I have a 6 year old daughter who is very inquisative and intelligent. I quit smoking cigarettes 3 months ago due to health concerns and fear that my daughter will pick up the addiction at a later age(she told me shortly before quitting that she wanted to smoke, just like me when she will be older).

I hate the fact that I now have to hide my marijuana smoking from her as I feel that I am deceiving her in some way (I only smoke pure marijuana in a pipe.. soon to switch to a vaporizer) . However, I realize that she is a little young to understand the difference between the two right now.

When would it be a good time (age wise) to discuss the differences between the 2 (e.g. cigaretttes are terribly addictive and marijuana is not) and perhaps, what would be a good strategy in opening this dialogue.

PS.. I have no intention of ever smoking tabacco products again due to my addiction to nicotine.

Thaks

Congrats man!

I quit myself not too long ago! Had a few slip ups, mostly when I've had no green to subdue the nicotine cravings. I think you should probably wait before trying to differentiate the two in your daughter's eyes. I'm not sure if she'll be able to properly understand the difference, or even what it really is. Plus kids talk, she might let something slip that you wouldn't really want to have slipped (and if its a conservative old teacher that hears the slip up, who knows what'll be happening next,,, childrens services knocking at your door???)

I don't know how you would approach the subject, or even when an appropriate time would be, but I don't think she's at the right age to have that discussion.

Most parents underestimate the capacity for understanding that their children posses. It is never too young to explain to your kids !! My Dad explained the difference to me at 2 , and I got it. My kids are 17 , 9 and 7 , and I have been open with them since they were toddlers. We have regular frank discussions on the topic , and they will never speak of it outside the home , as they KNOW the implications. The time to worry is when they are teens , and you waited too long to explain the truth about "Drugs" . Their school will get to them first. I have a friend , who has hidden her toking from her daughter , and now that she's a young teen , she is terrified to let her know , as the kid has soaked up years of anti drug propaganda , and is in the "my parents suck" phase of life. If you feel confident in your reasons for being a pot smoker , then explain why. Tell her why some people don't understand . Tell her why the cops have to enforce foolish laws.
Don't lie to your kids , they are smarter than you are , and they will find out !!

i'm still waiting for my kids to ask other people how come they don't grow flowers in thier closet.

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I still waiting for that question too

I'd say wait till your kids start talking to you about weed. See what they think, that probably won't be for a while now but until then use that vaporizer that way you won't smell.

Excellent advise. thanks all

I was waiting for that question until I this custody thing started. Baby momma called child protective services and I had to tear it all down. They were here the next day.

I never smoked cigarettes, then after doing close to a decade in the Fed. system, I started smoking 3 months after my release. I'm working on quiting now b/c it is cold as hell out side and I hate going out to the patio to smoke. Any good pointers from those that have successfully quit? Any input would be greatly appreciated as I'm going through my 2nd custody battle in 2 years and my son is only 28 months old. Thanks!

Hey man I quit almost 3 years ago after smoking for 27 years. There's a website about what needs to be done to quit. I'll try to remember what I did. Make up your mind and that really is the hardest part. I never tried to quit before because I didn't want to fail so I made sure I could make it stick. Set a date. Go on Zyban a couple of weeks before your quit date. If you have a history of siezures Zyban's out. Decide on your coping strategy. For me it was quiting coffe and riding my bike and eating like crazy insead of surfing online. I went back to coffee and surfing and now race my mountain bike. Feel great.