Doodles of Pot,

Has your son or daughter drawn pot leaves or bottles of beer on his or her notebook? It is actually a sign of "preoccupation" and "infatuation", in the same way that it was when you wrote the initials of you and your boy/girlfriend inside the heart on your notebook when you were a kid. Remember? or was I the only one that did that? 

Kids who end up addicted start out by loving to get high. So, as a parent we need to look for some clues, that are not so obvious, doodles of pot may be that very sign.

Parent Alert; Stronger Marijuana

Parental alert: "Today's stronger pot isn't like your marijuana". USA Today reports on this trend and gives 8 Tips to keep teens away from drugs.

"Teen alcohol and tobacco use are down, he says, but we haven't had such luck with marijuana. … Society still has very mixed feelings about it."

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Your Gut is Telling You Something.

Your gut is saying something is going on with your teen, but you can’t figure out what it is. Things don’t add up, something is missing, things have changed but you’re not sure what. When you ask questions you get answers that just make everything more confusing. Your mind goes wild with possibilities; drugs, gangs, sex, porn. No matter what you do or think it doesn’t get better.

From Bummed to Bliss

Being bummed by life; stressed, unhappy, miserable, desperate, is all too common for young people. What do our kids do with this stress? How do they deal with this emotional ups and downs? Do they talk to you about any of this? Who do they talk to? Who’s giving them advise on how to cope? Is it possible that they have actually taken steps to deal with stress on their own, with the advice of their friends?

One very common way to deal with this is to experiment with a M.A.C. (Mood Altering Chemical) Some kids try it and find out that they don’t like it or they can take it or leave it.

Reefer Madness?

Reefer Madness? Marijuana, increased potency is the gateway to a debate on addiction and treatment.

“It was as if she woke up one day, and decades of her life had disappeared. Joyce, 52 and a writer in Manhattan, started smoking pot when she was 15, and for years it was a pleasant escape, a calming protective cloud. Then it became an obsession, something she needed to get through the day. She found herself hiding her addiction from her family, friends and co-workers.”