To the Editor:

I am a psychotherapist and an LCADC (a state Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor) practicing in Princeton. Some years ago, I asked the social worker at a Princeton High School, “What do you see as the top three problems facing the kids we work with?” He replied, “Stress, stress, and stress.”

Our schools have heavy course loads. In our meritocracy, our teenagers are facing a competitive, high-pressure marketplace to get into good colleges. Marijuana is prescribed to adults to treat anxiety. Because it can relieve stress and anxiety, it is very seductive to youth. But with heavy use, it can also weaken motivation, and the ability to work hard.

People in general are not good at assessing their own capacity for addiction, teenagers even less so. Retail, on-street shops for selling marijuana, even though they will not sell to kids, will normalize its use and weaken our adult warnings about its risks. Youth use will go up. And with more kids using, more will get addicted. When you think about weed shops in town, consider their effect on the young.

Lucy Harman, LCSW, LCADC
Broadmead