She was probably one of those moms who wanted to be cool, rather than a caring loving mom.

I think there are lots of reasons why it's not the best childrearing technique, but I can't seem to articulate them at the moment.

That is so amazingly stupid.

meow85 said:

Besides the legal ramifications, the fact that this started at 11 years of age. Once someone starts using drugs that young, they will always be a user and are more likely to escalate to using other, harder drugs. It's the same with alcohol. There's a responsible age to be doing such things and then there is an irresponsible one. Eleven is way too young.

Just because you use pot and have no problems with it doesn't mean that there aren't other people who do. I've known people in my life who were smoking up with their parents at ages as young as 11 and 12 and the vast majority of them are either into cocaine or heroin now. Some have it "under control" but most do not. What this woman has done to her child is terrible and irreversible.

unlucky7 said:

True dat! Those kind of moms make me sick! I'd much rather be an "uncool mom" who lays down the law when it comes to these things. Who cares if your teenager doesn't think you're cool? They will appreciate you much more when they become real adults anyway.

Also, an 11 year old breathing ANY kind of smoke into his lungs is harmful! Maybe the pot doesn't have the same additives as commercial cigarettes, but breathing smoke into fragile tissue does do damage.

UCantHavaDaMango said:

She's making another Robert Downey Jr. This kid is fucked.

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Thats a valid point, but you can't ignore the odds of a teenager raised in such a manner being much more likely to rebel. I've seen it. I was raised in a fairly laid back household, as long as she thought I knew right from wrong she left me to make my own mistakes. Many, many people I know were raised in a stricter environment, and they have taken a lot more risks than me as a teenager and an adult. I was never tempted to be a bit crazy, but they were

susannah said:

I think that you can be raised in a laid back way and not be smoking pot with your parents. My parents were pretty laid back as well but that didn't mean that there were no rules or structure in my life.

There's a difference between being laid back and endangering your child.

JasmineFire said:

I wholeheartedly agree thats not what I was getting at though. Point was that kids are more likely to rebel the more structure they have.

Dont ask me why, and if anyone else has had a different experience thats great, but thats mine

JasmineFire said:

This was more along the lines of what I was trying to say. I didn't mean that I wanted to be a super strict mom. My mom didn't have to be a drug Nazi around me in order for me not to do drugs. She did teach me the dangers of such activities, and I decided for myself that it's not what I wanted to do. She never had to be strict about it. I guess what I was trying to say in my first post is that I would rather teach my kids about what was right and wrong, rather than letting them think that was all OK just to look cool in front of them.

JasmineFire said:

I started when I was 10 and seem to have done ok for myself.

But you're right. Like I said, some people do start out smoking pot and move onto more dangerous things later on, regardless of their age. But most people don't. It all depends on the individual how that all turns out. It's not true though, that a person is likely to stay a user just because they start young -not with weed. THC can be psychologically addictive yes, but it generally takes a certain personality type to develop a mental dependence on the drug. But nicotine is physically addictive, so unlike pot you can't just smoke a few times then quit.
[Edited 9/14/06 23:08pm]

JasmineFire said:

I dunno. A lot of people, especially on your side of the border are pretty keen on this gun-as-present-for-the-kid idea. That's so incredibly much more dangerous than a little ganja now and then.

meow85 said:

did i say reward the kid with a gun? don't characterize me by the country in which i live! to me, guns are just as dangerous as drugs. both are deadly when used incorrectly.

And in response to your other post, i think it's terrible for a ten year old to be smoking anything. Asthma anyone? pneumonia? bronchitis? It's just not healthy. I'm glad that all the little kids you know who smoke pot have grown up to not to be addicts. That's not the case in my situation. More of them are than aren't.

JasmineFire said:

I never said you'd personally give a child a gun. Just pointing out the stupidity of a nation that's afraid of the munchies but is trigger-happy.

Some people turn out badly, most don't. I guess you just happen to know a lot of people who lack self-control. I'm not saying I don't know a fair share of screw-ups either, but the majority of people I know that do or did smoke pot only ever do so casually.
[Edited 9/15/06 21:30pm]

meow85 said:

But that stupidity isn't the point and it made no sense for you to point it out. Don't bash America on this thread. It really isn't the place

Anyway, for the record, I don't even live in the USA. I live in a country where guns are illegal and drug sentences are particularly hard yet barely enforced when it comes to things like marijuana. The result is lots of people getting shot with illegal guns and not too much of a drug problem.

Addiction is about more than self-control. I wished I lived in a world such as your where every issue is so balck and white and everyone holds hands and dances around in rose colored sunglasses.

Unfortunately, I live in reality and the reality of this situation is that a mother used illegal drugs with her very young son and that is wrong. She didn;t give him a gun, she used an illegal substance with him and now he will be forever dependent upon it and is much more likely to use other, harder drugs. I'm not saying that he will, I'm just saying that the chance is greatly increased.

Also, I don't know if you read this part of the article, but the mother also sold heroin to one of her son's friends. I don't know about your rose colored world, but in the real world heroin is one of those dangerously addictive drugs that kills many people. You know, like, lots and lots. Apparently this woman isn't going to stop at smoking pot, she obviously is into other, harder drugs as well and has no problem exposing her son and his friends to these.

