SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Easier to get booze or marijuana while in high school?

Jul 3, 2014, 11:24 AM | Updated: 11:53 am

Marijuana will be available to the public starting Tuesday when the first store is expected to open in Seattle and there’s concern it’ll be easier for children to obtain.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board is worried marijuana might get into the wrong hands and is working to implement labeling guidelines for edible products, though they won’t be available July 8.

But KTTH host Ben Shapiro isn’t convinced the addition of legal retail stores in Washington state means it’s any easier for kids to get their hands on marijuana. It was already easy. In fact, when he was in high school, pot was easier to get than alcohol.

He bet his listeners had the same experience.

Caller Josh: It was by far easier to get pot.

Caller Chris: I used to smoke pot in high school. I’m 26 now and don’t smoke anymore. It was by far easier. I had dozens of people who could, walking through the hallways just say I need to get a back and it was there.

Ben thinks the issue might be a generational and the 50-60 crowd thinks just because marijuana was illegal, it was difficult for kids to get.

“When I was 10 years old and on the junior high playground at Walter Reed Elementary, there literally was a corner of the actual recess area that was dedicated to a bunch of guys selling pot.”

The Denver Post in May reported that the number of children who accidentally ingested marijuana was on pace to more than double the number of children admitted to Children’s Hospital emergency room last year. Most of those children were between 3 and 7 years old.

Ben never smoked pot because he despises it, but if he did want to try it, marijuana would have been easy to get.

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Easier to get booze or marijuana while in high school?