Pubdate: Fri, 01 Jul 2016
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Daniel Wheaton

LEGALIZING POT IN COLO. DIDN'T INCREASE TEEN USE

With California poised to vote on marijuana legalization in November, 
some may be asking, "What effect would it have on our youths?"

If Colorado is any measure, youth use may not rise. The Colorado 
Department of Public Health and Environment surveyed teens about 
marijuana habits and found that marijuana use has decreased 5 
percentage points since 2009. Then, 43 percent said they had used 
marijuana, while now that number is at 38 percent.

Colorado's voters legalized marijuana for adults with a ballot measure in 2012.

Nationally, about 21 percent of high school students say they are 
currently using marijuana, and about 39 percent say they have ever 
used the drug. In California, 35.9 percent of high school students 
have ever used marijuana, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

A measure similar to Colorado's qualified for the November ballot in 
California on Tuesday. If passed, the act would allow adults 21 and 
older to possess, transport and use up to one ounce of marijuana, as 
well as grow up to six plants. The age limit in Colorado is similar.

The Colorado Department of Health noted that parents play the biggest 
role in preventing marijuana abuse.

"If a parent feels it's wrong to use marijuana, their children are 
four times less likely to use marijuana," the department wrote in a 
news release, "If a parent feels it's wrong to smoke cigarettes, 
their children are six times less likely to smoke cigarettes. And if 
a parent feels it's wrong to drink alcohol regularly, their children 
are three times less likely to binge drink."

While public opinion is shifting toward marijuana legalization, some 
fear that "big marijuana" would pose a public safety threat by 
marketing toward younger users. The same survey said that about 60 
percent of Colorado teens say that it is easy to obtain the drug.

The National Institutes of Health says that around 9 percent of 
marijuana users will become addicted. That risk is higher among 
younger people, so the NIH estimates that 7 percent of high school 
seniors nationally are addicted, or will become addicted if they 
don't taper use.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom