Would it not make more sense then to support nation wide legalization of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana? I mean if your concern is your families access to the drug it would make most sense that you would support national regulations on it so that there could be one national governing body of how the drug is dispensed. Your children aren't getting Opiate Cards, or Benzo Cards, or Ritalin Cards are they? Of course not. Because they are drugs that are regulated on a federal level ensuring that they are only dispensed as needed in accordance with nationwide regulations on what diseases and symptoms deem them necessary. Your complaint is actually that there is not enough regulation around the drug and, not as you are claiming here by opposing a law to regulate the drug, that there needs to be less regulation. If your son is using drugs that he has access to, laws that limit access would be key to what you desire. What you are actually saying is "I don't want my son to have access to this drug" so why not spend your time pursuing that goal instead of hindering it? Could your time not be better spent attempting to change the current medical marijuana laws in your area? Or, could your time not be better spent contacting the doctor through which your son received his medical marijuana card and expressing your concern that he is abusing the drug instead of using it and see if there is an alternative? Doctors are well known for attempting to curb the abuse, misuse, and addiction of drugs they supply for medical reasons. I know this because I work for a drug rehabilitation center and we are very involved with medical professionals in our area.

More over, would your son be using marijuana if he didn't have a card for it and just hiding the fact that he is using it from you? At least in this situation you are aware of the negative actions your son is taking and can attempt to curb it our at least help create a safer situation then one he could be in if he was out on the street purchasing marijuana from a guy in an ally that has all the incentive in the world to also get your son to try and buy harder drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. As undesirable as it may be for your 18yr old to be smoking marijuana at least he is less likely to be put in situations that could lead to addiction to hard drugs, murder, rape, serious prison time, or the revoking of any future financial aid.

Also, the DARE program has been proven to cause more minors to use drugs do to the fact that it gives misleading information which causes teens to distrust all the information given to them from similar sources. Case and Point. If someone tells a teen that marijuana will cause him to become a murdering psychopath with a melted brain and he goes to a party and gets drunk and tries marijuana because he is to drunk to think straight and wakes up the next morning having not murdered anyone and without a melted brain he realizes it was a lie and then begins to spread the notion that the DARE program is lying and no longer trusts programs like DARE and ends up using drugs or encouraging others to use drugs. Another worth while endeavor could be to pursue the DARE program to update their education system to reflect the scientific and medical truth behind drugs instead of fear mongering in an attempting to scare the drugs out of them.

So in conclusion. Always think about what it is you  truly want and what will truly get you there. If you want your kids to have a hard time getting drugs. Support laws that make it harder for kids to get drugs, don't oppose them. And, Oppose current laws that make it easier for your kids to get drugs or support amending them but don't ignore why your kids have easier access and blame something that is attempting to help restrict children's access to the drug because you have lost faith in a system due to its corruption. Stand up for what is right, don't whine because you wish it was easier. Myself and millions of people like me have been fighting for years to help keep Marijuana out of the hands of kids and out of the hands of illegal drug dealers who make a profit off of making your children and mine drug addicts through early drug use stunting their brain growth and causing ahedonistic mindsets. We have spent and will continue to spend countless hours fighting for regulations that pull our police away from arresting responsible adults and allows them to target those people who would sell your children drugs, who would manipulate laws to provide your children with drugs (your complaint), who would use your children as drug traffickers and sells because they know children would get a reduced sentence. So if you want your kids to have a safer life, a better life, and a life free of drug dependence. Fight for what will lead to that end. Don't give up and say "Well, the system is so corrupt why should I even try? There is no hope! They'll never be able to keep my kids safe with laws! Let's just go back to wasting 15.5 billion dollars a year attempting the impossible because at least then I Felt Safer." That is fear and doubt talking and those are not means to a righteous end. Believe in all that our country has accomplished and believe it can accomplish even more. Look at the reduction in cigarette abuse by minors and adults in this country over the past 40 years. We were credited by the UN as having the most successful program for reducing tobacco use across the board. They even said in their 2009 world drug report that if every civilized country controlled other problem drugs in a similar manor (Marijuana for instance) it could show similar results with a reduction of new users, reduction of current users and a reduction of use by minors.

Thank you for your time and I hope this helps you realize change is possible and that it is people like you who are able to make that change.

The CA proposition does in fact state that the drug is only to be legal for those *over* 21, *not* your 18 year old. It seems to me it specifies exactly what you ask for ...

As a person (28 years old) who has had problems with marijuana in the past, and who has now stopped smoking it, my advice is this:

       1)Tell your son to do his best to avoid paranoia.

       2)Tell your son to do his best to avoid paranoia.

       3)Tell your son to do his best to avoid paranoia.

       4)Tell your other children the same.

It is the essence of any problem associated with marijuana (and problems can be serious for some people). He will listen to you, I guarantee it. You will be able to help him; I guarantee it. When he realizes you understand, he will listen to you. Do not go on about any other dangers. There really are no other dangers (except for gaining weight and bronchitis), and if you tell him there are, he will know you are wrong and you will lose credibility with him. But if you tell him about the danger of paranoia, he will listen to you. He might not stop smoking (at least not right away), but he will listen to you, and you will have helped him dearly.

