Q: I have never used marijuana before, but my boyfriend does and he wants me to try it. I want to try it, but I’m not sure if I should or not. Also, I was wondering how long the high lasts.

A: If you’re not sure you should try marijuana – don’t. It’s your decision, not your boyfriend’s. A “high” lasts about two hours, but psychoactive effects differ, depending on the quality and strength of the marijuana.

Q: I'm only fourteen and my parents have been on marijuana for years. I have three younger brothers and I'm scared to death for us. Please give me some advice and tell me the safest thing I can do for my brothers and me.

A: What do you mean by “on” marijuana? Are they dependent or are they simply “recreational” users?

If your mother and father are not fulfilling their parenting roles and are neglecting or abusing you and your brothers, they should seek help and try to quit. On the other hand, if your parents work and provide for you and if your home life is stable, perhaps their marijuana use is rather benign, as would be the case with occassional use of alcohol.

Only you can determine whether your parents’ marijuana use is having an adverse effect on your family. Marijuana use, like alcohol use, can be used moderately and in controlled ways, so its use, per se, is not necessarily dangerous.

Q: Do you think it is a good idea for a 16-year-old who uses marijuana to consider getting a medical cannabis ID card? Does the card have any effect on preventing arrest from marijuana possession?

A: If a 16-year-old has a medical problem, and his physician believes marijuana can provide relief for that condition, it is legal in some states (such as California) for that individual to use medical marijuana and to get a medical cannabis ID card.

As for the card preventing arrest for possession, I believe the answer is “yes.” However, if the amounts exceed the state limit, and/or if he sells the marijuana to others, he can be arrested and prosecuted. You should check your own state laws or consult with the American Civil Liberties Union regarding this issue.

Q: Do you think that it is unconstitutional that a school handbook states that a child will be suspended if a teacher or other school staff thinks they smell marijuana on that child (with no drug testing involved)? Doesn't that affect that teen's rights?

A: Without more details, we are unable to provide legal advice or a definitive answer, but on the surface, the scenario described appears to be problematic in that the student may be being deprived of basic due process rights, including access to a hearing to challenge the suspension, and a procedure predicated on a less-than-reliable methodology (a subjective smell test). This portion of the handbook may not be, strictly speaking, "unconstitutional", but it may violate other state or local laws or regulations.

Q. Hello, I went into my 18-year-old daughter's room while she was at her boyfriend’s and found a pipe and marijuana in her purse. How should I handle this? I have talked to her about drugs, etc. often.

A: We understand why you searched your daughter’s room and purse, know you felt that you had reason to do so, and assume that you tried to discourage her from using in those frequent talks about drugs.

If you confronted your daughter, she probably responded with something like, “it’s my room and my purse and you have no right to violate my privacy!” Many parents have experienced this counter attack. It is hard to start a rational and productive conversation afterwards. A response some parents make in this situation is, “yes, you are angry at me, but this is my house, not yours, and you are my daughter and as a parent I care about you and am responsible for your well being.”

In addition, by bringing an illegal substance into your home, your daughter has endangered you. You have a personal stake in the matter, as you could be prosecuted as the responsible adult and homeowner. Your daughter should know this.

Whatever you say to your daughter about continuing to use marijuana, make it clear that you oppose the behavior, but not the person. Assure her that you love her and care deeply about her welfare, and that is why you do not want her to use an illegal substance.

On the other hand, if you want an open, trusting relationship with your daughter, you’ll have to respect her privacy.

Q: I would like to know how I could get someone to stop using marijuana; I believe they use it quite a bit.

A: Without knowing more about your relationship to the user it is hard to be specific in our answer. You are hardly alone in asking, however! Principle #1 is that people who are dependent or addicted to a psychoactive drug are usually unable to achieve and maintain sobriety in order to please someone else. They have to want to stop, period. Drinkers and users may try to please others, but they virtually always fall off the wagon. This principle is frequently affirmed in Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12 step meetings. So, if you say that you are worried about them, the person is likely to deny that there is a problem or counter that it is none of your business. The most effective tactic applies to drinkers or users with whom one has a close, personal relationship. In this case, the strategy is to make it clear how the person's use makes life uncomfortable or unbearable for you, personally. The user cannot deny your right to do so and is more likely to listen. An example is, "the way you act when you are high really bothers me because…" The "because" is not about them, but about you. Another principle is to make sure that you are in no way supporting the use. This is called "enabling," and it takes many forms, sometimes subtle. Withdrawing such support makes use more difficult or inconvenient, but it may not by itself stop it. Finally, the closer the relationship, the more these tactics are likely to be effective.

