With Purim approaching, we thought it might be helpful to consider the importance of speaking with your children about drinking. It’s an unpleasant topic, one that we parents might want to avoid in the midst of busy preparations for this happy day. Unfortunately, it has become necessary, just as we teach children to buckle their seatbelts in the car and wear their helmets when they ride their bikes.

Our rabbis ask: “Why does the Torah begin with the letter “beyt”? If I would have asked this question of Mr. Sam Broder, a”h, the husband of Mrs. Leni Broder, a”h, he might have responded with something like: “That’s easy. The Torah begins with the letter “beyt” because the first word is Bereishit.” Or he might have said, “The Torah starts at the beginning, and beginning begins with a “beyt.”

Our rabbis offer a different approach. The Kli Yakar, in his Torah commentary, writes that the Torah begins with a “beyt” because the letter “beyt” is spelled “beyt,” “yud,” “taf,” forming the word bayit, or home. Perhaps what the Kli Yakar is teaching is that if you want to know a person’s Torah, take a look in his or her home.

Over the last few months, I have received many questions about psilocybin, also known as “magic mushrooms,” a drug that seems to be constantly in the news. It turns out that much of the current research on psilocybin is conducted by my colleagues at the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins, led by an excellent researcher named Dr. Roland Griffiths. This group has already established a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

What is psilocybin? Psilocybin is a hallucinogen or psychedelic drug. This means that it can alter a person’s mood, thoughts, and perceptions. Other examples of psychedelic drugs are LSD and mescaline. People who take psychedelics often report a profound mystical experience that transforms the way they think about their life and values. Psychedelic drugs are distinguished from what are called “dissociative” drugs like ketamine or PCP, which make people feel disconnected from their body or environment. The drug MDMA (known as “Ecstasy”) seems to have both psychedelic and dissociative properties.

As most people are well aware, the state of Maryland legalized recreational cannabis use on July 1, 2023. This new legislation means that adults (21 years or older) can purchase cannabis at licensed dispensaries, ingest cannabis in private settings, and even grow cannabis in their backyard. An excellent summary of this legislation can be found at: mmcc.maryland.gov.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to consider how this law might affect cannabis use in our state and possibly develop hypotheses based on the experience of other states that have already legalized recreational use.

As Elul moves closer, we start to prepare for our kids traveling to Israel to learn in yeshiva or seminary or to engage in other programs. At 18 or 19 years old, our kids are in late adolescence, a developmental period often marked by desires to explore new interests, take chances, challenge established values, and become more independent. For some kids, it is also a prime time for substance use.

We often think about risks for substance use increasing during times of transition, like moving from middle school to high school, or high school to college. Advancing from high school to full-time learning in Israel might also be considered a significant transition for some kids.

I have been reading your column for the past few months and appreciate your abundant information and wise insights on alcohol and drug abuse. Alcohol is an ancient drug, and we know – or are at least learning – about its dangers and how to deal with them. But now that marijuana has become legal, what are the hidden consequences? Do we have to be concerned about cannabis-laced brownies at a kiddush or wedding or on the Shabbos table? Will edibles become as common as sushi and as acceptable as a glass of wine or shot of whisky? Can a person unknowingly overdose on such edibles and become very sick? Finally, you wrote a lot last time about the effects of cannabis on teenagers. What about adults? Is there any difference in the symptoms or rates of addiction? How do adults react to cannabis, and how would it affect their parenting?