As most of you know, Colorado and other legalized states have not been able to create effective anti-pot education programs for kids, largely because no one knows how to undo the damage of drug normalization and acceptance by adults and government leaders. In these states, the pot industry aggressively advertises high concentrate THC products in every form while many adults and government officials act as industry cheerleaders and share in the drug proceeds.
No one knows what drug education is supposed to look like in a post legalization world. Some states, like Colorado, have wasted millions of dollars on laughable advertising campaigns that include giant rat cages and happy little commercials with cartoon characters, bright colors, soothing voices, and cheerful music. After spending all of that money, the end result is something that many perceive as pro-pot.
Happily, some of our education friends continue to work on campaigns which have great promise, especially if they are widely distributed and seen. This is one of them.
Congratulations to Diane Carlson, Gina Carbone, Henny Lasley, Allie Cunningham, Dr. Chris Thurstone, Christine Thurstone, and others who continue to fight back.
Please look at the following materials, especially the excellent video entitled Ultra-potent Marijuana. It is something that should be widely distributed and watched by everyone, especially legislators who are considering joining this ridiculous social experiment at the expense of children, families and communities.
The video provides many different perspectives, including Dr. Thurstone's explanation of why THC negatively impacts brain development. One segment contains some very important admissions about pot use by the governor of Colorado. Finally, be sure to watch until the end for a powerful personal story of a mom and her 16 year old son.
I hope that you watch and forward this important information, and thanks again to our friends in Colorado who produced it.
http://mailchi.mp/publicpersuasion/80gfasp4z5-1236469?e=712950603f
July 21, 2017
It’s a challenge that has tested parents for generations:
How do you warn your teens about risky behaviors that you may have engaged in when you were their age? When it comes to marijuana, the key may be the science of THC potency.
Smart Colorado has launched an educational campaign focused on Facebook, a social media site that’s likely to be used by both parents and their teen children.
“The scientific research is clear that marijuana can permanently harm teens’ developing brains,” said Henny Lasley, executive director of Smart Colorado. “These skyrocketing THC potencies raise the stakes considerably for adolescents. Our educational effort is designed to give parents – including those who have used marijuana – the tools to start a conversation online or in person with their teen children about the very real dangers of today’s ultra-potent marijuana.”
Levels of THC, the chemical in marijuana responsible for most of its psychoactive effects, have been growing exponentially as marijuana has been commercialized in Colorado. THC potency averaged just 3.7% THC in the early 1990s. Parents may recall the nicknames for the low-potency pot of earlier eras: ditch weed, schwag, brick weed. Average potency of flowers/buds in Colorado is now 17.1 percent, according to state research. But marijuana industry websites say strains can reach 30 percent. Concentrates average 62.1 percent but potency rates of up to 95 percent have been recorded, the state reports. Dabbing – heating nearly pure THC concentrates known as wax or shatter with a blowtorch and inhaling the vapor through a dab rig – is increasingly popular. It’s been called the “crack” of pot and “for the first time it seems possible to ‘overdose’ on cannabis,” says marijuana industry website Leafly.
The Smart Colorado campaign features a compelling new video that describes the risks ultra-potent marijuana poses to teens. It specifically highlights dabbing and features insightful interviews with a high school student, his mother, a prosecutor and an adolescent addiction specialist, among others. Watch the video below or view it on Youtube.
Smart Colorado notes that Gov. John Hickenlooper this year told a reporter for ColoradoPolitics.com: “When you’re a teenager, your brain is growing very, very rapidly. The high-THC marijuana we have is so intense in the way it affects your synapses and those parts of your brain that literally every brain scientist I’ve talked to feels there’s a very high probability that, even if you only smoke once a week, this high-THC marijuana, if you’re a teenager, it will take a sliver of your long-term memory forever. That doesn’t come back in two weeks or three weeks. Your brain is growing so fast that the synapses don’t connect so you can’t retrieve information that you remembered.”
We encourage you to check out this campaign and give us your feedback. Does it provide new information that you find useful in talking to teens, parents or others about today’s highly potent marijuana?
About Smart Colorado
Smart Colorado is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of Colorado youth as marijuana becomes increasingly available and commercialized. Smart Colorado is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center. To learn more about Smart Colorado, please visit:
smartcolorado.org