Q: I have a question to ask you about marijuana use. I vaguely remember back in RRT (Registered Respiratory Therapist) School that I had heard one marijuana cig equals about 10 regular cigs. Can you confirm this and possibly direct me to some material that I can share with others?

A: Lynn Zimmer, co-author of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, says that there is very little good research on marijuana's impact on the lungs relative to cigarettes. We do know that deep inhalation of marijuana and holding one's breath (not something done by cigarette smokers) would seem to cause damage to the respiratory system — though there have been no reported cases of lung cancer in marijuana-only smokers.

Please look at Chapter 15 (pp. 113-116) of Zimmer and Morgan's book, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence (NY: Lindesmith Center, 1997), and pp. 154-158 in another great resource, Mitch Earleywine's book, Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence (NY: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Q: Is marijuana addictive? What illness is marijuana a medicine for? If it is a medicine, why is it not legal?

A:Though a small percentage (less than 10%) of users become so accustomed to marijuana that they find it difficult to give it up, marijuana is not physicially addictive in the same way as the opiates, and does not cause serious withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana has been used for a variety of ailments--most commonly AIDS wasting syndrome, nausea caused by chemotherapy, MS, seizures, and chronic pain. Medical marijuana remains illegal in 40 states for political, not health reasons.

Your questions deserve more than a paragraph or two, so I urge you to read more. You will learn whether marijuana is addictive, about its medicinal value, and the politics of prohibition, in two of the best all-around resources about marijuana: Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence by Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan (New York: The Lindesmith Center, 1997) and Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence by Mitch Earleywine (Oxford Press, 2002). Unlike so many government publications, both are balanced.

Q: You say, “There is no evidence showing that moderate or occasional use has long-term psychological or physical effects on adolescents or adults.”

If a teen uses marijuana occasionally (exam time, etc.) and she's revising and working okay, can it be tricky to try and warn him/her about using marijuana occasionally?

A: We always advise against using marijuana and other illegal drugs because they are against the law and we certainly recommend that marijuana not be used while studying or in school. If the teen in question is doing well in general, though, he or she probably does not require any intervention or treatment.

Q: How long does it take to get the marijuana out of the system?

A: The infrequent smoker will usually test negative in 48-72 hours; although 3-5 day positives can occur. The frequently reported 2-3 week positives occur only in heavy (3-5 joints per day) users. To ensure a negative test for marijuana, one should abstain for three weeks. For more information, please visit: www.norml.org.

Q: What is being done to make marijuana legal for private use?

A: The Drug Policy Alliance has many projects dedicated, ultimately, to making marijuana legal for private adult use. In California alone we were behind Proposition 215, making medical marijuana legal; we worked on Senate Bill 420, another medical marijuana initiative; our Safety First drug education project for parents stresses honesty rather than demonization about marijuana in discussion with teenagers; Proposition S in San Francisco, which we are working to implement, will provide further protection for medical marijuana patients; our new booklet, “Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators are Saying No,” challenges the federal push for widespread suspicionless testing of all high school students. There's more on the national level, so please check out www.drugpolicy.org for all the other marijuana work we're doing.

Ending marijuana prohibition will not be easy. It's essential for those of us advocating legalization (and regulation, education, and taxation) of marijuana get involved politically. So please, join our movement by becoming a member of the Drug Policy Alliance and by donating if you can!

Q: What should be the consequences for our son who is a high school senior and has been using marijuana? He gets pretty good grades, but performs below his ability. He has a friend who is a year older and we feel is the one who introduced him to use. Our son argues that there is nothing wrong with what he is doing. We are a Christian family and have told him not only is he breaking man's law but also God's law wherein we believe that the body is the temple. I have told him his Internet, car, and cell phone are in perhaps going to be lost. I don't want to come down too hard because we have not been consistent with discipline as parents. He is a late-born child and has been raised as an only child. What should we do to let him know this is a serious matter with us?

