Kids say parents down on dope — and so are they
Simon Collins reviews a student poll that aims to measure attitudes towards alcohol, tobacco and cannabis
Parents of Kiwi teenagers are overwhelmingly against letting them smoke cannabis — or at least that’s what the teens themselves believe.
Census At School, an online programme run by Auckland University, has also found that only 44 per cent of students in the last three years of high school believe it would be okay for someone of their age to use cannabis.
More than half of them (53 per cent), when asked to place their views on a scale from zero (“not at all wrong”) to 100 (“very wrong”), put themselves at 60 or more — leaning towards feeling it would be “very wrong” for someone of their age to use the drug.
And an overwhelming 76 per cent believe their parents would have a score of 60 or more, feeling it would be “very wrong” for teens of their age to use cannabis. Only 21 per cent think their parents would lean towards feeling it was “not at all wrong”.
The census, focusing attention on the potential impact of drugs on children, may help explain why opinion polls have shown a slide in support for legalising cannabis, down from 46 per cent last October to 39 per cent in June in Colmar Brunton polls, and from 60 per cent last November to 39 per cent this month in the Horizon poll.
Voters will decide in a referendum at next year’s election on a bill that would allow legal purchase of cannabis by anyone aged 20 or over.
The Year 11-13 students who were asked about alcohol and drugs are all under 20 and almost all are under 18, the legal purchase age for alcohol.
Three-quarters (76 per cent) lean towards saying it’s “not at all wrong” for someone of their age to drink alcohol, and 64 per cent believe their parents agree.
The students feel marijuana is more acceptable (44 per cent) than tobacco cigarettes (34 per cent), a view in line with medical opinion, although some experts see alcohol as more harmful than both other drugs.
Sophie Handford, an 18-year-old candidate for the Ka¯ piti Coast District Council and a national co-ordinator of the School Strike 4 Climate, says she would opt for the middle of the scale for alcohol.
“When you say ‘drink alcohol’, do you mean have half a glass of wine at a family Christmas dinner, or is it like get completely wasted and potentially make not the best decisions?” she asks.
She would opt for “about 40-45 out of 100” for cannabis and “35 or 40” for tobacco, because of the risks of addiction, but adds: “There’s got to be another way to help people that turn to smoking.”
The census found that slightly more young males than females feel it would be acceptable to smoke cannabis, and that their parents would see it as okay for them to smoke both cannabis and tobacco.