NCJ Number
178576
Date Published
1995
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This videotape is directed to parents and presents the perspectives of youth, parents, and drug prevention specialists regarding youth and adult attitudes toward marijuana, the adverse effects of using marijuana, and ways parents can help prevent their children from using this drug.
Abstract
The videotape emphasizes the marijuana use is dangerous, unhealthy, illegal, and wrong. It also notes that most youth do not use marijuana regularly, that the number trying it is increasing, and that young people need to know the consequences of marijuana use. It cites research documenting the damage marijuana does to short-term memory, as well as perception and judgement and reports that marijuana users have higher rates of truancy, fighting, juvenile delinquency, and arrest than do nonusers. The youth comment that they use it because they are curious and because they perceive that everyone uses it. The discussion also notes the risks of driving after using marijuana and the dangers of being involved in buying or selling marijuana. It questions parental attitudes that marijuana is harmless or that it is not a concern because they used it when they were adolescents. National Institute of Drug Abuse Director Alan Leshner urges parents to tell their children that marijuana use is wrong. The videotape emphasizes the need for parents to make time to spend with their children, to have a dialogue with their children, and to recognize that their children need their parents more during adolescence than in earlier years.