own personal opinions and commentary. I am shocked at how many middle schoolers are experimenting and getting hooked. Start the dialog early. Maybe even earlier than you think is appropriate because the exposure starts early – the amount of middle schoolers who vape is staggering.

This article on Understanding the Teen Brain gives some good advice on discussing the effects. Here are a few snippets from that article.

You’re the most important role model your kids have. Sure, their friends are important to them, but the way you behave and fulfill your responsibilities will have a profound and long-lasting effect on your children.

• Discussing the consequences of their actions can help teens link impulsive thinking with facts. This helps the brain make these connections and wires the brain to make this link more often.

• Remind your teens that they’re resilient and competent. Because they’re so focused in the moment, adolescents have trouble seeing they can play a part in changing bad situations. It can help to remind them of times in the past they thought would be devastating but turned out for the best.

• Become familiar with things that are important to your teens. It doesn’t mean you have to like hip-hop music, but showing an interest in the things they’re involved in shows them they’re important to you.

• Ask teens if they want you to respond when they come to you with problems, or if they just want you to listen.

Articles That May Be Helpful

• What Pot Really Does to the Teen Brain
• Cannabis May Be Worse for Teen Brains Than Alcohol
• Explainer: The Nico-Teen Brain
• Tobacco Twenty-One
• Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults
• Even a Little Marijuana May Change Teen Brain, Study Finds
• Marijuana and the Developing Brain
• Marijuana Dabbing: Risks of Wax Weed Dabs
• What Is a Dab and How Is It Abused?
• Understanding Addiction Reward and Pleasure in The Brain
• Short and Long Term Effects of Marijuana
• Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
• Normal Teenage Behavior or Mental Health Issue? Know When to Seek Help

Books About Teenage Parenting

I love sharing helpful resources and I truly believe that knowledge is power, especially when it comes to navigating the big things in life – like parenting! Most of these books are related to parenting teens and not geared towards addiction but I feel that it’s worth sharing anything that can give us some insight or recommendations on how to navigate these years that are full of experimentation. I’d love to know if you have read any of these books, what your opinions are or if you can recommend others for me to read.

• He’s Not Lazy: Empowering Your Son To Believe In Himself
• The Teenage Brain
• The 5 Love Languages Of Teenagers
• Have A New Teenager By Friday
• Untangled
• The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans: How to Decode Their Behavior, Develop Unshakable Trust, and Raise a Respectable Adult
• Teen Speak: A how-to guide for real talks with teens about sex, drugs and other risky behaviors
• A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens: Talking to Your Kids About Sexting, Drinking, Drugs, and Other Things That Freak You Out
• Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
• Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love
• Parenting Teens With Love And Logic: Preparing Adolescents for Responsible Adulthood
• The Parenting Project: Build Extraordinary Relationships With Your Kids Through Daily Conversation
• Parenting Teenage Girls: In the Age of a New Normal
• 131 Connecting Conversations for Parents and Teens: How to build a lifelong bond with your teen!
• How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success

I hope that you were able to pull some helpful information from this post. I know it’s not a fun topic but it has become a necessary conversation to have if you are invested in our future generations.