A: Your son already knows that this is a serious matter. We understand how anguished you are and, yes, angry as well. You also feel some guilt over the issue of inconsistent discipline. Let yourself off the hook. It is not likely that your son started using marijuana because of what you did or did not do.

You have warned him about serious consequences, but wonder if they are the right things to do? There is always a danger with punitive consequences for older teens. They may damage the relationship and end honest communication with you. We cannot control what our older teens do when they are away from home. If he is angry and hurt, he may continue using marijuana out of spite and to show that he is in control of his own life.

Sit down with your son and have a conversation. Before you do this, think carefully about his overall behavior. He gets “pretty good” grades, but was his academic performance better before he started using marijuana? Have there been other negative changes in his behavior (in addition to smoking marijuana) that are not just the usual signs of growing up and becoming more independent? If not, it will be difficult to convince him that there is a problem. He has a different view of marijuana than you do plus personal experience to support his view. Realistically, it’s not likely that you can change that now.

Second, emphasize to your son that you love him and care about his well being. Explain how his using marijuana affects you personally. He knows your values, but remind him that you have feelings because you care about him so much. Keep on monitoring his behavior and let him know if you perceive changes that worry you. Above all, keep the relationship as positive and close as you can. There may be a time when he needs your help and you hope that he will be willing to come to you if he does.

Q: I hear so many different studies and 'facts'. What are the true effects of weed when used by teens?

A: The word "effects" covers a lot of ground, from how people feel when they get high to long-term mental or physical consequences. For both adolescents and adults marijuana affects many aspects of consciousness. On the positive side, time slows down, senses seem to be enhanced, euphoria and relaxation are common, sexual arousal is enhanced, there is greater openness to experience, and feelings are stronger. On the negative, concentration may be impaired, eyes get red, mouth is dry, and with high doses users may become fearful. But psychological effects are due to other influences as well, especially the user's mental state at the time and the social context of use.

There is no evidence showing that moderate or occasional use has long-term psychological or physical effects on adolescents or adults. Unfortunately, there is likewise a lack of definitive research on long-term effects of regular or chronic use by adolescents. We know that long-term marijuana smoke could be damaging to the lungs. Studies showing brain changes are hard to interpret because the subjects are usually heavy users of other drugs that could be causal agents. The "amotivational syndrome" displayed by some chronic users (poor hygiene, depression, and lack of goals or focus) is also characteristic of clinical depression. It is possible that such users would be depressed anyway and use marijuana as a means of self-medication for their depression.

There is much debate about marijuana's harmfulness, though we know too little about the effects on teens. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, be sure to get a copy of Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence, by Professor Mitch Earleywine (Oxford 2002).

Q: Can smoking marijuana cause your sperm count to lower?

A: In the 1970s, Harambee & Nahas published a paper describing lowered sperm counts and testosterone levels in a group of young men who were in-patients and smoked eight marijuana cigarettes per day. Their sperm count dropped but returned to previous levels after 30 days without smoking. As can happen with many studies, no other study has confirmed this claim. In our opinion, marijuana smoking has little or no impact on sperm or male reproductive function.

Please see Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, by Lynn Zimmer and John Morgan, and Understanding Marijuana, by Mitch Earleywine, for more information.

Q: My son is an irregular user of marijuana. He claims this is not a problem and that the concerns we have about it only apply to heavy users. What do you say?

A: Your son may not have a serious problem. On the other hand, are you sure that that his use is only occasional? How well is he doing in school and life in general? If you are concerned about undesirable behavioral changes often associated with drug abuse then there is reason for concern. For adolescents these changes often (but not always) include decline in academic performance, new friends that you do not trust, and signs that he is arranging his life to make regular use possible. These kinds of behaviors are what you should express concern about first. It's easy to deny that drugs are a problem, but not that one's grades have dropped. But if these or other negative signs are not there, he is probably correct in his self-assessment. As you also know, there are still dangers, especially the possibility of trouble with the law and resulting fallout later, when he is asked on an employment application whether he has ever been arrested or if he has used drugs.