Pot isharmless, for the most part but the fact that it isn't legal in the US means that it also isn't regulated. It's lumped into the same box as cocaine and heroin and has a bit of the same aura as these drugs because they are all illegal. People figure once they use pot, using another drug isn't that big of a deal and that's where the problem lies. Should pot be legalized? Yeah, probably. SHould it be given to child? No. Sorry, I know you were a kinderpothead and turned out to a wonderful, excellent, perfect person with no problems, but I don't think that kids should be smoking anything. They're kids, let them be kids. They have plenty of time to be fucked up and fucked over as adults.

JasmineFire said:

No America bashing coming from this direction. But unless there's been some serious geographical shifts lately no one told me about, Gettysburg is in the U.S., isn't it? And many of the users of this site are American, aren't they? People are reacting to this as if she'd beaten the kid with a baseball bat and sold him to a kiddie porn producer. All she did was give him weed. I understand it's illegal, and so in that sense it definitely wasn't the right thing to do, but of all the bad things a parent can do, giving their kid the odd joint is pretty low on the list.

Rose-coloured sunglasses, my ass. THC is not a substance that is physically addictive. It is psychologically addictive, but how fucking dumb does a person have to be to think they need weed to get through the day? People start smoking pot all the time because they want to; because it's fun -not because, unlike other drugs, they actually depend on it.
The chance is no more greatly increased than if it had been alcohol she'd been giving him. Kids who are permitted the odd drink by their parents are less likely to move onto to harder substances than those who were forbidden, and it's the same with weed. Of course it does happen, but THC is not the gateway drug some like to imagine it to be. The fact that it is illegal is a problem, and so does make it wrong on that front. But why is it illegal in the first place?
Now this I do have a problem with. Not only is it illegal, but heroin is incredibly addictive and is without a doubt dangerous.


Me? Perfect? I appreciate the sarcastic note, but let's leave it out of a grown-up discussion, shall we?

Yes, pot's illegal, but you're honestly the first person I've ever spoken to that lumps it in the same category as coke and heroine in the same breath as saying it's harmless. Nicotine is world's closer to heroine than humble little THC could ever hope to be, and it's sold at drugstores(places designed to keep you healthy, for God's sake! ) for $7 a pack.

well it affects your brain, homework and weed dont seem to go together

brownsugar said:

Ya, doesn't it just make you hungry and sleepy?

JustErin said:

yes, making homework the last thing i would think about

meow85 said:

the only reason why I lump it in the same categorey with cocaine and heroin is because of its illegal nature, not because of its effects. Pot is essentially harmless yet it is just as illegal as cocaine and heroin and is often seen in the same light. In New York State, the Rockefeller Drugs laws are just as harsh for pot possesion as they are for harder drugs and will imprison you for having very small amounts. You can read more about that here: http://www.droptherock.or...eet_WS.htm if you want. If it was legalized, we probably wouldn't have that problem, it wouldn't be seen as so illicit and would not lead to harder drug use. I'm sorry that wasn't clear in my other post.

I DEFINITELY think that pot should be legalized for medicinal purposes and I think that it's a crime that it isn't. If a doctor can stuff you nose with cocaine for a sinus infection, which they often do, then a person who is dying of cancer or AIDS, or is suffering with glaucoma, should be able to smoke pot or drink it in tea, or whatever without facing criminal prosecution. People get perscribed much stronger drugs with a much stronger potential for abuse EVERYDAY yet pot is illegal to perscribe. People are walking around high on oxycotin, which was perscribed by their doctor, yet if they're found with pot they get sent to jail. WTF is up with that?

I also agree with what you said about alcohol. But she didn't give him alcohol, she gave him pot, so I didn't bring it up.


I wasn't really being that sarcastic. To me, you've always come across as seeing issues as being very black and white and not really taking into account the darker reality of many issues. You also say that you started smoking pot at 10 and are now fine and wonderful with no problems. That's great but I don't live in a world like that and I don't know anyone who does.

And to keep this post on topic, what that woman did was wrong. There are several other orgers on this thread who happen to agree with me. Want to address one of them?
[Edited 9/17/06 12:18pm]

I like this woman very much! When I was a child I often had pot smashed on head for not doing work.

JustErin said:

not necessarily. i've got a friend that smokes up almost every night now, but hes losing weight because he feels no urge to eat when he's high. It suppresses his appetite greatly. and as for me i always find myself much more productive when stoned. i'll start cleaning stuff or go out for a jog. sometimes even end up dancing....ok that last one is a bad idea for me. but my point is that it affects everyone differently.

And I take it that her son's homework grades started steadily declining after that...lol

Absolutely nothing ceases to amaze me these dayz, i swear!
An example of mankind and it's forever growth of self-destruction!! What is gonna happen with the next generationz!! I really am irked to find out. Sheesh!!

JasmineFire said:

I don't see my approach to this as being black or white. Agree to disagree?

Like most things, a person's attitudes towards drugs are a product of their environment. I've never been in a place where it was considered a big deal, even though it is illegal. Around here if you're caught with a certain amount of pot on you, all that'll happen is the cops'll take it away, maybe break your pipe and tell you not to do it again. A person only gets in any kind of real trouble if they're found to have a commerical grow-op (a plant or two in your closet with a light gets ignored) or be in posession of an abnormally large amount. I used to have an old neighbour lady with a 5 foot plant in her backyard -not for drug purposes, but because she thought it looked nice next to her begonias!

Daznym17 said:

I don't really get hungry, either. I'm more the cliche, talk about random shit and think I'm being deep. Then I need cartoons, or a trip to the mall. Everybody's different.