Teen Use in Marijuana Has Gone Up, But Alcohol and Cigarettes Has Gone Down!

That's according to NIDA InfoFacts: High School and Youth Trends

There is really no way to say this than to honestly say to you people that this is good news.

Now I am not going to get in depth about how alcohol and cigarettes are bad for you, if you are reading this I am going to assume you have half a brain and are already educated enough to know that. I am also not going into all the beneficial aspects of marijuana.

This is just my opinion, but if teenagers are going to go out and do something, they are going to do it regardless of what their parents or the law says. Personally, I would rather they used marijuana than either alcohol or cigarettes. It is safer than either of the other two, but I would rather they did not use it at all unless they actually had a beneficial need for it,. I am just trying to be realistic about the situation. We all have been there, peer pressure, stress, and growing pains are the norm. Also when you are a teenager you tend to have to be more sociable and starting to establish your self identity. That said, inevitably they will be exposed to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.

Marijuana is a low hanging branch for teenagers just like it is for law enforcement arrests. What I am saying is, it is easily accessible, and it is an source of tempting income due to the proliferation of the black market. Hey when I was a teenager, I'd rather sell a few bags of weed to my friends and make as much money as I would've slinging burgers. It was easy money.

So in essence the black market encourages teenagers to go out and push this on to other kids. The black market is there because of prohibition, this is a good reason why prohibition of marijuana is not working!

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske recently put out a statement regarding this study.

I am going to take a few statements from him and give my opinion:

Discussions of marijuana legalization and 'medical' marijuana send the wrong message to young people about the consequences of drug use and these mixed messages may play a role in increasing teen drug use.

I disagree with this assertion. There is nothing wrong in kids being educated that something naturally grown, and widely referred to by physicians can be medicinal. I do not see the diligence of protecting teens subscribed to with such vigilance when it comes to man made pharmaceuticals that are given to teens for depression that have side effects such as suicidal tendencies and possibly death. They are still being prescribed to teens everyday indiscriminately by doctors. If that pill did not fix ya up, well he has another one all lined up for you to try, and guess what? It is going to have the same disclaimer for side effects as the last one, I guarantee it.

The mixed message teens are getting is, one drug is illegal with negligible side affects, and the other drug is legal but side affects of possible suicidal tendencies and death.

Albeit this video is a spoof, oddly enough big pharma commercials with their long list of disclaimers are unavailable on You Tube. This does kind of make my point though.

Which one do you think a depressed teenager would prefer?

Instead of blaming medical marijuana for the use going up, they should be more focused on what brought down the abuse of alcohol and cigarettes. By ending prohibition of alcohol, regulating it along with cigarettes, and by having the age to consume being over 18 or 21, and enforcing it by making sure stores don't sell to minors, they have succeeded in bringing the abuse down. Why can't this proven, successful, model be applied to marijuana?

If alcohol and cigarette abuse declines, of course that means marijuana use in teens is going to spike. It's easily accessible and unregulated.
The logic that medical marijuana is sending mixed messages is to blame is nonsensical. Why are taxpayers having to pay for such a narrow minded opinion of the state of the world? It really boggles the mind. I really do expect more common sense from a government official, rather than this status quo bullshit.



  Since California made 'medical' marijuana legal under state law in 1996, the state has seen a number of efforts to legalize the drug and today, almost half of the Californians who seek drug treatment cite marijuana as their primary substance of abuse are teens.

If a teen (or adult) goes in and tells a doctor or a therapist that they have been using marijuana for medicinal purposes, such as depression, it will automatically be deemed as abuse whether it was beneficial or not, simply because it is illegal, ergo artificially spiking the numbers of the statistics.

Uncle Sam needs to man up and realize that marijuana prohibition failed, and quit pointing his finger at medical marijuana now. Uncle Sam should know that when you point the blame on someone else, you got three fingers pointing right back at you.

Marijuana Friendly Vacations Available!

I have been contemplating a lot recently about what it would be like to be in an environment where tolerance of marijuana is broadly accepted and being able to enjoy a certain quality of life without being treated like a second class citizen.

Knowing that in order to accomplish this I would have to go somewhere else other than where I currently reside, such as another state or country.

For years living in the United States and wanting to be able to enjoy smoking marijuana has been rocky if not problematic at times. Admittedly in my own personal desire to be able to smoke marijuana I have lost jobs, relationships and even my freedom. Stubbornly I have resisted the moral majority and the laws of the land in my own pursuit of happiness.

I started wondering if other people felt this oppressiveness around them and wished they could just get away from it all, even if it was just temporarily.

If I was a drinking man, if I wanted to be able to be around like minded people who enjoyed a drink in a social environment all I would have to do is visit my local bar, but I am not, so inevitably finding an socially acceptable equivalent is non existent.in my present environment.

I can only imagine how nice it would be to be able to go to a local coffeehouse and smoke some marijuana. To be able to have conversations about the ways of the world and not be harassed in the process.

It truly seems so out of balance in this country right now, because some people are already able to have this kind of freedom I yearn for. While others are being incarcerated. It almost seems like 2 different countries now.

Fortunately, I have managed to come across some like minded people who are doing something to make a difference! They have legally figured out ways to provide a safe environment for people who need a break from the oppression cast down upon us by our closed minded government.

I managed to find a niche of folks who provide a service to the marijuana community by providing a temporary place to go, to get away, and freely enjoy marijuana.

Before I tell you where you can go for a marijuana friendly vacation I want to step back a second and tell you how I found this site, or how it found me.

I recently created a site called 420friendlygetaways.com, and I explained on it how I was looking for travel agents who cater to the marijuana community to advertise on my site. I guess it was about a week later I actually got contacted by a company that actually does such a thing.

We talked back and forth via email and telephone for a bit and I decided I would let them create an ad and put it up on my new website. I am not charging them to advertise there, I explained that I was just wanting to do something to help out the marijuana community by letting them know that such a unique service was available to them. Well I also put it out there that if I helped give them some business that maybe they could toss ole Bud a bone and hook him up on a nice 420 friendly vacation one day.

Okay if you read this far and might be interested in a 420 friendly getaway, check out RastaVacations.com "Marijuana Friendly Vacations for Patients and Supporters"

This travel agency has been providing marijuana friendly vacations to California, Netherlands, and Jamaica for over 4 years now. They have personally visited each establishment to ensure that the clients have a clean, safe place to go to relax, have a good time, and enjoy marijuana.

I am also doing some research on Portugal vacations where marijuana has been decriminalized, as well as Argentina, where last year the supreme court had ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption.

I am glad the supreme court in Argentina recognized the oppressiveness of  marijuana prohibition on it's people and had the good sense to do the right thing. The United States needs to do some serious catching up in that regard.

Well I hope this helped some folks come up with some interesting ideas for that next vacation they're planning.

If you go to the website and decide to use their services please tell them Killer Bud referred ya!