oooooooh... let's get a little controversial...

I don't think anyone's gonna find harm in that Beccy!, I am just a light weight personally, so 3 glasses of wine would have me buzzed right up LOL and if Aaralyn was in bed or with a family member or friend for the night, I would not feel guilty about it

OMG hun,NOOOOO i didnt mean thats what i think everyone should do im speaking for my self as im what you would call a cadbury drinker you know 1 and a half glasses and im "gone"lol,but when my ds isnt around i get a bit care free and let my hair TOTALLY down.lol
I hope i didnt offend with that comment.xxx
(just thought id add)
I have also had a few glasses at one stage or another with my dh in the garden while my ds was asleep,needless to say that as soon as i went inside i was asleep within minutes lol.

hapydazy I think you are a wonderful parent and great friend to us all on here,but you also give some great advice to others,I think you a responsible mum but I got the impression from the link that wasnt the case for the other lady we were reading about,her child sounded like he had behaviour problems which needed addressing and the use of weed wasnt helping her son just making herself feel better,

Thanks JO, I guess one of the reasons that I posted this was to shed a light on the fact that not all "smokers" are irresponsible parents (that usually happens with other harder drugs though, I've seen it many times). Also, sometimes it can be used as a form of "anti-anxiety" or anti-depressant for some, but not for all. I can personally relate with the author of the article with the fact that sometimes it does help to have that to kinda get on your kid's level. I don't need that to have fun with Aaralyn but sometimes when I'm in a mood and wouldn't be finding her so fun otherwise, it makes me more relaxed and there fore I can get into things a little more with her

I was a bit nervous to post this but I'm glad I did. It got something talked about here from differing points of views that was off the "main-stream" of parenting... and it made me feel even better about JP that we can all participate in a debate like this with out any being "mean"... I like that!

Well aren't we all good on this forum to be able to debate on a hot topic such as this without falling out with each other

Ok so my views are slightly warped from past experiences here so bear with me. Firstly, I should say I have never smoked anything, well except when a friend forced one on me when I was extremely drunk and I immediately threw up. Being Welsh I enjoy a good beer or four at the appropriate times.

On the alcohol front as most of us seem to agree I think excessive drinking around or while responsible for children is bad, and frankly probably illeagal in some strange way (drunk in charge). I think one or two beers or glasses of wine at a summer barbeque or with a meal isn't a problem. I used to be able to drink in excess of 13 pints in a night so no lightweight. Now I have to drive a lot for work, and with the children I drink less than that in a month.

I would separate the pot and cigarettes as they are two different things. I hate seeing parents smoke around their children. Firstly it is damaging the childrens lungs with passive smoking, and secondly it sends the children a message that smoking is a good thing, or is okay to do. I think most smokers would agree that its not and if they had the choice they would stop tomorrow, but I know its not that easy.

With regards to the pot. I lost a close family member due to things that followed on from a pot habit, so my views are affected by this. I don't think it should be legalised because I believe that one thing can frequently lead on to others. However I do agree that the people that I have known to take it would be better, at least for a short period, then a drunk person at looking after a child. However, the people I have known to take it have become lathargic and unable to focus on the job at hand so to be honest I wouldn't let them near a child either.

Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss

An interesting point though. One of the main arguments for legalisation of pot is that by forcing marijuana users to buy from drugs dealers (who often deal with harder substances too), it's far more likely that they will lead onto harder drugs due to dealer 'peer pressure' and, for want of a better word, salesmanship. Not because that's how people would naturally be.. after all alcohol doesn't lead to cigarettes, does it? And cigarettes certainly don't lead to hard drugs, even though nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs on this planet (and one of the worst for your health to boot).

I think that the slippery slope from soft to hard drugs is far more down to the environment of a dealer/user relationship, peer pressure and the attitude that 'all drugs are evil' than any real link between taking one drug and then 'wanting more', but of course I am not a doctor so this is all in my humble opinion. What do others think?

This is a big argument my sister and I have frequently, her thinking that pot leads to addictions to other harder substances...

I think the thing is that pot is one of the least feared "drugs" therefore one of the first that is experimented with maybe as a teenager... then some people do go on to experiment with other hard "drugs", but I don't think it's the pot that makes them do it... I think it's that the individual chose too.

I personally have done a few other things than pot (cocaine for one) but all that is many years in my past. I personally didn't like other "drugs" after using them a bit and saw way too many people get hooked and go down hill on coke, crack and heroine (of which I've NEVER done!!), but I don't think that pot was the stepping stone for me to try the other stuff. Most of the "stoners" that I know don't do anything harder than weed, if they did I personally would not want to be around that at all!!

it was an interesting subject and a great article but i have never smoked weed and would never do so around or near my child or even while my child was in my care.

I do not agree with pot/weed, but i will not slate any one that does