Pubdate: Wed, 04 May 2005 Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) Copyright: 2005 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 Author: Kris Kitto, The Herald-Sun Washington bureau Cited: Office of National Drug Control Policy http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/ Cited: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/ Referenced: the SAMHSA report http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k3nsduh/2k3Results.htm Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) DRUG CZAR CITES STUDY THAT LINKS PRE-TEEN POT USE, MENTAL ILLNESS WASHINGTON -- Teens who use marijuana may be more susceptible to future mental illness, the White House drug czar said Tuesday. John P. Walters, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy, pointed to the harsh results of a new National Survey on Drug Use and Health to issue his latest public health warning. The study found that people who said they first used marijuana before age 12 were twice as likely to have serious mental illness later in life as those who first tried the drug at age 18 or older. The office cited the survey and other research in saying young people who use marijuana expose themselves to an "increased risk of depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia." "This is one more very, very serious and important reason for kids not to use drugs," Walters said. "Society is telling them ... that marijuana is not a serious risk. That is deadly." He said he hopes teens take this link, which proves only an association and not a cause-effect relationship, to heart. "When youth perceive great risk associated with the use of illegal drugs, they are far less likely to use," Walters said. The new message on the substance's apparent link to mental illness rounds out the ONDCP's three-year-old campaign to educate teens and parents on the dangers of marijuana, the country's most widely used illegal drug. Further, data show that more education may be in order. According to an earlier study in 2003 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 43 percent of North Carolina students had used marijuana at least once and more than 10 percent tried it before age 13. Both figures outpaced national averages. One Durham community organization, the Durham Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, has been spreading the word on drugs' dangers since 1959. The council gives presentations and also runs a drop-in center. Executive Director Carl Britton-Watkins said his agency tries to help parents look for signs of drug use in their teens' lives. "What we've actually been seeing is parents becoming more aware of what their kids are actually doing," Britton-Watkins said. He said information on marijuana is the second-most requested in his agency, after alcohol information. Britton-Watkins said marijuana can deceive teens because its side effects aren't immediately noticeable. "The thing about marijuana that makes it a winner for young people is the fact that, if they don't get caught, they can go on using it for a while until their behavior begins to reflect in negative ways," he said. The council makes referrals to area treatment facilities when families come forward with their children's drug-abuse problems. John Curry runs one of those facilities, a center for drug abuse treatment for adolescents at Duke University. His clinic helps rehabilitate drug-dependent teens through group therapy, motivational interviews and cognitive behavior therapy, which teaches teenagers skills to overcome their addictions. Curry said he sees higher rates of depression among his patients and a much higher rate of behavior conduct disorders compared to the general population. He said he does not measure drug dependence by how much marijuana a teen uses but by the importance he or she places on it. "[Marijuana use] becomes a problem when it interferes with your life," he said. "It interferes with school, it interferes with your family life, it leads to a decrease in other activities." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake