To think the use of cannabis amongst teens has spread like a disease.

[FluffyMuppet]

DS(13) has been telling me that most of his friends are now smoking cannabis when they meet up. He doesn't smoke it himself, we have drummed into him the danger of smoking. He watched me struggling to breathe for years whilst relying on oxygen, so he has seen the nasty side of lung disease.

But I am so scared that eventually he will give in to the peer pressure. He recently changed friend groups and I was relieved, these new kids seemed nice. Only he has come today and said that his new group were smoking it too. Even at school, he has seen kids bring grinders in and some smoke it in the corner of the school field.

One of his friends is delivering drugs to some sort of post box and the other boys have been asking how they can do it too to make some money.

DS tells me all of this on the condition that I keep it to myself. I wouldn't have a clue if he didn't tell me and I don't want to betray his trust. But this is all so worrying. Drugs are everywhere and we don't even live in a inner city dodgy area, this is a wealthy commuter town.

Is this normal in other parts of the country too? What can we do to stop the spread?

Also the mental health issues it brings with it when the system is just not equipped to deal with it is terrifying
I don't believe this. I think it exacerbates any existing MH issues with is not the cause, any brain stimulation will exacerbate MH issues.
We smoked tons as teens only 2 have MH issues, both diagnosed and evident in childhood before weed.
Again lots with MH suffers use it to self medicate.

Cannabis is not the lesser of two evils when compared to alcohol use.

www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/using-cannabis-just-5-times-teen-linked-increased-psychosis-risk/

Totally. For YEARS.

It’s tricky.
My mum had a mental illness which meant she couldn’t raise me abs my sister and we were always told that cannabis can surface mental illnesses so that was enough for both me and my sister to decide never to touch drugs despite our friends being really into them.
We also had a baby sitter who ended up psychotic because he cane off his mental health meds and just smoked loads of skunk weed. He ended up in broadmoor prison where he was sent because the boxes in his head had told him to stab someone. He killed himself in prison and we only found out when watching the news together one day.

This ^^ was a lot for 11 year old me to take in but definitely kept me well away from drugs of any kind.

Voices**

I don't think it's any more prevalent than when I was at school.

I'm inclined to agree. I was introduced to cannabis when I was 13 (1968) by a girl at my (private, single sex) school. I'd say around a third of the girls in my year smoked weed.

DSS (b. 1990) and his mates started smoking at around the same age, years 8/9. He also went to a posh private school and reckons that at least a third of his year smoked weed too.

We all went on to try other drugs, mainly speed, acid and coke (E and ket weren't a thing in the 60s/early 70s). If any of us subsequently developed addiction issues or OD'd, it never came to my attention, although one old school friend became an alcoholic and died of liver failure at 47.

DSS and his mates seem to have tried pretty much everything too, but they all seem to be able to hold down jobs and look after their families.

The only thing that worries me about weed itself is the strength of all the cultivated stuff and the possibility of it causing MH issues in some people. The risk of getting involved with organised crime, turf wars etc is much greater imo.

All of which is why I'm another that is in favour of legalisation, licensing and regulation.

T’was ever thus.

In the 80s, my school friends were doing this. Its just the access that’s changed. Far easier now.

Having said that, today’s weed is far stronger.

As for living in a county town, ever heard of ‘county lines?’ The towns are where it’s at now that the cities are awash with the stuff.

Good that your son talked to you about it. What is really concerning is dealing, which brings with it a very real risk of violence. As lots of posters say, use is endemic. But dealing is a totally different thing with far more danger and consequences.

Lots of boys are very naive about what looks pretty harmless ie delivering envelopes etc. Once you are in that it is hard to get out of it. And then these much nastier people know all about you, where you live. Then they ask you to do something else which is a lot more than delivering a few envelopes.

Weed smoking affecting your life - maybe. I think enough people get through that.

Dealing on the other hand - dangerous, possibly violent, possible prison and life definitely ruined.

Its so much easier and cheaper to get a hold of than alcohol or normal cigarettes.

There's a good example of unintended consequences.

This 'county lines' thing is creating hysteria. He'll just be posting it on the dark web.

