With The Rise Of Legal Weed, Drug Education Moves From 鈥楧on鈥檛鈥 to 鈥楧elay鈥
Dawn Charlton, an instructor with Being Adept, leads a discussion on marijuana for sixth-graders at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon, Calif. (Carrie Feibel/KQED)
California legalized marijuana in 2016, and this past New Year鈥檚 Eve eager customers lined up in the darkness outside medical marijuana dispensaries across the state, ready to start shopping at the stroke of midnight.
The effect has gone beyond the cannabis cash register. Everyone has seen the ads or heard the chatter 鈥 and that includes minors, though marijuana remains illegal for those under 21.
鈥淐oming out of SFO [San Francisco] airport, there are billboards for聽聽[a weed delivery service] that say 鈥楳arijuana is here,鈥欌 said聽, a psychologist who conducts research at University of California-San Francisco on adolescent drug use. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure parents were expecting to see so many images of cannabis all over.鈥
The rollout of legal recreational marijuana in California and other states doesn鈥檛 appear to have led to any big changes in substance abuse prevention yet.
But drug prevention education in schools has evolved significantly since the 鈥淛ust Say No鈥 days of the 鈥80s 鈥 and now typically takes an approach that鈥檚 more appropriate for the era of ubiquitous weed access. It鈥檚 one that emphasizes decision-making and critical thinking skills instead of abstinence.
One approach is the聽聽curriculum 鈥 an evidence-based course of study that has been used in about 20 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.
It, and other drug abuse education today, draws on decades of rigorous effectiveness research and the newest teaching techniques.
The PSAs that Gen-Xers may remember 鈥 the egg in a frying pan (鈥溾), or the boy calling out his dad鈥檚 drug use (鈥溾) 鈥 live on as memes but are no longer used in information campaigns.
鈥淭hose scare-tactic-based programs have tended to quite clearly not work, based on most of the research that evaluated its effectiveness,鈥 Ramo said. 鈥淭oday, there is an entirely different mindset about school-based prevention.鈥
In a nutshell, the focus now is on facts, not fear. Also conspicuously absent are simplistic dictates like 鈥淛ust say no.鈥 Instead, teachers spur students to examine data, speculate on motives, discuss risks and deliberate on their own goals and values.
Ashley Brady explains the increase over time in marijuana potency to a class of eighth-graders at Marin Primary and Secondary School in Larkspur, Calif.(Carrie Feibel/KQED)
Ashley Brady, a Being Adept instructor, was completely open about her method when she stood in front of the eighth-graders at Marin Primary and Middle School, a private school in Larkspur.
鈥淚鈥檓 not here to tell you what to do today. Not at all,鈥 she began. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to give you the most up-to-date information possible so that you can make your own healthy, informed decisions.鈥
Brady then jump-started a fast-paced, fact-filled discussion on brain chemistry and physiology. She showed an animated video about how marijuana affects dopamine pathways in the brain. Then she led a discussion about marijuana 鈥渆dibles鈥 and how the liver metabolizes them.
鈥淚t can take up to 30 minutes to maybe even an hour or two before it really hits you,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hen somebody eats an edible and they don鈥檛 really feel the effects, what do you think happens?鈥
鈥淭hey eat more!鈥 a student called out.
鈥淭hey eat more,鈥 Brady nodded. 鈥淵eah, an hour, an hour and a half later? Boom! Like a freight train, they鈥檝e been hit, and, you know, can barely move or can barely talk, that kind of thing. So they may have to go to the hospital.鈥
True, that sounds a little scary, but it鈥檚 presented neutrally, as a consequence at the end of a sequence of decisions.
Where the legalization of the marijuana industry has affected the content of these lessons is on the subject of potency. Brady told the students that legalization has spurred competition and innovation among suppliers, to the point where they鈥檙e now churning out extremely potent and precisely calibrated forms of pot called 鈥渃oncentrates,鈥 which comes in various forms.
Brady ran through their names: oil, bubble, shatter, wax and dabs.
鈥淭hey call it a 鈥榙ab鈥 because one tiny little nail head [of it] 鈥 I mean I鈥檓 talking like the end of my pinky 鈥 one tiny, little nail head is the same as three joints hitting the system all at once,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a lot stronger than it used to be.鈥
Tests of THC levels in marijuana samples over the years back this up. Whereas a typical joint in the 鈥70s probably had a THC level of 4 to 5 percent, at best, growers are now breeding strains of cannabis that produce buds with THC levels as high as 20 to 30 percent.
The concentrates are in another category altogether. Processed concentrates sold at dispensaries now regularly test at 80, even 90 percent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the same drug,鈥 Brady told the students. People sometimes vomit from concentrates. Some people hallucinate and have even become psychotic.
And yes, she added, it can be addictive. Not just psychologically, but physically. People do go into THC withdrawal and do go to rehab for pot addiction.
Still, as she described the transformation of marijuana from a relatively mild intoxicant to a potentially debilitating one, Brady never once said 鈥渢hat鈥檚 why you shouldn鈥檛鈥 or even 鈥渟o please be careful.鈥
Afterward, the students applauded this approach.
鈥淚t made you feel more mature, and that you鈥檙e in control,鈥 said Devon Soofer, 13. 鈥淭his [class] was actually telling you the long-term effects and what it can actually do to you. So it actually made you feel like, 鈥榃ow, this is actually really bad,鈥 and not just being forced not to do it.鈥
Subsequent units in the Being Adept curriculum give students concrete tools: They rehearse what to do or say at parties, and talk about better ways to cope than using cannabis 鈥 or any substance.
