Dabbing

          No, we aren’t talking about a dance move today. Funny how we Americans seem to take fun and positive things and go extreme and dark on them.
          Just when I thought the negative influences on our children couldn’t get any worse, we get “dabs” or “wax,” the latest teen craze. So many of our youth think dabbing is harmless and a mighty fun thing to be doing. After all, “it’s just marijuana, dad!”
          Not so fast there son. “Dabs” are concentrated hash-like THC, the ingredient in pot that produces the high.  Dabbing has been described as “marijuana on steroids.” (Kevin Winslow, interview with Healthline, 2019).
          The potency of dabs is frightening, especially for young people. Dabs are like a teenager quickly drinking five shots of whiskey as opposed to sipping through a couple of beers. What happens next is unpredictable, but it isn’t good. The effect hits before the brain can really process how far along intoxication is rolling. Kids sometimes pass out or go to sleep right after dabbing. 
          Even without dabbing, the new potent marijuana available today is a frightening escalation of intoxication for kids. The marijuana of today is not your hippy grandfather’s pot of the 1960s or even the more powerful pot of your 1980s pot-smoking parents. Now, marijuana is scientifically engineered for the faster and more explosive high.  
          Anyway, how did teen crazes in America devolve from dance moves, hula hoops, and other games to powerful drugs? Seems to be a rather devilish twist, to my thinking.                
          Dabbing is a relatively new phenomenon, and studies are just coming out about the dangers. As someone who loves children, I do not need an expert’s opinion to know that the earlier a child falls prey to bad things, the worse the effect will be on that child. The earlier that a child’s brain is exposed to getting intoxicated, and the more powerful the intoxicants, the more damaged the brain will be. And the more times a child is exposed to the bad thing, the more that child will be impacted long-term. Those are eternal truths. All people of goodwill know them to be true.
          I have zero interest in debating whether marijuana is a “gateway” drug. When something is happening that is clearly harmful to children, it is time for action, not intellectual debate. Marijuana on steroids is a pathway to faster, deeper and dirtier highs.
          With anxiety rampant, escapes from stress are very attractive to our youth. Most teens will choose a rollercoaster or a “big drop” over slower rides. Dabbing offers a rush. It is enormously popular with our youth. After passing out, they brag to their friends on Snapchat. The power of the internet is being put to not-so-good use in this instance!
          It’s the age-old tragic story. You give someone too much power too fast at too early an age. Then you watch them self-destruct. The potent marijuana available today is too much for children to handle. Dabbing is at another level, and it saddens me for the kids.
          Dabbing has a druggy feel to it. The manner in which dabs are ingested and manufactured reminds a viewer of so-called “hard drugs” like methamphetamines or heroin.  The dabs themselves actually look like heroin. Any kid can get on Google or Youtube and learn how to make a dab with butane. You will get a dirty, drug-culture feeling, watching how dabs are made or ingested. I worry for the teenagers watching videos of other kids immersed in this culture and then living in the dab-manufacture and smoking world.
          Dabs are easy to hide and dabbing produces less smoke and smell than smoking the marijuana plant directly. If you find small torches and/or butane around your place, it is time to investigate what your kids are doing. If you see nails, screwdrivers, other tools or utensils with burnt edges, your children are probably dabbing. Listen to your kids when they are talking to other kids. Talk to other parents. There is a very good internet site which shows parents the “tricks” kids use and the signs of drug or alcohol use. (powertotheparent.org). Look at the article “Hidden in Plain Sight” on their website.
          Of course marijuana/thc is legal in some states, including Washington state. It is NOT legal in any state in the U.S. for persons under twenty-one-years-old to possess or use marijuana. Every parent gets to set the parameters on what they will allow their children to do. For my teens, I am choosing a zero tolerance for marijuana use and especially dabbing! This is a fight worth fighting.
 
                                                                                     By:  Neil Presley Cox
                            
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