What to say to your teenage son about using marijuana?

So how do you handle a situation when you find out your teenage son is using marijuana?

First, make sure your son knows he can talk with you openly about the topic. If he knows he can’t he’ll get good at lying. Listen to what your son has to say about marijuana and his experience. This can help guide a parent to a better reaction and action. The minute your teenage son feels he is being judged and preached to or isn’t able to talk freely he will stop talking and won’t want to express himself about marijuana or the experience. Realize what he might say will be completely different from your thinking. This can sometimes be a parent’s greatest challenge.

So, take a deep breath and appreciate that he is opening up to you. It’s a sign of trust.

Parents can also be open and honest and talk about their own experiences as a teenager if it will help your son feel more comfortable. You don’t need to talk about every detail, but it would help to talk about why you tried marijuana and why you stopped. This can create a trusting relationship, a more open conversation, and is a great way to preventing and countering irresponsible drug use. Teens want to know the people who care about them care because they love them and want them to be safe.

Teenagers want the honest and truthful facts about drugs so they can make responsible decisions. Young people are still very capable of making rational decisions and understand that destroying their lives or health is not in their best interests. This can be compared with safe sex education, which provides accurate and real information about having safer sex. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, informative and honest information about sex has increased the use of condoms among sexually active teens but also decreased rates of sexual activity. Truthful and honest education which is valued by someone is really most effective for learning.

It’s also very important for the parents to learn about the teen culture and why it is so enticing for teenagers to experiment. Or just look back when you were a teenager. A great book to read is Myth and Facts about Marijuana or The Pot Book. Learn about the drug; see different sides, the pros and cons of marijuana. Seek the facts about drug safety and how to manage parent anxiety.

If you start to sense that your teenage sons use has escalated beyond normal experimentation, do not hesitate to talk about it. Set boundaries and effectively express your feelings. If there is any signs of addiction, such as not being able to function without marijuana or he has negative reactions seek more professional help and if necessary call 911.

Remember, what really matters are your teenage sons are safe and healthy. Whether they’ve experimented or not, your teenage son will be happy when they know they have parents who are present, loving, and involved. Carla Nino, past president of the California State PTA, gives the following advice to parents: “Trust your instincts, which are to love your kids enough to give them the space to explore and grow, to forgive their mistakes and to accept them for who they are. Kids go through tough times, sometimes seemingly prolonged. Those who make it do so because they’re embraced and loved by their families.”