The Weekend Press: The Teenage Stoners of America Plus: Two drinks with the momfluencer who says night nurses are a ‘narcissistic trend.’ Eli Lake remembers Jesse Jackson’s greatest speech. River Page on Netflix ‘exposing’ reality TV shows. And more!
“I started smoking weed when I was a junior in high school, and later moved on to prescription pills,” writes Josh Code. (Animation by The Free Press)
Welcome back to The Weekend Press! Today, Madeleine Kearns has two drinks with the mom-osphere influencer who says day cares are “warehouses for kids.” Eli Lake remembers Jesse Jackson’s greatest speech. The first round of ads has landed in our matchmaking service! But first, assistant editor Josh Code on a dark chapter in his life. . . I started smoking weed when I was a junior in high school, and later moved on to prescription pills. The drugs derailed my life. I lied to my family, made friends who cared more about expensive bongs than good grades, and failed to get into any of the colleges I applied to. This was back in 2017, in California, which had just voted to legalize marijuana. In the years since, other states have followed suit, weed has gotten more potent, and a lot of stories about kids ruining their lives with pot have followed. Across America, parents find themselves asking: What are you supposed to do when your son disengages with society? When your daughter gives up on life? Some people are fine with their kids passing around a bong in the backyard. Others may not like having a stoner for a son but they can’t fight the instinct to keep bailing him out. And then there are the parents like mine, the parents who say enough is enough. After graduating from high school, I received an email from my parents, telling me I had to move out of my childhood home. The deadline was nonnegotiable: I had two months. On my best days, I am grateful for what they did. But the years that followed weren’t easy. This is a story about what happens after the door shuts behind you. It’s a story about my hometown, Palo Alto, where kids crack under pressure, succumbing to addiction—or worse. It’s a story about how easy it is to check out and, more than anything, it’s about what it takes to come back. —Josh Code This week, we’ve published plenty of other culture pieces this week, including . . |