Please believe me; I really do know what I'm talking about. I'm sorry for being presumptuous, but I really do know what i'm saying. 

It sounds to me like you are the one in the house causing all the harm. You are the one frustrated. Not your son. Try this ho'oponopono healing on yourself about him -I am sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you - I love you. That can clear the emotional crap you have, up. Next I strongly suggest you do some research on Cannabis and as a parent thank your lucky stars he chose the safest drug on the planet. He can not kill himself with it, he can not OD. As a human being you can not control any other human. You can try your best to be a good parent. He is an adult (18 is adult in my eyes), now you have to love and trust him and his judgement. If you can not then the issue is all yours and has nothing to do with him. Good luck.   

There is a problem in your household and it is YOU.  You have never learned any facts about cannabis and have bought into the lies of the prohibitionists.  You fight your son for consuming cannabis, yet this activity is far less harmful than others which you no doubt would be OK with, such as drinking the drug alcohol.  You can only have influence over your children by maintaining lines of communication.  Your approach of avoiding the truth, flushing his supply and destroying his tools of use is guaranteed to lead to NO communication with him.  If instead, you researched the truth and avoided the black and white thinking which is the hallmark of prohibition, (and, incidentally the thinking pattern of adult children of alcoholics) and discussed with him how he can consume cannabis so that it does not have a negative effect on your other child with allergies, such as consuming outside the home, and being tolerant of his activities, knowing them to be basically harmless, you will again have communication with him.  Your inability to be flexible on this subject is incomprehensible ( a long word that means lacking any logic) and the real cause of damage in your home.  Your son's exploitation of the system is not his fault, but the fault of the system.  If you want to fix things, try fixing the system instead of your son.  It is likely that when Prop 19 passes, many cannabis dispensaries will go broke, because adults will be able to access cannabis legally, therefore not going through the expense and trouble of obtaining medipot.  This will make it more, not less difficult to get a medical pot card and a medical pot supply for your child.  Vote yes on Prop 19.  Do it for the children. 

I think you may be over-reacting a little.

The same thing happened with me and my dad.  Trust me.. the more strict you are.  The harder you are on him.  The more he will hate you, and it will not affect one IOTA of how much he smokes.  Do yourself a favor.  Accept the fact that your son enjoys smoking marijuana, and work on your relationship.  Otherwise, YOU, not HIM, will tear the family apart.  Remember, siblings stick together.

To "Wait": I'm with you 100%, and can empathize with your situation.  I wonder how many of the pothead advocates have children. While I believe drug users should be in rehab and not prison, I see more efforts to legalize (give them what they want mentality) and less effort toward education and rehabilitation. Something else I have learned in my lifetime, advocates for pot are ALWAYS users themselves (or former users), and they all bray the same arguments. My response is always the same: keep your stinky, foul smelling weed breath and odor away from me and my family, as well as your dullard sensibilities and lack of meaningful work ethics.

JUst SAY NO LIKE NANCY SAID Get a life . Your kids on dope aren't the problem it is you.

qwery123plmqaz wrote "you sound like the typical bad parent who drives their kids to use drugs.  you seem to be anxious for your kids to be 21 so you don't have to deal with them anymore.  I bet you think having a glass of wine is ok but smoking a plant is a sin."

The above are typical signs of paranoia.

Paranoia- a disease-like state, characterized mainly with abnormal suspiciousness and crazy ideas.

I think any cut in federal funding to states during the worst recession since the Great Depression would further negate the federal stimulus funding needed to keep the economy afloat.  Existing stimulus funding is already thought by some economists to be too little too late.  Short answer:  it would be political suicide for any politician to cut funding if Prop 19 passes; other than state, county and municipal law enforcement funding that’s wasted on marijuana prohibition.  The enforcement money that's saved can be diverted to fixing problems where it’s really needed in California. 

You seem to forget the huge amount of anger out there towards the Federal Government (especially the DEA) and many people who would normally not vote, will, just to send a big F- U to the feds and to reassert states rights vs. fed rights. Free Marc Emery while you are at it please.

Looking to drugs to cure the state problems is so stupid.  If the government could control their spending in the first place we would not have this problem.  There will not be the kind of tax windfall that everyone thinks.  If people grow indoors how will you tax.  Are they going to perform raids on homes?  This is a result of reckless spending and greed.  Things need to fail before they can be corrected. 

"It's time to step into the future and decriminalize altogether."

Well, yes and no: you're thinking of legalisation, not decriminilisation; decriminilisation won't do any good, because it does nothing to change the need to use illegal supplies and suppliers.

Decriminilisation works out as a sort of half-arsed, half-backed stop gap, which was really only necessary for countries years ahead of their time, like the Netherlands and Portugal. Now that we're (more or less) all on the same page, we can get on with making things better, moving straight up to a level where genuine harm reduction may be achieved.

Private cultivation does not require a fee or permit... I am trying to validate your comment, but I can't find anything that supports the majority of what you stated...