If you are not aware of negative behavioral changes, you can still express concern about legal consequences and insist that he not bring marijuana into your house. You would be in trouble if the police discovered this. Most important, keep that door open to communication with your son. The fact that he trusts you enough to talk about his use is a good sign.

Above all, don't do anything that would destroy that trust. Be calm and supportive, but also be clear about your own reservations.

Q: Hello. I realize that experimenting with marijuana isn't going to be suggested. I would like to know the effects it could have on my asthma. I don't have severe asthma, and I rarely have to use an inhaler. It is mainly allergy and exercise induced. I would just like to know the effects of smoking marijuana would have on it. I had found a couple things online but they didn't really make sense. I got the general idea that it can actually help asthma, but I'm sure there are two sides to it. Thanks.

A: Delta-9-THC has bronchodilating properties. It has been proposed as a therapy for asthma. However, the inhalation of cannabis smoke is irritating and may provoke bronchospasm. Any therapy for asthma would require the use of non-inhaled THC. Sativex, the British product containing THC and cannabidiol, which is given sublingually, would be a candidate. THC itself when inhaled alone is also irritating and provokes coughing.

There is a possibility that someone with mild asthma would not experience much difficulty and could smoke marijuana safely, but I fear that someone who experiences bronchoconstiction with exercise and may have allergic characteristics could have serious consequences.

Q: I would like to know if a person's pupils become dilated when he/she is high on marijuana. Do the eyes always become red?

A: Back in 1971, the Los Angeles Police Department wanted data to show that marijuana dilated pupils the way hallucinogens like LSD did. A study at UCLA showed that it often contracted pupils, but not enough to serve as a reliable indicator of intoxication. Contracted pupils often accompany a decrease in pressure in the eye, so this study actually inspired some of the first work to apply medical cannabis to glaucoma. Some people's eyes get red, but others don't.

Q: How does Marijuana affect short-term memory?

A: We continue to refer readers to Mitch Earleywine's Understanding Marijuana because it so thoroughly covers the physiological effects of cannabis. For the "Cliff Notes" please read a review that appeared in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs online: And of course, Zimmer and Morgan's Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts covers the subject in Chapter 9 ("Marijuana, Memory and Cognition").

To put it succinctly, while school subjects may seem very fascinating (or totally boring) it's difficult to retain new information while under the influence. That's why using marijuana at school is such a terrible idea. Nonetheless, what has been learned previously is not forgotten as a result of using marijuana, and once sober, there are no impediments to learning.

Q: So what do you do when you teen is addicted to pot? He has seen a drug addition counselor for several months and a psychiatrist. He refuses to stop saying he is emotionally addicted to it.

A: Whether your son is emotionally or physically dependent on marijuana is not the point.

Forget about diagnostic arguments and focus on negative behaviors on the part of your son that are connected with regular use of marijuana. What has changed for the worse since he began using regularly? Has his academic performance declined? Does he seem apathetic and unmotivated about life in general ("amotivational syndrome") or show other behaviors that you see as negative and self-defeating? These are the things that you should bring to his attention in the hope that he will see the connection with his drug use. But above all remember to separate your feelings about your son from criticisms of his behavior. In other words, love the person, but hate the behavior. Getting angry with him doesn't help, no matter how frustrated and betrayed you feel.

It may be that your son is suffering from clinical depression and is self-medicating by using marijuana. The signs of "Amotivational Syndrome" and clinical depression are very similar. There are medications for depression that a psychiatrist might deem appropriate. If you want to learn more about marijuana be sure to get a copy of Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence, by Professor Mitch Earleywine (Oxford, 2002). See pp. 197-210 for a discussion of Amotivational Syndrome.

Q: I would like your help on getting the real facts on the safety and health risks of marijuana use. What is the latest science and research on what it does to the human body?

A: In my opinion, the two best all-around resources about marijuana are Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence by Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan (New York: The Lindesmith Center, 1997) and, more recently, Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence by Mitch Earleywine (Oxford Press, 2002). Unlike so many government publications, both are balanced.

Q: Is marijuana more dangerous now, than when I was in school?

