Telltale Signs of a Pot Smoking Youngster

hostility with lack of insight or remorse

candles, plastic straws, butane lighters, large amounts of sinus/headache congestion tablets

discovery of a pot-pipe, rolling papers, a cellophane "baggie" of marijuana and/or drug paraphernalia

red eyes- the use of eye drops such as Visine or Murine

a distorted sense of time

shortened attention span

a drop in school performance. Not necessarily from A's to D's, but from A' and B's to C's

caring less about everything: school, sports, other extracurricular activities and hobbies they  used to enjoy

use of incense to hide the sweet, burnt odour of pot

general loss of appetite, yet craving for sweets

weight changes (drastic loss or gain)

estrangement from the family, inexplicable mood changes, irritability, hostility

chronic sore throat, chronic unexplained conjunctivitis, chronic dry irritating cough

impairment of short-term memory, judgment, capacity to reason and to think clearly

chest pains, chronic fatigue and lethargy, chronic bronchitis

depression, feelings of loneliness, isolating (staying in one's room)

feelings of paranoia, easily upset (emotional state changes rapidly)

fatigue and loss of vitality

extreme apathy, talks about suicide

"flattened" speech and expression, changes in speech pattern (slurred speech)

sleep disturbances

burns on hands or clothing

blackouts

menstrual irregularities

white or pale face, excessive sniffing, excessive nervousness

strange phone calls, secretiveness, vagueness about social activities and company kept

less attention paid to cleanliness of body, hair and clothes, wearing clothes with drug symbols

disappearance of money or items of value from the home, shoplifting, lying

impaired ability to fight off common infections

drug-oriented graffiti on school notebooks and/or drug messages in school yearbooks or memory books

small pieces of screening missing from window screens and/or sink faucets missing- used for homemade pipes

denial, minimising, blaming, rationalising

manipulating parents, playing one against the other