The Parent Factor - An Interview with Tamar Sheffey

Tamar Sheffey is a certified social worker with a specialization in families and children who currently works as an adolescent and family therapist at the Freedom Institute.

Tamar Sheffey knows marijuana use is a problem among adolescents. She unequivocally states that "it's rampant" and estimates that 80 percent of her young clientele abuse marijuana. She also observes that children experimenting with the drug are doing so at earlier ages. It's not uncommon now for her to treat 7th and 8th grade students for marijuana abuse. However, she stresses that the summer before high school is a "pivotal" time when first time marijuana use is likely to occur. She says as young teens begin hanging around older kids who may offer them drugs, parents are also beginning to grant them more freedom, creating a less supervised environment when opportunities to engage in at-risk behavior become more frequent. Research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has found many families become less "hands-on" as children grow older, even though the risk of drug use increases with age.

According to Sheffey, adolescent marijuana use comes with serious consequences that should concern parents. Sheffey states, "The younger a child starts any drug use, the more effect it's going to have on (his or her) system, both physically and emotionally. It virtually stunts the growth process."

Sheffey explains that heavy use can cause brain damage by impairing critical skills related to learning, such as short-term memory. "Marijuana is fat soluble and dissolves into the fat cells around your brain. (While) it dissolves, it blocks the neurotransmitters from being able to send messages from one place to the other and the residue left between brain cells (continues to prevent) messages from being sent properly, resulting in short-term memory loss."

When asked whether these side effects are irreversible, Sheffey remarks, "The majority of emotional effects can be overcome, but it takes time. That's where therapy and behavior modification come in. Early intervention can help to restore damaged memory, but perpetual, ongoing use over long periods of time may damage the brain permanently. The residue in the brain (will remain) and one has to learn how to cope with the slowed processes and reflexes."

When asked what entices teens to first try marijuana, Sheffey says, "Kids start because they're curious. They see others doing it and think, 'Why shouldn't I?'" She also believes kids wrongly assume marijuana is non-addictive. "(They think) you can use it for a little bit and then walk away unharmed until they can't. (Marijuana) is insidious and takes over the brain and the body without people even realizing it."

Sheffey believes factors such as reliance on the drug as a coping mechanism, can cause marijuana abuse to escalate among young users. "When experimenting with marijuana, teens learn that they will 'tune out' when high, so if they don't want to think about (problems at home or in school), they get high. They know when they come down that the problems will still be there, but at least they didn't have to think about it for a few hours."

Other kids may abuse marijuana as a way to self-medicate depression or other mental health disorders. However, not only does this exacerbate their illness, it can complicate subsequent, professional mental health treatment. Sheffey says, "(For example, depression often surfaces) around the ages of 12 to 14. If someone is smoking marijuana at that point, we don't know if the depression came first or if it's a withdrawal symptom from marijuana, so it's hard to detect their base-line mood, making diagnosis and treatment difficult."

Above all, marijuana is easily accessible. Sheffey says, "In New York City, it's not hard to find. It's at a lot of high school parties where young teens are around older kids. They can find it on the street corner or take advantage of services that deliver marijuana right to their doorstep." A recent survey by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center found that more than one-third of teens believed they could purchase marijuana within a five-block radius from their house.

In other cases, Sheffey says kids can get marijuana from the last place one would expect-right in their own homes from parents who smoke marijuana themselves. "They can get it out of their parents' drawers or sneak it when their parents aren't looking." Coupled with permissive attitudes toward marijuana, many parents send mixed messages to their children about the dangers of marijuana. She says, "Parents often think, 'My children wouldn't be normal if they didn't try marijuana while they are in high school. This is a normal part of adolescence.' So (although) they often say 'This is something you can't do,' they look the other way when they either know their child is smoking on occasion or they see some signs (of drug abuse). The parent just dismisses it. They think, 'As long as it doesn't happen on school days.' (Not until) it's gotten to the point where the child is smoking every weekend and at school, his grades are beginning to suffer, or he is getting caught by the cops in the park with marijuana, (do) parents turn around and ask, 'What are you doing?'"

Sheffey believes educating parents about marijuana is one of the best steps in preventing adolescent marijuana use. She advocates having open, honest discussions with children about marijuana's negative effects, rather than giving "don't do it" rhetoric or quick slogans like, "users are losers." Sheffey stresses, "Parent education is really important in child prevention. Make sure parents know what kind of messages they should give. They can't be compromising. (Children) need to have consistent messages."

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