A: Many people believe that marijuana is stronger today than twenty or thirty years ago, when we were in school. To answer this question, Drs. Zimmer and Morgan, in their book, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Literature, looked at government seizures of marijuana from 1980 to 1995, and found little variation. The potency, or THC content has remained at roughly two to four percent.

Although variation in potency and price has been relatively consistent through the years, some users insist that higher quality marijuana is more accessible today. It is very expensive, however, and takes much less to feel the effects.

In the end, marijuana remains the same substance it has always been. It is not a qualitatively different drug than in the 1970, 1980s (or before that).

While no drug (including alcohol and the pharmaceuticals) is without dangers, marijuana today is no more dangerous than it was when you were in school.

Q: I hear that today’s marijuana is far more potent than the stuff I tried 25 years ago. I am concerned for the safety of my 18-year old, and don’t know what to think.

A: This concern got a lot of press during the election season. Recently, an article by Daniel Forbes was published in Slate that closely examines the real facts about potency. I think you’ll find it illuminating and useful: The Myth of Potent Pot – The drug czar's latest reefer madness: He claims that marijuana is 30 times more powerful than it used to be.

Q: My son, who just graduated from high school, started smoking marijuana several years ago. I wasn’t happy about it and told him I preferred that he wouldn’t. I knew he continued using it. I chose not to make a big issue of it because his use seemed to be confined to weekends, with his friends, and didn’t appear to interfere with his school performance, athletic activities, or family events. Now its summer and he’s home more often and, for the first time, he’s smoking marijuana in his room, alone, in the middle of the day. I’m not really worried that he’s turning into a “pot head.” He still does lots of other things, including working part-time at the local animal shelter, and he’s excited about going off to college in September—a highly competitive college I might add. The problem is NOW. And it’s driving everyone in the family crazy; we don’t like how he acts when he’s high. He gets surly and uncommunicative—acts annoyed at us for trying to interact with him at all. The worst part of all this: Rickie’s father is threatening to throw him out of the house if he doesn’t start acting more pleasant at home. I don’t want that. But I don’t want things to continue as they have. What can I do? I thought marijuana was supposed to make people “mellow.” It seems to turn him into a brat! Is this because of the “new marijuana” I keep hearing about?

A: You’ve given me a lot to consider. Let’s start with a couple of facts.

Number 1: there is no “new marijuana” —just the same old plant it’s always been. Marijuana ranges in potency from weak to strong, and the range is the same today as it was in the 1970s. But it probably is true that there is more marijuana at the high end of the potency continuum on the market today than there was in the past. This is because there has been an increase in the number of small-scale growers who use seeds selected for their potency and grow them under artificial light and a lot of control (hydroponics). But more potent marijuana isn’t necessarily more dangerous. There’s no such thing as a fatal marijuana overdose and the drug doesn’t do damage to organs or tissue, except to the lungs from smoking. More potent marijuana may actually be less harmful than weak marijuana because the user doesn’t have to smoke as much to get high.

Number 2: Marijuana doesn’t make people “mellow” or “bratty.” Drug effects vary from person to person, and the same person may experience different drug effects at different times, depending on what researchers call set and setting. “Set” refers to the drug user’s state of mind at the time. Marijuana users say that the drug usually makes them feel whatever they are feeling anyway, but more intensely. “Setting” refers to what kind of situation you’re in when you’re under the influence of a drug. If you’re alone, for example, you’re going to experience the drug differently than if you’re with a group of friends.

From your description of your son’s behavior, it sounds to me like marijuana may not be the main problem. The summer before college can be a stressful time for some kids as they confront the inevitability of breaking away from their families. Your son is probably having a lot of feelings about this, and they are feelings he would be having even if he didn’t smoke marijuana.

Nevertheless, your son is still a member of the family, and you have the right to expect him to be a participant in family life and to be pleasant to other family members. This is a good opportunity to negotiate with your son about the terms of his marijuana use. You can request that he confine his smoking to those times when he isn’t expected to interact with the rest of the family. And you can demand that when he is with the family, he behave appropriately. If he’s going to use marijuana, he must use it responsibly, and that includes taking other people’s feelings into consideration. In the course of this “negotiating session,” your son might also share some of his worries with you during a potentially scary time in his life.

