Marijuana and kids

[disykat]

No, the OP was worried that eventually her Dd would smell it. I’m in my 50’s, by the age of 11 I knew what pot smelled like, and had been offered it. My 12 year olds knew their grandma smoked it to deal with the effects of chemo, and thought that was funny, although they never smelled it (my mom would go into her bathroom by the window, one or two hits, before trying to eat).

Go re -read the first post. "She was going on and on about the odor." She smelled it. That's why this thread was started.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

No, the OP was worried that eventually her Dd would smell it. I’m in my 50’s, by the age of 11 I knew what pot smelled like, and had been offered it.

I am 41 years old and have never once been offered pot. I had no idea what it smelled like at 11. I must have lived a sheltered life. Either that or I was so square everybody knew I would narc on them.

 

[Iya]

I am 41 years old and have never once been offered pot. I had no idea what it smelled like at 11. I must have lived a sheltered life. Either that or I was so square everybody knew I would narc on them.

I was going to say, I'm 43 and still have no idea what pot smells like.

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

I was going to say, I'm 43 and still have no idea what pot smells like.

I am so glad I am not the only one. Now my kids do know what it smells like, but I do not.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I’m going to chime in without reading the middle thread pages and just say this. I’m all for medical weed or narcotic pain meds when needed. It’s each persons personal decision and without walking a mile in their shoes it’s not for me to judge.

BUT I also know that those substance will impair judgment, regardless of if they are obtained legally or not. I would not leave my child in the care of someone on either.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I am 41 years old and have never once been offered pot. I had no idea what it smelled like at 11. I must have lived a sheltered life. Either that or I was so square everybody knew I would narc on them.

I was never offered until I was 18. I definitely didn’t know what it smelled like at 11. I don’t think it’s a given that an 11 year old would know what it was.

 

[Iya]

I am so glad I am not the only one. Now my kids do know what it smells like, but I do not.

I know my older one in college does, but my younger child doesn't.

 

[Domo]

I don't think it stands much for the age of innocence if 11 year olds are savvy as to the stink of cannabis. Kinda sad really. 18 is more expectable.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

It smells like a skunk. Next time your innocent, wide-eyed children look up at you and ask, "What's that smell, Mom?" just say "Someone must've run over a skunk," if you don't want to get into it.

 

[Hikergirl]

I can't say when my older two kids could recognize the smell but when my youngest was 12 he knew what it was.
Someone lit up at a concert we were at and he said "well that isn't a cigarette". He said that there were some kids at his school that smoked and smelled like pot, this was in 7th grade.

Actually had to look up when the concert was and it turns out he was 11, few months away from 12.

 

[Domo]

It smells like a skunk. Next time your innocent, wide-eyed children look up at you and ask, "What's that smell, Mom?" just say "Someone must've run over a skunk," if you don't want to get into it.

Cunning... diabolical... I LOVE IT!

 

[leebee]

I have no reason to doubt the medicinal benefits of marijuana. From what I understand though, the pain relief/anti-nausea properties are separate from the intoxicant. Can someone please explain why whatever chemical compounds produce the positive effects can't (or haven't yet) been extracted and standardized into pill form like most other medications? Would this not eliminate the entire issue? What about this am I missing?

There IS/was a pill form of marijuana called Marinol. It was prescribed for my friend when she was dying from pancreatic cancer 30 years ago. It was totally ineffective for her. Pills have to be taken, swallowed, go through and be absorbed by the digestive system. Problem was, due to her tumor type and surgeries there was no way for her to digest anything, so Marinol was of absolutely no use. Yes, she smoked illegally, even in the hospital as she lay dying. Nobody said anything, just looked the other way as she so desperately sought some form of reducing her agony. Her passing was a blessing.

 

[luvsJack]

Cunning... diabolical... I LOVE IT!

Except not all of it smells like a skunk.

 

[DisneyOma]

Thank you for your response. That is not an option, unfortunately. My daughter is a very much by the rules kind of kid, as my husband is. He doesn't know and if he found out, he would forbid them to go over there. A secret like that would be to much for an 11 year old to bear. Also, it's not legal here, and my rule following daughter would not see the grey, only the black and white.

Easy solution - your daughter doesn't go to visit, and you tell your husband the truth.

Not picking on you but why? Weed doesn’t turn you into a psycho when you’re high. Would you also ban your child from being somewhere where people are drinking?

If the people were getting impaired from drinking (legal to drink) yes, my kids would not be there. Illegally smoking pot? Yup, impaired judgement on their part, not with my kids.

 

[ronandannette]

It’s going to follow the same rules as smoking so yes, outside is fine.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cannabis-legal-new-brunswick-1.4390981
I haven't tracked along with what exactly is going to happen but this makes it appear regulating use may be under provincial jurisdiction and may vary from place to place.

 

[bcla]

If the people were getting impaired from drinking (legal to drink) yes, my kids would not be there. Illegally smoking pot? Yup, impaired judgement on their part, not with my kids.

