Chill out but still teach kids control

Re Parents dreading legal weed should chill out, Teitel, April 4

I’d like to thank Emma Teitel for her unsolicited and largely unproven parenting advice regarding pot use.

We practiced democratic parenting when our children were younger in the 1990s and tried very hard to parent by example. While there was some booze in the house, it was always used in moderation and the children were allowed to partake under controlled circumstances. There was never any drug use.

We had open discussions about drugs, sex and booze. In fact, we were open about just about everything with our children when age appropriate.

One of our children eschewed pot and built a fairly strong life for herself with a career and a good future. The other abused alcohol and marijuana starting when he was a very young teenager and while now (in his 30s) has a more settled life, has little education and basically no transferable skills, lacks the kind of ambition and future needed for success in this world.

Perhaps Ms. Teitel should refrain from parenting advice until she has experienced some parenting of her own and shown that her methods are successful.

Habitual marijuana use can be dangerous and detrimental to a young person’s future.

Parents should not “chill out” but be aware of their child’s behaviours and, while openness is important, so is some measure of teaching control. Stephen Bloom, Toronto

I am glad to read that there has been no major influx of teenage cannabis use in Colorado after its legalization. Perhaps it is due in part, to the legal age of cannabis use in Colorado being 21 years.

Perhaps the teenagers in Colorado should celebrate 4/20 up here, as our federal government wants the legal age of cannabis use to be 18. James G. Wigmore, forensic toxicologist, Toronto