Pubdate: Mon, 23 Mar 2015 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2015 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Seth Leibsohn Note: Seth Leibsohn is the host of the Seth Leibsohn Show on KKNT and chairman of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy. CONFUSION, CONCERN REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION A state ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for recreational use may be on the Arizona ballot next year. A recent ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy survey found that some 45 percent of respondents support such legalization. To many of us who have studied the issue of marijuana and public health, these findings are nothing short of surprising. Take a look at just five of many recent headlines about scientific studies examining the effects of marijuana on the brain, especially the teen brain: Significant link between cannabis use and onset of mania symptoms (Science Daily, Feb. 10). Marijuana can cause mental disorders, loss of intelligence, 20-year study (New York Daily News, Oct. 7, 2014). The Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use (New England Journal of Medicine, June 4, 2014). The brains of marijuana users are different, especially if they start young (Washington Post, Nov.10, 2014). Pot studies suggest regular use is bad for teen brains (USA TODAY, Aug. 9, 2014). Dozens of recent studies performed at a diverse range of institutions that include Northwestern University, Harvard University, King's College in London and the National Institute of Drug Abuse, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, have come to the same conclusion: Marijuana is not safe. It is dangerous. The ASU Morrison poll thus reveals an odd divergence from social trends away from dangerous behavior. With all the concern society has recently shown over protecting our children's health and the nurturing of their brains - curbs on sugary drinks, the dietary structures of school lunches, safety of helmets in sports, campaigns against tobacco, increased efforts on early childhood education - it's simply shocking to see this race to legalize a substance far more damaging to the brain than sugar or tobacco or saturated fats. Expanding access to marijuana, a substance that has been shown to cause psychiatric and psychological problems that not even a helmet or the arresting of childhood obesity can prevent, would nullify every effort aimed at increasing brain potential. While the quest to legalize marijuana is aimed at laws that only allow adults to consume the product, it is a fallacy of experience to think use will be confined to adults. Today, nearly 25 percent of our nation's high school students use tobacco and nearly 25 percent of 16- and 17year-olds and almost 45 percent of 18-to 20-year-olds use alcohol. The experience of our neighboring states tells the same tale with "medical" marijuana. Just last month, a CBS headline read: "Report: Medical pot is getting into LA school kids' hands." In Colorado, as one recent federal report found: "There was a 26 percent increase in youth (ages 12 to 17 years) monthly marijuana use in the three years after medical marijuana was commercialized (2009) compared to the three years prior to commercialization." Our society is rife with youth challenges based on legal substance abuse, from tobacco to alcohol. We cannot now illegalize those substances - they are, as it were, out of the bottle. What a sane society can do is say let's not add one more dangerous substance to the menu of problems our youth now face. And make no mistake about it: legalization, for any age group, is the handmaiden of adolescent use. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom