the Walnut Diary

This headline on MSN this morning reminded me of what an old fogey I am.

As a retired educator I have seen what marijuana use does to the minds of highly intelligent boys with ADHD. It wrecks them. A brilliant kid in September of grade nine was an empty shell by the time he turned up again in my class in the spring of his grade ten year.

Activists may claim cannabis is harmless, but I’ve also seen quite a few senior boys of average intelligence bounce around for several years before quitting dope and getting their lives together. At the very least marijuana costs the secondary school system a great deal of wasted time.

As I reflect back, my loneliest hour as a vice-principal had to be the time I spent trying to keep a cannabis-addicted, paranoid 15 year-old girl out of the school on a lunch hour during which she showed every intention of pulling the fire alarms. Parents eventually showed up, but it was a long hour.

So I believe the statistic, but we should take no pride in it.