To Weed or Not to Weed... That is the question.

So... needless to say, as a high school teacher, I have some strong feelings about the whole "legalizing marijuana" trend. Currently, I do not know how I would vote on a general legalization of weed the likes of the Colorado legislation... I do not know because the issue is not only complicated, but like many hot topic issues, each side throws the extreme or ridiculous examples out to prove their points. So... for those of you who are seeing this trend in our world and considering "all sides"... I guess this is for you? Or for me to sort out how I feel? Guess we'll see...

First of all, I've always been confused by our country's devout allegiance to alcohol (especially given its well-known downfalls) in the face of its "anti-weed" policies. Have you ever been around an alcoholic? They can be extremely scary... when they drive drunk they seem to think they are in a race to win and everyone else on the road is an enemy... In fact, over 10,000 people died in drunk driving accidents last year (about 31% of car related deaths)... yikes. I've always joked that I'd prefer to be on the road with a bunch of stoners... they aren't out to race- they aren't pissed off- they are just enjoying the scenery... but last year about 12% of car accident related deaths were due to weed (and it is only now legal in 2 states- not counting medical usage). Huh. That doesn't seem promising. But- some of the medical uses of the drug are priceless, amazing, and simply important. The apparent hypocrisy of a legal system that allows for prescription narcotics, alcohol and cigarettes while outlawing marijuana needs to be addressed...

Still, my biggest problem is what I see in the teen population usage. I should qualify this by saying these are simply my observations, discussed and agreed upon with other teachers, but still, my non-scientific observations: Kids who avoid "altering" their brains through alcohol or weed tend to do much better getting through school and either going on to college or a secure job. Teens who indulge in alcohol don't do as well, but generally make it through school, graduate and move onto college or jobs... very few of them come to school drunk (yes, of course it does happen, but it is rare)... so while they are in the learning environment they might be fighting hangovers, but most of them are pretty lucid.

HOWEVER... the stoners can be a sad crowd. As teachers we tend to like these kids- they are mellow, sweet, and get along with most kids (doesn't sound sad does it?) But smoking in school diminishes a kid's chance of successfully completing high school drastically. DRASTICALLY. Marijuana is often in the systems of students while they are in school... and those poor, sweet kids aren't learning much of anything, and certainly aren't doing homework. The drug doesn't just mellow them- it tends to take away all their motivation. Most of our dropouts are "pot-heads"... I recognize this has many possible reasons- maybe that students didn't achieve much in school, and THEN began using... who knows... but there is a relation between the two... and I find it painful when a kid stops caring about his or her own future. Certainly, this is a generalization, and there are users who manage the system well, but so many of the kids don't seem able to make choices when high that will move them toward actually graduating.

The beginning of the year, I point out the dragonfly kite-thing I have hanging in my room. I warn students that when I pull the string attached to it, and it appears to "fly" it is very difficult for the stoners to look away. I then show them how it flies. The funny part of this is that as teens (big kids) none of them can look away from it... it is mesmerizing. The stoners however, heeding my warning, immediately look away. Busted.

I still don't know how I feel about legalizing it for recreational use. There are so many arguments- but whatever we, as a society choose to do on this issue, we have to be careful with our kids. The teenagers look like adults, but their brains are still developing... and they learn from our examples.