Should Parents of Teens Be More Worried about Alcohol or Cannabis Right Now?

Curt Dalton of Cannabis.net, and father of 3 teenage boys, sat down with Preeti Davidson of Maya4Life to discuss a variety of topics related to teen health, including the social pressures and access to cannabis. Why is alcohol the biggest threat to parents of teens right now? While teens face many social pressures, including drinking, drugs, sexual maturity, cannabis is a new form of discussion due to state legalization over the past 8 years. From the bathroom stall dealer to the dispensary next to your nail salon, cannabis is now part of teen social pressure, vaping especially since it is hard to detect, easy to get, and has a fast reaction time.

Why Alcohol is the Greatest Threat to Teens

While many assume Fentanyl is the greatest threat to teens right now due the fact a small dose can kill you, alcohol may be the much bigger lift-shifting threat to teens for a few reasons.

It comes in through the front door, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Most drugs like cannabis and cocaine are a hard "no" from parents and there is a strong discussion about these drugs. Alcohol on the other hand comes right in the front door with the bag of groceries and Friday night pizza.
Alcohol has the blessing of role models and loved ones. Teens learn by role-modeling, what does Mom or Dad do for stress, anxiety, how do they handle a good day, a bad day. If kids see parents using alcohol to celebrate something good or using alcohol to “handle a bad day”, they are getting a message from their trusted guides that alcohol is okay for you, healthy, and a good way to either deal with happiness or stress. As the now famous drug PSA commercial from the late 70s said, “I learned it from you!”
There are no medical studies in history that come to the conclusion that alcohol is good for you or has any positive impact on you physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Even the now debunked study about a glass of red wine being good for people who lived on the Adriatic coast has been de-mystified to the point of they ate a ton of fish and walked up and down cliff roads all day as to why they seem to be healthy. There are over 32,000 medical studies on cannabis and the endocannabinoid system that show some positive effects of the plant and while we don’t know everything yet because of Federal restrictions on the drug, there is positive findings in relation to PTSD, anxiety, sleep, prostate cancer, and a variety of other classifications like ADD and ADHD.
Parents who role-model drinking as okay, having a “few pops after work”, or “mom needs her mommy juice, wink, wink” are setting their kids up for a life of using alcohol to numb the pain of reality instead of using programs for teens like Maya4Life has set up.
Kids are left with a sense of “well, it must be okay if Mom and Dad, and aunt and uncle, who I love and trust, are doing it, right?” -type questions. How can it be bad if these 5 people I know do it and tell me they will buy my first drink at 21?

While cannabis still needs more research on such things as how it effects frontal-lobe development in males between 15 and 24, and what type of DNA is more prone to psychosis with heavy dosage of cannabis, the overall early trends show that enhancing the bodies’ endocannabinoid system with cannabis or hemp cannabinoids like CBD, THCa, THCv, and a variety of other substances can greatly reduce the dependence of people on prescription drugs and other less-healthy alternatives. While THC itself can cause “high” or “stoned” effects, it appears to be very helpful for fighting cancer in such medicines as Rick Simpson Oil.

Susan Sarandon once told the press she would much rather have her kids using cannabis than alcohol to deal with life’s challenges and issues, and as a parent, those are decisions you can advise on in your teen’s life as they are faced with pressures each weekend to drink, smoke, do nicotine pouches, vape, and do sexual acts.

Your reality may be that it is hard “no” to all of the above things, but their reality at school, on social media, and with friends, is a maze of navigating these offers and opportunities. The last thing you want as a parent is a child who is unprepared for the “real” world like their first solo cup frat party. If a hard “no” is your answer, what happens the first time they go to that college keg party and get a red solo cup. Boys will end up throwing up and passed in the bushes, whereas girls who are unprepared will do the same, but new threats emerged for passed out drug females that males general don’t face.

Alcohol is a legal poison, used by millions to numb the pain of life. In order to break this general teaching, we need the tools to talk to our teens and young people about alcohol and cannabis. Setting your son or daughter up for a life of drinking is sending them down the same path your parents sent you down, and your grandparents sent your parents down, and their grandparents send them down, etc. Breaking the pattern or general trauma is key for setting a new course for your son or daughter and how they deal with happy moments, sad moments, hurtful moments, and stressful times in their future lives.

It takes a village to raise strong young people, ask Maya4Life about teen self-esteem and internal validation programs. You don’t have to do this all on your own and your teen may have already drown you out.

Preeti Davidson studied at Columbia University has developed the Maya4Life program for teens passed on research done by Price-Waterhouse-Cooper, as well as variety of therapy and recovery programs. Curt Dalton studied at the University of Chicago and runs Cannabis.net. He has been editing cannabis article and research for over 8 years and has reviewed over 7,000 cannabis articles and studies online.

Watch the talk, click here!