Q: My 17-year-old daughter, who’s finishing her junior year in high school, smokes marijuana in her room in the evening. I have been tolerant of this because she only smokes after she’s done all her homework and it doesn’t seem to be affecting her school work or her behavior at home in a negative way. It seems to be something she does at the end of the day to unwind and I’d rather she do it at home where I can keep an eye on her than out on the street where she might be arrested or something. But lately, several of her friends have been smoking in her room with her. They’re all good kids, and their smoking doesn’t really bother me that much, but I’m worried about their parents finding out. What is my legal liability in that case? And what’s my ethical responsibility – to tell the other parents, or to respect the kids’ privacy. Please help me out. I’m worried and confused.

A: That’s a tough one. If the other parents find out that their minor children are smoking marijuana in your home, with your knowledge and apparent consent, they would have cause to be upset if their views about smoking marijuana did not coincide with your own. Not all parents are as tolerant as you are, as you probably know. However, assuming all these kids are your daughter’s age, they are only one year away from adulthood and are probably given pretty free reign by their parents. If they are all successful students, as your daughter seems to be, then it sounds like they have the maturity to smoke marijuana without it interfering with their responsibilities.

My advice is to talk to the kids first. First explain to your daughter, if you haven’t already, that this puts you in a difficult position. Then speak with the other kids, either as a group or individually, and try to assess whether or not their parents know about and tolerate their marijuana smoking. If you are nonjudgmental in the way you raise this issue, the kids will probably give you honest and accurate answers.

If you discover or suspect that there are parents who would strongly disapprove, then it seems to me you have a few choices. First, you could do nothing and continue to let the kids smoke in your home. You wouldn’t be jeopardizing the kids’ health and welfare in any kind of serious way, because marijuana smoking at that age is quite common, and the vast majority of teens that smoke it taper off considerably as they get older. It’s kind of a rite of passage.

Second, you could ask that particular child not to smoke in your home anymore because you feel uncomfortable about the fact that her parents would strongly disapprove if they knew what was going on. Third, you could tell that child that if she wants to continue smoking in your home, you will have to talk with her parents to find out if it’s okay with them. That might be more than you’re willing to bite off, but on the other hand, it could help facilitate some constructive conversation between the girl and her parents. All three of these options are ethically defensible.

As for your legal liability, I’m afraid you’ll have to consult a lawyer about that, because laws vary from state to state, and even from locality to locality. But remember, if you do talk to a lawyer, everything you say will be treated confidentially.

Q: What if a parent thinks that pot is basically harmless, non-addictive, etc., and condones the use of it by allowing kids to smoke it, or by smoking with them?

A: This is a very challenging and emotional question. We believe it is crucial to distinguish between morality and actual concrete negative effects. We, as researchers and scientists, do not take a moral position.

There are many parents who believe that marijuana is fundamentally harmless. Usually they have used it themselves without serious consequence. According to Professor Mitch Earleywine, author of Understanding Marijuana (2002), although marijuana is not addictive in the conventional sense of the term, its use does cause problems for approximately nine percent (9%) of users. It is also illegal, putting both adults and their teenagers in jeopardy.

Some parents feel that their teens are safer staying home and avoiding the public use of marijuana, so they allow them to use it in the house. Many of these parents are convinced that their teens will use marijuana anyway, and would prefer the safety of their home to the street. The same attitude is also true for alcohol, and the belief is that it’s better to stay home than drink and drive.

When teens get older, there are those adult marijuana users who believe that, like sharing a beer, there is little harm in smoking with their college-age sons or daughters.

Every parent has to make their own decision about whether to use marijuana, whether to allow their teens to use it in their home, and whether to smoke with them. They should know that while they are keeping their kids off the streets, they may also be contributing to increased use and putting themselves and their teens in a very vulnerable legal position, since marijuana (and alcohol) possession and use is illegal.

Q: I am currently breastfeeding and would like to know how long marijuana stays in one’s system?

A: Research has not produced much information, but we do know that THC passes in the breast milk, so if someone were a very heavy smoker, the baby would be affected. It’s probably too little to do anything, but I always tell people not to smoke when breastfeeding; it seems like the easiest thing to do when you don’t know.

