It’s no secret that marijuana use by young people is increasing.
Recent surveys indicate that over 15 % of 8th graders have tried marijuana or hashish. And by 12th grade the percentage who have tried these illegal substances has risen to over 44 per cent. Further, 1 in 7 report using marijuana within the past month.
Many young people believe that because marijuana is a naturally growing plant it is no more harmful than tobacco and may be less harmful than alcohol. The truth is that marijuana is the most common illegal drug involved in auto fatalities. In fact, evidence of marijuana use is found in about 14 per cent of drivers who die in auto crashes—often combined with alcohol and other drugs.
While these facts are impressive to most who hear them, teens are much less likely to be impressed by statistics than they are by experience. That’s why Innocorp, a leader in safety education and the makers of innovative safety education tools, has introduced the Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation Experience.
Those who lead drug awareness and prevention initiatives know that capturing teens’ attention and creating experiences that engage the senses as well as the intellect are among the keys to designing an effective program.
The Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation Experience promotes this engagement by providing a completely new and unique demonstration of the many impairing effects of recreational marijuana use.
The simulation’s instructional activities clearly illustrate short-term memory loss, impaired executive function, altered visual perception, and compromised motor coordination.
Participating students experience the impairing effects of THC for themselves and their personal experience is re-enforced by observing their peers having similar experiences.
Having shared the Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation Experience, the group can easily move into an in-depth discussion of the potential consequences of recreational marijuana use.
This discussion can move from the impairments experienced during the demonstration to the effects of those impairments on driving skills such as alertness, concentration, reaction time and judgment.
Following the simulation experience and a discussion of the impairing effects of THC, it’s a logical step for students to consider the long term effects linked to marijuana use—depression, anxiety, loss of motivation along with learning and memory problems.
By using the Marijuana Simulation Experience event kit, session leaders can expand the experience to include a suite of activities that drive the message home with even more impact.
For more info- see here http://fatalvision.com/simulation-goggles/marijuana-simulation-experience.html#details