Weed Watch Blog

Posted on March

26/03/25

Is there a cannabis addict in the house? Self-care and how to look after yourself when it all gets too much

When someone you love is addicted to cannabis and not interested in quitting, it's important to have self-care strategies in place to look after yourself.

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Posted on March

24/03/25

5 ways to get to sleep without weed

Do you use cannabis when you can’t sleep? Here are some reasons to reconsider.

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weed watch, sleep
Posted on March

20/03/25

Good science vs bad science: weeding out fact from fiction

There's a lot of 'research' and 'evidence' out there, but how can you tell the difference between real research, which is the result of a proper scientific study, and poor research, which sometimes produces big claims but is actually meaningless?

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weed watch, good science, evidence, research
Posted on March

13/03/25

Parenting and drugs: ultimatums aren't everything

Parenting teenagers when drug use is an issue can be challenging and emotional. In this blog, we look at one of the most common calls to our cannabis helpline and provide some small insights that may go a long way.

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parenting, weed 101
Posted on March

05/03/25

‘I’m so fancy’ – how weed can affect your looks

Don’t smoke away your looks! Why quitting weed is a great natural beauty tip.

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weed watch, beauty, aging
Posted on March

03/03/25

Top 5 reasons bongs aren't cool

Respiratory diseases, chronic coughs and petrochemicals - just a few reasons why bongs aren’t cool.

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weed watch, bongs, respiratory illness, cough
Posted on March

02/03/25

Monthly media wrap up: medicinal cannabis again front of mind

February saw the quiet of previous months fade into a new year of debate about medicinal cannabis, more drug driving crashes and interesting new research.

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weed 101, medicinal cannabis
Posted on February

26/02/25

The truth about trying to quit weed: one young man’s experience

Trying to quit weed is not always easy. One of our NCPIC team sat down with one of his closest mates to talk about his mate's decision to quit weed and how he is progressing two weeks in.

Tags

weed 101, quit weed
Posted on February

19/02/25

How to be happy: is weed a short-term “pleasure” or a long-term solution?

The key to being truly happy is finding the right kind of happiness, which means cultivating meaning and purpose in your life.

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weed watch, how to be happy, happiness
Posted on February

17/02/25

Why do you smoke weed? 5 key questions to ask yourself

These 5 questions will get you thinking about your weed use.

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weed watch, smoking weed, why smoke weed
Posted on February

11/02/25

Posted on February

10/02/25

When your partner is dealing with cannabis addiction

What do you do if your partner is addicted to weed?

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weed watch, addiction, how to help
Posted on February

06/02/25

Addiction: small ‘rewards’ that can become big luxuries

It can be surprising how often small indulgences can build up into addictions.

Tags

weed watch, cannabis addiction, alcohol addiction, gambling addiction
Posted on February

04/02/25

A friend with weed is a friend indeed?

If you want to help a mate with a cannabis problem, having a conversation with them is a good place to start.

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weed watch, talking with friend, helping a friend
Posted on February

03/02/25

Cannabis: an historic love-hate story

A brief history of how our relationship with cannabis has changed over the years.

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weed watch, cannabis history, medicinal cannabis
Posted on February

02/02/25

Why do people use weed?

Here are a few thoughts on a very big question.

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weed watch, weed, why do people use weed
Posted on January

30/01/25

Monthly media wrap up – synthetic cannabis claims more lives

In January the media covered articles on the growing concern around synthetic cannabis use, medical cannabis, and weed taking on a persona of its own on Twitter.

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weed watch, synthetic cannabis, media, twitter
Posted on January

29/01/25

Starting high school: how to talk to kids about 'high school issues'

Knowing how to talk to kids starting their first year of high school about 'high school issues' is important in preparing them for the year ahead.

Tags

weed watch, talking to kids
Posted on January

27/01/25

New Year’s resolutions: February is the new January

Do you want to turn your New Year's resolutions into lasting habits? Starting your resolutions in February instead of January could be the answer.

