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TEENS ARE INGESTING MARIJUANA THROUGH VARIOUS DIFFERENT WAYS, INCLUDING VAPING

You don’t have to smoke cannabis or marijuana, there are lots of other ways to ingest it. You can certainly smoke it, eat, and of course vape it. Now reports are saying that teens are ingesting marijuana through other ways besides smoking it, and this is a new trend among teens.   Ingesting Marijuana Concerns As KHN reports, a new survey was conducted among 3,000 L.A. teens in the 10th grade. Smoking marijuana the traditional way is still the most popular, but now teens are ingesting weed through edibles, and they’re also taking in marijuana smoke through vaporizers as well.   62% of teens polled said they tried several different forms of marijuana, and 8% of teens polled have tried traditional smoking, edible and vaporized weed.   As one author of this study told CNN, “We found that cannabis use was highly prevalent, but what was interesting and new was that the majority of youth who had used cannabis in one form had not only used one type of cannabis, but they used two or more different types of cannabis products.”   There is more diversity than ever in how teens can consume marijuana, and this can certainly cause concerns with parents. Maybe more ways of consuming marijuana can encourage more teens to try it, and as one teenager told KHN, “I feel like because it’s being incorporated in new ways – edibles, vaping – the stigma has been broken.”     And indeed, with marijuana becoming legal across America, parents are right to be concerned about their teens trying marijuana. There are now many new ways to try it, and teens may be deceived into thinking that just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s not harmful. (Ditto with alcohol.)   The author of one study on marijuana is definitely concerned about what this story calls the “wider acceptance and greater access” to marijuana, as well as the “polyproduct” way that marijuana can be ingested.   “These novel products could be drawing in youth who could otherwise be deterred,” this author said. “We definitely do see teens who use more different forms of nicotine and tobacco products are at more risk of addiction.”   And another important point to remember, as this story points out, is the more options there are for ingesting marijuana, the greater the risk someone could get addicted.   Sneaking Marijuana Through Vaping Another concern parents have with their teens is over vaping. You may think your kid is smoking tobacco through a vape pen, but they can sneak marijuana in a vape as well.   As this report explains, with vaping, “there’s no telltale smell that would alert parents, no harshness in their lungs and a perception that it’s safer than traditional smoke.”   When teens are vaping and ingest cannabis in various ways, they may believe they’re not starting a harmful addiction, but they’re wrong. For both parents and teens, the key is education, discussion and awareness.   As one source concludes, “We hope our study raises awareness of people who are concerned about the health of teens that these products exist, that they are commonly used, and it would be worth opening up a line of dialogue between teens and teachers and parents about these products.”
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