An alarming statement

CANNABIS AT HAND

The drug is everywhere: 70% of college students consume it in an occasional or regular manner. The second most consumed drug is poppers.
The products on offer have stronger and stronger doses: cannabis in the 60s contained 0.6 to 6% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal active ingredient in cannabis). Today it contains 10 to 35% THC. Dependence starts very quickly. See the section Cannabis

It takes 4 days to eliminate half the amount of cannabis absorbed from the body. Cannabis is stored in the body for a minimum of 28 days.
Cannabis: an ensnaring drug for adolescents. At first they do it for fun to be like everyone else, but very quickly it becomes irresistible.

Cannabis: a gateway to other drugs.

Cannabis: leads to drug addiction. A youth who takes cannabis will quickly move on to other drugs.

CANNABIS / ALCOHOL

No one says it but cannabis raises the threshold of tolerance to alcohol. A young user of cannabis can drink many glasses of alcohol without getting drunk. He will not realise that he is abusing alcohol and could end up in an ethyl induced coma (without cannabis, vomiting would be the first warning sign). Cannabis stays a minimum of 28 days in the body, consuming alcohol, even a while after taking drugs can lead to ethyl induced comas.

Users accustomed to the high rate of THC in cannabis must drink either large quantities of alcohol or a high level of alcohol in order to feel the effects.

A high level of alcohol consumption in the majority of cases masks the consumption of other drugs.

In an experiment carried out on rats, rats that were given alcohol refused it. When they were given cannabis, they took it. From that moment on, if they were given alcohol they drank it in large quantities.

MALAISE, DEPRESSION, SUICIDE

Do not mix these up: young people will be unwell (malaise, depression, suicide) as a result of their drug use and not the other way round.

Young people who are said to have malaise, depression, are often "cured" by being prescribed legal drugs (anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, sleeping pills ...). Though the secondary effects of these legal drugs are also malaise, depression, suicide ... It would be better to tell them the truth and explain to them that when they cease using drugs, they will no longer by depressed. Prescribing them legal drugs often results in an interaction between the drugs with disastrous consequences for the individual (depression and suicides).

How do people die from drugs> SUICIDE, road accidents, drownings ...

Suicide is a consequence of consuming psychotropics, whether they are legal (antidepressants, anti-anxiety, sleeping pills) or illegal (street drugs).

Drugs are not a sickness. They do no cure themselves, they are only stopped through abstinence see the section Withdrawal

VIOLENCE AND SCHOLASTIC FAILURE

With cannabis, violence and scholastic failure are only one step away ...

School absenteeism: many young users are unable to get up in the morning.

School failure: losing control of his professional future as a result of a fall in school grades, the young person no longer controls his academic path.

Physical and verbal violence which increase in families and public spaces.

TOBACCO IS NOT A PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG!

Currently much is done to demonize tobacco. It is a powerful toxin, dangerous in the long term for health, but it is not a psychotropic drug (which affects the spirit). It is not by smoking tobacco that one becomes a drug addict!

It is drugs, and not tobacco, that causes violence amongst young people, numerous suicides, delinquency and criminality.

IN CONCLUSION ...

It is better to prevent it than to fight it! An informed young person will know why he must refuse drugs and will inform his friends.

"Parents should do everything to prevent drugs being taken for the first time. Parents should not lower their arms in the face of the growing trivialization of cannabis." Raymond Yans, President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)

Did you know ?

There is a link between violence and drug consumption

Educate your children

Alcool-cannabis, comment en parler ?

Quiz

Would you lend your car to your child knowing that he/she cannot drive ?

No parent would lend his car to his child knowing he/she has not learnt to drive. It would also be unconscionable to let one’s teenager go out without having taught him/her what drugs are. Nowadays availability of these products is such that youth can procure them in all the places they frequent – educational establishments, parties, class dinners, rallies, sport clubs... Parents must inform themselves objectively and scientifically about the products so to educate their children on drugs and provide them with the arguments to refuse them. Let us remember that drug addiction doesn’t just happen to others!

Is anyone who takes drugs a drug-addict ?

A drug-addict is someone who takes drugs in order to solve problems created by taking drugs. S/he thinks that s/he can stop taking them whenever s/he wants, however, in spite of the harmful consequences caused by consuming drugs, s/he cannot. If the drug-addict experiences withdrawal symptoms he will think only about providing himself with drugs even if it means acting against his morals. The demand is so strong that anything linked with will, effort, love or morals gradually disappears completely. Lies, violence, aggressiveness, moral or physical suffering, self-harm, being afraid to take part in everyday life become the norm. Because of these evil acts, the drug-addict looses his/her self-esteem and goes deeper into loneliness and suicidal urges.

re poppers, aerosols, stain remover drugs?

AEROSOLS Nitrous oxide and other pressurized gases such as those contained in whipped cream canisters or computer anti-dust sprays also have hallucinogenic effects. In a few seconds they produce excitement, dizziness, euphoria, loss of consciousness and affect the central nervous system through lack of oxygen. Moreover they are inhaled under pressure and can provoke lung frostbite and vocal chords injuries, (eg. immediately after taking this drug the voice becomes lower.)

POPPERS Volatile nitrites have similar effects to nitrous oxide. Moreover they can provoke panic attacks, heart palpitations and headaches. They are also responsible for deaths by anoxia. They are vasodilators frequently used to relax sphincter muscles. They are carcinogenic and provoke serious immune deficiencies – such as AIDS.

STAIN REMOVER Stain removers are derived from ethylene. They are hallucinogenic but their effect is more calming, unlike poppers and aerosols, which are more stimulating. They cause damage that is neurological (deafness, tremor) and intellectual (dementia).

Does alcohol mixed with cannabis have harmful effects?

When you consume alcohol and cannabis simultaneously, these products mutually increase their effects. The current practice is to use alcohol and cannabis at the same time. Many young people nowadays use this common method to try to get “stoned”.

Can a psychotropic drug lead to ill being, depression, suicide?

Any psychotropic drug, be it legal - anxiolytic, tranquillizer, benzodiazepine, neuroleptic - or illegal - street drugs - leads to ill-being, depression and to suicide. See table with side effects of psychotropic drugs – Technical Information/Classification .

Voir le tableau des effets secondaires des drogues psychotropes (Fiches / Classification)