Help I'm worried about my boy!

[shotokansho]

Hi everyone. I didn't know where to post this, feel free to move it if it's in the wrong place. I am in desperate need of advice regarding my son, I just don't know what to do. My son is 15 and in September will be starting his final year in school. He has aspirations and goals and he's very bright. His grades are not perfect but they are ok and I know he will get through them well enough to get him into college.
He is caring and thoughtful and hardly ever gives me any grief, he is very rarely late home and he always lets me know if he is staying at a friends house.
He has a very bad temper though and his mental health isn't the best. I am a self harmer and it seems he is following in my footsteps, I have noticed recently that he has scratches on his arms. I did talk to him about it but I didn't shout at him as I thought that would do no good. I asked to please try to talk to me first if he ever gets the urge again.
He is also very down at times and suffers with anxiety, like myself. He is going to be starting some talking therapy soon at out local hospital, but it could be another six weeks yet.
Anyway today he seems really down. He didn't get out of bed until early afternoon and he wasn't very talkative at all. I discussed things with my mum when he went out and we went in his room. I know it was wrong to nosy in his room but I just needed to know. I was astonished when I opened the cupboard in his room. There were 3 plastic bottles with burn holes in, a bag of filter tips, a cigarette packet with 1 cig in it and a pouch of something very strange. I think it's weed but I'm not sure. It's pink, quite damp and smells really sweet, it looks like crushed tabacco. I have never seen weed look like this before and I can't find much on the internet. I HATE illegal drugs and have never tried anything so I'm affraid I'm pretty clueless on this. Does anyone know if this pink stuff is weed? He's just gone out now so I went to check the cupboard and he has taken the pink stuff with him, maybe he is holding it for someone?
Anyway there was something else in his cupboard too...A sharp knife! I'm so scared for him, if he is going to start self harming or if he taking weed will he take other stuff as well? Me and mum think he is defo smoking which is bad enough as it is. I just don't know what to do, I have left all the stuff I found where it is. Should I tell him I know? But will he hate me and rebel if he knows I have been snooping?
Also I am so worried he will end up like me, in and out of the psych unit ect. I'm trying really hard to be strong, I have to be in case this turns into something big.
Please advise

Kez xx

[mikewales]

Sounds like skunk, which is a very strong version of weed, some of this is quite pinkish in colour - nothing like the fairly mild stuff around when we were younger.

One of the problems with it is, being so strong, it can trigger psychosis and other mental health problems, although a lot of people take it without any problems, it does depend on how often he is smoking it.

I doubt he is holding it for someone else, it is more likely he is taking it himself as it is almost as common as smoking cigarettes for a lot of teenagers now.

[BobbyDog]

Like Mikewales says, It is probably his if he is keeping it in his bedroom, but not to worry though. I have had a similar problem with my son, when I first found out about it, I took him to the doctor so that they could advise him of the long term effects of smoking Cannabis.
That planted a seed in his head, he continued to smoke, but eventually he broke away from the 'weed' crowd and has now stopped completely.

I have had past experience with the drug myself and it played a big part in my mental breakdown 18 years ago, so I could advise him of my first hand experience aswell.

If you are going to broach the subject with him, try and do it in a calm manner, read as much information about it as you can, so that you can advise him of the dangers and leave it at that. Just keep an eye on the situation, he will probably grow out of it.

[eight days a week]

I've seen a lot of weed when I was younger, but it was never pink. Some orange, red bits to it - yes. Pink bits? Never heard or seen of it. Was it all pink? Powder, or did it look like plant stuff (even if powdered it could still be cannabis, but if it did look like plant stuff then it sounds like it - but for me not if it's pink rather than with a few orange or red bits in it)?

There are a scary amount of recreational chemicals about nowadays, many of which are 'legal' (until they get banned) highs. I bet some of those are pink. Quite often they are worse than the illegal drugs, not least because very little is known about their long-term effects.

'Skunk' is a bit of a misnomer I think. It refers to cannabis grown under artificial conditions (lighting etc) to make it stronger. BUT it is not this that is making it more dangerous to certain people, I don't believe. There are two main chemicals that have an effect in cannabis - THC (the part that gets you 'high') and CBD (which counter-acts it). From what I have researched, CBD is nature's way of making THC 'safer' (a bit like how dock leaves often grow near stinging nettles). The problem with many brands of 'skunk' is that it has been cross-bred between different types of cannabis plants to maximise THC (to make you higher) and reduce CBD. Not all genetic strains of cannabis have been developed this way, so 'natural' strains (that are still grown artificially) should in theory produce no greater risk, even if they are stronger.

Anyway, I don't wish to take the thread off-topic on that because you need all the advice you can get on your situation, I will post more about that on the 'cannabis' thread.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthr...=1#post1017138

Very best wishes Shoto

[mikewales]

There is a pic here of a pink weed plant : http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs...f2fa6f83_h.jpg

It does seem to be one of the new strains, so could potentially be very strong - when sold is normally whitish or very pale green with lots of pink in it, rather than the normal green or brown colours.

Skunk now generally refers to home grown weed, which as eight says, is made to be as strong as possible. Most buyers would ask for skunk if they wanted something really strong, rather than one of the more natural versions.

[eight days a week]

There is a pic here of a pink weed plant : http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs...f2fa6f83_h.jpg

It does seem to be one of the new strains, so could potentially be very strong - when sold is normally whitish or very pale green with lots of pink in it, rather than the normal green or brown colours.

Fair enough Mike, but what's the providence of that picture, and of that information (that when sold it's got lots of pink in it)?

---------- Post added at 20:50 ---------- Previous post was at 20:48 ----------

I have looked at thousands of pictures of cannabis in the last six months (for research) and never, ever seen anything like that before.

[mikewales]

Why do you need a providence for the picture ? search on google image search for pink skunk weed and there are plenty of pics on there. Plus I have seen it when sold myself.

Shoto was asking what it could be that she had found, and it sounded most likely ( along with the other paraphanelia ) to be pink skunk.

There is another pic here http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/z...eed_Snow-1.jpg that shows it ready for sale, although this is slightly darker green than I have seen

And here is one that is purple http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5zehvRI5F1rrgdvb.jpg

[eight days a week]

Why do you need a providence for the picture ? search on google image search for pink skunk weed and there are plenty of pics on there. Plus I have seen it when sold myself.

Shoto was asking what it could be that she had found, and it sounded most likely ( along with the other paraphanelia ) to be pink skunk.

I am asking because if you search for 'pink skunk' on google you will find hundreds of links to plants that are, percentage wise, a little bit pink in places, but there is nothing from any knowledgeable site that shows anything like that picture you have posted.

Also, 'pink' cannabis seems to be at the forefront of genetic experimentation for cannabis. You will not find that in the UK from what I have read.

Lastly, burned bottles can be any drug at all. Filter tips are not used to smoke cannabis, generally.

[mikewales]

The pink is generally the buds, the amount of buds in the sold cannabis will determine how much pink is in it, and it is most certainly available in the UK.

Plastic bottles with a hole burned in the side are most likely a bong, and when combined with the other evidence ( a lot of people do use filters in joints to stop the weed and / or tobacco getting in their mouth ) it would point to dope smoking.

I'm not sure where you have been researching, but my opinions are based on people I know who smoke it, and seeing the actual stuff they have bought

[mikewales]

Took 30 seconds to find this
http://www.cannabisculture.com/node/10686

might be handy for your research