Talking To Your Kids About Medical Marijuana
I’d say that I’ll take their left limb if they ever try to steal my pot! 
Discussing drugs with kids is usually one of those difficult subjects. If mom and dad have Medical Marijuana licenses, this makes things a bit more complicated. More and more parents living in states with Medical Marijuana options are asking for a different approach to the talk, even if they aren't licensed. Drug celibacy slogans like “Just Say No” or “Zero Tolerance” don’t include complex situations associated with medicinal use, and that means it’s on for mom and dad to address, not only their use, but the realistic chance their kids might try it too.
Sandee Burbank wants to help parents get there. As the Director and Founder of Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse, she’s been advocating the need for drug education reform for over 20 years.
“A lot of parents don’t want to look at their own behavior,“ she says. “They don’t want to educate themselves because commercials pack answers into convenient time slots for them. I feel that for the teachers too. They get these national campaigns provided for them like Zero Tolerance or DARE, and that’s all they‘re allowed to do. Really, education should start with personal responsibility and informed decision making.”
This turn of phrase is something Burbank says often. It’s a simple idea, but it’s not simplified. Sandee has designed and implemented workshops, educational programs, written literature, and worked with teachers and policy makers to change the presentation of drug education. She also provides clinic referral programs and sessions for people who want candid information about marijuana and the law.
Currently, she’s working on re-wording medical literature about cannabis so that her center can provide accurate information minus the medical jargon. “If some of it is hard for me to follow, imagine what a parent or child sees when they start reading about cannabinoid receptors,” says Sandee.
Public education systems aren’t ready for campaigns that put marijuana and penicillin in the same category. But parents who benefit from marijuana are. Elle Jonson is a mother of two. Her eldest is nine-years-old and will soon participate in obligatory anti-drug education at school. Most programs start as early as the 5th grade, and that’s right around the corner for her daughter Myra.
“[In the situation of marijuana with my kids] I would say something like, ‘…it helps lots of people's bodies…feel less pain” begins Elle. “I don't want to be in physical pain, and I've tried…other things…This really helps me. But there's a bad side to marijuana, and that is when people, and sometimes teenagers, use it to escape their heart pain. It might seem like a great solution, and it might feel good…to numb out, but you always have to come back to real life, to your real pain. If you rely on marijuana or liquor or any other substances to escape…you're going to find those problems have a way of growing if they're left unattended. I don't use marijuana to escape, I use it to be more present for you and for life. Or something like that.
"And then, I’d say that I’ll take their left limb if they ever try to steal my pot!” she adds laughing.
Catchphrases won't suffice as solutions. They do not reflect societies changing standards, which now include the legalization of medicinal marijuana. As Sandee has said before and will knowingly say again, parents should tell their kids about personal responsibility and informed decision making first. Especially, if mom and dad take trips to the dispensary.