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weed watch, new years resolutions, goals
Posted on January

20/01/25

The challenge of drug education in schools

The importance of engaging students in interactive drug education.

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weed watch, drug educations, lesson plans, teachers, teaching resources
Posted on January

16/01/25

Aim high, don't get high – is weed affecting your career or study?

Aiming high is a great way to ensure you achieve your goals, but smoking weed may get in your way.

Tags

weed watch, goals, smoking weed, joint effort
Posted on January

12/01/25

New Year, new inductees: getting workplace drug education right from day one

New employee induction is the ideal time to educate your employees about your workplace drug and alcohol policy.

Tags

weed watch, drug and alcohol policy, workplace drug education
Posted on January

09/01/25

Going abroad: the drug conversation you must have with your kids

As a parent with a teen who is looking to go overseas for end-of-year break or even a gap year, a big part of your job in helping to increase your child’s safety is making sure they are informed. Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.

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weed watch, travel, overseas, parents, gap year, law
Posted on January

09/01/25

Moving out of home: tips for your new joint

Moving out of home for the first time is a lot of things – scary, exciting, freeing, messy… and just a little bit awesome. For the first time in your life, there will be no one to tell you to clean your room, asking where you were the night before, or bugging you about studying. Here are the collective things we’ve learned about first time moving.

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weed watch, parents, moving out of home
Posted on January

08/01/25

Mixing weed with summer holidays: road trip or dead end?

The summer holidays are here and it is time to relax, take it easy and freshen up before you launch into the new year. With many of us looking at taking a road trip around Australia or sporting holidays, it's important to remember the short-term effects of cannabis on your physical and mental abilities and how this can affect your safety.

Tags

weed watch, physical effects, safety
Posted on January

06/01/25

Positive parenting: should you wrap kids in cotton wool?

With school holidays in full swing, it can be difficult to keep track of what your kids are doing and who they are doing it with. But could knowing more actually make a big impact on their future and safety?

Tags

weed watch, parenting, teen drug use
Posted on December

23/12/24

Clearing out clutter for a fresh start to the New Year

The New Year is the perfect time to 'declutter' bad habits from your life.

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weed watch, bad habits, declutter
Posted on December

23/12/24

Music festival season: hey, do you smell weed?

The summer music festival season is off to a flying start - but could flying too 'high' bring it to an abrupt halt?

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weed watch
Posted on December

23/12/24

Kronic mistakes being made with synthetic cannabis

Synthetic cannabis took the Australian market by storm a few years ago - so why is it a drug you should really aim to avoid?

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weed watch, synthetic cannabis, Kronic
Posted on December

17/12/24

Naughty or nice? Dealing with cannabis-related family conflict

Christmas can be a stressful time of year for some families, so if you decide to bring up tricky conversation topics like cannabis use, here's some tips on how best to approach it.

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weed watch, christmas, family confilt, cannabis conversations
Posted on December

15/12/24

The first day of the rest of the your life – getting through ATAR release day

Have you just found out your ATAR result and it wasn't quite what you were hoping for? Here's some tips on how to survive the disappointing news and look forward to your future.

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ATAR, uni
Posted on December

13/12/24

Christmas, parties and getting loose in the silly season

Christmas can be a fun, crazy and electric time of the year when we get it right – but can come with some nasty consequences when we get it wrong. To get you ready for Chrissy, here are our five tips on substance use during the silly season.

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weed watch, christmas, cannabis in the workplace, holidays
Posted on December

11/12/24

The twelve days 'til Quitmas!

This year, try a novel approach to quitting weed - grab an Advent Calendar and practice a daily abstain and reward routine.

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weed 101, quitting, Christmas, new year, resolutions
Posted on December

10/12/24

Can't seem to find your Christmas cheer this year?

Christmas can be a tricky time - for a lot of us, we look forward to the fun, festivities and food, but for others it can mean depression, anxiety and just feeling alone.

