From Momlogic.com, Marijuana Mamas: Is pot the new pilates?:
A new wave of reefer madness is sweeping suburbia -- but it's not just teenagers who are lighting up. Middle-aged, middle-class soccer moms are smoking pot ... a lot. These women aren't stoners: they're teachers, lawyers, and, perhaps, even your neighbor who prefers puffing a joint to sipping chardonnay. woman smoking marijuana"Marijuana is the magic in my life that helps me unwind, stay sane, and have more energy," says Sonia, a 24-year-old mother from Los Angeles. Working full-time as a restaurant manager leaves Sonia feeling stressed out and drained at the end of the day. She smokes once or twice daily to relax. "I have a stressful job, it's something that helps me wind down so I don't take out my frustration on my husband or my child."
Sonia became a mother at the age of 22 and suffered from some depression. She turned to marijuana to help curb the baby blues. A doctor later diagnosed Sonia with anxiety and wrote her a prescription for the herbal remedy. Sonia gets her stash from a medicinal marijuana clinic and takes comfort in knowing the pot she smokes is legal and high quality.
Are you kidding me?
There's a lot of debate over how to talk to kids about using drugs without sounding like a hypocrite, especially if you're the one hitting the bong. Zero-tolerance proponents believe you must support abstinence only. But advocates say a more real-world approach is to discuss drug use in moderation. This method is detailed in a pamphlet called "Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs," which is distributed by the California PTA.
"Abstinence only"? Now adults who do not participate in illegal activities do not live in "the real world". I love how "real" is always code for sin.
"Drug use in moderation". Is that realistic? People usually do or they don't.
In "reality", I pretty much don't care what other people decide to do, but advocating illegal substance abuse is irresponsible. Besides the fact that people behave stupidly under the influence, they run the risk of being put in jail and having their children taken away. I don't care how many upper-middle-class-soccer moms are getting toked, it's not so quaint and trendy a practice if you are poor. It completely ceases to be quaint. You are guaranteed to lose your family.
Also, no one is addressing the health risks. Smoking cigarettes has become the focus of countless PSAs, but we want to legalize a substance with nearly twice the amount of carcinogens?
I wonder, why can't people deal? I don't mean that as criticism; I will be the first to admit motherhood is stressful. But is this because people didn't expect there is a great deal of difficulty involved in rearing children or are we just are so not supportive of parents in general? Probably a bit of both. I also wonder since we have become a culture where people need to be entertained 150% of the time, have we lost our ability to find more wholesome ways to relieve stress.
