| Benson Kua/Commons. |
Here’s the deal, Colorado, you’ve got a pretty good thing going so far what with limited amounts of pot possession and cultivation now legal. But the catch there is that you can’t be stupid with it like the grandparents of two Greeley, Colorado fourth-graders accused of selling their grandparent’s edibles and pot at school.
According to Greeley school officials, the whole thing started on Monday when an 11-year-old boy sold a bag of weed he took from his grandparents to three friends for about $11. One of the kids couldn’t pony up, so he brokered a deal whereby the broke student would steal a pot candy from his grandparents and trade it. On Tuesday, that kid made good on his promise and brought the edible for trade.
All of this went on in full view of other kids on the playground, and of course one of the kids went and told their teacher who busted the boys. The story of how the pot came into the possession of the children unfolded soon after. Apparently, the grandparents just left their pot and the kids just took it.
“It was the simple fact that we had adults that didn’t secure their marijuana,” Weld County Schools director of safety John Gates told CBS4 Denver. “That sure is concerning because this would have never happened had the marijuana not been so accessible to two 10-year-old boys.”
Now, 11-year-olds with developing brains using cannabis to get high isn’t a good thing (medical cases obviously weigh those risks to a developing brain). Any rational person can agree with that. But the one thing it won’t do is kill a child — unlike a multitude of other substances out there. Yet somehow (not surprisingly), the school district took a much more Fox News-esque tactic for informing parents of what happened as well as reminding them of their responsibility to keep pot out of the hands of children: baseless fear.
“We urge all parents, grandparents and anyone who cares for children to treat marijuana as you would prescription drugs, alcohol or even firearms,” the letter says. “This drug is potentially lethal to children, and should always be kept under lock and key, away from young people.”
Yes, according to Monfort Elementary School in Greeley marijuana can kill young children. The blatant ignorance would be funny if it wasn’t so scary at the same time.
Now look, we know this isn’t necessarily a weed problem. These grandparents could have easily have left out wine coolers, prescription pills or cigarettes and the results could have been the same.
But it wasn’t any of those things. It was cannabis – the very thing that people are still freaking out over, primarily because they are scare of children having access to it.
So, parents and grandparents and anyone who has children around their house: be responsible with your ganja. Not only should you lock it up, but you should be having mature conversations with your kids about marijuana use exactly the same way you should be talking to them about alcohol, guns and sex. With common sense like that, situations like this one in Greeley can be easily avoided.
Which is good for everyone, because right now people like these asshole grandparents make the rest of us responsible cannabis users look bad.