Basically, there are two relevant studies. One claimed to have a little bit of a finding in the terms of developmental size. The other study found nothing at all. THC is transferred at very low levels, with essentially no danger, but I recommend that a nursing mother should not smoke.

We do know that it’s a pretty harmless drug, so we assume it’s OK, and we certainly don’t want to raise any alarm for people who’ve already done it. But, if I were advising a friend right now, I’d say, “Why don’t you wait?” If she didn’t smoke while she was pregnant, I’d say, “Why don’t you wait until you’re done breastfeeding?”

Q: How does Marijuana affect pregnancies?

A: Well, we believe from the literature that it has little if any effect at all on either getting pregnant, staying pregnant, or producing a healthy baby. There have been a few studies that have shown some adverse effects, but they’re always contradicted by many more studies that show no effects.

If I had a friend who asked me, I would say, “Don’t smoke during pregnancy. On the other hand, a lot of people have, with no adverse effects.” But to be completely safe and guilt-free, it’s wise not to take any drugs during pregnancy.

Q: If someone is a marijuana user, is it normal to experience paranoid thoughts and to be less interested in stuff they usually are interested in and not being able to pay attention for a normal amount of time?

A: If they’re high during the few hours after smoking, yes, you may be foolish, paranoid and not of good judgment. But the important issue here is that there is no credible evidence to show that the paranoia and disinterest extends longer than the two hours that you’re high. Some people, of course, get very practiced and are actually quite pleasant and not stupid when they’re high, but the idea here is that during that period when you’re high, your judgment is altered. But after you’re finished being high, there is no evidence of persistency.

I think young people often start smoking marijuana at a time when their interests are shifting, when they’re starting to become less interested in sports and such, and so I think it’s logical that smoking marijuana would enhance that shift. They might say, “I’m sick of going to those football practices, and I don’t see why I’m doing that, just because I’ve been doing it since I was nine…” Adolescence is a time where you’re trying all kinds of new things anyway, and your interests are shifting naturally.

Q: I have another question. What is the actual amount of THC in pot today?

A: There is no doubt that there is more high potency marijuana available now, but it depends on where you are, who you are, how much money you have. More high potency marijuana is available and the lowest potency marijuana has disappeared. The marijuana of the 70s that seemed to have no effect is pretty much gone from the market. In the middle range it’s about the same as it’s always been and maybe more pertinent, people can’t tell the difference in potency unless it’s a very big difference. So if you have 3% or 4%, people can’t tell the difference, it feels the same to them. If it’s the difference between 2% and 15%, they can tell. But because we don’t have any way of knowing, really, when we get a sample, what it’s going to be, even from a reliable seller, it’s probably best to try out a sample before one makes up their mind about how much to smoke, because you could accidentally get something that’s much higher potency than you’re used to. I think if a young person in particular were to accidentally get very high potency marijuana not knowing it was coming, chances are, they’d never use the marijuana again because it’s pretty unpleasant.

Q: I am a freshman in college and am concerned about my habits. I have smoked marijuana nearly every day since my sophomore year of high school. I have recently been put on a new medication (Adderall) to treat diagnosed ADD. Firstly, I was wondering if the mixture of this medication and marijuana use is safe. Secondly, I am wondering if I need to cut back to a couple days a week. Lastly, I have noticed that I have not met as many people at school as I would like to. I’m not sure if I'm just being too anti social, or if my marijuana use, even when not high, has effects on my social life. Thank you.

A: Again, I know of no evidence that small doses of amphetamine such as Adderall and marijuana together cause adverse physiological effects.

But, “should I cut back to a couple days a week?” Absolutely! If you’re concerned that the amount of marijuana smoking is somehow interfering with your taking advantage of other opportunities that are available, like meeting people etc., it would be wise to smoke less. It may be difficult, not because of any physical dependencies, but because you’ve obviously developed that habit of smoking every day, and it’s going to be unusual not to. But it would seem that if you have these concerns, the best thing is to cut back.

Q: Hello, I'm a concerned parent. My husband smokes in the basement while my kids are above in the living room (7-month-old and 5-year-old). I was wondering if the marijuana smoke could make them sick.

A: No.