The stigmatism that was once associated with smoking Marijuana seems to have almost disappeared.  As of 2015, twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana laws.  Two states (Colorado and Washington) have legalized recreational marijuana use, and two additional states will allow recreational use in 2016 (Oregon & Alaska).  A behavior that was once only practiced and discussed behind closed doors has become a part of mainstream dialog among both adults and teenagers.

Is it possible that this open dialog has caused parents and teenagers to drop their guard as it relates to the use of marijuana?  One mistake that many adults seem to be making involves a failure to recognize the difference between the marijuana of the 1970s and today’s marijuana.  According to the Natural Center for Natural Projects Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi, today’s marijuana can be as much as 57-67% more potent when compared to samples taken during the 1970s.

This increase in potency, according to the American Psychological Association, has had significant negative effects on the development of the adolescent brain.  It might surprise you to know that “regular use” is considered smoking marijuana as little as once a week.  These negative effects include cognitive decline, poor attention, impaired memory, and decreased IQ. 

It is our job as parents and adults to remind teenagers that something that they view as harmless may be altering their brains permanently. 

What concerns me the most as a parent and youth worker is why so many teens are turning to marijuana and other drugs.  As the Susquehanna County Ministry Director for Northeast PA YFC, I realize that we must address the “why” behind teenage drug abuse.  I also admit that I have a bias as it relates to the solution.  At YFC, we believe in a Creator God who loves us and desires to have a relationship with us.  We also believe that until we submit to our Creator, our hearts and the hearts of our teenagers are restless.  St. Augustine of Hippo said it best in his “Confessions,” “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” 

I believe with all my heart that the solution to the marijuana problem among teenagers involves helping them to find rest in their Creator -- not in a chemical.  If I can be of help to you as parents, please do not hesitate to contact me at frank@nepayfc.com.  I am also available to speak to parents and teenagers at your church or other community related events.  May God bless you as you invest in the teens of our community.  They are a BIG DEAL!

Sincerely,

Frank Passetti
Susquehanna, PA

When Jesse Jackson, that consummate practitioner of the shakedown, came a-knocking on Intel's door, the giant chip maker knew what was coming. After the initial diplomatic cooing about “fairness,” “opportunity,” “inclusiveness,” and the slightly intimidating, “cooperation,” JJ got down to brass tacks: Intel had better start hiring more “people of color” and women.

IT (Information Technology) companies are furiously competitive. Like the Queen in Alice's fantasy said, “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” And that's what IT companies must do. If they don't make innovations and develop products fast enough, they're obsolete.

So when JJ claims that Intel is denying minorities or anyone opportunities, it is a spectacular absurdity. IT companies are ruthlessly competitive to hire the best and the brightest regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, or anything else. It's all about ability, nothing else.

JJ knows this and he also knows how to make an end run around it. He informs Intel's CEO, Brian Krzanich, that your employees are 74 percent white males (that's the opening salvo), only 23 percent women (ouch!), and less than 3 percent blacks (that's the coup de grace).

It does no good to explain that the talent pool in fields like engineering is shallow for women, and less than that for blacks. What sweet irony it would be if Renee James, the president of Intel and a woman, would show JJ the door, but that would risk a lawsuit.

Major domestic companies must furnish employee demographic data to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The company must show a diversity of races and ethnic backgrounds in its workforce if it doesn't, it can be sued.

Even if the company challenged the lawsuit and won it would still lose. Its brand name would be tarnished by a trial and charges of racism would continue. And there's the threat of a boycott. It's a lose-lose choice. Intel caved quicker than its fastest computer.

So don't join hands and sing Kumbaya just yet. More blacks and women on the payroll won't make Intel a better or more competitive company. If it did, Intel would have hired them long ago. But it will get JJ's civil rights organization, Rainbow/PUSH, and the fed off its back.

Hence, Intel announced a $300 million fund to expand the diversity of its workforce to include more minorities and women, who, by the way, are the majority. The money will also be used to fund scholarships to black colleges.

Typically, a settlement with JJ's nonprofit Rainbow/”SHOVE,” includes a generous “donation” to that civil rights group. But if Rainbow/PUSH is nonprofit, the same cannot be said for JJ. How exactly did he amass a personal fortune of $10 million---that's double that of Al Sharpton's millions--- is not clear. But it is reasonable to surmise that his civil rights organization had something to do with it.

In a sane world, Intel would invest that $300 million in scholarships to promising students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American IT companies like Apple, HP, IBM, and Microsoft, need all the help they can to fend off foreign competitors nipping at their heels. Silicon Valley could easily lose the IT race to Samsung (South Korea), Foxconn (China), Sony (Japan), or Panasonic (also Japan).

We've come a long way from the day of giants like Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver to men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Washington and Carver were men of extraordinary character, intellect, and accomplishment. These men taught by example the value of education, hard work, and self-reliance. They walked in the path of their namesake, Washington; it was leadership from the top down.

Then there is Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, men of lack-luster talents, but with enough street smarts to intimidate, extort, and shakedown businesses to their financial advantage. It is leadership from the bottom to the bottom. Washington and Carver have no place in their world. And if Washington and Carver were alive today, the feeling would be mutual.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA