The moral choices of being a parent that consumes cannabis, recreationally or medically.
Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 12:14 am
I'm a father of 3 kids (age 8 to 14 now) and I've been smoking weed daily since I was 13 years old with very few hiatuses (now 43). My wife, which was a light weed smoker when I met her has since stopped completely after getting a job offer from the government and having to pass drug tests (and also maybe that 48 hour surprise edible trip we had in our early years, lol). She's now fairly anti-drugs, she tolerates my usage as long as it's when the kids aren't around and she doesn't have to smell it. If it were her choice, she'd have me stop smoking altogether. She's from a family of secrets-of-polichinelle and she never told her parents and had me deny I even ever used the stuff to preserve appearances, yet her parents aren't even anti-drug and well, she's having me shut up about it to them and the kids.
Out of respect, I simply keep my use a secret. My stuff is locked in a box, but I don't have a place to hide it, kids found it but can't access it so they have no idea what's in there. They never asked either. I smoke after all the kids are in bed, always outside.. It's alright, but it's limiting and annoying, especially when I come back from a hard day of work and really could use a joint to relax, gotta wait, gotta hide.
I'm not even sure what my own opinion on the subject is. One one hand, it would be so much simpler not to have to hide, be able to smoke whenever I feel like it without anyone making any drama about it, but then again, how do you tell your kids that drugs are bad if you are using them yourself? What kind of parent would I be if I told how I really feel about weed, how to me, it's a great part of my life, one I enjoy, one I'm passionate about, one which brings only positive things to me, all while refraining them from using weed until they are of age (and even then, if docs are right, until they are 25+ and hopefully never). I feel I'm in the same situation as the government who is both trying to raise health awareness and playing boogie man with weed, but also trying to fight organized crime and having to set competitive prices to do so.
I'm not really looking for a solution, I just felt it's a subject that's not been discussed much on here, reddit or Discord. How are other parents dealing with this morality issue? For those who are open about it, do you feel it's a dangerous thing especially for their teen period where smoking weed still comes with a social stigma, one that can lead you to associate with bums and bad influences (kinda cliché I know, but been there, done that, I've both had bad influences and been a bad influence on others and most of my stoner friends from my teens are now losers without jobs/education).
Thoughts? Experiences? Please share
Out of respect, I simply keep my use a secret. My stuff is locked in a box, but I don't have a place to hide it, kids found it but can't access it so they have no idea what's in there. They never asked either. I smoke after all the kids are in bed, always outside.. It's alright, but it's limiting and annoying, especially when I come back from a hard day of work and really could use a joint to relax, gotta wait, gotta hide.
I'm not even sure what my own opinion on the subject is. One one hand, it would be so much simpler not to have to hide, be able to smoke whenever I feel like it without anyone making any drama about it, but then again, how do you tell your kids that drugs are bad if you are using them yourself? What kind of parent would I be if I told how I really feel about weed, how to me, it's a great part of my life, one I enjoy, one I'm passionate about, one which brings only positive things to me, all while refraining them from using weed until they are of age (and even then, if docs are right, until they are 25+ and hopefully never). I feel I'm in the same situation as the government who is both trying to raise health awareness and playing boogie man with weed, but also trying to fight organized crime and having to set competitive prices to do so.
I'm not really looking for a solution, I just felt it's a subject that's not been discussed much on here, reddit or Discord. How are other parents dealing with this morality issue? For those who are open about it, do you feel it's a dangerous thing especially for their teen period where smoking weed still comes with a social stigma, one that can lead you to associate with bums and bad influences (kinda cliché I know, but been there, done that, I've both had bad influences and been a bad influence on others and most of my stoner friends from my teens are now losers without jobs/education).
Thoughts? Experiences? Please share