Pubdate: Mon, 26 May 2008
Source: Ballarat Courier (Australia)
Copyright: 2008 Rural Press Ltd
Contact:  http://ballarat.yourguide.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/928

MARIJUANA NAMED AS THE DRUG OF CHOICE

MARIJUANA was named the drug of choice for those  involved the
Generation Next survey.

At the launch of the survey, City of Ballarat youth  development
officer Larelle Kuczer said she was happy  that only 20 per cent of
participants said they had  tried illicit drugs.

Even so, young people The Courier spoke about drugs  were still
confused about what were safe and non-safe  drugs.

Dean, 16, who did not want his surname used, said he  saw marijuana as
a safer drug than others available.

"In the end, all the eccies (ecstacy) will kill you,"  he said. "If
you take too many at once you can OD  (overdose).

"With pot, you can smoke as much as you want and all  you will do is
green-out and spew."

Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative alcohol  and other drug
counsellor Jeff Cuell said it was this  sort of attitude to cannabis
that worried him.

"I hear a lot that it is a 'natural plant'," he said.

"Maybe it was in the 1960s and 70s, but these days its  often
genetically tampered with and packed full of  growth hormones.

"It's a lot more dangerous, particularly in terms of
schizophrenia.

BADAC youth alcohol and other drug prevention and  education officer
Andrew Green said young people were  being sent mixed messages about
drug and alcohol use.

"It is shows like The Footy Show or even The Logies  where they show
them getting absolutely smashed and  make it out to be funny," he said.

"It is mainly sports programs. You hear them say 'I  can't wait to
have a beer' after a game. What sort of  message is that sending?"

BADAC provides counselling, education and preventative  programs to
help young people within the Indigenous  community deal with these
health issues.

"We recently ran a program dealing with cannabis use  called the
Yarndi Program," Mr Green said. "It was  really good - we had a
barbecue and got about 20 people  there."
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath