Should Oklahoma Elementary Schools Include Pot in Drug Ed?

If you have children in school, you might have heard that they are receiving drug education classes. Recently, some news reports stated that one well-known drug education program removed marijuana from its curriculum. What actually happened, according to a statement from the organization’s offices is that marijuana was only removed from the fifth and sixth grade curriculums. A statement from the company read: “For the general population of 5th/6th grade students, the topic of marijuana is not age appropriate. Most students in this age group have no basis of reference to the substance.”

Could it be true in Oklahoma or elsewhere that elementary school children lack a basis of reference for marijuana? Unfortunately, it’s not hard to find news about elementary school children possessing pot.

2013: In Anderson, Indiana, a third-grader’s backpack was found to contain a small bag of marijuana.

2014: Three third-grade boys were found smoking marijuana in a Sonora, California school’s bathroom.

In Greeley, Colorado, a ten-year-old boy took a bag of marijuana to school to sell to classmates. He had obtained the bag from his grandparents’ home. One ten-year-old customer lacked the cash to pay for the pot he wanted so he brought in a marijuana edible the next day as payment.

2016: A nine-year-old boy got three or four Baggies of marijuana at a friend’s house and took it to school to sell it.

And just days ago in Memphis, Tennessee, an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old brought marijuana to their school and were subsequently expelled.

While none of these possessions occurred in Oklahoma, state narcotics officers have noted the increase in high-grade shipments traveling through the state as sales increase in Colorado.

With 22 Million Marijuana Users, Is There Any Area Free from Marijuana Smoke?

There are four states in which parents may legally smoke marijuana for recreational purposes in front of their children: Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and Washington. There are 24 states that have approved medical use of the drug – as long as a parent has a card from the state, they may smoke it in front of their children if they wish. In Oklahoma, there’s limited medical access to the drug but plenty of illicit pot coming across the nearby border of Colorado and more coming north from Mexico.

Across all the states, there’s more than 1.5 million medical marijuana patients and, of course, even more people over 21 years of age using it for legal recreational use. A survey of drug use from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) puts the national figure at 22.2 million people. Within Oklahoma, there’s more than 300,000 residents using the drug each year.


Unfortunately, the SAMHSA survey is only completed on those aged 12 and older. At a time like this, it might be useful to have a report from younger children.

In any household in Oklahoma, there can be individuals using marijuana without trying to conceal the fact from our children. Both within the state and nationally, it seems faulty to make the assumption that elementary school children lack a basis of reference to this drug.

If drug prevention classes are delayed until after a child forms a positive opinion of a drug, it’s harder to dislodge that idea and replace it with the concept that drug use can have serious and life-threatening effects. Teaching elementary school children that marijuana use is hazardous could make things challenging for parents who wish to use marijuana in the home. But children have the right to know the whole truth.

References:

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf

https://www.mpp.org/issues/medical-marijuana/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws/medical-marijuana-patient-numbers/

http://www.news9.com/story/24351076/prosecutors-major-increase-of-marijuana-crossing-oklahoma-colorado-state-line

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/03/05/third-graders-caught-smoking-pot-in-sonora-school-bathroom/

http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Boy-9-caught-with-Baggies-of-marijuana-at-local-elementary-school-370991821.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/24/us/colorado-marijuana-fourth-graders/

http://fox59.com/2013/10/23/police-investigating-after-marijuana-was-found-in-an-elementary-school/

http://www.wfsb.com/story/31488797/2-elementary-school-students-expelled-for-having-marijuana-at-school

http://reason.com/blog/2012/12/03/dare-americas-most-famous-anti-drug-prog