I grounded my youngest son Kadim when he was in the tenth grade after finding his stash. We can laugh about it now, but my relationship with my son was severely damaged by my need to repress his pot-smoking.

I was terrified of the what-ifs that could happen to him, a barely 15-year old Black boy discovered with weed on his person. Being stopped by police is a common occurrence with four Black men at home. I can attest that they have all been stopped and questioned by police on several occasions.

I was livid just knowing he put himself in what I perceived to be high risk. Plus, I was concerned that my teenager was regularly smoking pot and its impact on his developing brain, which kicked off years of a cat-and-mouse relationship between us.

– Read the entire article at The Star.