Tags

weed 101, quitting, christmas, new year, resolutions
Posted on December

06/12/24

Monthly mainstream media wrap up – medicine, mining and manufacturing

A wrap up of cannabis media stories for the month of November, including the cannabis legalisation debate, the police cracking down on stoned miners and synthetic drugs importation on the rise.

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cannabis media, weed watch, mining, synthetic cannabis, sniffer dogs, NDSHS
Posted on December

04/12/24

Could the voices of your ancestors be trying to tell you something?

Using weed, especially a lot of it and from a young age, has been linked to the onset of mental illness in vulnerable people. So it's important to have the 'mental health family history' talk to find out if your mental health could be vulnerable to the effects of weed.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

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mental health, family history, weed watch
Posted on December

02/12/24

Should I quit weed? Having ‘that' conversation with yourself

If you smoke weed and you have a close support network, it’s not unlikely that you’ve heard their opinion on your drug of choice, what it can do to you and why you should give it up ‘now, before it’s too late’. And while all of this may actually be good advice, do you really want to hear it?...

Tags

quitting cannabis, weed watch
Posted on October

20/10/24

Quitting weed is easy, isn't it?

Is weed addictive?

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People often comment on our blogs or Facebook that cannabis isn’t addictive and they’ve quit plenty of times without a problem, they just choose to use it... 

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weed watch, joint effort, quit, get help
Posted on October

16/10/24

Why won't they just give up weed?

Tough love
Sometimes being a friend means having to dole out a bit of tough love. Encouraging a mate to get fit, ease off the grog or party drugs, quit that dead end job and aim higher, or give up weed...

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weed watch, joint effort, quit
Posted on October

10/10/24

Quitting weed: Banish bad habits with a mate

Quitting weed: Are your mates friends or foes?

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Have you ever tried to change some bad habits only to slip up every time you’re around your mates? Maybe it’s signing up for going ‘Dry in July’ or implementing a training program...

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weed watch, joint effort, quit
Posted on October

07/10/24

A quickie for guys on cannabis and trying to conceive

Stop what you’re doing. We see you…standing in the kitchen waiting for your boxer shorts to freeze before you slip them on and shake your way back to the bedroom.

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So you’re trying to get pregnant...

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weed watch, fertility
Posted on September

23/09/24

Media exposés: drug education or an advertisement?

Every now and then, when the medicinal cannabis stories start to temporarily thin, Australian media look to something a little more alarming or downright scary  to fill the gap, such as the ‘potentially life-saving shocking truth’ stories about drugs, how easy they are to get and the real damage they may be doing...

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weed watch, parenting, teenagers, media
Posted on September

16/09/24

Weed vs alcohol: which is more dangerous?

In January this year, when US President Barack Obama apparently made the statement that he doesn’t believe cannabis is more dangerous than alcohol, he sent media into a spin – especially because the US at that time was heavily debating further legalisation of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes...

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weed watch
Posted on September

02/09/24

Parenting teenagers: what do our kids need to know about cannabis?

If you look at the recently released ‘sneak peak’ results from the 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, you’ll see that we’ve been successful in stemming an increase in cannabis use since 2010...

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weed watch
Posted on August

20/08/24

Marijuana movies and media: is cannabis being trivialised?

After recently attending a university welcome back function and talking to a lot of students, our NCPIC team was left wondering where a lot of young people are getting their marijuana information and education. With heaps of questions about whether cannabis is legal...

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weed watch
Posted on August

01/08/24

Do uni students know enough about the effects of drugs?

Last week, the NCPIC team had a new experience, finding ourselves amid the foot traffic of 5000 young students at an event for one of Australia’s largest university campuses. With an interactive stall, themed ‘keep off the grass’...

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weed watch
Posted on July

14/07/24

A quick look at the UN World Drug Report

In the first week of July there was a lot of publicity about the release of the United Nations (UN) World Drug Report 2014. The mainstream media really latched onto the figures presented in the drug report, which essentially showcased the changing face of drug problems around the globe...

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weed watch