Pubdate: Wed, 18 Sep 2002
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2002 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Eun-Kyung Kim, The Associated Press

DON'T TRIVIALIZE POT, OFFICIAL WARNS PARENTS

WASHINGTON - The nation's drug-policy director warned parents yesterday 
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Many parents and children have outdated perceptions about marijuana, said 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 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.

Regular users of marijuana can develop a marked tolerance to the drug and 
psychological dependence, according to the most recent medical research. 
But physical dependence characterized by significant withdrawal symptoms, 
such as those caused by a drug such as heroin, has not been established in 
either human or animal studies.

Walters announced an ad campaign by his office and 17 education, 
public-health, anti-drug and family-advocacy groups. The effort will 
include advertisements on television, radio and print media.

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 one of five eighth-graders has tried marijuana, twice as many 
as a decade ago.

Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the Safety First Project of the Drug Policy 
Alliance, disputed some of Walters' figures: "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."

She added: "The notion that marijuana is addictive, as evidenced by 
increased treatment rolls, is misleading. ... When young people are caught 
they have a choice between getting kicked out of school, losing their jobs 
or going to treatment. What would you do?"
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