Therapeutic levels of pot smoking don't necessarily cause impairment. A lot of people who get used to it can tolerate it better. I don't particularly like the smell and would never smoke it, but I've gotten to the point where I don't really see why it's so illegal.

I certainly wouldn't have any issue if I left my kid with my parents while they were consuming reasonable quantities of alcohol. If one or both of them were prescribed marijuana for a medical condition, I wouldn't have any problem if my kid was in their house.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Therapeutic levels of pot smoking don't necessarily cause impairment. A lot of people who get used to it can tolerate it better. I don't particularly like the smell and would never smoke it, but I've gotten to the point where I don't really see why it's so illegal.

I certainly wouldn't have any issue if I left my kid with my parents while they were consuming reasonable quantities of alcohol. If one or both of them were prescribed marijuana for a medical condition, I wouldn't have any problem if my kid was in their house.

But in OP's mom's situation, she lives in a non-legal state, and the marijuana is not prescribed by a Dr. so therefore a) she is doing something illegal, b) the amount is not controlled, regulated or overseen by a doctor for her particular medical condition, c) there's the risk that the marijuana could be laced with something, and d) the smell was strong enough that the 11 yo made comments about it, indicating that there was enough pot residual in the house for third-hand smoke exposure.

Now, I'm not in any way trying to invalidate the grandmother's medical condition or need for pain relief, nor am I trying to get into whether or not MEDICAL marijuana should be legal. That's not the issue here. The fact is that it's not legal in OP's state, so regardless of opinions on whether or not it should be medically, her usage of it is illegal. When you (general you) expose a child (and 11 is a really impressionable age) to something illegal, or perhaps more concisely in this case- to the knowledge that a family member is doing something illegal, what example is that setting for a child who is still learning about laws and responsibilities?

Secondly, when dealing with un-regulated marijuana (such as from an illegal source), you never know what can be in it. If a batch were laced with something, it could cause a variety of side effects that might not only be dangerous for Grandma (especially given she has a medical condition), but could be scary for an 11 yo to witness. Obviously, I hope nothing like that would happen and no one expects something like that to happen, but it is a chance I would not want to take risking exposing my kids too. Plus the fact that medical conditions really should be overseen by a Dr and with it not being a legal state, it's possible the Dr is unaware of the pot usage. This could have an impact on other medications interacting with it or just the body's response to it due to the medical condition, which can happen at any time given the changing nature of medical conditions, tolerances, and differing potencies and chemical compositions of street pot. Again, this could be a scary thing for a child to witness if something were to happen.

Thirdly, the exposure to the third-hand smoke from the pot residue within the home would be concerning for me in regards to my children. The residue left from smoke on surfaces interacts with common substances in the air and creates a mix of compounds commonly known to cause cancer and to be especially dangerous for children to breathe in.

 

[luvsJack]

You do realize that if she was taking prescribed pain medication that she could be very much impaired?

 

[barkley]

There IS/was a pill form of marijuana called Marinol. It was prescribed for my friend when she was dying from pancreatic cancer 30 years ago. It was totally ineffective for her. Pills have to be taken, swallowed, go through and be absorbed by the digestive system. Problem was, due to her tumor type and surgeries there was no way for her to digest anything, so Marinol was of absolutely no use. Yes, she smoked illegally, even in the hospital as she lay dying. Nobody said anything, just looked the other way as she so desperately sought some form of reducing her agony. Her passing was a blessing.

i'm so sorry for your friend, I'm thankful she is no longer in pain.

you're right-pills have to be digested and that's why tinctures have become so popular. they operate on sublingual absorption so just a few drops under the tongue and the body rapidly absorbs and utilizes the beneficial properties for medicinal purposes. these work much faster than smoking or edibles.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

So I used to be a frequent poster but now I m a only lurk as I have no fun upcoming vacations coming up. So I have as problem that I would like advice on and don't want to put it out in Facebook land. My mom has a chronic debilitating disease that she has h a d for 30+ years. She has, as of the last 5 years or so, used marijuana to ease her pain. I don't agree but I'm also not her and don't argue or speak to her about it. Full disclosure, I've never tried marijuana. But her life, whatever she feels works for her. We do not live in a legal state. Tonite my daughter who is 11 went over for a sleepover, it was so fragrant in the air that she was going on and on about the door. She is naive right now but will very soon figure out what the smell is and I don't want to explain that it's ok for grandma but not for other people. I want to tell my mom that if the kids will be over to refrain from smoking but she is over the top emotional. My reasoning is her decision making as abilities are not going to be good and my kids need to be safe. But, on the other hand, if she were on pain meds , it may be the same problem so that's probably not a valid argument. I just am looking for opinions, am I over reacting? What would you do? Thanks for reading. By the way, my mom and I are very close but she doesn't respond well to any criticism and cries very easily. I know this is long, thanks again for responding.

I would not have my kids stay overnight. I would tell her that she is not to smoke in their presence, EVER.

I would be concerned your kids will call the police on grandma, period. Don't put your kids in that position.

I am speaking as someone who wants it legal.