Alcohol Is No Longer The Most Abused Drug by American Children

[Warpy]

The youth of America are abusing booze less and weed more, according to a new study that looked at two decades of data on teens and school-aged children who wound up seeking medical care after taking various substances.
------------
When it comes to weed in particular, the stats suggest the rise in availability of foods containing cannabis products has played a significant role, with average monthly call rates for edibles increasing more than those for other forms of marijuana use, like smoking
-----------------
"Compared to smoking cannabis, which typically results in an immediate high, intoxication from edible forms of marijuana usually takes several hours, which may lead some individuals to consume greater amounts and experience unexpected and unpredictable highs."

https://www.sciencealert.com/alcohol-is-no-longer-the-most-abused-drug-by-american-children

Hard to pick just a few paragraphs to post, it's a good article with a lot of information packed in. It's a good news/bad news article, it's good to see more dangerous substances like alcohol and OTC medicines like cough syrup declining, but it's bad news in that kids are finding and experimenting with Mom and Dad's edibles stash. When they don't get high off a single square of candy, they eat the whole thing (YOU IDIOT) and end up getting taken to the ER because that much cannabis is really unpleasant. It's good news because it won't do any long term harm, unlike an alcohol, opiate, or OTC medication overdose that can be fatal if untreated.

Expect scare headlines from this one.

[JenniferJuniper]

1. Just like the liquor cabinet,

parents need to make sure edibles are secured.

[Effete Snob]

2. Remember when Ex-Lax came in a "chocolate bar" form?

Well, when I was around five...

[Warpy]

3. I think I was born a chocoholic

My mother never allowed anything but milk of mag into the house. She saw that one coming. I had enough diarrhea from the milk she tried to pour into me.

[walkingman]

4. Agree, I think the report is net positive because it shows less alcohol use and

also also less opioid use. Never heard of weed hurting you long term but I don't think juvenile usage of any drug is a good thing. They have enough issues as teenagers without adding to the mix but you will never succeed in any type of prohibition - but rather education and awareness.

What I see and hear from my college age nieces and nephew is adderall abuse by college students. Never tried it and know very little about it but I know when I talk to my nephew it seems like he is going 100 mph and I can't get a word in edgewise. I've told him he needs to "watch it" or from what I have read could have a problem.

[Warpy]

5. Juveniles will always seek out highs of all types

Being a juvenile is extremely painful and frustrating, so the attraction to anything that will dull the pain for a few hours is understandable. Harm reduction is what we need to look at, "thou shalt not" doesn't work.

I would much rather they experiment with cannabis than addictive and/or deadly substances. If we try to remove everything, they'll go back to huffing glue and gasoline.

[Omnipresent]

6. So we need to outlaw edibles?

[Warpy]

7. I'd rather we outlaw children

but I warned about the scare headlines coming because you know that's exactly what right wing assholes will want.

Of course, cannabis drops are safer. Here in NM, the home grown ones taste like something drained out of a bong that was abandoned behind a bunch of old boxes in Mom's basement in 1972. I can't imagine anyone downing a whole bottle of them. Bleh.

[Effete Snob]

8. Thanks

I wondered where I left that bong.