Sounds like the kids are being targeted by county lines gangs...

I'd report to school and potentially police although the school should do that.

Boys that age living in 'good' areas are a target... I'd be very concerned if my teenager told me this. I work with young people and we have issues with county lines. Not just boys but girls also, there is immense pressure and bribery from gangs from the cities on these kids.

Any young person 'selling' is a concern especially when it doesn't fit the demographic

The fact hes talking to you about this OP suggests he isnt comfortable with it. I actually think mot people who smoke weed hate te effects (me included) but keep it up sometimes because its the done thing,. Hopefully he will fall into this category, but if hes worried about it enough at 13 to tell you, I cant imagine him getting a dangerous habit.

I wouldn’t be hysterical about county lines. It’s very grim indeed. The children who end up in that situation are in real trouble. 200 quid and then carrying knives as protection. A bad life, and one that can easily get out of control.

You would not be so blasé about a teenage girl being given 200 quid and told to look after the towels in a brothel while the business end happened upstairs.

There is allegedly a small minority at ds(15)'s school, but mainly 6th year/form so 17-18 year olds. Definitely the not the norm at his school (west coast Scotland, school with > 50% pupils from deprived areas). ds has only heard about drug use at school through rumours.

It is not normal, not to be tolerated, not less dangerous than alcohol, it is illegal and your sons 13 year old friends are drug dealers.

The reason is so prevalent now is because parents sit back and tolerate it for fear of upsetting their dc, risking expulsion from school and just selfishly hoping their own child doesn't bear the potential physical, emotional, mental or legal implications. What happened to it takes a village to raise a child that we all preached when they were young making sure they said their thank yous and played nicely? This is hard, but it is when they need more support than ever to know the difference between right and wrong and sometimes you need to speak up.

Your sons 13 year old friends are dealing drugs, an industry that causes misery and cost lives along the entire supply chain, but it is ok as you promised not to tell and you think your ds is ok.... so far.

Why has the police,government put a price tag on weed. As putting a price tag on green has made it easier for it to get into the wrong hands. I am someone who will not pay for it. As I like to know where it's been. I've not ever payed for it I have taught myself a few things and one thing is weed is free there is no transaction with roses! It's all the government's fault they want school children selling and causing mayhem because that is how the plc gets its revenue. There is no tissue damage with green and it's illegal. There is a awful lot of tissue damage with alcohol and you can buy that in a shop. 1 bottle of vodka would put me out for days or even kill me. I could smoke green all day and all night and I would still be functionable. So op I wouldn't say anything to the school as the poor children would end up with a criminal record and that's not fair. The people who is truly responsible you will have to ask your DS where are his friends getting it from. It may surprise you that it might even be a police officer.

I don’t think it’s a new thing, I smoked it when I was 14, lots of people did but weed has changed.

My dd is 15 and says a lot of kids in her year take drugs and drink, she’s very sensible and only has a couple friends at school (she has Aspergers and isn’t that sociable), she’s never touched alcohol or smoked.

I work in mental health and I see what drugs can do to people, especially weed. I do agree that alcohol is more damaging but when a person has underlying mental health issues weed can cause a whole load of other issues. I talk openly to dd about drugs and how it can effect people, she knows I work with people who have been effected by smoking weed and popping pills, she also knows about cannabis being used as a medicine and takes CBD oil for a condition she has.

There’s always going to be the argument about wether alcohol is worse than weed, they are both dangerous and effect people in different ways, they should not really be compared.

OP your DS sounds sensible, just because friends are smoking it I would not assume he will too, I had a friend who hung out with me at that age and she never touched anything despite us doing it, we respected her choice and never egged her on to try it.

I'm 32 and it was when I was a teenager. I haven't turned into a druggie as a result.. you can't stop him experimenting (reasonably, without alienating your child) but it's the growing up and out that's the trick, don't know why I'm not an addict and others are. I think a significant element is genetic.

It's all the government's fault they want school children selling and causing mayhem because that is how the plc gets its revenue.

🤦‍♀️ Can also cause paranoia.

Encourage your son to socialise with his friends at home instead of hanging out around the streets and local football fields ?