In the US, adolescent marijuana use is at the highest levels since 1992.  Canada’s stats look similar. And the marijuana they are smoking is at least 3 to 8 times more potent than the weed of previous decades.

What was happening in 1992 that led to some of the lowest rates of use of this drug over 40 years?

What was the messaging that persuaded kids not to use?

What was the funding for education, prevention and enforcement of marijuana laws?

What has changed?

Something was working then that is not working now . . . and our kids are paying the price. We are trending in the wrong direction with exposures to this drug.

Having pot profiteers waiting in the wings, advertising and glamorizing this drug — without consequence — is a very clear part of this picture.

Is this what we want for the coming generation? In the United States, Mental Health Parity is now the law of the land.  Insurance companies will have to cover the treatment costs for drug abuse and addiction when it strikes.  We know that one in six adolescents who use today’s marijuana will become addicted. And that risk of addiction goes up to 25-50% among those who smoke marijuana daily. Continue reading Mental Health Parity and Marijuana — Insurance Companies Will Have to Pay