Pubdate: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 Source: Dayton Daily News (OH) Copyright: 2002 Dayton Daily News Contact: http://www.activedayton.com/partners/ddn/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120 Author: Kathryn G. Havemann Note: Title by newshawk Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1751/a04.html TRUTH ABOUT MARIJUANA I CANNOT HELP BUT RESPOND TO THE SEPT. 18 article "U.S. official warns of teen pot use." No credible study has ever concluded that marijuana is physiologically addictive in humans in the sense that alcohol, cocaine and other such drugs are. There is anecdotal evidence, among a minority of chronic pot smokers of many years' duration, of something akin to a psychological dependence upon the associated behavior and ambience of pot smoking. An addiction, however, has two other required components, tolerance and withdrawal, neither one of which is physically evident with marijuana smokers. Tolerance means ever larger doses of the drug are required to produce the same effect. Withdrawal means physiological changes occur--heart rate, respiration, nausea, etc.--from sudden cessation of the drug. No reliable studies have shown that these events occur with marijuana usage, especially the level of usage found among most teenagers. Marijuana definitely can be abused, as can chocolate and potato chips, but that is not the same as an addiction. Abuse of marijuana among teenagers can definitely--though not always--lead to major problems in other aspects of their lives including their education, jobs and relationships with peers and family, but that is not the same as an uncontrollable inability to exist without marijuana. Associating with the people who deal marijuana can certainly lead to exposure to and even a desire to move on to other, harder illicit substances, but that is not the same thing as concluding that smoking marijuana leads to addiction to cocaine and heroin. The most flagrant lies in the article, however, were the ones by John Walters, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who indicated that "more teens are addicted to pot than to alcohol or to all other illegal drugs combined" and "more teens enter rehabilitation centers to treat marijuana addiction than alcohol or all illegal drugs combined." Even if we were to accept that psychological dependence upon marijuana is synonymous with addiction, the first statement is so patently untrue and unsupported as to be laughable. I do not condone the usage of any mind-altering substances by minors, not only because the laws make it illegal but also because it adversely affects their brain cells at a time when they are still in a period of rapid growth. Teens, especially, need all their brain cells in optimum working condition if they are to make good life-affirming decisions. But if we want our children to listen to us, we cannot ever lie to them. Kathryn G. Havemann, Washington Twp. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D