Pubdate: Wed, 05 May 2004 Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Copyright: 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28 Author: David Wahlberg, Staff Cited: the JAMA report http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n678/a09.html Related: Lies and the Lazy Reporters Who Repeat Them http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n681/a06.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/American+Medical+Association Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular) STRONGER POT PROPELS ADDICTION RATE HIGHER Marijuana abuse and addiction have increased over the past decade, even though the percentage of people using pot has remained roughly the same, a new study says. The reason: It's not your parents' marijuana. A 25 percent increase in serious problems with marijuana from 1992 to 2002 is likely explained by a 66 percent increase in the potency of the drug, researchers from the National Institute of Drug Abuse report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Marijuana today has nearly five times the level of THC, the drug's most active ingredient, than was in the pot of the 1970s, government figures suggest. Marijuana has become so strong that the liberal government of the Netherlands is considering classifying it as a "hard" drug to be banned from the "coffee shops" of Amsterdam, where it has been sold openly for years. Hydroponic growing techniques and the selective use of seeds from powerful strains contribute to the higher levels of THC, researchers say. Superstrong "BC Bud" from British Columbia can easily be obtained, especially in the northwest United States. "People still have a naive approach to marijuana and think of it as a harmless substance," said Dr. William Compton, lead author of the new study and an epidemiologist with the National Institute of Drug Abuse, one of the National Institutes of Health. "It's not as innocent as they might expect." About 4 percent of Americans age 18 and older say they smoked marijuana in the past year, the same as a decade ago, the study found. But use of the drug among African-Americans and Hispanics increased significantly, with use among blacks now surpassing that by whites. Rates of abuse and addiction increased the most among racial and ethnic minorities, with serious marijuana problems now more common among blacks and Hispanics than in whites. Overall, more than a third of marijuana users report signs of abuse or addiction. The study is based on two sets of information gathered in interviews by the U.S. Census Bureau. Marijuana users who acknowledged at least one of four criteria for abuse, such as pot-related legal problems or interference with job performance, were considered abusers. Those who noted at least three of six other criteria - including the need to use more pot to achieve the same effect and unsuccessful attempts to cut back - were categorized as dependent, or addicted. "This study shows that there is a certain propensity to addiction for marijuana," Compton said. "That may surprise people, that marijuana can be addictive." Another report, released last month by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, said that among people ages 12 to 17, marijuana use appears to have stabilized in recent years. But emergency room visits implicating marijuana use among that age group jumped 48 percent from 1999 to 2002, the report said. The proportion of children and teenagers in treatment for marijuana use soared 142 percent from 1992 to 2001. "We think potency is probably the explanation," said Joseph Califano, president of the drug research center at Columbia and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, now known as Health and Human Services. Califano directed the U.S. government's campaign against smoking tobacco in the late 1970s, after he quit smoking it himself. He said he had no problem telling younger people not to do something he had once done, because a better understanding of the dangers had emerged. The message is the same today for parents who smoked marijuana in their youth and who may be unsure how to talk to their children about pot, he said. "There's nothing hypocritical about it," Califano said. "This stuff is much stronger today." [sidebar] POT PROBLEMS Marijuana abuse and addiction are on the rise, though the percentage of people using marijuana remains the same, a new study says. That may be because pot is more potent. The percentage of marijuana users with abuse or addiction to the illegal drug: ..........1991-92...........2001-02 Whites.........31.8%............34.4% Blacks.........21.2%............38.6% Hispanics......23.7%............37.1% Ages 18-29.....36.0%............42.1% Ages 30-44.....22.4%............27.9% Ages 45-64.....16.9%............25.8% Total..........30.2%............35.6% Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Journal of the American Medical Association - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake