By Laura Stack
Today is 710 Day, or at Johnny’s Ambassadors, Anti-710 Day.
What, you don’t know what 710 Day is? Ask your teens, and make sure you know where they are at 7:10 PM. Today, July 10, is Dab Day, because turned upside down, the digits 710 spell “OIL.” Why? Because those who celebrate are high on high-potency THC oil, which is one type of high-potency THC product, extracted from marijuana. While 420 Day celebrates marijuana in general, 710 Day celebrates the high-potency extracts called “dabs.” At 7:10 PM, users will celebrate the holiday by taking a dab (wax, shatter, resin, vapes, budder, honey oil, butane-hash oil (BHO), or any of hundreds of concentrates available legally in a dispensary.
What is a dab? Dabbing involves extracting the THC (the part that gets you high) from the marijuana plant. Users place a small amount of this concentrate into a heating element called a dab rig or vape pen and breathe in the cloud of cannabinoids produced as the concentrate sizzles.
Ummm…okay…what is the point of dabbing? Dabbing is a fast way to get very high, because it’s extremely potent, often times 90% THC content (a chemical, not a plant). It only takes a second or two, and in that time a substantial amount of THC can be inhaled. The problem? If teens dab illegally, their brains are still forming, which can cause psychosis, mental illness, and increased suicidal ideation. Consider these facts: https://johnnysambassadors.org/mental-illness/
17% of those who began their use in adolescence become addicted, and up to about 50% of those who become daily users end up with addiction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827335/pdf/nihms762992.pdf
The risk of addiction is greater if the product is high in THC concentration: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6991277/
The consensus is that use of marijuana with a THC content over 10% increases the risk of a psychotic disorder by 4 to 5-fold:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988731/
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(14)00117-5/fulltext
Yes, it’s everywhere, even where marijuana isn’t legal. Yes, your teens can get it. These products can all be ordered online quite easily. Will they know what it is at that next party?
Johnny’s Ambassadors mission is to educate parents and teens about the dangers of this high-THC products on the developing adolescent mind. If you are a parent or grandparent with teens, please help us prevent youth substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide, by talking to your children from a young age about how potent these products are!