Expert: Peter L. - 10/2/2010

Question
My daughter picked her niece up this morning from the other grandparents house where she lives. The grandmother was smoking a joint and sharing it with her husband in the small living room where the baby's father was getting her (the baby) ready. Then the baby's father proceeded to roll one up and smoke it sharing it with his mother and father. My daughter after only being there 20 minutes said she felt loopy from a "contact high" and could only imagine the effect it had on the 10 month old baby. I have never smoked marijuana but my daughter has. I don't consider myself better than other people and try not to judge others, however I am naive to drug culture and am deeply troubled by all this. When I spoke to my other daughter the baby's mother (who was at work at this time) she shared that she tried to get these people to stop but they do what they want when she is not there. The grandparents and the father do not believe in "contact highs" and don't feel that the baby is in any harm. In fact, the grandfather says he has raised 4 kids and smoked around all of them and they are fine. I can not understand how my daughter has gotten mixed up with people who do not have the same values that she has been raised with. I like them but I just don't believe the way they do. Is there really detrimental effects from marijuana to a 10 month old, besides the usual second hand smoke issue? or am I just being a prude?

Answer
Hi Molly,

I, for one, am frustrated with the 'sanitizing" of marijuana use in this country.  We hear such terms as the "marijuana maintenance plan" which is a humorous attempt to describe the casual, and presumably risk-free use of this drug.  Many people in my treatment center debate me regarding it's hazards.  

Marijuana has emerged a cultural phenomenon, and the defense of it in many circles is enormous.  It's fairly easy for someone to find themselves mixed up with this, as it's so rampant.  People of all walks of life smoke pot, and in Massachusetts, where I live, it's decriminalized.  Most people feel it's a drug they can do on a regular basis without harm.

Your daughter is caught up in this by virtue of the fact that she's got a relative (her niece) with parents and grandparents who accept marijuana as "no problem."

I believe a contact high is most likely with infants and animals due to their smaller body size, and less relevant with adults. Still, it's simply no good for little children to be exposed to on a regular basis.   After watching this in their parents and grandparents, what's to stop them from smoking pot (or doing worse) when the get older, as I lot of my clients did?

We're stuck with this, and it will probably get worse as decriminalization spreads.  Sorry about this bad news.

Regards,
Peter