Tag: parenting

Massachusetts Commercial Marijuana Law Opt Out — Westborough Voter Guide

Opt Out Marijuana Massachusetts Westborough Guide
When voters become educated on the true nature of the predatory industry behind the MA Marijuana Law, they become very concerned about what this industry might do to the character of their communities. Educate, vote, opt out.

VOTE YES to OPT OUT to KEEP OUT Pot Shops:

(download this guide to print & share)

Q&A:

When do we vote?
TOWN ELECTIONS BALLOT – Tuesday, March 7, Westborough High School, 8am-8pm

TOWN MEETING – Saturday, March 18, Westborough High School, 1pm, (potential continuation to Monday, March 20, 7pm)

Do we have to vote twice?
We encourage you to vote twice. The two voting venues are independent of each other. If you are unable to vote twice, it is absolutely fine to just vote in one of the two voting dates.

Why do we need 2 votes – Town Ballot: Tues, Mar 7 and Town Meeting: Sat, Mar 18-20th?
To avoid the state mandate in the new marijuana law that our community host pot shops, we must “opt out.”

To “opt out” of commercial pot sales requires a “vote of the voters” to pass a “bylaw” preventing pot shops. A “vote of the voters” occurs at the ballot box. A “bylaw”, however, must be passed on the Town Meeting floor. To withstand legal challenge, Westborough, under the current law, must do both. The Board of Selectman and Town Manager are referring to it as a belt and suspenders approach.

Who can vote?
To vote you must be a U.S. Citizen, age 18 and older, and a Massachusetts resident. You must register 20 days prior to the election. Continue reading Massachusetts Commercial Marijuana Law Opt Out — Westborough Voter Guide

The Online Cult of Marijuana — Time for Parents To “Parent”

Social norming and marijuana
Unconditional access to the internet pits parenting against a barrage of messaging designed to drive them to pot.
Internet awash in pro-marijuana messaging.
If we let it, social norming can out influence parenting. It is up to us.

Some adults become so self-absorbed that they don’t tend to the age-appropriate needs of kids.

We are given birthing classes when our children are on the way.  But we are not given classes on the adolescent stage of development. We need them.

The internet is awash with messages that glorify the use of pot. Often these messages employ sarcasm and irony to drive home a message in contradiction to the more sensible advice of parents whose boundary-setting is based in the good advice of fact-backed research or often just good common sense.

This Cult of Marijuana is rife with messages that introduce “good reasons” to get high — appealing directly to the insecurities most teens feel. Kids do not get irony. Even if they laugh along.  These are adolescents and pre-adolescents.

Continue reading The Online Cult of Marijuana — Time for Parents To “Parent”

Families BOYCOTT COLORADO Ski Tourism–Your State on Marijuana

Pot smoke over Boulder. Pot-CO's new image.
Colorado: This is your state’s new tourism image. Yes, that’s pot smoke over Boulder. Cool huh? Why would anyone choose to ski here?
Don't ski in marijuana states.
Families taking their ski business to non-marijuana states.

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Update: Since we first published this piece in May of 2014, the following article, “Pot Perception Worries Some Colorado Resort Towns” appeared recently.
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When you’ve taken the policy decision to trade wholesome outdoor recreation for clouds of pot smoke as your state’s tourism image, you are bound to have some blowback.

This  letter came to us from a family whose ties to Colorado are deep but who have decided to take their ski-vacations elsewhere.

They asked to remain anonymous as the nastiness of the pot lobby and its army of online Trolls is abusive.  They asked to be spared exposure to this bullying.

“Dear Colorado Ski USA,

I read about your opposition to the ski resort symbols on marijuana edibles.

Thank you for remaining steadfast in your policies and practices that disassociate the ski industry from marijuana and drug use.

America is watching Colorado (and Washington) lead its people into drug normalization that is yielding a new plague of substance abuse. Continue reading Families BOYCOTT COLORADO Ski Tourism–Your State on Marijuana

Left Turning Against Big Pot. Son of dealer, now dad, reflects on marijuana legalization

Left Turns on Marijuana LegalizationThe left is finally turning against Big Pot. We’ve been waiting. Patrick Kennedy’s message (Project SAM‘s message) is finally gaining traction.

Marijuana legalization means commercialization, which means more potent pot, more pro-pot marketing, more youth exposures, more public health fallout, and yet another vice-based industry preying on vulnerable populations.

80% of their profit comes from the 20% of their customers who are chronic users. And the youth market is the target market for building a life-long customer base.

See the video and read the interview with a thoughtful young man coming of age as a new father, and coming to terms with his own father’s legacy as a major drug dealer.

Continue reading Left Turning Against Big Pot. Son of dealer, now dad, reflects on marijuana legalization

Parents Are Fooling Themselves When it Comes to Marijuana/Alcohol

Teens Are More Likely to Drink (and Use Drugs) Around Relatively Unsupervised Settings


“I think parents are fooling themselves,” said Dave Melton, managing director of global road safety for Liberty Mutual. “In some cases, parents are thinking of their own teen years and not realizing that things have changed drastically since then.”