Three Telling Signs Your Kid is a Pot Addict

Marijuana has become an increasingly acceptable drug in today’s society — and liberal lawmakers are trying to make it a legal one, too.

For years, those who smoke pot have insisted the drug is “no big deal” — usually from the comfort of their parents’ basement.

“I don’t like to think of how much I drove my car when I was as high as a kite,” said a longtime user.

“Pot is insidious because it is the original ‘failure to launch’ drug,” one self-described pot addict, Peter Jones (not his real name), told LifeZette. “Its toll creeps up on the user.”

Jones, 30, is from Howard County, Maryland. He smoked pot almost every day for almost 10 years — and has been “pot-free” for three years, after quitting cold turkey in 2013. He agreed to tell his story anonymously in an effort to help others avoid the mistakes he made.

There are a few signs among kids that reveal a marijuana addiction, according to DeAnna Jordan, clinical director for the substance abuse center New Method Wellness in Orange County, California. Jordan wrote a recent article on addiction to pot and alcoholism for U.S. News and World Report, and she identified three ways families can determine if their child might be addicted to marijuana:

1.) Marijuana has caused emotional, physical, financial, or legal problems in your loved one’s life.
“I can check off all those boxes,” said Jones. “For me, I used pot for anxiety. I was always very stressed out and could have a hard time socially; I was shy. Pot calmed me down and allowed me to relax enough to talk to people. It was only years later that I realized what I was saying to people didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

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For Jones, pot led to lots of parking tickets. “I parked anywhere I wanted because I drove stoned so much. Pot makes you push everything to the back of your mind — consequences are far in the future to a stoner. Nothing is immediate. This is just how pot smokers think. I don’t like to think of how much I drove my car high as a kite when I was addicted to pot.”

Jones said he was too high to get much physical activity during his younger years. “If you call holding a game controller activity, then yes, I did work out,” he said. “But you don’t have the drive to work out, or try out for teams, or begin jogging. Pot is all about zapping your dreams and any initiative you might have had — people need to understand this about this so-called ‘benign’ drug.”

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Common Characteristics of Those Who Are Addicted” source=”http://www.usnews.com”]Isolation|Depression|Heightened anxiety|Quickness to anger|Frequent exhaustion|Subject to distraction|Defensiveness[/lz_bulleted_list]

For Jones, the biggest emotional problems from marijuana use came after recovery. “For long-term pot addicts, the remorse after recovery can be great. You are talking about years you essentially missed,” he said. “I have beaten myself up many times over wasted years — literally wasted. You also hurt people you love — angry outbursts are common the more you smoke, as is exhaustion, and tuning out those who try to raise the subject of your addiction. I can’t tell you how many avenues my family went down looking for help for me,” he continued. “I have made many apologies in the last three years, believe me. But I had to decide to quit. And one day, I did.”

2.) Your child has shown a significant decrease in responsibilities.
If your child has in the past proven an ability to handle several responsibilities simultaneously, but now his or her marijuana use has increased and the ability to manage responsibilities has decreased — he or she may have a problem, according to Jordan.

“With pot, you allow yourself to change what you think is important,” said Jones. “When I didn’t graduate from college due to pot, I told myself it wasn’t important to have a degree. When I couldn’t rake the yard, or do my laundry in high school, I told myself it didn’t matter — I had siblings and a mom who could do all that.”

Related: Medical Marijuana is a Big Lie

“All that matters,” he added, “is the zombie-like escapism of the drug. And of course, you are hanging around with stoners, so they reinforce your priorities — which have pretty much narrowed to finding pot, buying pot, and smoking pot.”

3.) You’ve noticed a personality change in your kid.
“I had anger issues and went to see several psychologists, but I wasn’t honest about my addiction, so I wasted my parents’ money,” explained Jones. “I also was very out of touch with my emotions and the emotions of others. The amount of sleeping I did was always worrying to my parents. I remember feeling so guilty as they stood at my bedroom door, but I was just so exhausted — and so lost, really.”

He added that girlfriends all eventually left him. “They would finally see I was more into smoking weed than I was them, so the relationships fizzled out. I told them and myself that it was their loss — but of course that was ludicrous. I just couldn’t see it.”

Jones believes legalizing marijuana is disastrous for the nation’s kids. “This drug ruins lives,” he said. “Already, kids think it’s no big deal, because some states have legalized it. Kids are so impressionable, and if lawmakers are going to say pot use is fine, then that’s all they need to hear.”

Related: Heavy Price of Persistent Pot Smoking

Jones added firmly, “I have recovered from pot use. But I was lucky. This drug — and it is a powerful drug — will take your future, your dreams, and your life if you get involved with it.”