Ramo, who serves as a scientific adviser to Being Adept, decried 鈥渢he overwhelming stress, anxiety, depression, suicidality that is so pervasive among teens in the United States today, especially in high-intensity educational areas, like a lot of schools in the Bay Area are.鈥
鈥淎ddressing that problem is key,鈥 she added, as is 鈥渉aving teens come up with solutions to manage their stress, that they actually would use.鈥
鈥楧elay, Delay, Delay鈥
So if drug educators aren鈥檛 telling students 鈥淒on鈥檛!鈥 anymore, what are they telling them to do? Overtly, they鈥檙e not demanding teens do anything, because teens are naturally resistant to the authoritarian approach 鈥 and some of them may resist to the point of doing the opposite.
Jennifer Grellman, a聽聽in Kentfield, Calif., and the founder of Being Adept, summed up the strategy in three words: 鈥淒elay, delay, delay.鈥
鈥淭he way to handle that with your kids is to say: 鈥榊ou know, you don鈥檛 have to use this now. Maybe you want to use it someday, but not today, not now. It will always be there.鈥 Just tell them to wait.鈥
Grellman said that advice may be more palatable for some teens, and therefore easier for parents to deliver.
They鈥檙e not forbidding something (and possibly making it more enticing). They鈥檙e not saying 鈥渘ever.鈥
The instructors put a special emphasis on a less visible risk: the potential damage to their brains.
鈥淢ore research is coming out looking at the ways in which all different kinds of substances can hijack normal brain functioning, and particularly so in adolescence,鈥 Ramo explained.
鈥淚n heavily cannabis-using teens, there are some particularly important implications of using cannabis on the frontal lobe, and that interrupts a type of thinking called 鈥榚xecutive functioning.鈥欌
Also worrisome is a substantial body of research showing that using any potentially addictive substance while the brain is still developing 鈥 whether alcohol, marijuana, nicotine or other drug 鈥 triggers neurological changes that can lead to addiction.
鈥淭he earlier teens start using, the more heavily they use in adolescence, the more likely it is that they鈥檒l go on to have problems throughout their adulthood,鈥 said Ramo.
Being Adept instructors don鈥檛 say it outright, but the message is clear: If you鈥檙e not going to abstain, just push it off for a while. Your brain is too vulnerable right now.
The Role of Parents
Grellman said parents should talk about drugs and alcohol with their kids often 鈥 as early as fourth grade. For California parents, she suggests using the new billboards or marijuana ads as a prompt to bring up the topic.
Broach the subject obliquely: What do people at your school think about those ads? Do any of your friends know what a dab actually is? Did you see this article on the seventh-grader getting expelled for pot in his locker? What do you think about that?
She said to listen to what they say and discuss it 鈥 try not to lecture, but be clear about your expectations, and your values around drugs and alcohol.
At every school where Being Adept is taught, Grellman offers a 鈥淧arents Night,鈥 where parents can learn how to navigate those conversations. It鈥檚 not just what parents say, she said, it鈥檚 what they do. Children are always watching how their parents use substances.
鈥淒on鈥檛 glamorize it,鈥 she advised. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean you have to become a monk and never have a drop of alcohol, but please drink responsibly.鈥 And, she said, don鈥檛 use it for stress control.
鈥淭his idea of coming home from the office and saying 鈥業鈥檝e got to have my glass of wine鈥 鈥 if you want to have your glass of wine, have your glass of wine, but don鈥檛 announce it! That you鈥檙e just at wit鈥檚 end, and you have to have this drink.鈥
Grellman said the modeling part becomes tricky when kids ask parents about their past: Did you party? What drugs did you use?
When she led the Parents Night in March at Marin Primary and Secondary, she advised parents to get ready for that moment and have answers prepared.
If you did party in high school, don鈥檛 lie, she told them. If a kid senses dishonesty or hypocrisy, they鈥檒l shut down. The most important thing is to keep the conversations going. If your child knows they can talk to you, no matter what, they will create a 鈥渟afety plan鈥 with you. They will reach out to you when trouble comes.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to tell the full story,鈥 Grellman said. 鈥淵ou could say: 鈥榊ou know, I did smoke and I did drink when I was 13.鈥 And if you loved it, I don鈥檛 know if I would advertise that.
鈥淵ou could say, 鈥業 did smoke, or I did drink, when I was 13. And you know, frankly? It was too early for me, man. I made some stupid decisions and I got in trouble.鈥 You can give them the consequences of it.鈥
After the presentation, parents said they felt relieved to have concrete suggestions about how to talk with their kids, and how much was OK to bring up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 much more prevalent than it was when I was growing up in the 鈥80s,鈥 said Joseph Sullivan, a physician from Larkspur, Calif.
鈥淭his is a different time, and so it鈥檚 nice to hear that we鈥檙e almost given permission to be talking about these different aspects of drug experimentation at different ages,鈥 he added.
His wife, Dr. Sara Sullivan, said she鈥檚 glad that the 鈥淛ust Say No鈥 paradigm is dead.
鈥淛ust to give the kids more information, I think, is such a different way to approach it, and I really appreciate that. And we鈥檝e kind of started to have conversations in our family because of that,鈥 she explained. 鈥淭o really kind of take that approach and not be like 鈥榊ou鈥檙e kind of out there on your own.鈥欌
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.
麻豆女优 Health News鈥 coverage of children鈥檚 health care issues is supported in part by the .