Pubdate: Wed, 18 Sep 2002
Source: Tacoma News Tribune (WA)
Copyright: 2002 Tacoma News Inc.
Contact:  http://www.tribnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/442
Author: Eun-Kyung Kim; The Associated Press

WHITE HOUSE DRUG CZAR WARNS PARENTS ABOUT POT

WASHINGTON - The nation's drug policy director warned parents Tuesday 
against trivializing the dangers of marijuana to their kids, warning them 
that more teens are addicted to pot than to alcohol or to all other illegal 
drugs combined.

Many parents and children have outdated perceptions about marijuana, said 
John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They 
believe marijuana is not addictive, that it's less dangerous than 
cigarettes or that it has few long-term health consequences.

In reality, more teens enter rehabilitation centers to treat marijuana 
addiction than alcohol or all illegal drugs combined, Walters said.

"Our effort is to correct the ignorance that is the single biggest obstacle 
to protecting our kids," he said as he announced an advertising campaign by 
his office and 17 education, public health, anti-drug and family advocacy 
groups.

"For too long, our nation's teens have been getting the wrong message about 
marijuana. Youth popular culture has trivialized the real harm of marijuana 
in kids," Walters said.

A common misperception is that smoking marijuana is less dangerous than 
smoking a cigarette, said Surgeon General Richard Carmona. But marijuana 
contains three to five times more tar and carbon monoxide than a comparable 
amount of tobacco, he said. It also affects the brain in ways similar to 
cocaine and heroin.

Carmona said that one out of five eighth-graders has tried marijuana - 
twice as many who had tried it a decade ago.

Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the Safety First Project of the Drug Policy 
Alliance, disputed some of Walters' figures. "What can he possibly be 
talking about?" she said. "Alcohol dwarfs marijuana in terms of use. It's 
true that half of high school students have experimented with marijuana, 
but 80 percent have used alcohol."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth